Working ife in the 1890's Australia

 

Damn it is Thursday already, this week we are looking at shearing in the 1890's. Shearing underwent many tribulations and changes during this period, as well as the exhausting work and the strikes and in 1894 new machinery was introduced.

Shearers were an itinerant group of men depending on seasonal work, a popular song at the time sums up the life of a shearer.

The springtime it brings on the shearing

And it's the you will see them in droves

To the west country stations all steering

A seeking a job of the coves

The shearing season varied between states, an expert shearer could earn money during most of shearing season by travelling and the different colonies, including Tassie and New Zealand. It was not unheard of for shearers to boast that they could shear all year round. This they could do as the shearing started in Queensland in January running to March, then in NSW, Victoria, South Australia between August to November. Also in Queensland the period from July to September was favoured because it was a time when the fleece was at its thickest and grass seeds didn't affect the quality.

How much they made depended on how many sheep they sheared, the rate was so much per 100 sheep and included rations and the cook's wages. In South Aus the effects of the strikes and the depression are reflected in the fluctuations of pay, In 18 90 it was on average eighteen shillings a sixpence by 1899 it had fallen to thirteen shillings.

More to come next week