Help Deciphering Occupations on 1871 Census

[winslowsmom]

Happy New Year one and all. I need help with deciphering occupations on the 1871 census of my McDonald Family in Barony.
Since it is their working life, I posted here instead of on the census. The family is about half way down the list, the family of
William McDonald. I can see that he is a collier, but the others have me stymied. I have posted it oddly enough, on my Dog's
Blog, because I can easily upload PDFs there, and you can easily download them. Hope that is okay. It reminds me that I have
to set up a family history blog, which would be more appropriate, but for now, you can see pics of my pup too
The link is at http://winslow.cathyhatfield.com/blog/
Thank you for your help.
Cathy Hatfield

[SarahND]

Hi Cathy,
Nice dog!

As far as the occupations go, Ancestry unhelpfully calls them:
William- Cottier
Janet- Lorimer Worker
John- Cottier
William- Wair Lab
Mary- Lorimer Worker

I see:
Collier
Twiner Woollen
Collier,
Wirer(?) Pit
Twiner Woollen

Not sure about William Jr. Sounds like he works in the coal pit, at something that starts with a W, but what?

All the best,
Sarah

[Currie]

Well done Sarah,

I never would have figured those out. Wirer sounds pretty good to me. Maybe something to do with the wire ropes used to haul the load of coal etc out of the Pit and various other things around the mine? The fellow giving evidence at this 1854 inquiry had been using them for 11 or 12 years. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=0Zs ... 22&f=false

All the best and Woof Woof to Winslow,
Alan

[SarahND]

Wirer sounds pretty good to me.

Well, that makes two of us! Let's hope Winslow agrees and then Cathy will have to go along with the majority

Cheers,
Sarah

[Russell]

Can I join in and concur with Sarah's interpretation. Awful writing but the enumerator was working in an awful area.
715 Duke Street, back building. Imagine rows of terrible tenement buildings with further rows built in behind them. A veritable rabbit warren of tiny houses/flats with no sanitary facilities, probably no water supply, damp, dark with whole families crammed into one or at most two rooms. No wonder cholera. T.B. dysentery were common killers.

Thank you for a chance to see an intelligent, beautiful Winslow too. Can I take him a walk

Russell

[Lindsay]

I am absolutely hopeless at deciphering handwriting but would agree that this looks like wirer.

However, as a note of caution, I do a lot of research into mining and have never come across this occupation anywhere. I am struggling to imagine what this occupation could refer to - management of the winding gear and ropes should not have involved a 13 year old (although that doesn't mean it didn't!).

Regards

Lindsay

[Maisie]

Hi

To the best of my knowledge a "wirer" is a person who traps small game eg rabbits and hares using wire snares. A possible occupation for a 13 year old, but perhaps not in a tenement? Unless they were plagued with rats down the pit?

Maisie

[winslowsmom]

Thank you all so much for your input.
Later in life, on his mother's poor relief app in 1892, William was a Bleachfield Foreman, in Portugal with 4 weans. But I cant find him for the 1881 census. He wasn't with the his parents, being old enough to be out on his own. And with a name like Wm McDonald...... I will search for a marriage later when I am flush, and will let you all know if there is an occupation that seems to relate to this one.
John was always a labourer of some sort, and is the one who is my 3xgreat grandfather. Indeed, both of his parents died in the poorhouse, so life was not easy then. My grandmother was always admonishing us to work hard and save so that we wouldn't end up in the poorhouse.

Thanks also for your comments on Winslow - he says woof back, and you can walk him anytime.
Thanks, and let me know if you think of anything else it could be.
Cathy