Salaries and Duties: Miscellaneous Jobs

Although some ships had unique jobs, for the most part, each ship employed men with the same skills. The number of personnel was different due to the size of the ships.

Carpenter

Nearly every ship had a carpenter and a joiner. On Titanic, John Maxwell was the Carpenter and he was paid £9, 10 shillings per month. 

It was his job to measure water levels in the ship's double bottom and keep an eye on fresh water reserves. He took care of the oiling instruments in the wheel house, cleanliness of tarps and winches, repaired sails and any needed maintenance work or repairs.  

Carpenters, like Surgeons, were available 24/7.  John Hall Hutchinson was the Joiner and he was paid £6 per month.


Lamp Trimmer

Samuel Ernest Hemming was the Lamp Trimmer and he was paid £5, 5 shillings. His job was the upkeep of all oil lamps aboard and for the mixture of colors. At dusk at sea, an oil lamp was exhibited on a forward mast and the navigation lights would be on. It was also his job to keep lamps at the ready so the boat could be lit in the event of an emergency.

Storekeeper

John Foley was the Storekeeper, a newly created job, and he was paid £5, 5 shillings. Foley looked after certain clothes and materials and provided them to the crew as they needed them. Most clothing had to be purchased.

Master-at arms

Job Henry Bailey and Thomas Walter King were both master-at-arms. They were both paid the same wage of £5 and 10 shillings.

Window Cleaners

There were two window cleaners on Titanic. Bill Harder and Robert James Sawyer. They were paid £4 per month.

Mess Stewards

There were two Mess Stewards who doubled as a crew cook: Montague Vincent and Frederick Tamlyn.  They both received £4 per month. 
The laws said that a seaman must have a meal with meat at least once daily and the ship must carry 4.5 liters of water per person for drinking, cooking and washing.  

Steward Vincent and Tamlyn were there to make sure the rules were followed. They were not Stewards in the dining rooms. They were crew cooks who ran the seamen's mess on C-deck portside.  They shared the galley with the cooks in the firemen's mess.

Chief Baker

Charles Joughin was Chief Baker on Olympic and on Titanic.  He was in charge of 10 bakers, two confectioners and one Vienna baker.  He was one of the highest paid crew members on Titanic at £12 per month.

Other Titanic jobs that paid less than £4 per year

• Scullions

• Pantrymen

• Storekeepers

• Plate washers

• Glory-hole stewards (cleans crew and steward quarters)

• Telephone operator

• Matron (oversees stewardesses)

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Examples of the Cost of Living in Great Britain in 1912

Ten percent of the population lived below the poverty level.  Fifteen percent lived in poverty.

The average monthly income for a household of four people was £6. 

A skilled tradesman earned about £8.

Unskilled workers earned about £4.

A small house for four people rented for £1 5 shillings per month.

Refer to the conversion link below to convert British pounds to US dollars.


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Conversion link - British pounds to US dollars.   In today's dollars, one (1) British pound equals $1.28 US dollars. Use the link to convert pounds to dollars so you can see other crew salaries.  I have the converter set at £2 but you can change the number of pounds. 

Keep in mind the results you see will show the value of money on the day you are using the link, not the year 1912.