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Archiver > Bristol_and_Somerset > 2006-05 > 1147101013


From: "Ruth Curtis" <>
Subject: RE: [B&S] Occupation as Porter - HOARE puzzle
Date: Tue, 9 May 2006 00:40:13 +0930
In-Reply-To: <CNEFKFJJPPBHGKHJPNNJEECBEBAA.leeridge@iinet.net.au>


Hello Lee

Yes, I too liked the idea of 'Joiners with music before them', although I
have not been able to find out exactly what they were/did. Do you think
that "George HOARE, apprenticed in 1728, as joiner" may have been one???


I've consulted a number of "Old Occupations" websites, and it would seem
that a PORTER has a number of meanings, although none seem to be a MILLER.

PORTER:
1. Door or gate keeper.
2. Carried baggage in railway stations and other public places.
3. A person employed to carry baggage or attend to doors in public places.

It would seem that the occupation of porter, being someone who carries
baggage in railway stations, airports, hotels etc, is a relatively newer use
of the occupation term. The door or gate keeper would have been the more
traditional use of the term. I suppose that in long-ago-days the people who
would have had enough baggage to require someone else to carry it would have
also had servants to do the carrying.

There was also the occupation of DEAL PORTER, but this would seem to be
almost exclusively related to the Surrey Docks in London and not to Bristol.
See the explanation at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deal_porter

============================================================================

You may be able to get some help from:

The Mills Research Group
http://www.millsresearch.org.uk/

Although, they stress that they are interested in mills ONLY as a hobby.
However, it is often such enthusiasts who will know of some little link
somewhere that will make it all clear.

They have a number of booklets for sale that you may be interested in, which
may help to further your MILLER occupation research, even if it does not
give you a link to PORTER.

============================================================================

I have noticed is that a number of large mills also had a "Porter's Lodge".
Is it possible that George HOARE senior could have been a door keeper at a
mill? Maybe he said he worked at a mill and was misunderstood to have been
a miller. Oh well, just a thought!!!

============================================================================

According to "The Apothecary in Provincial Gilds" by T.D. Whittet
http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1033390&blobtype=pdf

EXETER: ... a record of 1455 about a grant for life to the King's Serjeant,
Wm. Godfrey, who combined the office of Yeoman of the Chamber with that of
Apothecary to the King's person and Porter of Exeter Castle. Later Godfrey
became 'garbler of all spices and drugs and all merchandise which ought to
be garbled in London, Southampton and Sandwich'.

OK - it's Exeter and not Bristol - and the other occupation is Apothecary
and not Miller, but it does show that a Porter could combine two jobs at
once. I wonder which job William Godfrey would have claimed as his own, if
he only had a choice of one.

============================================================================

So, after all of the above, I suppose what I'm saying is that I don't know
whether these two occupations of Miller and Porter are related. Also, I'm
having trouble finding what I'm looking for.

Regards

Ruth Curtis
Adelaide, South Australia

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