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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition => Topic started by: Top-of-the-hill on Thursday 05 October 17 20:37 BST (UK)

Title: Help with this census entry please
Post by: Top-of-the-hill on Thursday 05 October 17 20:37 BST (UK)
  What is the occupation in the middle two entries - presume it is something military? I have included a bit extra in case it helps.
Title: Re: Help with this census entry please
Post by: Donnie H on Thursday 05 October 17 21:22 BST (UK)
Looks like "In Defence Corps" to me
Title: Re: Help with this census entry please
Post by: Treetotal on Thursday 05 October 17 22:55 BST (UK)
Agree with Corps but the first letter doesn't match the other Ds. The first letter of the third occupation looks the same as Lethum on the las line.
Carol
Title: Re: Help with this census entry please
Post by: Kaz- on Thursday 05 October 17 23:08 BST (UK)
I think that letter is a P as in Portsmouth.  M Police Corps?  Looks more like M Pelvice Corps, but that doesn't make much sense to me!
Title: Re: Help with this census entry please
Post by: Top-of-the-hill on Thursday 05 October 17 23:22 BST (UK)
  I thought the first letter was P, but I can't make police of the rest, though it would make some sense.
Title: Re: Help with this census entry please
Post by: bbart on Friday 06 October 17 00:50 BST (UK)
Is there two M's prior to "police" in that column, or is the first a stray M from the preceding column for married/male?

If both M's are in the column, I'm thinking it's M M police corps, as in Mounted Military Police Corps.  Notice the small L in "Dealer" and "Appledore".   They are quite different, but one matches the top "police", and the other matches the lower "police".

I can't make out what is following the top one (perhaps some abbrev. for Middlesex?), but the lower one looks like "Hants".

Title: Re: Help with this census entry please
Post by: Geoff-E on Friday 06 October 17 11:45 BST (UK)
To give some sort of context, they were Boarders in Barham, Kent.

One of them was James TAYLOR 27
Title: Re: Help with this census entry please
Post by: Top-of-the-hill on Friday 06 October 17 12:39 BST (UK)
   They were staying at one of the pubs in the village. If they were with a mounted police corps, which looks the most likely, I wonder what they were doing there? I suppose there would have been a stable at the pub. The nearby Barham Downs were often used for military musters and training, (from time immemorial!)
Title: Re: Help with this census entry please
Post by: Geoff-E on Friday 06 October 17 13:57 BST (UK)
The  Military Mounted Police (MMP) was apparently formed in 1877.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Military_Police