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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition => Topic started by: ValJJJ on Saturday 21 February 26 08:33 GMT (UK)

Title: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: ValJJJ on Saturday 21 February 26 08:33 GMT (UK)
Can anyone decide what was originally written against Elizabeth King please?

It says nurse then another short word, scribbled out later and annotated with sick.

She was in the household of a mother with a one-week old baby. So I would have expected her to be called a monthly nurse if helping with the new mother and baby. Perhaps there were other phrases used then?

This links in with https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=896650.0
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: ValJJJ on Saturday 21 February 26 08:34 GMT (UK)
Sorry that’s not very sharp from my phone so I’ll make a better copy from the computer.
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: ValJJJ on Saturday 21 February 26 08:41 GMT (UK)
Better image.
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: emeltom on Saturday 21 February 26 09:25 GMT (UK)
Nurse.
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: heywood on Saturday 21 February 26 09:50 GMT (UK)
I think could be ‘Serv’ - looks like ‘v’ at the end
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: Kiltaglassan on Saturday 21 February 26 10:04 GMT (UK)

Agree with emeltom..................nurse

Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: heywood on Saturday 21 February 26 10:08 GMT (UK)
It’s the scribbled over word that ValJJJ wants. Nurse is mentioned in the opening post.
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: BumbleB on Saturday 21 February 26 11:02 GMT (UK)
Not positive what the word is, but I'm pretty sure that it is NOT "Serv" - look at the entry immediately below, plus at least two other entries on the same page, for the letter "S".
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: JenB on Saturday 21 February 26 11:36 GMT (UK)
Can anyone decide what was originally written against Elizabeth King please?

It says nurse then another short word, scribbled out later and annotated with sick.

I wonder if the scribbled out word might possibly have been 'dom[estic]'?

This is from the dictionary of occupational terms (admittedly based on a later census)
nurse, domestic ; children's nurse, mother's help, nursemaid, nurse sewing maid
takes charge of children or babies; washes, dresses them and takes them out; prepares any special foods for them; sews, mends, darns, cleans nursery, and does children's washing if required.


(The word nurse was added later by someone extracting information from the census for statistical purposes.)
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: dobfarm on Saturday 21 February 26 11:54 GMT (UK)
I've taken some of the scribble out.

could it be 'babies'

or

"Say what you see" or "what the person who wrote 'sick' saw" ( another word for illness maybe)
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: rosie99 on Saturday 21 February 26 11:59 GMT (UK)
I was thinking 'Dom' the same as JenB but I tried increasing it in size and it looked more like Drex under the scribble which made no sense at all.
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: heywood on Saturday 21 February 26 12:51 GMT (UK)
Not positive what the word is, but I'm pretty sure that it is NOT "Serv" - look at the entry immediately below, plus at least two other entries on the same page, for the letter "S".

Maybe not ‘serv’ then!
It is written in a different hand to ‘Nurse’ and ‘Sick’ is a different hand again. Comparing ‘S’ doesn’t really help.
It looks as though whoever added ‘out of emplyment’ was the same writer.
JenB’s ‘dom’ does look very possible.
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: haliared on Saturday 21 February 26 13:52 GMT (UK)
It looks like it is the enumerators note for collating data.
Nurse is her occupation, but it came under the category of 'sick' like a doctor. As a private nurse she could also have been listed under 'domestic' with house maid, cook etc.
Various mining jobs above and below ground were listed under 'mine or mining' etc.
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: ValJJJ on Saturday 21 February 26 15:02 GMT (UK)
Thanks all of you. I think nurse + original word were entered first, then later when being gone through for analysis, someone has qualified it with the annotation’sick’ and scribbled out the mystery word because it didn’t fit into any preset categories.

I thought the mystery word ended with a ‘w’.
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: ValJJJ on Saturday 21 February 26 15:08 GMT (UK)
Nurse is written in the ‘relationship to head’ column and the occupation column and look like they are in the same hand.
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: Jebber on Saturday 21 February 26 16:41 GMT (UK)
Don’t forget that you are only looking at the enumerator's transcription of the original schedule. Mistakes were sometimes made during transcription and were later amended. You cannot be sure what the writing was like on the original schedule.
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: ValJJJ on Saturday 21 February 26 16:51 GMT (UK)
And just read this https://www.ukcensusrecords.com/census-blog/1594984_trades-and-professions-in-the-census-1841-1901

Not that it helps much with the mystery word.

It does look like the penultimate letter is ‘x’ but nothing comes to mind that links in with nurse.

Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: ValJJJ on Saturday 21 February 26 17:45 GMT (UK)
Short words that might qualify the type of nurse:
Fever
Day
Night

No x in any of them!

Or a specific malady of either mother or baby? An outdated word so unfamiliar to us?
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: dobfarm on Saturday 21 February 26 17:52 GMT (UK)
Scroll down the left column of occupations to Nurse, then look underneath for different types of nurse.

 https://census1891.com/occupations-n.php

Also other names for Nannie (Nanny) 1800 that may fit (nursemaid)

https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=359b18cf9b30c56c&rlz=1C1CHBD_en-GBGB1115GB1115&sxsrf=ANbL-n7hjgqMJoj_D8mvfQq_U5N3CbP6QQ:1771696510262&q=were+nannies+called+naay+in+the+1800%27s&spell=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUj5Ppk-uSAxW5XEEAHYKgGN0QBSgAegQIDxAB&biw=1225&bih=572&dpr=1.57
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: Bookbox on Saturday 21 February 26 18:01 GMT (UK)
I was thinking 'Dom' the same as JenB

I agree with this - dom, for domestic. The final m has an upwards flick at the end.
Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: ValJJJ on Saturday 21 February 26 18:03 GMT (UK)
Snap Dobfarm! But no help unfortunately. Perhaps it was a Liverpudlian term?  ;D

Just been looking at old names for illnesses but apoplexy (stroke) seems unlikely. Smallpox?

http://www.genproxy.co.uk/old_medical_terms.htm

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Historical_Causes_of_Death

Title: Re: 1891 census entry occupation?
Post by: dobfarm on Saturday 21 February 26 23:39 GMT (UK)
Dom (Thin up strokes & thick down strokes)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(As census)
Nurse   Tended the sick.
Nurse Girl   A trainee nurse.
Nurse, Dom   A domestic nurse.
Nurse, Sick   Nurse.
Nursemaid   Nurses children