Does anone know what a 'house jobber' is or does?

[pidgeoni38]

Hi, I was hoping someone could shed light on this. On my great, great grandfathers marriage cert he gives his occupations as a 'house jobber'. He was living in Dublin city in 1876. Does anone know what a 'house jobber' is or does? any information would be great. All the best Keith 

[genechaser]

Hi

Take a look at this site.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jobbing_house

http://www.igd.com/our-expertise/Supply-chain/WastePrevention/16584/Clearance-houses-or-jobbers/

[pidgeoni38]

Hi genechaser, yeah  seen that before, its the closest to a proper description as I could find. Its just that I know that the man had very little money, maybe he was "lying" on his marriage cert, like people would tell lies on their C.V. today, just to impress the inlaws (smile) thanks for the feedback: keith

[dathai]

i wonder is it meant to be what they now call in the building industry a ''snagger'' the man who finishes off any flaws in new houses before they are handed over.

[gaffy]

I've seen a lot of old records with occupations like "builder and house jobber" or "slater and house jobber".

Until your post, I had just assumed it was basically saying that in addition to his primary trade, the man could turn his hand to anything in the house in the way of what we would now describe as "handyman" and could be "paid by the job" (like piece work). Maybe that assumption is wrong, I'd love to know the correct meaning.

BTW, be aware also that "house jobber" in the context of Dublin in latter 1800s / early 1900s had a very particular meaning, which doesn't seem to fit your man.  With demand exceeding supply, Dublin "house jobbers" bought up lots of old houses with the intention of doing the minimum to preserve them and maximising rental income. Hence overcrowding, poor living conditions etc.

As I said, it doesn't seem to fit...

[dathai]

There is another way to look at it ,if the house jobber buys up the property he's the man with the money it seems unlikely that he would do the actual physical work,probably employing some Joe Soap to do this for him which i think would intitle him to call himself a house jobber.

[taramcdsmall]

Hi There

Was the handwriting good on the cert or could it actually say something else ?

Was he still in Dublin and alive in 1901 ? If so what is his occupation on the census ?

Do you have any of his children's birth certs and if so does the occupation match ?

Tara

[back2back]

Hi All
In Liverpool in the 60's and the time of slum clearance (Everton area) it was quite common for teenage lads to have a job as "Jobber" doing up houses that were not in the slum area. Mixing mortar- getting the jobs ready for brickies and tradesmen. Sweeping up, "can lad" digging, shovel ling.
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