A WAGE EARNER
It was in the year 1855 when I had my first experience of real distress.
On my father's return home from work one night he was stopped by a
policeman who searched his bag and took from it five turnips, which he
was taking home to make his children an evening meal. There was no bread
in the house. His wife and children were waiting for him to come home,
but he was not allowed to do so.
He was arrested, taken before the magistrates next day, and committed to
prison for fourteen days' hard labour for the crime of attempting to
feed his children! The experience of that night I shall never forget.
The next morning we were taken into the workhouse, where we were kept
all the winter. Although only five years old, I was not allowed to be
with my mother.
On my father's release from prison he, of course, had also to come into
the workhouse. Being branded as a thief, no farmer would employ him. But
was he a thief? I say no, and a thousand times no! A nation that would
not allow my father sufficient income to feed his children was
responsible for any breach of the law he might have committed.
In the spring my father took us all out of the workhouse and we went
back to our home. My father obtained work at brickmaking in the little
village of Alby, about seven miles from Marsham. He was away from home
all the week, and the pay for his work was 4s. per thousand bricks
made, and he had to turn the clay with which the bricks were made three
times. He was, however, by the assistance of one of my brothers, able to
bring home to my mother about 13s. per week, which appeared almost a
godsend. In the villages during the war hand-loom weaving was brought to
a standstill, and thus my mother was unable to add to the family income
by her own industry.
On coming out of the workhouse in March 1856 I secured my first job. It
consisted of scaring crows from the fields of a farmer close to the
house. I was then six years of age, and I was paid 1s. for a seven-day
week. My first pay-day made me feel as proud as a duke. On receiving my
wage I hastened home, made straight for my mother and gave her the whole
shilling. To her I said:
"Mother, this is my money. Now we shall not want bread any more, and you
will not have to cry again. You shall always have my money. I will
always look after you."
In my childish innocence I thought my shilling would be all she needed.
It was not long, however, before I discovered my mistake, but my wage
proved a little help to her. I am glad to recall in these days that I
did keep my promise to her always to look after her, and my wife had the
unspeakable pleasure of taking her to our home, and we looked after her
for six years out of my 15s. a week, without receiving a penny from
anyone, the Board of Guardians refusing to allow her anything in the
nature of poor relief. My wife's mother also lived with us for sixteen
years, and died at our house, and for twenty-two years of my married
life I maintained these two old people.
My troubles began in the second week of my employment. Having to work
long hours, I had to be up very early in the morning, soon after
sunrise, and remain in the fields until after sunset. One day, being
completely worn out, I unfortunately fell asleep. Equally unfortunately
for me the crows were hungry, and they came on to the field and began to
pick the corn. Soon after the farmer arrived on the scene and caught me
asleep, and for this crime at six years of age he gave me a severe
thrashing, and deducted 2d. from my wage at the end of the week. Thus I
had only 10d. to take home to my mother that week. But my mother was too
good to scold.
Having finished crow-scaring for that season, I was set looking after
the cows, to see that they did not get out of the field, and take them
home in the evening to be milked. This I continued to do all the summer.
In 1856, I entered upon my first harvest. During the wheat-cutting I
made bonds for the binders. There were no reaping machines in those
days, the corn all having to be cut by the scythe. Women were engaged to
tie up the corn, and the little boys made bonds with which to tie the
corn. For this work I received 3d. per day, or at the rate of 1s. 6d.
per week.
When the wheat was carted I led the horse and shouted to the loaders to
hold tight when the horse moved. When this work was finished and there
was nothing further for me to do, I went gleaning with my mother. In
those days it was the custom for the poor to glean the wheatfields after
they had been cleared. This was a help to the poor, for it often
provided them with a little bread during the winter months, when they
would not have had half enough to eat had it not been that they were
allowed to glean. The men used to thresh the corn with a flail, dress it
and clean it, and send it to the mill to be ground into meal. The rules
for gleaning were very amusing. No one was allowed in the field while
there was a sheaf of corn there, and at a given hour the farmer would
open the gate and remove the sheaf, and shout "All on." If anyone went
into the field before this was done the rest would "shake" the corn she
had gleaned.
