We went round to my Mum and Dad's house yesterday for a visit, for some reason or another we ended up riffling through their documents and we stumbled upon this fantastic little piece of history. It was my great grandfathers pay book from the first world war. The earliest date was the 1st of April 1918, toward the end of the war and just shy of 100 years old, really surprising what good condition it was in.
As you can see the amount paid for a weeks worth of work was 5 and 5. We contemplated whether or not that was 5 pounds and 5 shillings or 5 shillings 5 pence. Upon further investigation we discovered that privates were only paid around a shilling a day, making the latter correct. In case you didn't know, don't feel embarrassed if you don't because I had no clue, there are 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound.
My great grandfather and hundreds of thousands of others were risking their lives for far less than a pound a day. Making me further appreciate the courageousness of these people. He managed to survive the war but sadly died of peritonitis at the young age of 22, never getting the opportunity to meet his son who was born a few months later. I like to think that we have carried his sense of humour through the generations, as it was obviously wicked.
Last Will & Testament
I leave all my money, £100.00, to myself
This doesn't sound like much but considering the average price of a house around this time was £250, it isn't bad. What can you actually purchase for that these days?
Inflation, the government says it's a good thing, I am certain it isn't. Makes you wonder how much longer people are going to continue to have faith in fiat currencies, which are created entirely from nothing.