Note 730 — Chapter XIV

Between 1600 and 1688 wages rise continuously in every decade. If we take the decennial averages of labour given by Prof. Rogers we find that between the accession of James I. and 1688 in most cases the greatest increase of wages was during the period from 1643 to 1652. But this increase may be largely owing to the disturbances of the Civil War, since from 1663 to 1672 the rate of increase is less than that of any preceding ten years of the century. With the exception of the decade of the Civil War the greatest rise in wages occurs during the ten years immediately preceding, from 1633 to 1642, that is during the time when the organisation established by the Book of Orders was established. Moreover the increase is the more remarkable when we compare the rates of wages with the price of corn. For from 1633-1642 the average price of wheat per quarter was 41s. 2d., while from 1643-1652 it was 48s. 11d., and during the next ten years 47s. 2¼d. Hist. of Agric. and Prices, Vol. V., p. 276. The average price of wheat was therefore considerably lower during the decade before the War. The following are the decennial averages of the worst paid labour given by Prof. Rogers, Hist. of Agric. and Prices, Vol. V., p. 672:

Tiler or Slater per week Bricklayer and Man per week Labourer to Artisan per week Digging, Hedging, or Ditching per week Women's ordinary work per week

s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d.

1603-1612 6 0 10 9½ 4 0 4 10½ 2 6

1613-1622 6 2¾ 10 2¾ 4 0¼ 4 10¾ 1 11

1623-1632 6 8 11 0 4 4¼ 4 9 2 1½

1633-1642 7 6 11 8¾ 5 0 5 6½ 3 0

1643-1652 9 5½ 14 1¾ 5 10½ 5 9½ 2 6

1653-1662 11 1 17 7 6 0 6 0 2 6

1663-1672 9 11¼ 13 0 6 1¼ 6 1¾ 3 0

It will be seen that wages rose slowly before 1632, and then began to rise at a much more rapid rate, and that the wages of unskilled labour rose almost as much during the decade 1633 to 1642 as during the ten years in which the war was conducted.