This was a happy time for the women and children. At the conclusion of
the harvest they would have what was called a gleaners' frolic. In the
year to which I am referring, after harvest, I went keeping cows until
the autumn, working for a farmer named Thomas Whighten. At the next
wheat-sowing I was again put to scaring crows, and when this was
finished I was set to work cleaning turnips, and what cold hands I had
when the snow was on the ground! And what suffering from backache! Those
who know anything about this class of work may judge how hard it was for
a child of six and a half years. My mother did all she could to help me.
She would get up in the morning and make a little fire over which to
boil some water. With this she would soak a little bread and a small
piece of butter. This would constitute my breakfast. For dinner I had,
day after day for weeks, nothing but two slices of bread, a small piece
of cheese, and an apple or an onion.
In the spring I left this employer and went with my father to work in
the brickfield for a Mr. John Howlett, the leading farmer, who had about
two years before put my father into prison for taking home turnips, but
after a time had set him on again. This farmer used to have bricks made
in the summer, and my father was set to make them, he having learned
this trade when young. In fact, my family for generations were
brickmakers as well as agricultural labourers. Being then barely seven
years of age, my daily task was made easier by my father, and I had not
to go to work until after breakfast. My father, however, had to be up
very early, as brickmaking in those days was very hard work. I was just
man enough to wheel away eight bricks at a time. The summer being ended,
I helped my father to feed bullocks. In the spring of 1858 I again went
into the brickfield, and during the following winter was set cleaning
turnips by Mr. Howlett. By this time my wages were raised to 2s. per
week. Well can I remember the many sore backs I had given me by the old
steward, who never missed an opportunity to thrash me if I did not clean
enough turnips. I might say I do not think I ever forgave this old
tyrant for his cruelty to me. The treatment I received was no exception
to the rule, all poor boys in those days were treated badly. One farmer
I knew used to hang the poor boys up by the heels and thrash them on the
slightest provocation, and the parents dare not say anything. Had my
father complained of the treatment to his son he would have been
discharged.
In the spring of 1859 I was set to work as a horseman. This was a new
experience to me, but afterwards I was to become an efficient workman,
having a liking for horses from the very first. My first job as a
horseman was to lead the fore-horse in the drill, and many times the
first day the horse trod on my feet. My next job was rolling, and I then
thought I was a man, having for the first time a pair of reins in my
hands. This change of work brought me another 6d. a week increase in my
wages. By the next spring (1860) I was so far improved that I was set to
plough, and on April 7th of that year something happened which caused me
to change my employment. The old steward, to whom I have previously
referred, rode up by the side of the horses and struck me on the
knuckles because I was not ploughing straight enough. I at once swore at
him and told him I would pay him out for that treatment when I became a
man. He forthwith got down from his horse, took me on his knee, and
thrashed me until I was black. I, however, got a little of my own back.
I kicked him in the face until he was black, and then ran home and told
my mother what had happened. She at once went after the steward, pulled
his whiskers and slapped his face. For this she was summoned, and was
fined 5s. and costs or fourteen days' hard labour. The fine was paid by
a friend.
I soon found another job with a Mr. Charles Jones and rapidly improved
in my work. I was kept using horses, taking a delight in my work, and
soon became, although very young, quite an expert in ploughing. The head
team-man was a nice fellow, and took a great interest in me, and taught
me all he knew about horses. I worked for this man about four years, and
then left because he would not pay me more than 2s. 9d. a week! I next
went to work for three old bachelors by the names of Needham, William
and James Watts, who lived together near to my home. I helped one of
them to look after their team of five horses. They also took great
interest in me, and here I was taught all kinds of skilled work on the
farm, including drilling, stacking and thatching. I worked for them
about three years, and by the time I left my wages had risen to about
6s. per week, mother taking 4s. for my board and allowing me 2s. with
which to buy clothes and for pocket-money.
I might say by this time the condition of the family had very much
improved. My elder brothers had grown up and left home. My mother by her
hand-loom weaving had managed to clear off the debts which had been
contracted while the children were small. It showed the honesty of these
poor people.
