RootsChat.Com
Some Special Interests => Occupation Interests => Topic started by: philipsearching on Wednesday 05 October 05 00:25 BST (UK)
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I had visions of circus life when I was told that one great-great grandfather and his father were "ropewalkers".
On the 1891 census they are listed as "twine spinners" - apparently they worked in long sheds, twisting twine into ropes as they walked backwards.
So much for romance and excitement!
I wonder how many other occupations involved walking backwards. Maybe I'll start a thread (or a twine, or a rope).
Philip
Moderator Comment:
This is the continuation of
What is the most interesting occupation in your family tree? (#1: locked)
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,34910.0.html
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I have some interesting potteries ancestors; as has already been mentioned here there was a saggar maker, but also a Parisian figure maker (which I think should have been parian figure maker), a potter's cup jollier and a dottler. On another side of the family I have just come across a silk throwster.
Jane
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I've just learned that my ggggmother 'let donkeys for hire' in the 1851 census-presumably to the costermongers of Camberwell
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I have shoe makers and watch makers - I also have a street hawker and a cousin of mine thought that he dealt with birds of prey. She was very dissapointed when I told her he sold fish on a market.
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I have a potato-porter (he used to get to take a taxi to work!), a boxer and an Olympic athlete (can't say that the sportiness has been inherited lol).
Katie ;)
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I've just discovered a Yeast Dealer - the son-in-law of a Baker, which was probably quite good for business!
Jill
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I've always wondered how you produce yeast commercially, Jill.
The students in my hall of residence were quite good at it on an amateur basis (unwashed crockery in the kitchen!), but I am sure there are more hygienic ways! ;D
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I have to admit it's not something I have given much thought to as yet Arranroots, but it's a good point!
I've been more concerned this afternoon with the fact that the Baker became Cook in a convalescent home where I then discovered his wife and grandaughter were 'inmates' - not patients!
Jill
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This may count as cheating because he is not in my family tree, but I found him while doing a virtual walk round the streets of Manchester, looking for elusive rellies.
RG9/2958/97/16.
Charles Malacride Head 49 Philosophical Tin Hatter born London.
The mind boggleth!
Regards
Jane
PS. On rereading in context with an entry further up the page I realise I may have done Charles an injustice == he may be a philosophical tin MAKER.
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Oh well that is MUCH more reasonable!!
;D ;D
Just had a look at 1871 and he is a "philosophical instrument maker"
RG10/4083/119/20
Iguess it was just a state of mind??
:o ::) ???
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Arranroots,
As it happens, my husband recently did an environmental audit of a yeast factory. He says,
"There are many different strains of cultivated yeasts, for production of bread, beer, wine, etc. Each producer carefully protects their basic yeast strain by laboratory cultivation under extremely sterile conditions to block the intrusion of wild yeasts (which have spores present in the air in any part of the world). In production, a sterile sample of the protected yeast is placed in large vats to which are introduced water, sugars (molasses, honey, or such sources), and mineral nutrients (e.g., phosphorus). Vat temperatures are carefully controlled and the contents are constantly stirred. Waste products (such as alcohol) generated by the growing yeast eventually inhibit further growth in the vat. The contents of the vat are "harvested" as a liquid slurry. The slurry is centrifuged to reduce the water, and the resulting yeast paste is either sold as is to bakeries or breweries, or is compressed to reduce the water and then sold as semi-dry blocks or powder."
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Well that is very informative: please pass on my thanks!
I wonder how they did all that in "the olden days" ??
A ;)
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Thanks for that Erato.
It all sounds a bit too technical for the 1860's, but it would be nice to know where George Cannon obtained the yeast he sold. Like Arranroots I now have visions of 'cultures' growing in not very nice places!
Jill
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My GGM had a granddaughter who was a tin box machine feeder in 1901 in Carlisle at age 17. Can anyone explain what that is? The enunmerator has written something above it, but it isn't legible. RedFox
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Two years ago, a friend tweeked my interest in researching my family tree. "Take a look at 1901 Census for England" he said.
I found my grandfather in Hastings (age 10), and looked at the household. There was my g-grandfather, and his occupation:
Manager, Domestic Madman
I was hooked! What sort a family was this?
A transcription error? I viewed the original .... of course there was a line through the word "madman", and it certainly looked like madman. Months later, I came across a photo of the shop he managed. They sold what we would now call appliances (washing mangles and hand-powered washing machines). I enlarged the photo to check the writing on the shop door. They sold "domestic machines", and g-grandfather was the manager, domestic machines.
He was not a madman, but the searching was driving me mad.
