The load, also known as a fodder, fother, and charrus ( la, carrus, "cartload"), is a historic English unit of

weight In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force acting on the object due to gravity. Some standard textbooks define weight as a vector quantity, the gravitational force acting on the object. Others define weight as a scalar q ...

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different element ...

of various amounts, depending on the era, the substance being measured, and where it was being measured. The term was in use by the 13th century, and disappeared with legislation from the 1820s onwards. Modern equivalents of historical weights and measures are often very difficult to determine, and figures given here should be treated with caution.

Etymology

According to the

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

, the word "fother" (noun) is derived from:

Lead load

In very general terms, a "load" or "fother" of metallic

lead Lead is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metals, heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale of mineral hardness#Intermediate ...

was approximately or exactly equal to one long ton of 2240 lbs (1016 kg), also equal to approximately one

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

. Fothers have been recorded from 2184 lbs (991 kg) to 2520 lbs (1143 kg). According to the '' Tractatus de Ponderibus et Mensuris'', a memorandum of Edward I (reigned 1272–1307), the load of metallic lead was 30 fotmals, 175 stone, or 2,100 Merchant pounds (approx. 1016 kg). In

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the no ...

up to the 13th century a fother of lead is recorded of 1680 lbs or 15 long hundredweight (cwt.) (approx. 762 kg), and likewise in Devon a load of lead weighed the same. An Act of Parliament of 31 Charles II (1660) stated that a fodder or fother of lead was one long ton, or 20 cwt. (1016 kg) Miners of lead ore in Yorkshire in the late 17th century used a fodder of , on the assumption that the ore when smelted weighed about 65% less (about 2240 lbs or one long ton). Other measures were also used for lead ore, e.g. the volumetric "dish" used in the

Low Peak The White Peak, also known as the Low Peak, is a limestone plateau that forms the central and southern part of the Peak District in England. It is mostly between and above sea-level and is enclosed by the higher altitude Dark Peak (also known ...

district of Derbyshire was 14

pint The pint (, ; symbol pt, sometimes abbreviated as ''p'') is a unit of volume or capacity in both the imperial and United States customary measurement systems. In both of those systems it is traditionally one eighth of a gallon. The British imp ...

s (weighing 58 lbs, 26 kg), but in the High Peak it was 15 or 16 pints. Fothers were not used in all districts; for example in the Mendip Hills and in

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

, tons, hundredweights and pounds were used in the first half of the 17th century. Vivant-Léon Moissenet, a French mineralogist who studied and wrote about English mining in the mid 19th-century stated that in Shropshire 200 lbs were added to each ton of concentrate at the smelt works to make a ton of . By the early 19th century there was a vast multiplicity of local measurements of all types of goods, which a Parliamentary report of 1820 made clear.This report led to the wide-rangin
Weights and Measures Act 1824
( (5 Geo. IV c. 74) which repealed nearly all previous weights and measures legislation since earliest times. For

plumbers A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, and for sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.

, and in London, a fodder was 19½ cwt (now about 990 kg), and with miners generally 22½ cwt (now about 1140 kg). In Derbyshire a "mill fodder" was 2820 lbs (1280 kg), but when shipped at Stockwith-on-Trent, 2408 lbs (now about 1092 kg). In

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

it was 2340 lbs (1060 kg). In Northumberland a fother of pig lead was 21 cwt. (1066 kg), and in Newcastle sometimes 22 cwt (now about 1120 kg). The fother was generally used by miners, shippers and smelters. When the metallic lead finally came to be sold it was weighed precisely; its value was calculated to the nearest pound weight and the price adjusted accordingly.

Straw load

The load of hay or

straw Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has a numbe ...

was 36

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...

es or 1,296 pounds (now about 588 kg).

Wood load

The American load of stacked firewood varied. A load of unhewn wood came to cord-feet or cubic feet (now about 0.75

m³ The cubic metre (in Commonwealth English and international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or cubic meter (in American English) is the unit of volume in the International System of Units (SI). Its symbol is m ...

), while a load of hewn wood came to cord-feet or 43 cubic feet (now about 1.2

Wool load

The load of

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...

was 12

wey Wey may refer to: Places *Wey (state) (衞), or Wei, ancient Chinese state during the Zhou Dynasty *River Wey, river in Surrey, Hampshire and West Sussex, England *River Wey (Dorset), river of Dorset, south west England *Wey and Arun Canal, canal ...

or 108.13 sacks (now about 1372 kg).

Dung and lime

Northumberland Northumberland () is a ceremonial counties of England, county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Ab ...

in the 1820s, a fodder of

dung Dung most often refers to animal feces. Dung may also refer to: Science and technology * Dry animal dung fuel * Manure * Cow dung * Coprolite, fossilized feces * Dung beetle Art * Mundungus Fletcher or "Dung", a character in the Harry Potter n ...

or of lime was equal to a cartload pulled by two horses.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{Cite journal , last1=Gill , first1=M.C. , last2=Harvey , first2=W.S. , date=1998, title=Weights and Measures Used in the Lead Industry , journal=British Mining , volume=6 , issue=61 , publisher=Northern Mine Research Society , location=Sheffield , url=https://www.nmrs.org.uk/assets/pdf/BM61/BM61-129-140-weights.pdf Customary units of measurement Standards of the United Kingdom Lead mining in the United Kingdom