Occupations, Trades, etc
All the censuses have a column listing occupations or other income sources, though there are many blanks against housewives, unmarried daughters and younger children. Marriage registers from mid-1837 give occupations for the groom and the two fathers. Directories have trades against the majority of entries (gentry excepted). The information given on this page is filtered from these sources.
Unusual entries
| Artist | Engineers, Manufacturers Of General Agricultural Implements; Horse Hoes A Speciality ; Wagon & Cart Builders, Ironmongers &C., (Blackbourn Ironworks, & Stowmarket) |
| Glue Mfr | Late Cap.8Th Kings Own, Farmer & Brick Manufr. |
| Relieving & Vaccination Officer & Registrar Of Births, Deaths & Marriages | Steward In The Royal Naval College Portsmouth |
| Bombardier | Farmer & Manager Threshing Machinery |
| Handicap: Blind -- Basket Maker | Marine Store Dealer |
| Sec To Building Societys Offices Of Society | Superanuated Metropolitian Po Now Time Keeper At Woolpit |
| Capt. 10Th R? Hussars | Farmeress & Cowkeeper |
| Handicap: Blind - Gardener | Quarter Master |
| Seed Merchant, Birch Broom Mfr & Farmer | Yeoman |
| Corn Miller Improver | Nothing to do besides collecting manure (Charles Woolsey 1851, No.7) |
| Handicap: Imbecile - Farm Servant | |
| Shoemaker Closer | |
| Cricket Bat Manufacturers | |
| Housing Inspector To The Thedwastre Rural District Council | |
| Special Pleader |
Non-employment entries
| Housekeeper Out Door Pauper | Living On Charity | No Occupation Always Ill |
| Income Derived From Bank Interest | Living On Income | Out Door Pauper |
| Income Derived From Landed Estates Houses Dividends Etc Ect | Living On Income Of Rent Property | Pauper |
| Lady No Proffession | Living On Own Means | |
| Lady Of The Manor | Living On Parish Allowance |
Regular entries
| Professional & Managerial | Merchants & Dealers | Manufacturers | Servants | Tradespeople, Skilled Workers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accountant & Auditor | Brick Merchant | Agricultural Implement Manufacturer & Agent; Ironmonger &C | Barmaid/Man | Baker |
| Assessor & Collector Of Taxes | Cattle Dealer | Brick & Tile Maker | Butler | Basket Maker |
| Bacon Factory Manager | Coal Merchant | Coach Builder | Charwoman | Beer Retailer |
| Broker | Commercial Traveller. | Farm & Portable Building Manufacturer | Coachman | Blacksmith |
| Collector Of Taxes | Corn Merchant | Glass Manufacturer | Cook | Boarding House Keeper |
| Curate | Corn Seed & Coal Mercht | Iron Founder & Machine Maker | Dairyman/Woman | Boot & Shoe Maker |
| Dentist | Cycle Agent | Manure Manufacturer | Domestic Servant | Boot Repairer |
| Farm Bailiff | Dealer (General) | Gardener | Bricklayer | |
| Farm Manager | Egg Merchants | Horseman | Broom Maker | |
| Farm Steward | Flour Dealer | Housekeeper | Builder & Contractor | |
| Inspector Of Police | Horse Dealer | Housemaid | Butcher | |
| Insurance Agent | Implement Agent | Lady'S Maid | Cabnettmaker | |
| Land Surveyor, Surveyor, Highway Surveyor | Manufacturers' Agent | Mothers Help | Carpenter & Joiner | |
| Midwife | Manure Merchant | Ostler | Carrier/Carter/Haulage Contractor | |
| Nurse | Seed Merchant | Cattle Drover | ||
| Physician | Timber Merchant | Chimney Sweep | ||
| Rate Collector | Clerk | |||
| Rector | Clock & Watch Maker | |||
| Registrar Of Births And Deaths | Confectioner | |||
| Sanitary Inspector | Cordwainer | |||
| Station Master | Cutler & Grinder | |||
| Surgeon | Draper | |||
| Dressmaker, Needlewoman | ||||
| Engine Driver | ||||
| Engineer | ||||
| Fancy Goods Dealer | ||||
| Farmer | ||||
| Farmer & Horse Slaughterer. | ||||
| Farrier | ||||
| Fishmonger | ||||
| Fruiterer | ||||
| Gamekeeper | ||||
| Garage | ||||
| Gardener/Nurseryman | ||||
| Grocer | ||||
| Horse Slaughterer | ||||
| Innkeeper/Publican | ||||
| Laundress | ||||
| Machine Owner | ||||
| Maltster | ||||
| Market Gardener | ||||
| Mason | ||||
| Mechanic | ||||
| Miller | ||||
| Milliner | ||||
| Motor Cycle & Cycle Dealer | ||||
| Motor Engineer | ||||
| Nursery & Seedsman | ||||
| Painter & Decorator | ||||
| Parish Clerk & Sexton | ||||
| Photographer | ||||
| Ploughman | ||||
| Plumber & Glazier | ||||
| Police Constable | ||||
| Pork Butcher | ||||
| Postmaster/Mistress, Postman | ||||
| Poultry Farmer | ||||
| Printer | ||||
| Railway Clerk | ||||
| Railway Navvy | ||||
| Railway Platelayer | ||||
| Railway Porter | ||||
| Railway Signalman | ||||
| Rat Catcher | ||||