John
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Hi
Digging deeper I have now found a real mix of occupation just in one family.
Washerwoman
Stillroom Maid
Kitchen Maid
Dressmaker
Laundress
White Smith
Grocer
Journeyman Mason
Proprietor of houses
Relieving officer
Bank Cashier
House carpenter & Joiner
Engine driver stationary
Bycyclist
The last one apparently broke the world record for 50 miles in 1897 on a penny farthing.
Regards Linda
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Travel was really cheap in those days!
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Hi
Travel may have been cheap but 25 uk pounds for taking part in bycycle races wasn't bad for 1897 with an extra 25 for breaking the world record.
Regards Linda
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My GGM had a granddaughter who was a tin box machine feeder in 1901 in Carlisle at age 17. Can anyone explain what that is? The enunmerator has written something above it, but it isn't legible. RedFox
By the 1900s tin boxes were made by machines - some to cut the sheet metal and others to fold the metal and seal the joints. At that time the production line was not fully automated so people would have been needed to take materials from one machine to another. I would guess your lady probably took the cut flat tin shapes and stacked them in the feeder of the machine which pressed the flat metal into the box shape.
All the best
Philip
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My Gt Grandfather was a Silver Comb and Brooch maker. Skate maker, Saw maker and Cutlery manufacturer. Wonder what he did in his spare time, he had 11 children.
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Wonder what he did in his spare time, he had 11 children.
nothing that can be braodcast before 9pm
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Mc8 that reply actually made me laugh out-loud! ;D
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Hi Gales,
In my searches this afternoon I came across a reference to this book which you might find interesting.
"The Huguenot Legacy: English Silver 1680-1760" by Christopher Hartop
Beth
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I have three ancestors who were Cobblers. Two of them despite the views expressed above were shoe makers NOT shoe repairers. The third was a footballer who played for Northampton Town.
David
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I've just found a topical one
listed in the 1851 census as 'an artist in fireworks'
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On the Swansea side of my family, I have a "spelter smelter", a tin-pickler, & a roll-turner, (I assume that involved tin as well :)
On the Lancashire side, my Great Grandfather was a Slate Quarrier & Beer House Keeper, - (although presumably not at the same time).
Romilly
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Most beer house keepers had a main occupation and so he could well have been doing both jobs. He would probably have been selling beer in his front room having purchased his 2 guinea licence.
David
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Thanks for the info.
No doubt Slate Quarrying was thirsty work...& so I'm sure that the beer must have gone down well in the long dark evenings in Kirky Ireleth, Lancs:-)
Cheers, Romilly.
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Romilly,
Spelter is low grade zinc not tin and is used in producing galvanised iron. So your spelter melter would be melting it ready for galvanising.
David
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Thanks for the feedback on spelter smelters:-)
I found this entry (via Google:-) which explains it well.
Thanks, Romilly.
Spelter, what is it ?
The town of Llansamlet , about 2 miles north east of Swansea, and in that county borough, overlooks the wide lower valley of the river Tawe. There are collieries, copper and tinplate works here, but the place is noted chiefly for its spelter undertaking, which is said to be the greatest in the country.
To the vast majority of people, spelter is a puzzle; they have no idea what it is, or what is done with it. It is really zinc, and originally one of its chief uses was for galvanising , by providing a coating impervious to weather conditions on any sheet iron dipped in a molten bath of it. It has now a myriad uses ; zinc ozide for paint, zinc chloride, sulphide, peroxide etc. Concentrates, or spelter ore, which looks like a brown dust, is imported from Australia, and the first process is to draw off the sulphur, resulting in the making of concentrated sulphuric acid. The desulpherated ore, mixed with coal and salt, becomes blende , which, passed through retort process, pours out like a silvery or bluish-white liquid, the actual spelter. This solidifies in square moulds and is zinc.
[Glamorgan, Its History and Topography by C J O Evans, 1938. Gareth 4 June 2001 G]
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Hi Romilly,
I don't know if you are into Bargain Hunt, Cash in the Attic and other antique programs, but they are always finding statues or clocks they think might be bronze, then turn out to be a cheaper version in spelter
Cheap as chips as you might put it, ;D....
Best wishes from Jane
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Not that interesting in 1901 but today in 2005 I'm interested!
I want to know how he became one .............
Prisoner
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another mistake
sorry
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Actually, I've come across many men who list as their occupations "Innkeeper and Miner". As it was noted, with a large family, two incomes were needed (sound familiar?).
The last time I noted it was in Aspatria, Cumberland in 1871. I'm sure the wife and daughters (perhaps a son if he was too young for the mines) and a servant were left to work at the inn.
