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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: 01debbie on Thursday 24 April 08 17:02 BST (UK)

Title: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: 01debbie on Thursday 24 April 08 17:02 BST (UK)
Ok, I'm probably asking the impossible, but can anyone decipher Emily Taylor's occupation please?

Thanks!

Debbie
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: Sherlock on Thursday 24 April 08 17:06 BST (UK)
 ??? Dresser
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: jethorp on Thursday 24 April 08 17:10 BST (UK)
Spinning room?????????
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: meles on Thursday 24 April 08 17:13 BST (UK)
Goodness! How are you two able to see anything?!

It might be helpful to see what others are doing in the street, to see if there's a theme.

meles
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: Tati on Thursday 24 April 08 17:13 BST (UK)
Greengrocer?  :P

Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: Fisherman on Thursday 24 April 08 17:17 BST (UK)
 I see it as Charwoman.

Chris
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: 01debbie on Thursday 24 April 08 17:26 BST (UK)
Goodness! How are you two able to see anything?!

It might be helpful to see what others are doing in the street, to see if there's a theme.

meles

LOL!!!  I just had a look & it's quite a mixed list. It's from the 1901 RG13/399 155 31   if anyone wants to see the full page.

Has me baffled!!  :o

Debbie
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: 01debbie on Thursday 24 April 08 17:35 BST (UK)
Apologies!!  How rude....I didn't thank any of you for trying to do the impossible!

It's very much appreciated.  I just checked the 1891 for clues but she wasn't working then :(

But thank you all for trying.

Debbie
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: GeoffE on Thursday 24 April 08 20:39 BST (UK)
I think the curved line in the middle of the word is just some sort of check-mark, the same as appears in Blacksmith just above.

Noting that her husband doesn't seem to have an occupation (although not noted with a disability), it's quite possible that Charwoman, as suggested by Fisherman, is correct.
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: PaulaToo on Thursday 24 April 08 21:32 BST (UK)
I don't know if this helps at all.
I can't make anything out of it.
G at the beginning, a or u at the end?
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: PrueM on Thursday 24 April 08 23:11 BST (UK)
Hmm...he's well and truly scrubbed it out, hasn't he  ;D

All I can make out is that it starts with a G, ends with er, and might be two words...the only thing I can get to fit is Green Grocer, but I can't see another G in there.

Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: PaulaToo on Thursday 24 April 08 23:17 BST (UK)
I wonder what Ancestry makes of it...we could do with a good laugh  :D
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: elaine447 on Thursday 24 April 08 23:25 BST (UK)
some sort of cleaner ??? maybe glass :-\
Elaine
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: Rabbit B on Thursday 24 April 08 23:41 BST (UK)
Hi Everyone,

I have just checked up on the Ancestry census, and the enumerator has made a mess of this!  It looks to me as if he put Docker L in for the wife instead of the husband! Having x'd out his first error!

I enlarged it and had a good look and it is quite clear! The woman would not have to have been working in those days. Some women found it impossible to work in the 1900s Married women were often not employable!

One of my entries for 1901 is a similar mess! it took three of us to sort that one out and we knew the answer before we started!

Rabbit B  ;D

PS My eyes are not good either, so I am happy to stand corrected!
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: MarieC on Friday 25 April 08 06:56 BST (UK)
Hmmm!  Given that the enumerator may well have messed it up, I think I agree with Prue that the occupation of someone (  ??? ) is Greengrocer.  There seems to be a capital g at the beginning, and a small one half way through.  And the end of the word looks like "grocer" to me!

MarieC
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: PaulaToo on Friday 25 April 08 09:24 BST (UK)
I think it looks as though Dock Labourer is attached to the entry below and has nothing to do with our entry. I did wonder about it at first, but discounted it.
I think the line through the middle that looks like a small g is in fact a strike like the one between the s and m of Blacksmith above, so I wouldn't count on there being a g in the middle.
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: JAP on Friday 25 April 08 09:40 BST (UK)
Indeed!  The 'Dock L' is, in any case, written by a checker and not the enumerator - this checker seemed to have been very keen on adding categories etc.

There seem to have been 3 different people involved - the enumerator; then a checker writing in a different hand and with a different pen/pencil; and then yet another person using a big thick pen/pencil and adding all those X's and, apparently, scoring through Emily's occupation.

