‘Sometimes in one place and sometimes in another’: Agnes Cooper in Southwark, 1619

Posted by diodorus on Wednesday August 05, 2015 @10:46PM
from the manyheadedmonster.wordpress.com dept.

https://manyheadedmonster.wordpress.com/2015/08/05/sometimes-in-one-place-and-sometimes-in-another-agnes-cooper-in-southwark-1619/

( 3 comments | 26 points | on HN )

Re:‘Sometimes in one place and sometimes in another’: Agnes ... by jakeogh on Thursday August 06, 2015 @12:34AM (#10014544)

"He took Agnes on as an apprentice after her step-father’s death, and looked after the £6 30s 4d she inherited from him, a precise sum which must have originally been left her by her own parents."

What's £6 then buy today? Reads like £6 30s 4d is the exact fractional amount?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:‘Sometimes in one place and sometimes in another’: Agnes ... by blintzing on Thursday August 06, 2015 @12:55AM (#10014602)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C2%A3sd

The Latin librae, solidi, and denarii became pounds, shillings and pence.

There are 12 pence in a shilling, and 20 shillings in a pound.

So, "£6 30s 4d" is (6)+(30/20)+(4/240)= £ 7.51

It's rather odd that such an exact amount was given, which is what the sentence points out.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:‘Sometimes in one place and sometimes in another’: Agnes ... by jakeogh on Thursday August 06, 2015 @01:07AM (#10014640)

Found a calculator! http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/

In 2014, the relative worth of £7 10s 4d (that's what it converted to) from 1619 is:

  £1,320.00	 using the retail price index
  £1,300.00	 using the GDP deflator
  £52,300.00	 using the per capita GDP
  £400,000.00	 using the share of GDP

[ Parent | on HN ]