Although I've seen boys and girls working in the mines at age 11!
RedFox
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Thanks for the info RedFox.
Actually, I'd be interested to know where the Beerhouse was. On my Grandfather William James Wilson's birth cert in August 1860, the place of birth is given as "Sandside", Kirkby...perhaps it was a shack on the beach?
Later on, they're at Beckside Cottage, Kirkby Ireleth, - perhaps they were both shacks on the beach?
Is anyone on here familiar with those areas?
Cheers, Romilly.
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I have one who was a Fancy Knitter. I dont know if she was fancy or the knitting!!!
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One of my ancestors sold chips from a wooden shed at the bottom of his garden. One would hate to think what "health and safety" and the fire brigade would make of that today.
David
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George Page, vaudeville performer on the London Stage on the 1890's. Wish I could find out something more about him!
Heather
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Hi Again,
Re: your Vaudeville Performer:-)
My Great Grandfather, Thomas Louis Newman is described as a "Comedian" on my Grandmother's birth certificate. (I gather that he did a "disappearing act" shortly after her birth...& so perhaps that was part of his act too:-)
Seriously, - I would imagine that the Music Halls of that time would have been the most likely venue for your missing bod too. I think that my G/G did a "turn" at Greenwich Music Hall, from what I've heard. I don't know if theres any way of tracing Music Hall acts? Mind you...he might've used a different name professionally...perhaps thats why I can't find any trace of him on Ancestry etc :(
Cheers, Romilly.
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My Great Grandfather, Thomas Louis Newman is described as a "Comedian" on my Grandmother's birth certificate. (I gather that he did a "disappearing act" shortly after her birth...& so perhaps that was part of his act too:-)
Seriously, - I would imagine that the Music Halls of that time would have been the most likely venue for your missing bod too. I think that my G/G did a "turn" at Greenwich Music Hall, from what I've heard. I don't know if theres any way of tracing Music Hall acts? Mind you...he might've used a different name professionally...perhaps thats why I can't find any trace of him on Ancestry etc :(
Cheers, Romilly.
you might find something here
http://www.thegalloper.com/
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Hi Mc8,
What a facinating site!!
I shall have hours of fun wading through it. (Perhaps I'll even find my missing Comedian) :)
Many thanks, Romilly.
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just to say I have never laughed so much for a long time this is a brilliant site makes my rellies sound very dull here goes
joiner
french polisher
jeweller
baker
washerwomen
housekeeper
husbandman
shoemaker
engine fitter
farmers
iron moulder
railway labourer
earthenware turner
confectioner
carter on the Liverpool docks
and a gardener
Doreen
sorry no comedians coffin makers or ladies of the night havent found any yet but time will tell
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Don't know about the most interesting - but I think I may have just found the longest - (written in very tiny writing) - "Clerk to a firm exporting British manufactured goods to the United States of N. America" !!!
Obviously a stickler for accuracy!
Veron ;D
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Hi
How about
Pirates,
Clergy,
Prostitutes,
Farmers,
Soldiers,
Prison Guards,
Wood Dealer,
Ships Captain,
Gum Diggers
and one was a convict...not his trade he was Rein Maker before he was nabbed for theft & deported.
Lyn
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Some occupations in my family:
Lots of Ag Labs in Sussex
Lots of Mill workers in Lancashire
But also:
Joiner
Pipe Fitter
Publican
Author (me own mama)
Soldier (19th c., for 20 yrs.)
Chicken Fatter
Shopkeeper (1851, a woman)
Railway worker
Royal Household valet
Assorted servants
Chain of dairies (20th c.)
Governess
School teacher (19th c.)
My favourite has to be my ancestor John Feay - a lamplighter in Victorian Manchester!
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Hi there everyone,
So many people have posted messages asking for the meaning of a persons occupation that this site immediately caught my eye. I hope it proves to be
of as much interest to most of you as it did to me. http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/terms.html
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Ag Labs dozens of them...
Market Gardeners, Greengrocers, Ladder Makers, Cabinet Makers and Appraisers, Stationary Engine Drivers, Book Binders, Inmates, Crane Drivers, Music Teacher, Doctor of heads?, Straw Hat Maker, Brass Finisher, Boat Maker, Coach Finisher, Chocolate Maker, Foster Carers, Servants, Dress Makers, Laundresses, Charwomen, Chargehand of a Tinning Factory, Head Mechanic (Lotus - worked with Graham Hill amongst others)
If the stories are true that have been told for years, then comedian (Red Skelton), Lord (Carrington), Cook, (for the Rothschilds), Cricketer (Alan Oakman). I've also been told for years that the Skeltons in our family helped put the Lions in at Trafalgar Square as they worked on the cranes, haven't been able to prove this yet though.