JAP
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: toni* on Friday 25 April 08 09:45 BST (UK)
okay two things

if that is the enumarator check as pointed out by GeoffE than the second word looks like woman however if not than the second workd looks like it does beign with G and end in er like grocer , but i am inclined to agree with GeoffE on this one


Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: Tati on Friday 25 April 08 10:06 BST (UK)
Can you guys really see the word ending in 'an' instead of 'er'?  ??? 
I thought 'er' was the only definite bit!! :P

Mind you - sorry to say, Debbie! - I don't think we'll ever find out unless someone sees the original and the writings turn out to be in different colours!   
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: Galium on Friday 25 April 08 10:13 BST (UK)
PaulaToo's image makes the first word a bit clearer - it looks to me like 'General'.

For a woman, 'General' is usually followed by 'servant', but I don't think this is the case here - the ending of the second word looks like '..er' (Compare with the ending of 'Labourer' on the line below).

A possibility is that the enumerator has entered John's occupation on the wrong line, and it reads 'General Labourer'.  What was he doing in previous census years?
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: Gadget on Friday 25 April 08 10:16 BST (UK)
I've looked and looked at this - and played with all sorts of levels, negatived it, etc. and i can only come up with the same as Tati and a few others - Green grocer - I'm more sure of the Green than the grocer but what else goes with green  :-\

Gadget
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: PaulaToo on Friday 25 April 08 10:18 BST (UK)
Had another fiddle with it, but won't be able to get it any clearer...
Giving up on this one...and saying that hurts the precious pride...
Last shot 'Garmentworker.'
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: GeoffE on Friday 25 April 08 10:36 BST (UK)
In my opinion Dock L refers to the line below - part of the job classification system for Waterside Labourer
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: JAP on Friday 25 April 08 10:47 BST (UK)
Something which keeps puzzling me is WHY the entry was scored through.

And the only reason I can think of is that whatever was written there was not a recognized occupation.

But then why not also score through the stamped 'worker'?

JAP
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: JAP on Friday 25 April 08 11:24 BST (UK)
Debbie,

Do you have the census references for 1891, 1881 and 1861?

What was John's occupation in them?  Were they married by 1861 - and if not what was Emily's ms and occupation?

Was there an occupation for Emily on their marriage certificate?

JAP
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: Gadget on Friday 25 April 08 11:29 BST (UK)
Fresh from my tide waiter  ::)  Is it Garment sewer ?


Gadget
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: Rabbit B on Friday 25 April 08 11:50 BST (UK)
Hi again,

I make mistakes when I am writing [dont we all] cross it out, and put something beside, above, or below it, where it can be put in.  The entry was wrong!  hence the crossing out.

I still say that the other word applies to that entry, albeit in a different had, the others are so very clearly marked!

Rabbit B   ;D
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: Ruskie on Friday 25 April 08 11:54 BST (UK)
I was going to add a comment to this earlier but decided against it ....

But ... surely if the occupation was crossed thorugh, it was incorrect, therefore it is not your Emily's occupation, and irrelevant to your research ....  ?

;D
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: 01debbie on Friday 25 April 08 12:13 BST (UK)
Hi Everyone,

WOW!!  you've all been busy, thank you!

I've just popped online while at work, so only have a moment or 2, but John was a labourer in a biscuit factory on 1891.

I'll have to check the marriage cert & 1881 tonight.

Thank you all for taking so much time to look.

Debbie



Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: 01debbie on Friday 25 April 08 17:04 BST (UK)
Hi All,

Ok, on the 1881, if I have the correct John Taylor, he was a general labourer.

In 1887 he married Emily (no occ) & he was a BISCUIT MAKER

Emily in 1881, is possibly listed as Emily VERNELL, a housemaid (domestic)  Emily's correct maiden name was VERONELLI, but this was greatly mispelt over the years & her father changed their branch to TAYLOR.  So on the marriage she's Emily Taylor, marrying another Taylor.

So, does anyone else agree with my train of thought that is was actually John's occ, not Emily's, & that it MAY have read biscuit maker?

Many thanks for all your suggestions, I just couldn't read anything at all.

