In the 19th Century and between the two World Wars the value of money remained reasonably constant compared to the changes we have experienced during the last part of the 20th Century. For instance if one takes the purchasing power of the pound as 100p in 1914 it only varied about 30% either side of this value during the whole of GKH's naval career. During his retirement the purchasing power of the pound was halved during the First World War and then gradually increased again during the inter-war period.
It is not easy to make direct comparisons with prices at the end of the 20th Century, but as a very general guide readers should multiply pre 1914 prices by about 50.
The most remarkable feature of naval pay rates during GKH's career is that they never changed once in the 50 years that he served. An Admiral of the Fleet received £6 a day in 1865 and the same amount in 1913, a Sub Lieutenant received 5/- (25p) a day throughout the same period. The table below gives some of the rates of pay that GKH received during his career.