29222
John Baucher
Known as a bourd Number 29222 represents the personnel number of a worker from Harland and Wolff. The first 2 digits represent the place of work, ie Engineworks, Boilermakers, Carpentry etc and the last 3 numbers were specific to the worker. In effect it's an Identity card tho i'm uncertain as to when they were faded out but i found this during one of my last mooches around the shipyard.
These were used in the Harland and Wolff shipyard from 1862 to the 1970's
"No bourd - no pay" (Reproduced from "Titanic-Made in Belfast" with the kind permission of the author Stephen Cameron.)
For those in work, there was a unique form of timekeeping. In the time office were the timekeepers, who were each responsible for up to 400 workers and their 'bourds'. These were small pieces of hardwood, approximately 1.5 x 3 inches in size, with two small shoulders cut into the smaller side. In this space was stamped the worker's number.
When a workman clocked in in the morning, his bourd was issued to him. he carried it all day, and if he needed special equipment during the day, the bourd would be given to the storeman as a deposit. If the equipment was not returned the bourd was held and this would have financial implication. At the end of the day the bourd was returned to the time office and the day's wages calculated.
There is a story that at quitting time, the exiting workers would not take the time to hand in their bourds individually, but would throw them in en masse into the time office, to the cowering timekeepers. The small hatches in the time office windows might lead one to think that the story is unlikely, but perhaps the men had a 'true eye'.
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