Length
1 inch (1") = 25.4 millemetres
1 foot (1') = 12 inches = 0.3048 metres
1 yard = 3 feet = 0.9144 metres
1 mile = 1,760 yards = 1.609 kilometres

Area
1 square inch = 6.45 square centimetres
1 square foot = 144 square inches = 9.29 square decimetres
1 square yard = 9 square feet = 0.836 square metres
1 acre = 4,840 square yards = 0.405 hectares
1 square mile = 640 acres = 259 hectares

Capacity
British
1 pint = 0.568 litres
1 gallon = 8 pints = 4.546 litres
1 bushel = 8 gallons = 36.4 litres
American
1 pint = 0.473 litres (liquid)
1 gallon = 3.785 litres (liquid)
1 bushel = 35.3 litres (dry)

Weight
1 ounce = 28.35 grams
1 pound (lb) = 16 ounces = 0.4536 kilos
1 stone = 14lb = 6.35 kilos
1 ton - 0.907 tonnes

Money
Money is expressed as pounds (£), shillings (s.) and pence or pennies (d.). Fifteen pounds, five shillings and four pence may be written £15/5/4.

12 pennies (12d) = 1 shilling (1/-)
20 shillings (20/-) = 1 pound (£1)

When the changeover to decimal currency occurred in Australia, one pound became two dollars. However, it is very difficult to "translate" money in History. The simplest way to calculate how expensive something was is to find out the average wage - or the cost of bread - and work out how many times the average weekly wage (or loaves of bread) the item cost. For more information click on to the two sites on your home page that describe money values.
 

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This page is owned and mainatined by Diane Menghetti. It was last updated on 2 July 2002.