That's all I can think of at the moment
Jan
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I've got all the usual, ag labs, miners and hewers, rail porters, engine fitters, wheelwrights and shipwrights, butchers, carters, grocers, gardeners, soldiers, sailers, fishermen, puddlers and moulders, policemen and charwomen.
Oh nearly forgot there's also the bloke that built the Earl of Pembroke. What do you mean, you've never heard of it? OK it did get renamed as HMS Endeavour and some bloke called Cook sailed on it.
Andy
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Hi
The most interesting occupation's I have found in my research are
gt grandfather was a gunner on the Royal Yacht Alberta Hampshire
gt gt granfather was Journeyman Shoemaker Suffolk
Wing
:)
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So many people have posted messages asking for the meaning of a persons occupation that this site immediately caught my eye. I hope it proves to be
of as much interest to most of you as it did to me. http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/terms.html
Hello Christopher,
What a fascinating site!!
Thanks for posting it, - I've added it to my "favourites" list.
Cheers, Romilly.
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Thanks Romilly,
I am glad you like the site and have added it to your "favourites".
Your message of acknowledgement is like those my mother used to send, by snail mail, in her beautifully neat hand writing. You are a real lady showing such consideration to other posters. It is a pleasure to receive short messages of gratitude from time to time as indeed it is to send them.
I hope you are enjoying RootsChat and find that it helps you with your research.
Regards, Chris
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Hello Chris,
Thanks for your reply.
I am indeed enjoying Rootschat, - its the most friendly & helpful site on family history that I have found.
I was completely stuck with my own family research until I stumbled into here and struck gold!
So many people on here have helped me...& like you, I enjoy helping others where I can too.
All Best Wishes, Romilly.
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I have:
- endless farmers, ag labs, market gardeners, husbandmen (small farmers) and 1 yeoman (who left an 8 page will which i found on the national archives site in which he left a rather large fortune to his children and everything else to his wife with the exception of his 'dairy and brewing utensils' which he left to be shared between his sons!
- 19th c Cab driver (the original london cabbie)
- a blind basket maker - blind on 1851,61 & 71 census
- victualler (pub landlord)
- tailor
- grocer
- gas fitter
- lace maker
- nurse
the most interesting is my g-g-grandfather who was a 'pianoforte key maker'
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Hi Romilly
Sorry it took me so long to reply! The "Vaudevillian in question was one "George Page." From what I gather he was quite a character, born in the 1880's somewhere south of London, performed on the stage there, then emigrated to Canada, c. 1919. He lived in Ottawa, where he was an engineer for the Ottawa Electric Railway. This is my daughter's great grandfather on her paternal side, and I often think it would please this guy to know she is a professional musician, performing regularly on the stage here. Life goes on!
Heather
PS Anybody out there researching "Page"? I assume it's a fairly common occupational name, probably found more commonly in London and environs,,,,,,? Any thoughts from anyone?
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I have a lamplighter in the family. I just wonder what he did during the day? Oh, and my grandfather was a drayman and worked in a pub in the evenings and weekends. He was teetotal so i suppose he was trusted not to drink the profits.
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Some of the more different ones...other than the dozens of miners and ag labourers:
Bailiff
Carman
Carpenter (quite a few...)
Cartwright
Doctor
Dressmaker
Engineer (had his own business and built locomotives that were sent to Wales)
Mechanic (my great grandfather, in 1911 already)
Minister
Model (the wife of the auto-mechanic :))
Parish Clerk
Publican / Victualer
R.R. Watchman
Soldier (many of these as well...)
Spoolwinder
Steward
Stonemason
Weaver
Wheelwright
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Well...apparantly I had a ventriloquist ( can't spell ) in my family tree....quite cute really, as I have always had the knack of talking through my teeth...quite a party trick. I am still perfecting the rendition of the night before christmas whilst drinking a glass of water though!!!!
dawn
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I found an aerobat, sounds dodgy but i think we would say trapeze artist, with a father who was a clown. grandparents (i think) were theatre managers. livened up the proceedings a bit.
Diane
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i had an EYE FITTER which sounds a bit unusual, but when you know the rest of the family were shoe makers it then becomes clear. i will keep an EYE OUT for some more, kali.
