Tin Plate Workers

[Cathcoo]

😊

[Cathcoo]

Henry Mayhew writes about tinmen in his fascinating work: London Labour and the London Poor. It appears that some of them are indeed little more than hawkers who operated at the bottom end of a network of manufacturers and wholesalers. Maybe someone could copy some extracts here (I only have a phone).
This may explain why my gx3 grandfather calls himself a tinman, while according to his 'wife', whom he seems to have got together with at 15, and who is illiterate, he's a hawker.
I do wonder though why in one census he called himself a tin plate worker.

[youngtug]

The material used is tinned steel sheet. ; tinplate.
Nothing much is made from pure tin, it is too soft and malleable.
A totally useless piece of information; when you bend it, it squeals. [usefull if you want to check if it is a bar of tin or a bar of lead.]

[Cathcoo]

Thanks Young Tug, but my query centres on why his wife's calling him a hawker when he's referring to himself as a tinplate worker and a tinman.

[Romilly]

Thanks Young Tug, but my query centres on why his wife's calling him a hawker when he's referring to himself as a tinplate worker and a tinman.

Perhaps he 'hawked' the tin products about, and sold them door to door? (Just a thought).

Romilly.

[kerryb]

Henry Mayhew writes about tinmen in his fascinating work: London Labour and the London Poor. It appears that some of them are indeed little more than hawkers who operated at the bottom end of a network of manufacturers and wholesalers. Maybe someone could copy some extracts here (I only have a phone).

Thank you Cathcoo for the mention of this book, I went and had a look to see what it was and have decided it looks so interesting and relevant to my family history I'm going to download a copy so if I get chance I will add any extracts i find that are relevant here.

Kerryb 

[youngtug]

You can read it here; https://archive.org/details/londonlabourlond01mayhrich

[Rena]

Of metal workers there were Goldsmiths, Silversmiths and the word that describes people working in other less expensive metals such as brass, bronze, copper, tin, etc is "Tinsmith".

My OH has a Tinsmith in his line who owned a company that manufactured many products such as brass nameplates, miners lamps and other products such as tin tea caddies for Lipmans tea.

A hawker would need a licence and as he doesn't state "street hawker" he may have decided he could make more money selling simple tinware items, such as small tins to hold baccy, door to door, shop to shop.  If he's at the very bottom of the trade he could have been fastening two pieces of whittled wood together with strips of tin to make pegs for the washing line.

[Skoosh]

In my railway days the "Tinnies" had their own shop making lamps, cans, measures, etc', the coppersmiths were a separate outfit & thought they were a cut above the tinnies, the brass-shop ditto. Scottish tinkers were traditionally also tinsmiths, travelling from place to place fixing pots & pans & making tinware when required. I don't think licenses were in it!

Skoosh.