I left my work just before harvest because of my employers not being
willing to give me enough for my harvest. This was in 1866. I then
decided I would leave home. This was the first time my mother chided me
for leaving my work, and I have thought since she was right.
I obtained work during the harvest serving the thatcher at Summerfield,
near Docking, Norfolk, which was about thirty miles from my home. After
harvest I stayed on the farm and looked after the seventh team of
horses. A Mr. Freeman had the farm, which was a much larger one than I
had ever worked on before. It consisted of 1,000 acres, and one field
was 212 acres in extent. The men on the farm did not like me staying.
There was a good bit of clannishness about them, and they did not like
people coming from other parts of the county to work in their district.
Hence the men in the other stables did not treat me kindly and often
endeavoured to steal my corn. I had, however, been taught a great deal
about horses by my eldest brother, who was a stud-groom and well trained
in the medical treatment of horses. I was therefore able to treat my
horses in such a way that they looked better than any of the others. My
employer and the other men did not know my secret, and the latter, not
being able to out-do me in this direction, tried to beat me at work. I
mention this merely to show the state of ignorance the men were in. In
these days, I am happy to say, there is a much better spirit amongst the
labourers.
I decided, however, not to stay there more than the year, and on October
11, 1867, I left and returned to my own home. I obtained a job as a
team-man with a farmer of the name of Thomas Blyth, at a farm called
Botnay Bay. I lived in and received a wage of 2s. per week, with board
and lodging, and had to feed and groom five horses. Here I increased my
efficiency as a horseman and workman. My employer, though an old tyrant,
did put me to all kinds of work. I was set to drill and at the harvest
to stack and thatch. The thatching I followed for several years after I
left my regular work as a farm hand. I stayed at this place until 1869,
when an unhappy affair happened that caused me to leave my farm work for
some few years. This farmer had threatened to thrash me and my fellow
worker several times. My colleague's name was Sam Spanton. One day when
we were at plough he came and accused us of stopping at the end of the
field. With an oath I denied this and called him a liar. He thereupon
struck me with his clenched fist and knocked me down. As I got up I
struck him on the side of the head with my whip-stalk and knocked him
down. I at once got on to him and struck him with my fist. My colleague
came to my assistance, and between the two of us, after a rough tussle,
we thus far came off victorious, for he never again attempted to hit us.
This, however, finished us with this employer. This affair took place in
the last week in March 1869, and I obtained work for the summer on a
brickfield at Bessingham.
It was, however, a turning-point in my life, greatly to the delight of
my mother, for I had begun to adopt rather bad habits whilst in this
man's employ. I had taken to snaring hares and catching rabbits and
selling them for pocket-money. I had also begun to visit the
public-houses, although I never got drunk. This caused my saintly mother
some anxious moments.
On leaving this employer I attended a little Primitive Methodist chapel
one Sunday evening, when a very earnest lay-preacher, by name Samuel
Harrison, was preaching. He took for his text: "How shall we escape, if
we neglect so great salvation?" His sermon was a thoroughly orthodox
one, and it certainly did appeal to me, and I was led to see I had not
been pursuing a right course. I became what we used to call in those
days "saved," but which I term now the spiritual forces coming into
contact with the forces of evil, which up till then were completely
controlling my life, and which, had I not been brought under the
influence of the Eternal Spirit at this particular time, might have
altered the whole course of my life.
I at once embraced the simple faith of Christ as the Great Saviour of
man, although in a rather different light then to what I do now. But I
continued to maintain my faith in Christ as the Eternal Son of God, and
as the Great Leader and Saviour of men, and in the principles of
righteousness advocated by Him as the true solution for all the evils
affecting humanity.
I still love my Church, and I remain a loyal supporter of that great
section of the Methodist Church, namely the Primitive Methodists, which
has during the last hundred years done so much for the uplifting of the
toiling masses of England, and brought light and comfort into thousands
of homes. The faith I then embraced created within me new ideals on life
and, although an illiterate and uneducated youth, I became very
thoughtful and most strict in my habits, thinking I had to give up
everything I had hitherto indulged in.