PHITHER

[Lister]

Hi,
    my ancestor came from Frankfurt about 1840. He was described as a Tailor, however in a later Census, he is described as a " Dealer in Phither".
Any idea as to what that is/was? In later Censuses he is a Travelling Showman and finally a Hawker. It is definitely spelt PHITHER and not Feather.
My local Library/Heritage Centre is stumped.

Can U help??

Bye for now,
                    Lister.

[Valda]

The nearest I can get is philter which might work with the travelling showman aspect. Philter/philtre was a love potion, drink or charm suppose to excite.
A sort of viagra travelling showman then, though I'm sure someone else can come up with a much more straightforward explanation.

Regards

Valda

[stanmapstone]

There does not appear to be any such word according to the OED. Can you give the details of the person and census so that the entry can be looked at by others?
Stan

[Lister]

Hi Stan,
             here are the details for my 2x Great Grandfather

 1871 Census Finsbury (R.G.10   373)

 George Shilling, Head, 40... Dealer in Phither.......Frankfort
 Ann........ do.  , Wife,  39.....................................Yorks/Bradford
 Anne...... do,  , Daur

Etc, Etc,

Best of luck :-)

Bye for now,
                    Lister.

[PaulineJ]

Ithink they are listed under shilley in 1861 myton( hull)

george is what appears to be a "showman/shawman" in that one

RG9/3590 F99 P18
Pauline

[Lister]

Hi Pauline,
                 thanks, I didn't have the 1861.That has been one of the problems
with tracing George, he was always on the move. He was in London, Durham, Bradford, HULL, Chester, Middlesex and he ended his days in Manchester. And those are just the ones that I know about. He is listed as Tailor and then Travelling Showman, so I wonder if he was perhaps  employed as a costumier for a Circus or Show. He also, it seems, was never legally married to Ann as I have never been able to find a Certificate and as for his birth!! I employed a researcher in his place of birth ( Frankfurt Am Maine) but they couldn't trace him, even though he was Roman Catholic and there are "masses" (pun) of documents available from the 1825-1830s. So thank you and indeed thank anyone who turns up some info on George, I greatly appreciate the help.

Bye for now,
                  Lister.

[bearkat]

Fither was an old fashioned word for feather.  So perhaps feather dealer is still a possibility.
If he had a strong german accent I suppose anything is possible.