Cork-cutter

pigwidgeon · Post by **pigwidgeon** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 6:17 pm

One of my husband's ancestors is described as a cork-cutter on the death certificates of two of his children. He lived in Ayr, Ayr in the late 1700s and early 1800s. What would this job entail and what was the cork used for?
Many thanks
Petra

DavidWW · Post by **DavidWW** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 6:48 pm

Petra

See http://www.scotroots.com/occupations.htm for the basic definition.

I'd imagine that the main use was as a stopper for bottles and similar containers.

I'm unsure as regards the use of cork in that era for mats and simliar, or as an insulator.

The main work would be examining and grading the raw cork, preparing it for the production of the final product, e.g. suitable size sheets for cutting out bottle corks etc. Again I'm unsure what use was made back then of the endcuts, e.g. grinding them up, binding with resins, moulding and curing.

David

don · Post by **don** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:29 pm

Hi Petra,

This site might be of interest to you and may answer some of your questions, although the index is soley for corkcutters in England the rest of the site is informative as it deals with working conditions, and what was made from the cork etc. http://corkcutter.info/

don

DavidWW · Post by **DavidWW** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 3:12 pm

don wrote:Hi Petra,

This site might be of interest to you and may answer some of your questions, although the index is soley for corkcutters in England the rest of the site is informative as it deals with working conditions, and what was made from the cork etc. http://corkcutter.info/

don

Welcome to TalkingScot on your first post, Don

The link fascinated me, not least its map showing the numbers by area in the 1851 census in England

The nature of the 1881 census is such that it's easy to search for an occupation.

Searching for corkcutter or cork cutter (the technique is to search for corkcutter or the term "cork cutter"/2 which will find all occurences of the single words cork and cutter within any 2 words).

The website comments that the activity was concentrated in ports as the cork was awkward, bulky and expensive to transport.

There are 538 with the occupation in the 1881 census in Scotland, - a not inconsiderable number, and an interesting comment on the level of wine drinking in Auld Scotia, I suspect !

In the north the port connection holds true with clusters in Aberdeen, Kirkcaldy, Montrose, Arbroath, Dundee, Anstruther Easter, Dysart, Rothesay, Row, Falkirk (via canal?), but also in Stirling.

In the south (this and north as per the 1881 census CD definitions), obvious port connections again, but also inland, - in no particular order - Greenock, Dalry, Girvan, Paislry, Irvine, Kilmanrock, Ayr, Beith, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Colmonell (Ehh! - visiting from Girvan or Ayr?), Leith, Hamilton, Kelso, Dalkeith, Inveresk, Stow and Haddington.

The smaller locations tend to be single practitioners, so to speak.

I suspect that some smaller places were like Ayr, where I know from living there for many years, that there was a major wine importer, who would bottle from barrels.

David

don · Post by **don** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:09 pm

Many thanks for the welcome David. I also found the site fascinating as one or two of my ancestors were corkcutters as well (albeit in the east end of London) and it has helped me to undstand what their life would have possibly been like whilst working in that trade.

don

DavidWW · Post by **DavidWW** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:37 pm

don wrote:Many thanks for the welcome David.

My pleasure !

don wrote:I also found the site fascinating as one or two of my ancestors were corkcutters as well (albeit in the east end of London) and it has helped me to undstand what their life would have possibly been like whilst working in that trade.

don

Any hint from your research of occupational diseases from which they were liable to suffer, - this being an interest of mine, - e.g. in this case, possibly the dust that was produced from the cutting of the cork??

David