Biography:
1. Jeremiah Betts started work as a Refiner in the Saltpetre House in June 1805, and was paid 2/-d per day (Supply 5/224 dated the 30th January 1806). However, Supply 5/232 dated the 23rd January 1822, gave his start-date with the Board as the 1st September 1804.
2. According to the List of Officers, Foremen and Artificers, etc. Employed - Supply 5/226, dated the 18th June 1807 - Jeremiah was still working as a Saltpetre Refiner, earning 2/-d per day. In addition, Refiners were allowed to watch in turn, for which they received 1/-d.
3. Supply 5/227 dated the 23rd August 1808 indicated that Mr. Betts was still employed as a Saltpetre Refiner earning 2/-d. per day, and "in addition to their pay, they are allowed to watch in turn, for which they receive one shilling."
4. Employee List (Supply 5/228 dated the 1st September 1810) confirmed the previous entry.
5. List of Employees dated the 29th August 1812 (Supply 5/229) stated that Jeremiah was still a Saltpetre Refiner but that he then earned 2/8d per day, and in addition, when not working extra, was allowed to watch in turn. The same pay and conditions were quoted on the Return dated the 13th February 1814 (Supply.5/230).
6. Lists of Officers & Others Employed dated the 25th June 1818 (Supply 5/231 and WO54/524) confirmed that he was still a Refiner. He was a married man living in Waltham Abbey, aged 45, with 3 children. He now only earned 2/4d per day, but was still allowed to watch in turn, for which he was paid 1/-d per night.
7. A List of Employees dated the 28th August 1818 (Supply 5/231), recorded the names of people to be retained between the 3rd September and the 31st December 1818. Betts' name is included, with his pay remaining unchanged, but he was then not allowed to watch. However, a letter dated September 1818 (Supply 5/231) stated "We respectfully beg leave to add the names and stations of those persons whom it will be necessary to discharge in consequence of this arrangement.", and it included a Mr. Betts, Saltpetre Refiner.
8. Nevertheless, the List of Employees dated the 19th May 1819 (Supply 5/231) showed that Betts was still employed as a Saltpetre Refiner, that he was a married man aged 46 with 3 children, that he still lived in Waltham Abbey and was paid 2/4d per day. He was again allowed to watch in turn, for which he received 1/-d per night.
9. List of Officers on Employment dated the 13th September 1820 (Supply 5/232) recorded that Mr. Jeremiah Betts was now 47, still lived in Waltham Abbey, still earned 2/4d per day, but now received 1/6d per night when allowed to watch. This record said that Mr. Betts only had 2 children, not 3 as stated in Note 8.
10 A statement "of monies to which the public were entitled to receive credit between the 1st January and the 31st December, 1821" dated the the 4th April 1821 (Supply 5/232) showing the amounts received by the storekeeper, indicated that Jeremiah Betts had been living in a Board of Ordnance house from the 6th May 1812, and the rent was £5.4.0d per annum. The same information is repeated in Supply 5/232 dated the 16th February 1822 for the year 1821.
11 List of Employees dated the 9th April 1821 (Supply 5/232) indicated that Jeremiah was then 51, employed as a Saltpetre Refiner and that he had 3 children; all other entries remained the same as in Note 9.
12 List of Employees at the Royal Powder Mills (Supply 5/232 dated the 23rd January 1822) gave the age of Jeremiah, Saltpetre Refiner, as 52, with nearly 17 years' service and pay per day of 2/4d.
13 Return dated the 6th February 1822 (Supply 5/232) gave the length of service and other full details of those persons employed by the Ordnance at Waltham Abbey as at the 31st December 1821. This appeared to be a more detailed and accurate Return than that of the 23rd January 1822. Jeremiah Betts, Saltpetre Refiner, was appointed a Labourer at Waltham Abbey on the 6th September 1805, and by Orders of the Board dated 4th September 1818 and the 4th October 1819, as a Saltpetre Refiner. He was allowed to watch in turn to guard the works for which he received an additional 2/-d per night, giving him total annual wages of £41.14.4d. According to this Return, at the 31st December 1821 he had just over sixteen years' service, was 52 years old, was married with three children, and lived in Waltham Abbey. Additionally, he had originally trained as a Wool Comber.
14 In the spring of 1822, the Ordnance Board decided to reduce the production and regeneration of gunpowder and, therefore, the Establishment at Waltham was to be reduced. Accordingly Empson Middleton and James Wright drew up a list of people to be dismissed (Supply 5/232 dated the 21st March, 1822), and they were subsequently dismissed on the 1st June that year. Several petitions were submitted by the men asking for financial assistance. Many of the men were long-service employees in their middle age, and they pointed out that they had little hope of finding employment after the hay and corn harvest had been gathered. The Storekeeper at Waltham was sympathetic and forwarded their petitions to the Board for consideration. Jeremiah Betts was one of the petitioners, and he was awarded two weeks' pay to ease his financial burden.
