To George Murray

TO THE MASTER GENERAL OF THE ORDNANCE.¹

___________________

Sir,

We the Civil Assistants whose names are herewith sent humbly beg to draw your attention to the accompanying copy of a District Order, which requires the signature of each individual employed on the Ordnance Survey of England, in either the fourth or fifth column of a form attached.

After mature deliberation, during which the consequences which might result from our signing either column of the form were calmly considered, – we conclude, that though feelings of respect for the party from whom that order emanated might be an inducement to many of us to comply with its demands, still in justice to ourselves and in consideration of our own interests, we must most respectfully beg leave to decline signing either of the Columns alluded to.

The avowed cause of this Order’s being circulated is that a reduction is to take place to bring the expenses within the amount of the Parliamentary grant of 1843 – this, Sir, is a system of reduction quite novel to us, our memories can furnish us with no precedent: if a reduction alone were contemplated is it not reasonable to suppose that the qualifications of the men employed would be taken into account? and that the services of those who might be least useful, would be dispensed with? This rational plan has ever been adhered to, and in the present case we are at a loss to conceive why it has been abandoned. We cannot think that a system like the present which hazards the loss of the most efficient men on the Survey, would ever have been resorted to, if it were supposed that these men would accept the proffered boon and return to their own country.

We are led to suppose from this order that those who wish to remain may remain; now will not their signatures in the pay list be sufficient testimony that they are still connected with the Survey: we have given this matter the coolest consideration, but we cannot conceive what the signatures of those who might wish to remain here have to do with a form which professedly affects those and those alone who may wish to go. The avowed object of the form could be effected with greater facility, and with less grounds for doubtful surmises, by each Division Officer obtaining the signatures of those who wish to return to Ireland: as these are the only persons who are to be affected by the contemplated reduction.

We earnestly and humbly request Sir that you will not interpret these remarks as originating from a spirit of opposition, or a wish to dictate to our superintendents – we solemnly disclaim any such motives, but as the thoughts from which these remarks have sprung have in some measure influenced us in our present proceeding, we deem it right to lay them before you honestly and distinctly.

Our grounds then Sir for declining to sign either column are briefly these. –

The fourth column is to contain ‘the signatures of those who wish to remain on the Survey with no immediate prospect of an advance in their present rates of pay’. It is an easy inference that those who wish to remain under such circumstances are satisfied with their present condition. We cannot sign a document from which such an inference can be drawn, for the God of truth knows that we would lie in our hearts if we stated that we were satisfied with our present circumstances.

What surety have we to prevent our signatures from being made subservient to other ends than that stated in the District Order when the heading of this column would warrant inferences completely at variance with our real feelings? The expression ‘who wish to remain on the Survey’ as it stands here admits of being qualified to a great extent – We have no room allowed us to restrict it, and we might have no opportunity of doing so if in the event of our giving our signatures, a misapprehension should hereafter arise relative to our views of this expression.

When we say that we are not satisfied, we give utterance to a sentiment which pervades the bosom of every Civil Assistant employed on the Survey, with not half a dozen exceptions. And though fear or other causes may induce numbers to sign this column, yet are we convinced, that they feel as we feel, and would act as we have acted if they would follow the dictates of their inclinations.

Various considerations, unnecessary, and perhaps improper to recount induce us to decline placing our signatures in the fifth column: many of us actuated by the hope that we would be rewarded on the English Survey have given up other prospects which owing to neglect may not now exist. The statement ‘if you are not satisfied with your present condition your passage will be paid to Ireland’ may sound very fair. But Sir this is a sad alternative for men, many of whom have wasted their youth and energies in this employment, and few of whom, owing to their low rate of pay, have been able to realize a sum sufficient to allow them time to seek another situation.

It is said Sir that anonymous letters have been sent to you at various times complaining of the lowness of the pay, – We unhesitatingly record our censure of such a mode of proceeding, and publicly condemn it as both improper and impolitic – Permit us, Sir, to lay before you in an open, honest, and respectful manner a few statements in connexion with ourselves, fully aware that the safety of our situation depends on the accuracy of these statements, it is not our design to trouble you with a petition, you of course will draw your own conclusions from what we shall lay before you.

