Talk:Miss Jane Bird/@comment-112206-20190109145934/@comment-112206-20190119153740

The fact that passengers don't get paid would explain at least part of this. Henry Evans' 50 pounds could be his pay after a fine is applied, though surgeons must be paid quiet well for that to be case. Compare to other speciality officers who aren't considered petty officers:Duncan McKay the purser who also abandoned the crew and the vessel and recieved 50 pounds, Alfred Klestil the bosun and Christian Wolff the gunner who both recieved 70 pounds after a reward was applied, and Winston Smith the carpenter who recieved 60 after a reward was applied. There is no way of knowing how much the other speciality officers made in base pay and how much their reward was, nor do we know the difference in any of these men's base salary. If Evans recieved the same 10 pound fine that Jane Bird recieved than his (and McKay's) base pay was 60 pounds. 10 pounds seems to be the standard reward for oustanding performance of duties, which would put Klestil and Wolff's base pay at 60 as well, and Smith's at 50.

And Davey James getting nothing could be simply because the fine negated his pay. Comparing him to the other stewards, Zungi Sathi recieved 35 pounds in wages (meaning that was his base pay), Fillip Dahl was fined 35 pounds because he killed a crewmate, Paul Moss recieved 45 pounds in wages and reward (if his pay was the same as Zungi Sathi's this likely indicates a 10 pound reward, which may be the standard for exceptional performance of duties), Samuel Galligan was fined a whole 50 pounds for his role in Nichols' mutiny, and Roderick Andersen was paid only 10 pounds in wages. Presuming Davey James was paid a similar wage to Andersen's (which would make sense) it would also make sense that a 10 pound fine would simply negate his wages. Since Jane Bird was fined 10 pounds for the same actions it would make sense for 10 pounds to be the standard fine for abandonment of crew and vessel.

Alexander Booth and Nathan Peters also abandoned crew and vessel. Nathan was also a murderer so his fine was higher, both Booth (a seaman) recieved 5 pounds in oustanding wages. This could indicate a 15 pound base pay for seamen and a consistent 10 pound fine for abandonment of crew and vessel. Based on a quick scan of the other seamen it seems like 15 pounds was indeed their base pay, as those with just oustanding salary recieved 15 pounds and those with a reward recieved 25 (so a 10 pound reward is consistent).

If I kept going down this logic path I could probably figure out every crewmember's base pay and the standard fines and rewards.

So tl;dr: It all seems to fit.

But NONE of this answers my basic question of why a passenger recieved a fine for abandonment of crew and vessel though.