Extracts from Archer Cowley old day book 1879/1880 showing rates of charges:
Item 1): 2 Men, Horse and Furniture Van: 4 hours at 4 shillings (= 20 new pence) and sixpence (= 2.5 new pence) (per hour) = 18 shillings (= £18/20 = 90 new pence); so this tells us that in 1879/80 you could hire two men and a horse and a furniture van for 4 hours for the price (now) of 90p which is less than half the daily cost of the Guardian newspaper (currently £2.00 per day on 25.5.17); NB: according to an online inflation-adjustment calculator (at http://inflation.stephenmorley.org) , £0.90 in 1879 corresponds to £98.10 in 2017; so the current approximate cost for hiring 2 men and a horse and a furniture van for 4 hours is £98.10, which, since it includes ‘8-man-hours’ not to mention the hire of the horse and van, is perhaps about right;
Item 2): Hire of Cart, 1 day: 1 shilling 0 pence (5 new pence);
Item 3): Cartage of 1 load dung: 2 shillings and sixpence (= ‘half-a-crown’ in old money) = 12.5 new pence;
Item 4): 80 bags soot from shed to on rail: 4 tons, 7 hundredweights, 1 quarter, at one shilling and ninepence per ton: 7 shillings and 7 pence (= 35 new pence plus about 3 pence = 38 new pence i.e. £0.38;
Item 5): 1 Man, Horse and Cart: 2 and one quarter hours at one shilling per hour: 2/3d (old money) = 10 new pence plus 2.5 new pence = 13 new pence (to nearest penny);
Item 6): 1 Man, Horse and Cart: 5 and three quarter hours at one shilling per hour = five shillings and ninepence (old pence- pre-decimalisation)k = 25 new pence (post-decimalisation) plus 9/240 new pence = 28.75 new pence, or 29 new pence, to the nearest penny;
Item 7); 1 truss straw: one shilling = one twentieth of a pound = 5 new pence (post-decimalisation); (transcribed 7.6.17);
Item 8): Coal from railway truck to James street (2.5 miles): 3 tons 12 hundredweights at 2 shillings and sixpence (doesn’t say what unit of weight costs this to transport - presumably a ton) plus. "Paid on three pence" (not understood): cost: 9 shillings and 3 pence = 9.25 shillings = 9.25 x 5 new pence = 46.25 pence; (seems extremely reasonable);
Item 7): Coal from railway to Botley:
(2 miles): One man, horse and cart, one ton: 2 shillings;
Item 8): Two men, horse and furniture van: 5 hours at 3 shillings (per hour) = 15 shillings = £0.75;
Item 9): One man, horse and furniture van: 3 hours at 2 shillings and sixpence per hour = 7 shillings and sixpence = £0.38; (entered 16.7.17);
Item 10: Timber: Deals and Boards from Rail to Local Builders: 2 tons 5 cats at 2 shillings (units of weight not shown): 4 shillings and 6 pence (= 26 pence);
Item 11): 30 Casks Soda from Rail to Shop: 3 tons 15 cats at one shilling and eightpence (units of weight not shown): 6 shillings and 3 pence (= 33 pence);
Item 12): One Van Furniture from Wheatley to Glasgow: (no detais of how calculated): £34 one shiling and sixpence (=£34.08);
1884:
Item 13): One man packing at houses etc: 8 hours at 8 pence (per hour): 5 shillings and sixpence (= £0.28);
Item 14): Two men, horse and furniture van: 10 hours at 4 shillings: £2 pounds;
Item 15): Oxford Local Board: 2 Loads Dirt carted at one shilling (each): 2 shillings (£0.10);
1885:
Item 16): Household removal from Oxford to London: 6 tons 10 cwts 2 quarters: at 3 pounds 2 shillings (per ton): £20 and 11 shillings and 1 penny (£20 +£11/20 + £1/240)
Detention: 2 vans 3 days: £3.00
(Transcription completed 20.7.17)
to be completed;