|
The Age of George III |
I am happy that you are using this web site and hope that you found it useful. Unfortunately, the cost of making this material freely available is increasing, so if you have found the site useful and would like to contribute towards its continuation, I would greatly appreciate it. Click the button to go to Paypal and make a donation.
Before the decimalisation of almost everything, Great Britain worked in a variety of weights and measures. The currency was also very different from elsewhere in the world. The following tables are intended to try to explain some of the weights and measures.
Interestingly (perhaps) when legislation was passed to implement metric weights and measures, it applied only to pre-wrapped goods. If one went to an open-air market (for example), one would still buy a pound [1 lb] of apples (or whatever); in a supermarket, the weight would be metric. On a personal note, this has always caused me problems because most of my (elderly) knitting patterns are in Imperial measure and the goods themselves are sold in metric...
| Imperial | Metric | |
| Measurements of Length | ||
| 1 inch | 2.54 cm |
|
| 12 inches | = 1 foot | 30.5 cm |
| 3 feet | = 1 yard | 91.44 cm |
| 36 inches | = 1 yard | 91.44 cm |
| 5½ yards or 16½ feet | = 1 rod, perch or pole | 5.0292 metres |
| 22 yards or 100 links | = 1 chain | 20.12 metres |
| 10 chains or 220 yards | = 1 furlong | 0.2 km |
| 1760 yards) 80 chains) 8 furlongs) |
= 1 mile | 1.6 km |
| 3 miles | = 1 league | |
| Measurements of weight | ||
| 1 oz. [ounce] | 28.35 grammes | |
| 16 oz |
= 1 lb. [pound] |
0.45 kilogram |
| 14 lbs. |
= 1 stone |
6.35 kilograms |
| 2 stones |
= 1 quarter |
12.70 kilograms |
| 4 quarters |
= 1 cwt [hundredweight] |
50.80 kilograms |
| 20 cwt. |
= 1 ton |
1.016 tonnes |
| Liquid Measure | ||
| 1 gill | = ¼ pint | 0.14 l |
| 4 gills | = 1 pint | 0.57 l |
| 2 pints | = 1 quart | 1.13 litre |
| 4 quarts | = 1 gallon | 4.54 litres |
| 52½ gallons | = 1 hogshead | 245.49 litres |
| Dry Measure
NB In the UK, there is only one set of volume units for both dry and liquid measure. |
||
| 1 gill | 0.14 l | |
| 4 gills | = 1 pint | 0.57 ml |
| 2 pints | = 1 quart | 1.13 litre |
| 4 quarts | = 1 gallon | 4.54 litres |
| 2 gallons | = 1 peck | 9.1 litres |
| 4 pecks | = 1 bushel | 36.4 litres |
The following table is taken from THIS website which gives a great deal of information about the history of weights and measures.
| Metric | Imperial cubic | Gallons | Table | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pin | 20.46 litre | 0.72 cu foot | 4.5 gallons | 4.5 gallons = 1 pin |
| firkin | 40.91 litre | 1.44 cu foot | 9 gallons | 2 pins = 1 firkin |
| kilderkin | 81.83 litre | 2.89 cu foot | 18 gallons | 2 firkins = 1 kilderkin |
| barrel | 163.29 litre | 5.78 cu foot | 36 gallons | 2 kilderkins = 1 barrel |
| puncheon | 327.32 litre | 11.56 cu foot | 72 gallons | 2 barrels = 1 puncheon |
| tun | 981.96 litre | 34.68 cu foot | 216 gallons | 3 puncheons = 1 tun |
| hogshead | 245.49 litre | 8.67 cu foot | 54 gallons | 6 firkins = 1 hogshead |
| butt | 490.98 litre | 17.34 cu foot | 108 gallons | 2 hogshead = 1 butt 2 butts = 1 ton (or tun) |
| Meet the web creator | These materials may be freely used for
non-commercial purposes in accordance with applicable statutory allowances
and distribution to students. |
Last modified
12 December, 2018
|