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Account book, farm labourers

Senate House Library, University of London -- Special Collections

Overview

A weekly wages book for 1766-1771, probably for a small estate in Wales or the Welsh Borders, but with no geographical information and no index.

Detailed usage description

This wages book would be excellent for what's known as 'microhistory' as it covers its periods in minute detail - on a day-to-day basis - listing names and amounts paid weekly, usually divided into lists on facing pages for 'Labours in Husbandry' and 'Labours in Building'.

If you were able to identify one of your ancestors among the labourers listed, you could work through the book and see what variety of work they did on the estate each day and also when they were absent from work.

How to tell if the collection is useful

It will be difficult to tell if this source is useful to local history as the estate's precise location is uncertain, but it is likely to be of interest if an ancestor of yours is named in it. If you wish to consult the document, email , Senate House Library, University of London.

If you plan to email the archivist with a query we suggest that you read our tutorial on how to do this most effectively.

Access arrangements

Reference access to Senate House Library holdings for members of the public costs £5 per day, or £25 for seven days. Access to archival holdings generally requires that you make prior arrangement with the . Details of membership arrangements and opening hours are available on their website.

More Information

The catalogue number for this collection is MS 250. A collection level description of this collection is available on AIM25.

Example(s) of the holdings

Figure 1. Labourers' wages. Click on the image to enlarge it.

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