Why didn't I have more simple names in my family tree?   :-\  Guess it wouldn't have been so much fun though ;)
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: geniecolgan on Friday 25 April 08 17:08 BST (UK)
Really hard to see but I go along with Green Grocer.
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: PaulaToo on Friday 25 April 08 17:33 BST (UK)
Um.........housekeeper.....?
Can't make biscuits out.
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: Cas (stallc) on Friday 25 April 08 17:35 BST (UK)
Difficult one....but I would go with greengrocer also

Cas
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: Galium on Friday 25 April 08 18:21 BST (UK)
Still think the first word is 'General'. Am also inclined to think that the occupation is really John's and is 'General Labourer'.  Each word looks too long to me for it to be 'Green Grocer'.

 That long stroke through the second word isn't part of a letter in it - someone has made similar long curving strokes through other occupations on the page.  Eg. through 'Blacksmith' a couple of lines above.

 Added Sorry, I see that Geoff has already pointed out the curving stroke thing.  What I meant to say is that if  the second word is 'Grocer' the 'G' is nothing like the first 'G', and there is no downward stroke as there would be if it was lower case.
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: 01debbie on Friday 25 April 08 18:24 BST (UK)

 That long stroke through the second word isn't part of a letter in it - someone has made similar long curving strokes through other occupations on the page.  Eg. through 'Blacksmith' a couple of lines above.

I agree with you Galium...that's about the only part I can see!!!
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: PaulaToo on Friday 25 April 08 21:05 BST (UK)
....still think it's housekeeper
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: bridgwater on Sunday 27 April 08 15:44 BST (UK)
i'm thinking it could be General Grocer
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: lookingforold on Sunday 27 April 08 17:00 BST (UK)
Just a thought.
Have you looked in a Kelly's for the time and area and seen if there might be a Commercial connection or an advert for the address. Maybe she was a business woman?
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: 01debbie on Sunday 27 April 08 17:32 BST (UK)
Just a thought.
Have you looked in a Kelly's for the time and area and seen if there might be a Commercial connection or an advert for the address. Maybe she was a business woman?

No I hadn't!!  Good thinking Lookingforold ;)
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: griz on Sunday 27 April 08 17:55 BST (UK)
It might be 'keeping house' or house keeper. A couple of my ladies on censuses were listed that way.

 That first letter does look like a 'G' though.   hmm....
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: IgorStrav on Monday 28 April 08 12:39 BST (UK)
I looked a few pages back from the entry to see the general writing of the enumerator, and there is an entry which is clearly General Labourer.

What do you think, comparing it with the one which has been so comprehensively scored out?

Hope this comes out clearly enough!

Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: Joyful on Monday 28 April 08 12:51 BST (UK)
It looks like General Labourer wriiten in the wrong space and scored out ...feasible?

Joy :) ???
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: Olly on Monday 28 April 08 13:05 BST (UK)
What about General Dealer? my gran is listed as such on my mum's birth cert in 1909. She had a general shop, selling groceries

Regards Olly
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: Rabbit B on Monday 28 April 08 14:02 BST (UK)
Hi again,

I am still sure that they have just got it wrong! I see no point in trying to read through what is so obviously an error   :-\

Thanks for putting it up like that IgorStrav, I have already looked at the original too, your enlargement makes me even more certain!

Rabbit B  :)

Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: 01debbie on Monday 28 April 08 16:49 BST (UK)
I looked a few pages back from the entry to see the general writing of the enumerator, and there is an entry which is clearly General Labourer.

What do you think, comparing it with the one which has been so comprehensively scored out?

Hope this comes out clearly enough!



I think you just won this weeks gold star!!!!

You clever thing :)

Many thanks, it certainly looks the same to me.
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: Mumsie2131 on Monday 28 April 08 17:29 BST (UK)
I agree with Rabbitt - it's scored out so obviously incorrect, BUT I've enjoyed the post anyway !!!!
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: IgorStrav on Monday 28 April 08 17:32 BST (UK)
No worries, Debbie.  So many people are so clever on this site, I had a bit of time on my hands and thought I'd try something myself!!  :D
Title: Re: Anyone have X Ray vision to read this? :)
Post by: Rabbit B on Monday 28 April 08 17:33 BST (UK)
Thanks Mumsie2131,

So have I! ;D ;D ;D ;D

Rabbit B  ;)