Here are some of the Contract Rules and Regulations from 1886:
- All sheep to be carried from the pen and put quietly down on the floor.
- The crutch, brisket and points to be properly trimmed.
- The belly wool to be detached from the fleece and put aside.
- No shearer allowed to put his foot or knee on any sheep.
- Any shearer injuring any sheep... will forfeit eight shillings.
- All sheep with horns growing into head or eyes... to be put back.
Shearers Rules:
- Paid at the rate of seventeen shillings and sixpence per hundred sheep.
- Working hours from 6am to 6pm (4pm on Saturdays).
- No swearing, bad language or disorderly conduct allowed.
- No shearer allowed to shear more than 100 sheep in any one day.
Those were the days. I wonder how one became a shearer then without formal schools.
Fiona Beckett