{"id":721,"date":"2019-02-18T09:36:55","date_gmt":"2019-02-18T09:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetforyou.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/?p=721"},"modified":"2019-02-19T13:49:43","modified_gmt":"2019-02-19T13:49:43","slug":"archives-a-z-j-is-for-jobs-of-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2019\/02\/18\/archives-a-z-j-is-for-jobs-of-old\/","title":{"rendered":"Archives A-Z: J is for… Jobs of Old"},"content":{"rendered":"

In our thousands of records there are a wide variety of old jobs mentioned, many familiar to us in the 21st Century, but some which seem slightly peculiar to modern audiences. For this Archives A-Z we thought we would use the letter J to look at some of the more unusual jobs of old in our collections.<\/p>\n

Dog-Whipper<\/h2>\n

A dog-whipper<\/strong>, or peace-keeper, actually had very little to do with dogs. Instead, a dog-whipper was a minor church official with limited responsibilities. In the collection we have one example of a dog-whipper being mentioned, and that is in the parish records of Lydlinch, where a dog-whipper was paid four shillings in 1742 for their work (PE-LYD\/CW\/1\/1<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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The Dog-whipper in 1742<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Journeyman<\/h2>\n

In modern terms, a journeyman<\/strong> is someone who moves around, never staying in one place too long. However, originally, a journeyman was a skilled labourer, a mechanic or artisan, who was hired to work for a single day. The nature of this work no-doubt led to a nomadic lifestyle, and our modern understanding of the term. There are countless journeymen in our records, such as\u00a0James Middleton, journeyman painter in 1863 (D-1321\/2\/5<\/a>); John Pitman, a journeyman parchment maker in 1832 (Q\/S\/J\/5\/1832\/203<\/a>); or\u00a0Samuel Rose, journeyman mason of Sturminster Newton in 1843 (D-PIT\/L\/110<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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James Middleton – Painter (Journeyman)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hostler<\/h2>\n

A hostler<\/strong>, or, depending on your accent, an ‘ostler’, was another name for a stableman. Generally speaking a hostler was someone who looked after horses at inns. Again, there are a few examples of this in our collections, including\u00a0John Barnes of Poole, hostler, who was convicted of assault in 1835 (DC-PL\/C\/C\/2\/12<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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John Barnes, Hostler, 1835<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Boonmaster<\/h2>\n

A boonmaster<\/strong>, also known as a waywarden, was the person with responsibility for the highways in their parish. In this, they had authority over their fellow parishioners when it came to repairing the highways. We have a few waywardens mentioned in the collections, but most of the representation comes through account books or financial documents, including an account book from which included waywardens’ accounts between 1688-1741 (PE-WOR\/CW\/1\/1<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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Waywardens at West Orchard, 1693<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hellier<\/h2>\n

If someone was a hellier<\/strong>, it simply meant that they were a slater, or a tiler, responsible for putting the roof slates onto houses. A good example of a hellier (in this case spelt ‘helliar’) is\u00a0John Alford of Herstone, Swanage, who in 1671 acquired a house and land in Corfe Castle (D-BKL\/A\/E\/6<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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John Alford the Elder, Hellier<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chaise-driver<\/h2>\n

And finally, we now think of ‘chaise’ as in the term ‘chaise-lounge’, a curious, awkwardly shaped seat. But in the 18th and 19th centuries, a ‘Post-chaise’ was a horse and carriage, otherwise known as a gig. Therefore, a chaise-driver<\/strong> was someone who drove the horses and the gig. The gig and the seat share certain stylistic similarities, and we have a few examples of these drivers in the collection. Obviously someone who knew nothing,\u00a0John Snow of Poole was a chaise-driver who was convicted for\u00a0passing through the Turnpike Gate in Poole without paying the toll in 1812 (DC-PL\/C\/C\/6\/3<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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John Snow, Chaise Driver, 1812<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Have you come across any other strange jobs carried out by your ancestors? Let us know in the comments below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In our thousands of records there are a wide variety of old jobs mentioned, many familiar to us in the 21st Century, but some which seem slightly peculiar to modern audiences. For this Archives A-Z we thought we would use the letter J to look at some of the more unusual jobs of old in… Read more Archives A-Z: J is for… Jobs of Old<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1892,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[41,77],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=721"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":755,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721\/revisions\/755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}