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Hi folks
Just been talking to my 94 year old mother today about her occupation. She was a governess to the severely monied families out in the States during the depression. While others threw themselves out of the Empire State building she was suppressing ( there is probably a better word but these children sounded horrible!) the offspring , being waited on by the servants and being forced to travel in private trains on holiday - the EVIL of some occupations!!!
Because she was Sottish she was hauled in for questioning over the Lindberg kidnap (they suspected an inside job at first!)
Her aunt was governess to Irvin Berlin's daughter and had an even harder life!!!
Not too special or different but you must admit much more interesting than my collection of Ag Labs, shepherds and fishermen.
PS She also made it clear that Prohibition did not apply to the Rich and Famous
So thats where I take my liking for malt whisky etc from Mmmmmhh!
Russell
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I have:
sanitary tube maker,
card room hand ( I assume this was at the local mill and not at a casino)
muffin and crumpet baker
river pilot
drummer
cordwainer
whisky agent
harbour master
heald knitter
sailmaker
tap man
wool teaser (aged 12)
clog maker
quilt manufacturer
glass blower
colly hurrier
trammer ( must vist that website Chris)
and best of all - a rustic rhymer!
Glenys
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I got one that was a coal miner in the week and on Saturday afternoon he cut hair and pulled teeth, in a barn behind his father-in-laws pub, for extra money!
Those were the days! ;)
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You have an intriguing set of jobs there Glenys. Your Trammer was a young person working in a coal mine, and the Colly hurrier pushed the trucks on the surface. Your Rustic Rhymer has me defeated however unless he was just the obvious a country poet.
David
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My grandmother was an Underclothing Machinist - 1891 census.
Her father was a Hosiers assistant, her husband a hairdresser.
Also have a Portrait Artist,baker, butcher, and a whitesmith?
A very interesting top to discuss. I just found it and had a lot of laughs.
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two more to add from my husband's side of the tree
the first (only?) european to become an elder in the mormon church (his responsibility was europe and africa)
a driver of the flying scotsman
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Having started out at age 11 as a cordwainer (shoemaker) and progressed through weaving my gggrandfather Ben was listed as a Lamp lighter (at the age of 63) on the marriage certificate of my ggrandfather. Perhaps he saw the light and retired?
mrf
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My gt. grandfather was as follows:-
Self minder in cotton mill aged 27
Cotton Spinner aged 37
Labourer aged 38
Iron foundry worker aged 57
Greengrocer aged 62
... and, on his death certificate (aged 66) he was apparently 'Formerly a Wood Turner'.
A varied career!
I also have:-
Weavers - loads of them
Card winder - aged 11
Beerhouse keeper
Stuff warehouseman
Card dresser and grocer
Ivory Comb manufacturer
Scavenger
Maggie
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RE: Self minder
When younger living in the Huddersfield area I was often told "mind yourself" I hadn't realised it was an occupation.
Grandad's alternative intonation to move so that he could watch TV was "you'd make a better door than a window" - plenty of openings there.
mrf
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An "Equilibrist" on 1881 census he was a wire walker on his daughter's bap 1876. He was the id..um.. gentleman that Blondin pushed across the Niagra falls in a wheelbarrow!
Trees
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My Mum, Ethel Mary Coo.....Nickname 'Molly', rode motorcycles on the 'Wall of Death' at Cleethorpes, Skegness and Bellevue Manchester prior to marrying my Dad, Alfred Thomas Gilby in 1933......she died of TB in 1940 at Branston Hall Sanatorium Lincoln when I was five, and although my Dad and my Uncle (Her Brother) told me of her exploits and expertise on the 'Wall'.....I have been unable to find any mention of her with regard her occupation anywhere.........
Soooooo.....if there is anyone out there?? ;D
Michael72.
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Miserable bunch my lot, woodworkers, butchers, shopkeepers and tailors.
Nothing exciting, except the Inspector of Nuisances. ;)
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Manager of the night soil department - Cleaned out privies. There's a thread about it in the Common Room. I must remind you that these aren't my ancestors but descendants/husband of a sister of my GGGG grandmother:)
Andrew
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The occupation's a bit boring "Molecatcher and Butcher", but you've got to admit, the end result could be interesting. I wonder if his customers knew? :-\
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Not likely as if there was a mole he would have dealt with them ;)
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::) ::) Should have seen that coming!!!!!!!
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What an interesting topic! Quite enjoying the read here :)
My husband is an ancestor of the HERRIDGE/ HEADACHE family from Bucklebury (Believe me .. that in itself explains a lot !!!).
One of the occupations they were involved in was that of an 'ale-conner'.
