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Hi,
The costermonger got his name originally because they sold Costard apples and it was a very respectable trade. It widened out after that to take in all seasonal fruit, then to other commodities, but they were always more respected than most other street vendors if they had their own barrow. It was quite an exclusive 'club'. If Joe Fleming was a coster, then he needn't necessarily have been a low-life, simply because he was a coster!
The bloke in that Wikipedia obviously got stitched up by a coster at some time and had it in for them a bit! Having said that he was right about dispensing their own justice.
On the lowest rung of the ladder was the poor sod that had to sell from a basket or a handcart. You didn't get much lower than someone selling oranges from a basket. They were treated with considerable disdain by proper costers, and poor old Joe Barnett probably fell into that category. At best he would have worked for someone that did own his own barrow. It would have been a considerable come down after his job in Billingsgate where the wages were well above average.
The average working wage for a man in 1888 (casual labourer) was £1 11s 8d - as a Billingsgate porter Joe would have earnt a fair bit more than that. Paley suggests a ridiculously high figure (I think it was £3?). Although that's not at all likely, he would have been on a good screw. He'd be lucky if he earnt 6 bob a week as an orange seller, so he must have felt a certain amount of degradation going from one to the other. I don't think Mary would have been too happy about it either! If Joe Fleming was a proper coster, he might well have been a much better bet that Joe Barnett after Joe lost his job.
Hugs
Janie
xxx
The costermonger got his name originally because they sold Costard apples and it was a very respectable trade. It widened out after that to take in all seasonal fruit, then to other commodities, but they were always more respected than most other street vendors if they had their own barrow. It was quite an exclusive 'club'. If Joe Fleming was a coster, then he needn't necessarily have been a low-life, simply because he was a coster!
The bloke in that Wikipedia obviously got stitched up by a coster at some time and had it in for them a bit! Having said that he was right about dispensing their own justice.
On the lowest rung of the ladder was the poor sod that had to sell from a basket or a handcart. You didn't get much lower than someone selling oranges from a basket. They were treated with considerable disdain by proper costers, and poor old Joe Barnett probably fell into that category. At best he would have worked for someone that did own his own barrow. It would have been a considerable come down after his job in Billingsgate where the wages were well above average.
The average working wage for a man in 1888 (casual labourer) was £1 11s 8d - as a Billingsgate porter Joe would have earnt a fair bit more than that. Paley suggests a ridiculously high figure (I think it was £3?). Although that's not at all likely, he would have been on a good screw. He'd be lucky if he earnt 6 bob a week as an orange seller, so he must have felt a certain amount of degradation going from one to the other. I don't think Mary would have been too happy about it either! If Joe Fleming was a proper coster, he might well have been a much better bet that Joe Barnett after Joe lost his job.
Hugs
Janie
xxx
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