368 
the price of bread depended solely 
on the price of wheat, and the al- 
Jowanee to the bakers always in- 
cluded the charges for grinding 
and bolting ; and by the ancient 
custom of the land, where toll 
was taken, every twentieth grain 
(or 5 per cent. on the weight of 
the wheat, was deemed sufficient 
remuneration. 
It was not until the 8th of 
Anne that the magistrates were 
directed to bave reference to the 
price of flour in fixing the assize 
of bread; but it appears on the 
Journals of the House that in the 
year 1735 a petition was present- 
ed to the House by the Bakers’ 
Company stating the hardships 
under which they laboured, and 
praying that the assize of bread 
might be set by the price of flour. 
A committee to whom this peti- 
tion was referred, reported to the 
House, That.th¢e petitioners had 
fully proved the allegations in 
their petition, and recommended 
the assize of bread should be set 
by the price of flour, And it ap- 
pears that a bill was brought in 
accordingly, but the House did 
not proceed therein; the 3]st 
Geo. II. in part provided for this 
object, for it is therein directed 
generally that 20 peck loaves are 
to be made and sold from a sack 
of 280lbs. of flour ; and by this 
direction it appears, the magis- 
trates of the City of London pro- 
ceeded to fix the price of bread, 
and from that time but little refer- 
ence has been had to the price 
of wheat. Still, however, the 
directions were only general, un- 
til the 37th of the King provid- 
ed a regular table for the pur- 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1815. 
pose, calculated upon the same 
principle as was laid down in the 
former act ; and here it is to be 
observed, that no advantage bread 
was intended to be allowed to the 
baker, it having been assumed 
that 20 peck loaves is the whole 
quantity which can be made from 
a sack of flour, though your Com- 
mittee were informed by several 
witnesses whom they examined, 
that a larger quantity is almost 
always made from it; by this 
table a money allowance of 11s, 
Sd. per sack was made} to the 
baker, which has been subse- 
quently increased to 14s. Jd, 
The wheat table differs but little 
from that in the preceding Act, 
though it has been calculated on 
the principle that seven bushels 
and a half of wheat are equal to 
the price of a sack of flour, and 
not, as it ought to have been, on 
the quantity of bread which could 
be obtained from a quarter of 
wheat; but the result is, that the 
quantity of 365lbs. of bread in 
the table of 3lst Geo. II, is in- 
creased to 371 Ibs.; by which 
alteration the advantage bread is 
reduced to 46lbs, and the two 
loaves originally granted ; in ad- 
dition to this there is a money al- 
lowance of 14s per quarter, which 
has since been increased to 16s. 9d, 
and your Committee beg leave to 
point out that this sum amounts 
to more than 8d. on a peck loaf, 
whereas the money allowance on 
a sack of flour is less than that 
amount ; the larger allowance be- 
ing intended to cover the charges 
of grinding, whilst the amount of 
the surplus bread would seem to 
have escaped notice; by either of 
these tables, though constructed 
x 