Apparently, they use to test the beer and collect taxes based on the ale's strength. To accomplish this they poured some ale onto a wooden bench and then sat in it, wearing moleskin breeches.
The stickier the brew from the fermeted sugars, the harder it would have been to remove your breeches from the bench and hence the higher the alcohol content (and your taxes!)
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Apparently, they use to test the beer and collect taxes based on the ale's strength. To accomplish this they poured some ale onto a wooden bench and then sat in it, wearing moleskin breeches.
The stickier the brew from the fermeted sugars, the harder it would have been to remove your breeches from the bench and hence the higher the alcohol content (and your taxes!)
I thnk someone has been conning you. They used an instrument which looked like a wooden ruler with a lead weight on one end. They read the strength of the beer (actually its specific gravity) from how deep it sank.
I wonder if they called it a con rod !!! ???
David
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I think they are called Hydrometers. We used to use one for measuring the fat content of milk. It is made of glass for health reasons but it has the ruler and weight inside.
Fred
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My great grandfather was an umbrella maker and bath-chair proprietor. After that business died he became a confectioner.
My grandfather's cousin was a well-known pianist and entertainer, writing and performing his own comic songs.
Somewhat further back, one of my ancestors was employed picking up stones on the King's highway!
Regards, Bill
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The brother of my great-great-great great grandmother, Jane Wellford, was Surgeon-General to George Washington's Army - during and after the American Revolution.
Was he (Robert Welford) an American? - No....He was from Ware in Hertfordshire and I would have never discovered this interesting bit of history had I not ordered the will of William Welford, Jane's father, where I discovered that his son Robert had gone to America and unless he returned within a specified time period would lose his inheritance.
This set me googling and such looking for Robert and wondering if he ever went back home.
Well, he never did....and not only that....he was a real pioneer! He went on an expedition with Lewis and Clark during the Whiskey Rebellion. He founded a dynasty in the state of Virginia where his house still stands and is a State Monument....!
I discovered all of this from spending £3:50 for a will!
Who would have thunk it!
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I discovered all of this from spending £3:50 for a will!
My grandfather was a master boilermaker and then I paid £3.50 when I discovered the will of his childless aunt and her industrialist husband and discovered that grandpa been left £145,000 in 1865 but only if the aunt's elderly bachelor brother in law didn't produce a child. One young wife later said elderly brother in law produced a male child and my grandfather received £300 ::) ::) ::)
Cheers,
Rena
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I thnk someone has been conning you. They used an instrument which looked like a wooden ruler with a lead weight on one end. They read the strength of the beer (actually its specific gravity) from how deep it sank.
I wonder if they called it a con rod !!! ???
Thanks David. Can you provide me with your point of reference on this for my notes? It's certainly not unfeasible as Archimedes had been around well before then, and it's not too far off the mark with his displacement theory with buoyancy being dependent on a object's volume and density of surrounding fluid. Apart from the breeches, I found no other means by which they tested the ale in the 15 - 16th century.
Cheers,
Sue
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Hi All
I have certainly heard of the Ale-Conner with the moleskin breeches before. I wondered whether I had myself been "conned" ;D but there are references to be found to it, viz:
This passage from Frederick W. Hackwood's Inns, Ales and Drinking Customs of Old England, recounts this supposed tradition:
" The official ale-tester”, we are informed by an authority, “wore leather breaches. He would enter an inn unexpectedly, draw a glass of ale, pour it on a wooden bench, and then sit down in the little puddle he had made. There he would sit for thirty minutes by the clock. He would converse, he would smoke, he would drink with all who asked him to, but he would be very careful not to change his position any way. At the end of the half-hour he would make as if to rise, and this was the test of the ale; for, if the ale was impure, if it had sugar in it, the tester’s leather breaches would stick fast to the bench, but if there was no sugar in the liquor no impression would be present—in other words, the tester would not stick to the seat.”
Unless we have all been fooled?
kind regards, Arranroots ;)
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I remember seeing this early hydrometer in the museum of a brewery many years ago. I am sorry I can't remember where as brewery trips were a regular pastime when I was at University. I do remember that it was in the section about brewing in the public house before breweries really existed. This was in the part of the tour just before the sampling.
David
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My great grandfather was some kind of delivery man (with horse and cart) and in one census he puts himself down as a "van man". I wonder if he was as much of a terror on the road as his modern day counterparts?
;)
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Gosh! Was he a White Van Man, milly?
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Actually he was a bit of a hero (where his horses were concerned) ..... apparently when they needed his horses to send out to the front in WW1 he didn't want them to go without him so he signed up too. But they were all killed in the first few weeks - not him, his horses - and then he obviously stayed for the rest of the war without them. He survived though fortunately.