| Saddler (Or Collar) & Harness Maker &C. | ||||
| Sawyer | ||||
| Sexton | ||||
| Shepherd | ||||
| Shoemaker | ||||
| Shopkeeper | ||||
| Turner | ||||
| Undertaker | ||||
| Victualler | ||||
| Washerwoman | ||||
| Waterman | ||||
| Weaver | ||||
| Wheelwright | ||||
| Wood Hurdle Maker | ||||
| Woodcutter/Woodman | ||||
| Yardman | ||||
| Sign& Glass Writer | ||||
| Tailor | ||||
| Thatcher | ||||
| Tile Maker | ||||
| Tinker | ||||
| Traction Engine Driver |
Butchers
| Thomas Stevens | According to his 1906 gravestone, Thomas died aged 95, but the various censuses put his birth year in the range 1814-1821, rather than 1811. He appears in the tithe apportionment as occupier of a cottage (in the Hawk End area, I think), and in censuses from 1841 to 1901. In '71 he was only rated a labourer at Eastwood Farm, but otherwise he was a butcher on Ashfield Road. |
| Charles Robinson | Born about 1806, was documented as a butcher from '41 to '65 but otherwise as a farmer with quite a large acreage; he died in 1887. His son George is a butcher in '71 and James is a pork butcher in '81. |
| Ireland Graham | Born in about 1806, was a farmer of some substance, occupying Elmswell Hall at least bewteen 1851 and 1871; often listed as a butcher, but did he himself doing any cutting? |
| Leonard Baker | Land surveyor and Parish Clerk in 1861, he is in the directory as a Pork Butcher in 1865 - maybe a sort of retirement job, since he was by then about 65! 'Jobbing butcher' in '71. |
| Thomas Elliston | Born in 1828, this versatile chap was a brickmaker's journeyman in '51, brickmaker in '53, labourer in '55 and '59, thatcher and hay-binder in '61, '81, and '01, and a pork butcher from '65 to '91. His sons William (b.1850), Henry (b.1853) and Herbert (b.1864) all had a go at it. And we know there was a Mr Elliston who had a butchers shop of sorts at the corner of Hawk End Lane in the 1930s. |
| Reginald Basham | Kelly's 1933 |
| C. Clarke & Son | Kelly's 1933; at Mill House |
| Thomas Edwards | 1901 census; Horse dealer and butcher (!) in Hawk End Lane |
| Arthur Miller | Kelly's 1908; Elm House |
| Mrs Mabel Beatrice Pratt | Kelly's 1933 |
| John Pawsey | 1891 census; Lion Inn |
| William Spencer | 1841 census |
| Thomas Shepherd | 1851 census; journeyman butcher |
A couple of ‘Butcher’ items from the Newsletter….
Bob Durrant
I took over my butcher’s business some 40-odd years ago. At this time good beef cattle were selling at around xxx per live hundredweight. An eight hundredweight beast, nearly half a ton, was worth about £60. Today that sort of animal fetches £500.
We started off with just one van which I purchased with the business. After a few years we had increased to 3 vans. The wage then for a butcher-cum-roundsman was about £8 per week. My next venture was to take a shop in Newmarket, followed by one in Hepworth and finally one in Earls Come in Essex.
After a time the Meat and Livestock Commission reared its head. I had to pay them a levy on every animal I slaughtered, and in return they told me the best way to cut and sell the carcase – information that I did not require! Next came the E.E.C., and we were expected to come up to their so-called ‘standards’. In my opinion the standard and quality of workmanship in the butchery trade today falls far short of those we had pre-war, and, although the abbattoirs – in our language the slaughterhouses – were not as clean in those days as they are today, the meat that came out of them was. Unfortunately the growing populations in our villages are tending to go to the supermarket where they buy their meat regardless of the quality.
Good luck, I say, to the independent butchers still left!
Ernie Goodfellow
Ernie recently ceased trading as a slaughterman and retail family butcher from his shop on Ashfield Road next door to the Mace shop. He was renowned as a butcher, and especially for his sausages. [See Ernie’s page] The shop became a butchers in the 1930’s when Bill Dark moved from one of the Crown Mill Cottages from where he had established a thriving butchery business [Bill’s granddaughter, Vera Hammond still lives in Elmswell]. Prior to this the shop had served as the village Post Office, with a coal yard in the garden. To this day the garden will yield coal not far below the surface! Bill Last bought the business prior to Ernie Goodfellow, but died of a heart attack in the slaughterhouse.
The village is lucky to still have an independent butcher, John Simpson in Pightle Close.