The Captain's Wages Book

Officers and crew of the SS Aire, the SS Hebble and the SS Mersey

Voyages from Goole, 1931-1932

The book was subsequently used as a scrap book, hence the paste marks. That's how this Captain spent some of the long hours at sea. All of the early pages, probably relating to the SS Hebble, remain covered with nautically well-pasted newspaper cuttings that cannot be removed, for example:

However, some of the cuttings pasted later by grandchildren are removable. The legible pages are listed below (actual page size 9.375in x 11.75in or 233mm x 296mm). Click to see them.

My attempts to understand the figures appear at the bottom of this page. As well as wages, the book also mentions payments for Blacktoft Jetty dues, sending a wire, cleaning out the Port and Starboard boilers, and Donkeymen overtime.

The Master was Captain Robert Ward of Goole. Names of other officers and crew are also listed at the end of the page. It is surprising, today, to realise just how little time they must have spent at home with their families.

• SS Hebble: Hamburg, March 9th-20th 1931
• SS Hebble: Ghent, March 21-27 1931
• SS Aire: Rotterdam, March 31 - April 6 1931 (only heading legible).
• SS Aire: Rotterdam, April 7-14 1931 (part)
• * SS Aire: Rotterdam, April 15-21 1931 (only heading legible)
• SS Aire: Rotterdam, April 22-28 1931 (only heading legible)
• SS Aire: Amsterdam, April 29 - May 8 1931 (part)
• SS Aire: Antwerp, May 9-15 1931 (only heading legible)
• SS Aire: Hamburg, May 20-31 1931 (only heading legible)
• SS Aire: Hamburg, June 1-12 1931 (only heading legible)
• SS Aire: Hamburg, June 24 - July 5 1931 (only heading legible)
• SS Aire: Hamburg, July 6-17 1931
• SS Aire: Hamburg, July 18-28 1931 (part)
• SS Aire: Hamburg, July 29 - August 7 1931 (only heading legible)
• SS Aire: Ghent, August 8-13 1931 (only heading legible)
• SS Mersey: Ghent, August 14-21 and August 22-28 1931 (part)
• SS Aire: Hamburg, September 22 - October 2 1931 (part)
• SS Aire: Hamburg, October 3-13 1931 (part)
• SS Aire: Rotterdam, October 14-20 1931 (part)
• SS Aire: Rotterdam, October 21-27 1931
• SS Aire: Hamburg, April 20-29 1932
• SS Aire: Hamburg, May 11-20 1932

*Returning from Rotterdam on April 19th-21st 1931, they should have sighted the SS Calder in the North Sea but did not. On reaching Goole they learnt the Calder was missing. It is presumed she foundered with all hands off Spurn Point on the night of April 20th 1931. Captain Ward recalled the night in a newspaper interview in 1959.

Brief details of the ships in the wages book

• The SS Mersey (1,037 gross tons), sister of the SS Irwell, made her maiden voyage from Goole on April 9th 1906. She was sunk off Dover with heavy loss of life by a German mine in 1940.
• The SS Hebble (1,040 gross tons) was delivered in September 1924 and finished service in 1959.
• The SS Aire (1,116 gross tons), sister of the SS Calder and also of the SS Blythe, was launched from the yard of Cammell Laird, Birkenhead on December 9th 1930 and sank after a collision in the Ouse on October 6th 1958.

Attempts to understand the figures

For the growing numbers of us who did not handle U.K. currency before February 15th 1971, it is essential first to know that there were 20 shillings to the pound and 12 old pence to the shilling.

The voyage of the SS Hebble to Ghent on March 21-27 1931, was a 7 day voyage. The figures immediately next to the names appear to show weekly gross pay. The first on the list, G E Middleton, was paid a gross 100 shillings, i.e. 5 pounds, per week. He has had 3 pence deducted, as shown on the right, leaving 4 pounds 19 shillings and 9 pence paid to him.

The third person listed on this same voyage, C Wharam, was paid 68 shillings and 6 pence gross per week. He has had 3 pence deducted, and also 1 shilling and 4 pence deducted. This leaves 66 shillings and 11 pence, i.e. the 3 pounds 6 shillings and 11 pence paid to him.

The previous voyage of the SS Hebble to Hamburg, on March 9-20 1931, was a 12 day voyage. J A Drury is paid 95 shillings gross per week, which for 12 days works out as 162.86 shillings, i.e. 162 shillings and 10 pence. There are three deductions of (i) 6 pence, (ii) 2 shillings and 8 pence, and (iii) 7 shillings and 1 pence. This leaves 152 shillings and 7 pence, i.e. the 7 pounds 12 shillings and 7 pence he was paid.

Obviously the weekly gross figures indicate status and seniority. The unnamed calculations at the tops of the pages presumably refer to the Captain who received a gross 205 shillings per week. Next, presumably the officers and engineers, received between 90 and 120 shillings. Able Seamen seem to have been paid 62 shillings per week in 1931, but in the two voyages of the SS Aire in April and May 1932 this has reduced to 56 shillings. There are also one or two wages of 25 and 30 shillings per week with lesser deductions, presumably youngsters.

Names of officers and crew appearing in the legible pages.

H Aaron, J R Acaster, T Allison, A Almond, A E Ashley, A Axup, A Ayre, E E Balcam, G Barker, H Barton, A Banning, F Bean, T W Bristow, A Brown, A Bruin, W S Carr, W Carrol, A Clark, A J Clark, J A Clark, W Cooper, S Coult, W Clayton, J Cross, R G Donaldson, J A Drury, S Duckels, T Farmery, T Fielder, A G Fitch, J A Gill, J E Gill, J T Gill, P Goulden, G A Greenfield, W Hughes, S Hunter, W Jeffrey, W Jennings, W J Jennings, L Joy, J W Kitwood, M Longhorn, J W Lydon, G E Middleton, T Nicholls, W Pease, T Pettinger, J Pilch, F S Porter, C Priestley, H V Richardson, H Roberts, E Rockett, F Smith, I Sutcliffe, C Stocks, G O Taylor, H Thompson, L C J B Trim, E Vause, J W Vause, E W Walker, G H Walton, E Ward, D Webber, C Wharam, F Whitely, A E Willmott, S Winsey. The name of Captain Robert Ward does not appear, although presumably the amounts at the top of each page refer to his own pay.