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Oh, milly, what a lovely man. You must be proud of him.
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While I have a Venetian Blind Maker, an Umbrella Maker, a Gunmaker, and a Professional Cricketer (through marriage), my most interesting occupation is a Lime Burner. In fact quite a few of them.
My Surrys of Great Chesterford Essex were mostly Lime Burners. Many Surry children died young, and some of them did not produce their own children, and the Great Chesterford line died out early in the 20th century. I have always wondered if the Lime Burning affected the men's reproductive capabilities, but I have not found anything yet to back up this hunch.
JULIAN
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I have a Salvation Army Officer, a "Street Missionary", an Estate Agent, a Hird, a few police officers and a number of Shipwrights.
An eclectic collection.
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My great grandfather was a Street Organ Player.......
I have come across kids as Button Makers and Pencil Case Makers...
One I thought was a LAWYER, on closer inspection, and looking at the area and neighbours, I soon realised he was a SAWYER ::)
I have a Watch Maker how had his own servants ;)
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Most of my lot are Ag Labs or Farmers but I do have one family where out of 6 sons 5 became Policemen.
I have a chicken fattener, less said about that the better! an Odd Boy and a Bill Poster ::) ::)
Kerry
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My great grandfather was an umbrella maker and bath chair proprietor; his brother was a hatter and hosier.
Regards, Bill
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My interest in Family History started as a young child with strories that my Mother told us about her father being the grandson of Baronet Gooch of Benacre Hall in Suffolk.We live in a council house in West Wales so you can imagine how excited we were! It was only when my brother and I were much older and had computers that we finally looking into various branches of our Tree.On my maternal grandfathers side we have lawyers from Durham who eventually moved down to Lincolns Inn in London.This family stayed in Law but also branched into the Military Line.My gg Grandfather was Maj.Gen.Barnett Ford who was Gov.Gen of the Andaman Isles in the mid 1800's.My maternal Grandmother was from the Midlands can can from a family of Ironmongers whose business was originally started by Patrick Delany who came over from Eire.My fathers side was more complicated as he was born illigitimate in 1895 but I managed to find out quite a bit by doing a lot of prying and getting a bit of luck along the way and found out that although he was born in Ebbw Vale his family had moved there in the mid 1800's from West Wales where is gg grandfather was the local shoemaker and a deacon in the Chapel.His grandparents had moved to Industrial South Wales to work in the Steel Works.I find all the different branches of the family just as exciting to explore as the next and relish the odd skelaton or two!!!!!!
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i had a grgr aunt who was a bath attendant i wonder i that was for public baths also my gr grandad was a spirit seller (i knew him as a barman) my nana was a furrier she was a tailoress who worked for Jenners in Edinburgh revamping fur old fur coats for ladies to fit the current fashion in the 1940s and 50s and 60s she always had lots of little bits of fir in the house that me a my sisters would pretend were our pets she also had a great button box which gave us hours of fun hey who need a wii
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My gg grandfather, after many years as a railway porter, became a musician in a Wild West Show (c 1880s)
Steve
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Do you think after working as a Porter he wanted some excitement!!! ::) ::) ::)
Kerry
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In my partners tree,she has a WHITESMITH. This is a cheap version of a goldsmith, that works in TIN :o
Dave.
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Talking of whitesmith's, my great great grandfather, William Henry Quinton,was variously described as a gunmaker, farrier and whitesmith.
One of his son's became a locksmith and another a scalemaker.
JULIAN
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Ive just found a William Lewin living in America in 1880 aged 70. His occupation is listed as 'Gent'!! Now wouldnt that be a fine occupation!!!!
Must mean he had a fair amount of cash!
Emma.
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I have a button maker, Thomas Knite/Knight b 1731, his son was a gingerbread maker Benjamin Knight b 1765 Newport Pagnell Bucks and one of his sons was a parchment maker. Also Tristran King ch 1789 and son of same name b1818 were thatchers in St Ippollitis, Herts
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I have several generations in mid 19th century London where mother & daughters are "fancy box makers" I wonder if this was a home industry as I know matchbox making was. I'd love to know what sort of fancy boxes they made but can't find any info.
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Almost snap! I've got mother and daughter on the census as "p.box makers"......pill box/paper box I guess.
Nanny Jan
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I've only just found this fascinating website by googling the coop family and it brought up this page. :) Briiliant !