Our pay Sir is very low, so low as to preclude most of us from the enjoyment of many of the necessaries of life. On the subjoined list is stated the occupation and time of employment of each of us, together with our respective rates of pay: some of us have joined the Survey young men, full of hope and vigour, the prime of our days have been devoted to the duties of our situation, and we have ever been faithful and assiduous in the discharge of these duties; we now hang on the Survey liable to be discharged at a moment’s notice, without superannuation or gratuity, or perhaps comforted by the assurance that if we wish to go to Ireland our passages shall be paid: on the Survey our youth and energies have been spent, and our bodies unfitted for the discharge of the duties of active life. What then, Sir, awaits us? A gloomy future indeed, a reference to our rates of pay will shew that we have been unable to make suitable provision for futurity. Many of us are young men who however feel the effects of confinement and application to our duties, prematurely stamping us with the evidences of age and infirmity, while our resources render us unable to administer to ourselves proper support. We have no allowance in case of sickness; our pay, small as it is, is then cut off; and in such cases numbers of persons connected with us have been compelled to depend on the aid of friends or to appeal publicly to the generosity of their fellow-workmen.

We are inclined to think that you are unacquainted with this state of things, or if informed of it, that it is from sources on which you can place no reliance, such as those alluded to in the District Order. We find that those persons who have been employed by the Board of Ordnance to assist in the execution of the Survey of England, are allowed the pay which their abilities deserve: if we select parties of equal talent from their numbers and ours, we find that their pay generally exceeds ours by twice its amount – we are totally at a loss to account for this disproportion.

The question may be asked – nay Sir it has been asked – ‘What would satisfy these men’ – We presume not to state the rate of wages which we conceive due to our abilities, but we beg leave to refer you to the accompanying copy of a ‘Form of Recommendation’ approved of and signed by Col. Colby in 1828. – The rates of pay awarded by this form to efficient draughtsmen and clerks are far from being high. The form was constructed when the operations of the Survey were going on in Ireland and in a part of Ireland remarkable for its cheapness. This Sir we deem a virtual Contract, a reference to our rates of pay will shew that not an individual amongst us receives the rate awarded to the higher classes of this form: the inference is that we are not eligible to fill those classes, or that the contract has not been kept: we can appeal to those who are capable of judging of our merits – we can appeal to our own work, and from both these sources we can prove that many of us are qualified to stand in the highest classes here stated, while the subjoined list will shew that we receive little more than half the rate of wages awarded.

Our discontent is not founded on any circumstance which could possibly result from a diminution of the grant of 1843. Far be it from us to murmur at the unavoidable results of such a diminution: our discontent arises from the consciousness that the remuneration which we receive for our services is not at all equivalent to the value of these services, and that there is not in Great Britain a situation similar in its requirements to the Ordnance Survey, wherein the persons employed are so badly rewarded as the Civil Assistants attached to that Survey.

In conclusions Sir we would express the hope, that you will pardon any irregularities which may exist in our mode of addressing you. If such there be they are the result of inexperience in such matters. The statement of our grievances and the sentiments of our hearts have been calmly, plainly, and truthfully, laid before you, and though our tale be an unvarnished one, still we trust that the feelings from which it has sprung will give it a title to your consideration.

Windsor, 16 September, 1843.²

District Order,

As it is necessary to make a further reduction of the number of persons employed on the detail Survey³ to bring the expenses within the amount of the Parliamentary vote for 1843 – and as anonymous letters have been sent at different times to the Master General of the Ordnance complaining of the low rates of pay:

The Division officers are to make out nominal lists of their office and Field Parties according to the Form in Page___.

A copy of this Order is to be sent with the Nominal list to each party to be signed by the men of the respective parties in one column or the other according as the persons wish to remain on the Survey with no immediate prospect of any advance in their present rates of pay, or return to Ireland.

