Dauffer - what does this mean?

[christiek]

Searched 1911 Northern Irelands census and listed under occupation for two of my relatives is the word dauffer. Does anyone know what this means?
Google searching just tells me it's old french for sodomiser lol.

[PrueM]

Hi Christie,
Can you give us the references for these entries, or post a clip of the image so we can have a look?

[suzard]

Hi,

Could it be "dauber"? = made Wattle & Daub walls using Lute- a tenacious clay

Suz

[Seoras]

I can only think of a doffer, which I think is someone in the linen/cotton industry. Agree with Pru Christie, can you post the section.

[aghadowey]

1911 census transcriptions aren't always accurate but sometimes it's the spelling on the actual form that is incorrect. Search for 'dauffer' in 1911 as the occupation brings up 6 entries for 'dauffer', 'mill worker dauffer' and 'flax dauffer.'
It should read doffer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/work/northern_ireland/ni_8/article_1.shtml

It's also explained here- "Doffers: the name given mostly to women who doffed or tied up the full spindles of linen thread and quickly replaced this with a fresh empty spindle."
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,280933.0.html

Think these are your relatives?
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002190399/

[suzard]

Hi,

Could it be "dauber"? = made Wattle & Daub walls using Lute- a tenacious clay

Suz

I agree it should be "doffer" -  I assumed (incorrectly) that the relatives were male -

Suz

[Seoras]

Possibly it's written down in by the enumerator as they heard it pronounced.

Just a hunch, I can't get my friend from Northern Ireland to answer the phone to see how he would pronounce it 

[aghadowey]

Possibly it's written down in by the enumerator as they heard it pronounced.

The head of household, unless illiterate, filled in the census form but spelling wasn't always perfect.

Searching for the correct spelling of 'doffer'- 753 are male and 2183 are female.

[christiek]

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002146629/

Though I must apologise, I've realised I should have posted this in the County Down forum instead, had this one up because they later moved to Belfast. Thank you ever so much for your help!