My grandmother was a bootclicker - she worked in a shoe factory and used a metal plate to cut around the pieces required to make the boot - the knife made a clicking noise against the metal plate hence boot clicker. A skilled job as you had to know which parts of the hide were best for differents parts of the boot and get as many as you could from each hide.
Another rellie was a plate layer - no, nothing to do with boots - he worked on the railway laying and maintaining track.
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One of my ancestors in Eastern Ontario built a house from which he marketed shoemaking services and whisky. Wonder which was more lucrative. :)
Kathleen
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One of my ancestors in Eastern Ontario built a house from which he marketed shoemaking services and whisky. Wonder which was more lucrative. :)
Kathleen
Was the Whisky bootleg?
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The article didn't say, but I'll bet he was a successful 'merchant'. :)
Kathleen
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There's a J MUNRO in Clerkenwell on the 1881 -occupation is "Colonial ?? contractor home for a change from Africa".
I wonder if it was he or the missus who filled that form in?
Maureen
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I'm an airline pilot and part time brain surgeon.
Oh, sorry. Wrong forum. Thought I was at a singles night.
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Hi
I found out a couple of months ago that my gg grandfather was a policeman in QLD Australia. I didnt really think much of the time but it really made me laugh when I ordered his police records! The chief of police went to my gg grandfathers station to see how things were going and in his report he wrote
'Constable Thomas Casey is the stupidest man I have ever met, he can not even complete a simple investigation and should be removed from this station immediately.'
This is my gg grandfather............ ;)
Cheers
Andrea
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;D ;D Well as funny as it is Andrea, how great to have something written about his character! One of my families 5 out of 6 boys became policemen, I shall have to try and search out some of their records and see what is said about them!
Kerry
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I have a Calvinistic Methodist minister who became a professional tea taster..
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I had an ancestor listed on the census as "worn-out hind". Not surprisingly he died shortly afterwards!
nb a "hind" was a Northumbrian farmworker engaged on an annual basis.
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That's a beauty, belfordian.
But wouldn't that make you feel good...to see you have been termed as 'worn-out' :(
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My ggrandfather was a wood turner for Gillows and Waring in Lancaster He started at the age of 12 and was still ther at 85 years old Shirley
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Shirley
That's pretty amazing, I suppose he must have enjoyed his work.
Kerry :)
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My friend has a Goldfish Catcher in her family tree we discovered recentley, this was in west yorks the mind boggles we have no idea what this was the nearest thing we can come up with is that he may have worked on the fairs ;D.
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Hi
Answer to Arranroots (17/10)
A philosophical instrument maker was actually a maker of scientific, mathematical and astronomical instruments
It's philosophy as in natural philosphy (physics) rather than thinking ;)
See www.scotsfamily.com/occupations.htm
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I've just found a topical one
listed in the 1851 census as 'an artist in fireworks'
Out of interest, what was the name of your family member who was the artist in fireworks?
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My great uncle was an umbrella maker, which I think is a very unusual and niche job but was apparently a common occupation in the Romany community at the time. Someone who was lodging with his family in the boarding house they stayed in for a bit was also a bee hive maker! (His parents, my great great grandparents, were horse dealers and hawkers - his mother was the first female hawker in the family.)
Not really as unusual, but my great grandmother on the other side of my English family took over the family business from her husband after he died at work. They had a bit of a farming business and owned most of the shops and workplaces in the village too. There's an article from the 1870s in the local gazette about the vicar having a dispute with my great grandmother because he thought she was a "stout and bossy woman". ;D
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My favourite ancestor is the one who was a 'manure dealer'. ;D
If by some strange circumstance I'm ever granted a coat of arms, I'm going to have "where there's muck there's brass" as my motto in his honour. ;)
Probably the most interesting one on my husbands side is the jet carver. Not unusual for a man living in Whitby, but it was an industry that had a very brief boom before it dropped out of favour.
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One of mine was a Binnacle Maker, which was a box for navigational instruments aboard ships.
Another one was a Herbalist and Medium!
Carol
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I have a card reader.
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My Gt Grandfather was a Silver Comb and Brooch maker. Skate maker, Saw maker and Cutlery manufacturer. Wonder what he did in his spare time, he had 11 children.
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Don't know whether it counts but I had a maternal ancestor who as a professional silversmith spent the entirety of WW1 in prison for manufacturing his own two bob pieces on an industrial scale and a paternal third great grandfather transported to Australia in 1817 for banknote forgery.
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I've got a Wesleyan Missionary to South Africa - born 1798 in Tadcaster, Yorkshire. After leaving the church he became Mayor of Pietermaritzburg.
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Concertina maker and several pianoforte makers.