tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post196748058168292106..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: Changing Wages for Ropewalk WorkersUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-37106486569220968822020-09-15T11:44:11.176-05:002020-09-15T11:44:11.176-05:00I’m researching Mary Pattison Irwin, who establish...I’m researching Mary Pattison Irwin, who established a rope walk in Pittsburgh in 1795. She & her husband came from Northern Ireland. He fought on the colonists’ side & was gravely wounded at Paoli.<br /><br />A few yrs after establishing their ropewalk, which they’d registered/incorporated as John Irwin & Wife, he died. She was widowed, with 4 young children, running a rough business while 4,000 miles away from family & friends. She succeeded beyond belief, lifting subsequent generations into the Gilded Age/1% category. Her present day descendants although not as well off, clearly benefitted from the ‘head start’ her rope gave the family.<br /><br />Your post on ropewalks was illuminating, what especially struck me was your use of the term ‘proto - industrial’ Yes! Pittsburgh’s long been known as an industrial giant & I’ve been telling people that Mary was truly our 1st industrialist - although I realized that wasn’t quite the correct term. Thank you for for providing me with insight & a bit of vocabulary.Gloriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05110400345431171111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-43430250064615459242018-02-27T13:31:17.202-05:002018-02-27T13:31:17.202-05:00Yes, that seems to be the key. Thanks! Sometimes i...Yes, that seems to be the key. Thanks! Sometimes it seems remarkable that colonial American businesspeople managed at all, given all the mental calculations they had to do in a day. J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-78858185215884595952018-02-26T12:19:51.632-05:002018-02-26T12:19:51.632-05:00I'm back on this again 6 years later with new ...I'm back on this again 6 years later with new thoughts; This has to be Old Tenor! Otherwise, a ropemaker could make twice as much as a ministers annual wage in just 6 months. <br /><br />If we assume that it's old tenor, £32.5.0 O.T. becomes £2.14.0 L.M. and year-round employment (if available) would earn about £32.8.0. Compare this with Robert Love, the working-class "warner" who had a salary of £40 and it all makes more sense!<br /><br />It also means that the beaver hatt cost £0.18.11 in real money, rather than £11 which is more than Copley charged for a "Kit-cat" Portrait! (£10.10.0)Daud Alzayerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00159094499713375760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-20798799032195333882012-09-04T13:49:20.261-05:002012-09-04T13:49:20.261-05:00It surprised me, too, and I've been wrestling ...It surprised me, too, and I've been wrestling with how to interpret the figures for years. One possibility is, of course, that I interpreted the data wrong—that the account book has a column for half-pence or something else that means every unit should be shifted over. Or did the ropewalk keep its accounts in devalued Old Tenor currency? Do the army wages calculate expenses differently? One of my motivations for this post was to call attention to this source at Winterthur so some other folks might look at it. J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-84145739601806412792012-09-02T11:17:32.769-05:002012-09-02T11:17:32.769-05:00Sorry to comment on a 5 year old post, but it just...Sorry to comment on a 5 year old post, but it just occurred to me that this wage seems way higher than I would have expected!<br /><br />Compare it with a British private earning 8 pence a day, or even a captain only got 10 shillings!<br />Daudnoreply@blogger.com