They were, rather scathingly, known as ‘Three Day Millionaires’ because of the way that they threw their money around. Of course they went mad when they were ashore, fishermen had three week’s worth of drinking and spending to catch up on when they landed.

Because of this it was commonly thought that wages were good. In point of fact they were extremely poor given the harsh conditions and ever present dangers that the men had to endure while they were away from home. This is amply illustrated by looking at the settling sheet from the Melling Steam Trawling Company, who were operating from 170 Dock St. in 1915.

Mellings could be said to be typical of the owners that operated in those days. Their fleet, at that time, consisted of six vessels
Annie Melling
Tom Melling
Lizzie Melling
Harry Melling
Lily Melling
Betty Johnson

This extract from their books shows the true earnings that a skipper or mate could be expected to make.

A. Miller settling March 26th. 1915, ST Annie Melling for 9 trips as follows
3 trips as skipper from December 15th. 1914 to January 7th. 1915
5 trips as mate from February 8th. to March 11th., 1915
1 trip as skipper from March 13th. to March 24th.

3 trips as skipper from December 15th. 1914 to January 7th. 1915
Ship’s accounts for the trips

Gross sales less stage expenses = £193.19.10
General expenses = £92.10.0
Balance = £101.9.10

5 trips as mate from February 8th. to March 11th. 1915
Ship’s accounts for the trips

Gross sales less stage expenses = £418.2.9
General expenses = £256.1.10
Balance = £162.0.11

1 trip as skipper from March 13th. to March 24th. 1915
Ship’s accounts for the trip

Gross sales less stage expenses = £193.10.0
General expenses = £127.19.6
Balance = £127.19.6

A. Miller’s total wage for the 9 trips

Skipper’s share on 3 trips = £21.29.9
Mate’s share on 5 trips = £11.11.6
Balance = £34.1.3
Less cash on a/c = £21.13.0
Less provisions = £28.5.10
Balance = £5.15.5

After 4 trips as skipper and 5 as mate A. Miller is left with the princely sum of £5.15.5. Not a lot is it?

Mr. J T Wragg skipper’s settling for 5 trips from January 8th. to March 11th. 1915
62 days less 4 days settling, 58 days working

Gross sales less stage expenses = £418.2.9
Less general expenses = £256.1.10
Balance = £162.0.11
Skipper’s share and 3 eighths = £15.18.3
Less cash on a/c = £28.6.6
Less provisions = £3.19.11
Balance = £16.18.2

In case anyone thinks that this poor pay improved over the years, the following information I freely admit to extracting from John Nicklin’s excellent book ‘Trawling With The Lid Off’ illustrates that this was not the case.
John Nicklin spent 30 years on Arctic trawlers and this extract was based on 324 days at sea for the 1948/49 tax year. The trawler that he sailed on during that period, the Northern Duke, was the top earner and many more vessels earned half as much.

Vessel’s gross for the year £120,000
John’s gross pay for the year (324 days) £1,200
48 weeks @ £7.50 £360
Poundage £672
Liver Money £140
Total Gross Earnings £1,172

Now consider that the average day was a 12 hour working one whilst on passage and an 18 hour one when fishing. Average that out to 15 hours a day for the trip and then divide the amount earned by the hours worked to get an average hourly rate.
Hours worked = 324 days times 15 = 4860 hours.
Hourly rate = £(1172/4860) = £0.24p per hour.

The following payslip was kindly sent to me by Les Howard. It is from a trip on the Wyre Vanguard in 1962. As you will notice, the wages are not that good for an 18 to 24 hour day over 3 weeks.

Click to enlarge image

Who else would work the hours that those men did, under the conditions that they regarded as normal, for so little money? Millionaires? I don’t think so.