Unusual Profession/Occupation

[Kait]

On the 1891 my grandmother (b 1877 shown as age 13) and her older brother (b 1874 shown as aged 16) both have "Cyclist" in the "Profession or Occupation" column.  I haven't come across this anywhere else.  Is it a recognised entry?  is it because cycling is quite new and they want to say they can do it?  Is it like people now putting "Jedi" on the census form?
By 1901 she is a "Nurse domestic" and he is an iron monger (I think - he was hard to track down)
I would love to know if anyone else has come across cyclist on census forms
Kait

[stanmapstone]

In the 1911 census there are a number of 'Newspaper Cyclists' as well as 'Trick Cyclist', 'Messenger Cyclist' but I think they are just being facetious   

Stan

[suey]

In the 1911 census there are a number of 'Newspaper Cyclists' as well as 'Trick Cyclist', 'Messenger Cyclist' but I think they are just being facetious   

Stan

The first two maybe Stan, but could a "Messenger Cyclist" not be just that, someone who delivers messages/deliveries by bicycle....or am I missing something here 

Suey

[Billyblue]

And a trick cyclist could have been in a circus or travelling show

I would have interpreted a 'Newspaper Cyclist' as someone who delivers newspapers,
or maybe even employed by the newspaper to do errands around town etc.

Dawn M

[garstonite]

Don`t dismiss the "Order Boy " ...1891 - there were very few  cars and a lot of groceries to the larger households were taken by a Cyclist - later nicknamed the order boy ...people left their order - and he delivered it AND collected the cash ...it was actually a dangerous job because it wasn`t uncommon for the order boy to be "mugged " for the cash ...a young boy with cash was easy pickings ...as you have stated the brother was 16 ....just another profession for you to think about

[Plummiegirl]

These occupations today are done on mopeds and motorbikes.

They were the couriers of their day.

And the Trick Cyclist could have been just that, just because we use the term for a psychiatrist (sp.?) today in those days people were easily impressed by those who could perform 'stunts' on bikes rather like the skate boarders of today.

[Colin Cruddace]

Hi Kait,

Your post hit many finds in my research. I have one who entered many cycle races advertised as the new 'Safety Bicycle' from around the 1870s, which were the start of bikes as we know them. They were also the basis for the development of delivery bikes and many others.

Strangely enough I also have a 'Iron Monger' entry for my teenager Grandad, but closer inspection reveals he was a messenger 

Colin

[gaffy]

Hi Kait, is it really your Grandmother born 1877? That would make you quite special.

Looking through the British Newspaper Archive, it's interesting to see just how embedded the cycling phenomenon was by 1891, a search on that year alone for "cyclist" produces some 727 pages of hits. A lot of the hits relate to cyclist clubs and their activities, such as meetings and tours. However, it doesn't take too much of a leap of faith to imagine that some saw the delivery / messenger opportunities associated with bicycles back then.

So, were your grandmother and her brother actually employed using their bicycles back then, say, as delivery messengers for a shop? Possibly, but I don't know. Or was it a humorous reference to a couple of cycling crazy children?

What is clear is that the penny dropped on the business benefits of the bicycle in the late 1890s, for there are newspaper articles announcing the introduction of cyclists into the GPO with predictions that this would pretty well revolutionise the telegraph.

[Kait]

What's unusual about a grandmother born in 1877??
No, I don't know if it was really their employment or just an enthusiasm.
the brother went on to be a motor mechanic but my grandmother became a nursery maid before marrying and then a cook.
I've been trying to find if any other youngsters called themselves cyclist on the 1891 census