On Wednesday, 21 June 1865, before Sheriff Substitute William Bennet Clark, a case was heard regarding the withholding of wages.
William Snaddon, of Tillicoultry, raised the action against coalmaster James Snowdowne to recover £1 9s 7½d in wages he believed he was owed.
Two weeks earlier, Snowdowne told the court he was willing to pay any wages due, provided Snaddon delivered to his office the key to the house he lived in, as it was tied to the job.
Snaddon believed he should be paid his outstanding wages first before handing over the key.
There were arguments about the occupation of the house and whether the miner must give up the house as soon as his working contract ended, or if they were two separate contracts, which solicitor John Strachan of Glasgow maintained.
He said the miner was entitled to the money he had worked for and that the contract for the house should have been made in writing.
It was a completely distinct matter from the man’s wages.
The solicitor for Snowdowne, Mr Spence, told the court that as far as Snowdowne’s mines were concerned, any collier-occupied house formed part of the wages.
When the miner left his job, his occupation of the property also ceased at the same time.
He continued that under these conditions, no wages should be paid until the key was returned.
William Snowdowne, Snowdowne’s son, deponed that it was custom to retain the wages when a person left work but did not leave the house.
He said every miner in his father’s employ knew that part of the wages was retained to pay rent on the property, which amounted to 6d for one room and 1s for two rooms per week.
William Wallace, manager of the Clackmannan Colliery, stated that it was the general custom to provide houses for the miners, and after 14 days' notice had been given, the men were expected to leave both their work and their houses.
If the miner stayed on past this, his wages were withheld.
His statement was backed up by others.
Snaddon claimed he never saw any rules regulating the colliery houses, and never understood that when a miner left, he had to give up the house.
Peter Rankine told the court he had worked at the Devonside Colliery for 11 years, and that on three occasions he had left the house, got his wages, but never had to give up the key.
He was never asked to do so.
A week later, the sheriff found in favour of Snowdowne but once the key was handed over, Snaddon would receive his wages, less Snowdowne’s outlay.
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