15 Nevertheless, WO54/550 dated the 1st April 1825 (Personnel Employed in the Engineers' Department) stated that Jeremiah was paid 2/2d per day for 313 days as a Labourer, which gave him an annual income of £33.18.2d. His service was given as nearly two years - presumably meaning from the date of his present appointment, i.e., the 16th June 1823; he was then aged 54, was married and had 3 children.
16 WO54/550 dated the 1st October 1825 confirmd the previous entry (WO54/550) and recorded that Betts started at the Mills on the 1st September 1805 as a Saltpetre Refiner.
17 WO54/554 dated the 1st April 1826 confirmed entries in Notes 15 and 16, with the exception that he was now 55 years' old and had nearly 4 years' service.
18 WO54/554 dated the 1st October 1826 confirmed the entries for the previous Return.
19 WO54/558 dated the 1st April 1827 gave the same information as in the notes above. At that date Jeremiah had nearly 4 years' service and was now 56 years old.
20 WO54/558 dated the 1st October 1827 gave the same information as in previous Returns, although Jeremiah now had nearly 5 years' service and was then 57 years of age.
21 Return dated the 1st April 1828 (WO54/562) updated the same basic information as in the notes above, as did the Return dated the 1st October 1828 (WO54/562).
22 WO54/566 dated the 1st April 1829 recorded that Jeremiah at that date still earned 2/2d per day. His length of service was given as nearly 5 years, and he was now aged 58.
23 Return dated the 1st October, 1829 (no reference given) again updated his age and length of service, with family and pay details remaining unchanged.
24 According to Return WO54/570 dated the 1st April 1830, all details remained the same for Jeremiah as previously, except that his service was now nearly 6 years from the date of his appointment as a Labourer in 1825, and he was aged 59.
25 Return WO54/570 dated the 1st October 1830 confirmed that Jeremiah was still working as a Labourer. His family details and wages remained unchanged, but his length of service and age were updated.
26 A Return of Persons belonging to the Civil Establishment of the Ordnance at the Gunpowder and Small Arms Manufactories at Waltham Abbey, Faversham and Enfield, showing in detail the several points of information called for by the Master General and Board's Order dated the 31st January 1831, recorded that Jeremiah Betts was one of the 15 Labourers to be employed at the Waltham Abbey Powder Mills and the Enfield Small Arms Factory; he was to be paid 2/2d per day and used to undertake different services as a Labourer in the Manufactories, where "steadiness and sobriety are particularly required" (WO54/570.
27 WO54/575 dated April 1831 updated his age and period of service in the October 1830 Return (Note 25).
28 WO54/575 dated October 1831 confirmed that Jeremiah still earned 2/2d per day, giving him a total of £33.18.2d per annum. He had then served just over 7 years and was aged 61.
29 WO54/581 dated the 1st April 1832 updated his age and period of service in the October 1831 Return.
30 WO54/581 dated the 1st October 1832 reiterated that Jeremiah still earned £33.18.2d per annum. His service was given as just over 8 years and his age as 62.
31 WO54/587 dated the 1st October 1833 confirmed his basic details, with his age and length of service updated. He still had 3 children.
32 WO54/593 dated the 1st April 1834 confirmed that Jeremiah still earned £33.18.2d per annum, that he had served nearly 30 years and that his age was 63.
33 Jeremiah was appointed as the Office Keeper and Messenger in the Engineers' Department on the 14th October 1834, and moved into William Newton's house on Horse Mill Island. His earnings (Return of Employees dated the 10th October 1839) were £33.18.2d per annum. He was a 68-year-old married man with 3 children, and had 34 years' service. The house had been divided into two by 1828, and remained so until sometime between 1840 and 1841 when it was converted back to a single dwelling. By then Jeremiah had retired, and was living in an Ordnance Board cottage on the south side of High Bridge Street, Plot No. 96 on the Waltham Abbey Town Map. His cottage, previously owned by J. Davy, was one of 3 tenements formed out of a dwelling house in the Tanyard, purchased from a Mr. Cannopp in 1816, which was Plot No. 54 on the Waltham Abbey Town Map.
34 Jeremiah retired shortly after May 1840, and a transcript of the 1841 Census confirmed that Jeremiah and his wife, Mary, who was younger than her husband, were living in High Bridge Street South, opposite Powder Mill Lane.
