Infirmary Subscriptions for Railway Construction Workers 1870's

[Andy873]

I came upon a newspaper article this morning from June 1873 which reports subscriptions to the Blackburn Infirmary.

It states that the workpeople of Jonas Gregson, Railway contractor at Padiham paid exactly £5 to the infirmary. This rang a bell with me and found another subscription payment in January 1872, this time it only states Gregson's name and was again a £5 subscription.

Now I've touched on health insurance a little before, and as far as I understand it a donation over a certain amount gave you either free medical help or discounted help should you need it at the infirmary.

Bare in mind, looking at all the articles etc I have about Jonas, he appeared to be a tight fisted person when it came to money and was frequently being taken to court for non-payment of wages!

Is Gregson paying these subscriptions to cover some of his workforce who are constructing the Padiham - Rose Grove section? or is it the workforce (or some of them) clubbing together for medical insurance do you think?
For £5 in 1872 / '73, how many people might be covered for that amount?
I presume this subscription covered you / certain people for 1 year?

Can someone please explain how all of this worked?

 

[Gloster]

I don’t think that there was any fixed system, but generally the employees paid a small amount each week/month/quarter or year and the infirmary would offer certain services. Some employers would pay the sum themselves, but possibly restrict the right to certain employees depending on their job, time with him, status (permanent, weekly, daily or casual), etc. Others might collect the money and pass it on as a lump sum, possibly making up the difference if the infirmary expected a minimum amount. Even a tight-fisted employer might pay the money if they reckoned that it would save them money on First Aid, doctor’s fees, etc., and get skilled workers back quicker (the loss of a couple of skilled workers at the wrong time might hold up the whole job, even if you weren’t paying those who were ill or laid off).

£5 a year, quarter or even a month might be calculated to be worth it for the reduction in delays. Things really were calculated down to the last farthing and even a Scrooge-like employer might see the advantage in the expenditure.

 

[Rescars]

Gregson may have made the payment himself, or he may have made the payment on behalf of his staff who had contributed to some sort of medical benefit cooperative fund. This was the era of self-help by groups of employees. The Friendly Societies Act of 1875 put many the arrangements of many groups on a sound footing. Some of these societies are still with us today, such as what started in 1865 as the "Midland Railway Enginemen and Firemen's Life Assurance and Permanent Incapacitation Fund" (under the patronage of the Midland Railway Board of Directors).

 

[Andy873]

£5 a year, quarter or even a month might be calculated to be worth it for the reduction in delays. Things really were calculated down to the last farthing and even a Scrooge-like employer might see the advantage in the expenditure.

Yes, I see where you're coming from here. According to the Internet (providing it's correct), £5 at Blackburn Infirmary around 1873 should have covered 8 people, 4 as in patients, 4 out patients and these people had to be named and the cover was for 1 year.

If I've got my calculations correct, and the subscription covered 8 people then averaged out it would be 12s, 6d per person, which was approximately 3 days pay for someone like a general labourer, less if they are skilled workers that are being paid more per day.

Gregson may have made the payment himself, or he may have made the payment on behalf of his staff who had contributed to some sort of medical benefit cooperative fund. This was the era of self-help by groups of employees.

Yes again, it was such a different world back then when it came to health cover. I suppose an employer might add it in as an extra to get your services, perhaps?

The subscription dates look bang on to me, Gregson started in 1871 constructing his section of the loop line and there was only a handful of people listed in the 1871 census as working on the section, in short he probably thought it wasn't worth paying that year. By the spring or early summer 1874 he's gone bust and can no longer continue construction, hence no payment that year, but we can see two payments either side of these events.

And on the note of these hospital subscriptions, I draw a blank when I search for Thomas Stone's subscriptions (who constructed the Great Harwood section). It could be that as @Rescars says, he or the workers organised some medical cover with some sort of medical club. Looking through all the articles about Stone, he seemed to be well liked by the local officials, the L&Y, and there are no wage disputes from his workforce, which leads me to conclude that he at least organised / encouraged some sort of medical cover for some of his workers. As @Gloster says, it could be prudent to cover some of your key workers, it could end up cheaper than serious delays in construction.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Slightly earlier era than the 1870s, but "The Railway Navvies" by Terry Coleman (2015 edition of the book that was first published 1965) suggests that workers on the original Woodhead tunnel(s) in the mid 1840s paid (or had deducted) three half pence a day to cover the cost of a Henry Pomfret, a local surgeon who routinely visited the tunnel site three days a week to treat the injured, or immediately as required if there had been a serious accident, and also to pay into a sick fund, should a worker ever be hurt or fall ill.