Do you have corkcutter ancestors?

[corkcutter]

Hello Carole, thanks for contacting me.  I do have a George Sampson in Uttoxeter.  He is mentioned as a "father at baptisms 1815-1829' in the names index at the back of Joy Dunicliff's booklet "Uttoxeter and Cork" which is mentioned in the PFH article.  Sorry I have nothing else.

I think you should look back at page 4 of this string on Rootschat as a member called macphail posted some info. in July 2005.  I think you are connected and maybe you can unknot your puzzles between you.  Do let me know if you discover anything more.

Best wishes  Cheryl

[oldvic]

Good morning

Thank you Cheryl for replying and for advising me on next steps forward.  I'll read the book and contact macphail.

Good luck with your cork cutters index. If you ever decide to make it publicly available, I'd be delighted to know please.

Warm regards, Carole

[macphail]

Hi Cheryl, yes me and Carole are connected through George Jnr the shoemaker and I now have a pic of his daughter (thanks Carole)
The letters were referring to the apprenticeship of George Jnr (b1817) who married Sarah Blackshaw. It's more likely George Snr trained before he moved to Uttoxeter & married there in 1808 age 24.
Cheers, Peter Sampson

[gjking]

Hi, I have a corkcutter ancestor that I have not seen in this site yet.
He was David Laing, and was known from his will to have been a practising corkcutter in Great Tower Street, London, in 1794. He was also a cork merchant, and owned several properties as well as stock.
Subsequently, in the Post Office Directory for London, 1808, Laing & Sons were described as Cork-merchants and Manufacturers and their address was 1 Gt. Tower St. London. I imagine the actual cutting was done by those who were employed by Laing & Son. The son's name was Thomas Josiah Laing.

Geoff

[corkcutter]

Hello Geoff,
Many thanks for contacting me.  I really like these "old" corkcutters.

David is already on the index, and also (presumably) his sons, plus one other entry in the London area.  Details are:
David Laing, 1 Gt. Tower St. First reference 1794. Found in Directory of London on the londonancestor website.  Also a customer of William Sargent, cork merchant, and listed as such in his accounts of 1794. (These are at the National Archives: Papers of William Sargent  (PRO C107/76  1794 - 1800). They show how much cork David purchased within the year and how much he paid for it.  Most of Sargent's cork came in from Portugal.

In 1825 (from various directories) I have Thomas and John Laing (and alternatively Laing and son) at the same
address and also at 66 Haymarket.

In 1841 a John Laing and son are at 16 Eastcheap. (Again  a directory source).

Hope this is of some help and interest.  Do you know where David was born?  I am interested in the drift of corkcutting to London.  If you are lucky enough to discover any more about him, please let me know.  I now have you as a reference to the Laings so that I can inform you if someone else is enquiring about the same line.

Best wishes

Cheryl

[Antonette]

I am coming up with a completely new name for your records, because it is my grandfather, who was born in France of Italian parents. His name was Antonio (Anthony) Canini. He went to London for his mother's health in about 1896/97 (she died in 1898) and in the 1901 census, under the name of Camini, my grandfather is listed as cork cutter at the age of 17, living in Clerkenwell (Little Italy). I wonder how he came to be introduced to the trade. HIs father owned street organs and had been a musician/itinerant entertainer all his life. Obviously when my grandfather arrived in England he had to learn first of all the language. He would have been about 13 at the time.
He later volunteered in 1915 and was taken into the 6th London Regiment, received a gunshot wound in the head in 1916 and was discharged, and died in Scotland 9 years later as a result of the wound. HIs address was given as Cross Street, Essex Road, London.
Have you come across him before? Many thanks for all the information I have gathered so far from this site. Thanks very much, Antonette

[corkcutter]

Der Antonette,

Thank you for the information about your grandfather.  I have now added his name to the corkcutters' index.

By the time he came into the trade, corkcutting was not very skilled, being done using foot driven wheels to turn the cork.  Charles Booth writing in the early 1890s, says that the old system of apprenticeship had gone and that young lads who ran errands and were quick to learn were taught how to use the machines.  It was not very well-paid.

At this period, the two main London areas for corkcutting were south of the river in Peckham and nearby, and north of the river around the Clerkenwell district.  Even so, the number of firms were reducing in the face of foreign competition from Spain and Portugal.

Looking at my index I have found a few firms listed in 1914 in the right area for your grandfather.  The most likely seems to be William Plessants who was at 70 Farrngdon Rd., but this is only a guess.  I have never discovered any lists of staff etc. I'm afraid.

Hope this helps

Best wishes

Cheryl

[Antonette]

Thank you, Cheryl. The Farringdon Road corkcutting firm was probably the right bet as he lived just off Farringdon Road.
After he was discharged from the Army in 1916 he went back to cork cutting because that is the occupation written on his death certificate 9 years later. So he must have felt it was a worthwhile trade and paid sufficiently well to live on.
I am in touch with a lady who helps people find their ancestors who lived in Little Italy and were Italian immigrants. She does this through St Peter's, the Italian Church in Clerkenwell Road. It was her idea for me to get in touch with you and concerning the person whose ancestor wrote 'cork cutter' and 'tobacco manufacturer', she wondered if he could have been involved in cork-tipped cigarettes! She pointed out that the Craven A company was quite close by in Mornington Crescent.
Thanks again, Antonette

[brabanne]

I've just come across the Corkcutters by chance and although I haven't yet read all the posts - I'll add my twopence worth. Does anybody (other than me) have Dublin corkcutters who migrated to Edinburgh in the middle of the nineteenth century?