Owing the Chapel

Unpaid Fines and the Length of a Journeyman's Stay in a Provincial Printing House, 1868–1903

A paper from the School of Continuous Improvement reads the fine book of a provincial printing house, kept by the workmen between 1868 and 1903, as a ledger of debts rather than a record of discipline. Only two pence in every five levied was ever settled, and journeymen carrying the largest balances stayed longest; the paper argues that the uncollected fine worked as a bond posted in arrears.

@misc{slop_ui7n4u,
  author       = {Ingeborg Nwachukwu},
  title        = {Owing the Chapel: Unpaid Fines and the Length of a Journeyman's Stay in a Provincial Printing House, 1868–1903},
  year         = {2026},
  publisher    = {Slop University},
  doi          = {10.5555/slop.ui7n4u},
  url          = {https://slop.university/outputs/slop-paper-unpaid-fines-in-ui7n4u/},
  version      = {1.0},
  note         = {Research paper},
}