The passages will be paid for those who wish to return to Ireland.

The Non-Commissioned officers in charge of parties are to see the lists signed and to attach their signatures to them.

The Division officers are to transmit the lists to the District office with as little delay as possible.

(Signed)

Henry Tucker, Captain Royal Engineers.

To the Civil Assistants of the Division office party.

________________________

F O R M

________________________

Nominal list of office Party of the ___ Division to be signed by each person either in the 4th or 5th column.

20th Sept. 1843.

Names	Rate of Pay.	Employment.	Signature of those who wish to remain on the Survey with no immediate prospect of an advance in their present rates of pay.	Signature of those who wish to return to Ireland.
Civil Assistants A.B.4 C.D. D.E. Labourers A.E. C.D.	3/9 3/3 2/0 1/9 1/6	Drawing Plotting Registering Chaining Do	A.B. D.E. A.B. C.D.	C.D.

Form of RECOMMENDATION for the PAY of CIVIL ASSISTANTS.

____________________________

Sir, I recommend who is now receiving per diem in class as deserving of an increase of Survey Pay in that class, or of promotion to class.⁵

District Officer.

-------------------------------------------

Class A. (Miscellaneous Duties) Rate of Pay not to exceed 2/- per diem.

Superintending Piling Parties and other duties of a responsible nature, requiring more intelligence than is necessary for the duties of a chainman.

-------------------------------------------------

Class B. (Clerks) Rate of Pay not to exceed 2/- per diem.

Copying and other duties which require persons who can write tolerably well.

-------------------------------------------------

Class C. (Clerks) Rate of Pay above 2/- and not exceeding 3/- per diem.

Duties which require superior qualifications in writing, considerable knowledge of Arithmetic, and skill in the particular Books and Accounts of the Survey.

-----------------------------------------------

Class D. (Clerks) Rate of Pay above 3/- and not exceeding 5/- per diem.

Great accuracy and rapidity in the execution of all those duties which are required to be performed in keeping the various books and Accounts of the Survey, and in checking Computations.

----------------------------------------------

Class F. (Draughtsmen) Rate of Pay above 2/- and not exceeding 3/- per diem.

1. Road Surveying and Plotting neatly and accurately.

2. Penning in lines of all kinds, either for Roads or Boundaries neatly and accurately.

-------------------------------------------------

Class F. (Draughtsmen) Rate of Pay above 3/- and not exceeding 4/- per diem.

Qualified for Road Surveying and Plotting, and also capable of penning in lines of all kinds, either for Roads or Boundaries.

-----------------------------------------------

Class G. (Draughtsmen) Rate of Pay above 4/- and not to exceed 6/- per diem.

Qualified for Road Surveying, Sketching Gardens, and completing the drawing of fair Plans.

-----------------------------------------------

Class H. (Draughtsmen) 6/- per Diem, and upwards.

Qualified to perform the whole of their duties, both in surveying and drawing, in a rapid and efficient manner.

------------------------------------------------

Classification of the Civil Assistants.

-------------------------------------

Class.

A	B	C	D	E		F	G	H
				1	2

This Table is to be inserted in the Monthly Return, by the side of that showing the classification of the Royal Sappers and Miners,⁶ and to be filled up in a similar manner.

In each Recommendation the Division Officer will fill up the Table with the members in the respective classes attached to his Division.

________________________

In recommending the Civilians for the respective classes, the District Officer will take care to state definitely the grounds on which he recommends the individual for the class, in order that I may not only put him in the class, but also assign to him the Rate of Pay in that class to which, on comparison with orders, he seems to be entitled.

Also when a Civilian has acquired higher qualifications, and contributes more to the progress of the work, than he did when I assigned his Rate of Pay, the District Officer is to send a fresh recommendation in his favour if he has not already attained the highest Pay of his Class.

(signed) | Thomas Colby, Lieut. Col. | Royal Engineers,

Ordnance Map Office, Tower. | April 28th, 1828.

RI MS JT/1/TYP/10/3895-3900

LT Transcript Only