Thread: Prices of early 1800s razors when made

Originally we were looking for the cost of a razor in 1815. Thanks to Martin we have a good reference for 1820, but we are overlooking something of an order of magnitude - the effects on the British economy of the Napoleonic Wars. The treaty of Amiens (1802) was broken in 1803 and Britain then went to War again (we had already conspired and fought to crush the french in the 1790s). So - though some people dispute this, we are considering the years between 1793 to 1815.

The wars saw a series of coalitions between Britain and Europe, but although other nations were defeated or otherwise ceased fighting, Britain was at war all through the Napoleonic wars. Imagine the cost - the armies had to be fed, steel and iron were used prodigiously for ordnance like weapons, small arms, ammunition, swords, knives, etc, horses supplied, the cost of the Royal Navy and the pay of sailors and the cost of ships, and a hundred other things. We also paid an enormous subsidy to the Austrian and Russian forces, as well as fighting the french who outnumbered us 2:1. Sea defences were also built eg the Martello Towers and coastal defences were improved. Although the British forces were small at first - say 40,000 strong, they had increased to 250,000 by 1813.

How was this all paid for? By increasing taxation at home and reducing the common man to a state of desperation, unemployment and ever increasing prices. Some emigrated. Some just joined the army to avoid starvation. Mills and other industrial concerns had to close down. Inflation grew and grew. Income Tax - introduced in 1799 to garner money to fight the french with - was increased.

Conditions got a bit better after the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, but this was only a brief interlude. The wars still rumbled on abroad and the costs and taxation continued. It was not until 1812 when the Russians trounced Napoleon that coastal fortification and Martello Tower building ceased. Each battle cost us more. Some notable ones which involved the British forces were:

Battle of Toulon, 1793
The Flanders Campaign, 1793 - 1796
The West Indies Campaign, 1793 - 1796
The Battle of the Nile, 1798
Third Anglo-Mysore War, 1789 - 1792
Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, 1798 - 1799
Invasion of Holland 1799
The Battle of Copenhagen, 1801
Maratha, 1803 - 1805
Hanover, 1805
Naples - 1805
Battle of Maida, 1806
The Battle of Blaauwberg, 1806
Alexandria Expedition, 1807
The Peninsular War, 1808 - 1814
The Walcheren Campaign, 1809
The Mauritius campaign, 1809–1811
Holland Expedition, 1814
The Battle of Waterloo, 1815

The above involved transporting the British Army to France, Holland, Spain, Sicily, Mauritius, Denmark, Egypt, etc, etc. Very costly. Even then it did not stop. Napoleon escaped captivity and we had to hunt him down again - the Hundred Days War.

In 1815 the conflict came to an end (with the exception of the Hundred Days War) with the Battle of Waterloo. By then we had gathered an enormous national debt (some say it was the equivalent of £36 billion pounds today, others halve this figure). Things continued to decline - european countries had been occupied and smashed, famine was common and money was hard to come by. This practically cut off most British imports to a weakened and impecunious Europe. We did continue to recover, wages increased (they had been stagnant for almost 20 years before Waterloo), but prices went down (due to the market being restricted and competition being stimulated).

In short it was a time of great changes. You cannot ignore unemployment, near famine, wage cutting, taxation, inflation, etc. What was common re: wages/labour in 1820 could possibly bear no relation to that in 1815 and pre-1815. There were even huge regional variations - London being much different to places like Yorkshire.

Trained and notable economists have tried to define it, but in the financial deficit, for example, even thy differ in estimates from £18 billion to £36 billion in todays money.

Regards,
Neil