apprentice wage

[Captain Kong]

When I left school at 15, I was an apprentice to De Havillands, [ today British Aerospace,] The wage was 18 shillings a week, [ 90p.in todays money] after bus fares, travelling and dinners etc, I was working for near nothing.
The rewards as a Skilled man there outweighed that. I wanted to be an engineer.
A lady in my street was the Managers Secretary, she had seen me in my Sea Cadet Uniform, and being a bit dumb told her I was going to join the Merchant Navy when I was qualified as an engineer,
She told the Boss and I was summoned into the Managers Office. "So you want to join the MN do you", me, gobby, said `Yes`. Him, "You can join tomorrow" me `Can I ?` him, "Yes you have finished here, we train our men to stay for life, not to leave us after all the expensive training,"
So 18 shillings a week was expensive training.
I did a few months in a cotton mill stuck behind a machine, my mates were down the Pit on good money, so I got a job on the coal face for six months shovelling coal onto a conveyor. No bronzy down there , so I then went to the Vindicatrix and loved every minute since. Wage as Peggy £10 a month in 1952.
Cheers
Brian.

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[Keith Tindell]

Interesting your wage as a peggy Brian, by the time i joined in 1957 it had risen to the dizzy height of £12 per month, but in conjunction with my keep was far more than i had earned bumming around waiting to go to sea school, KT

[Bev Summerill]

Just found some of my old pay off slips.
First trip to sea on the New York City as a Deck Apprentice
!st September 1961 wages £13 5 shillings a month
1 month 18 days total pay £21 4 shillings which included sundays at sea and subsistence whilst on leave for 6 days
Short trips with Bristol City Line

Bev Summerill

[Lou Barron]

When i signed on the Duchess of Bedford as a deck boy i think my wages was 6pounds 10 shillings a month i thought i was going to get rich quick