Master Hairdressers

[Brian & Berni]

Has anyone else got any grandfathers who were Hairdressers which i find unusual I though they would be barbers from 1881-1901 at least.
My great great grandfather was

[behindthefrogs]

I have an ancestor Thomas Saunders who was a hairdresser in Battersea in 1881 and from 1883 to 1901 running his own Hairdresser's shop in Winslow Bucks.

David

[meles]

At that time, gentlemen's (ie posh) hairdressers certainly existed, as did barbers (er.. less posh). Several survive into the present day and can be found in trhe St James's area of London, and doubtless elsewhere.

meles

[suttontrust]

You would only have found male hairdressers at that time, at least in business for themselves.  A barber would have done men's hair, a hairdresser mostly womens.

[behindthefrogs]

Having checked a number of reference books for around this period I have found a number of instances of female hairdressers, with their own business, shaving male customers for a penny after the pub on a Saturday Night.  I think you will find that the "all male" hairdressers were restricted to moneyed classes.

Earlier there were surgeon barbers, which were nearly all male but with the separation of the medical profession the term barber seems to almost disappear until the twentieth century.

[corkcutter]

I did some research on hairdressers two years ago.  It became recognised as a separate trade from barber shop work in the mid 18th century in France when aristocratic ladies started having  jewels and adornments added to those huge hairstyles.  Early hairdressers in England tended to be foreign (mainly French) and visited clients in their homes.

By Victorian times, visiting the hairdresser was a normal occupation for professional men while ladies still preferred home visits (except actresses, et al!).  As the 19th century progressed, the hairdresser became used by a much wider social scale of people.  Apprentices had to serve a seven year apprenticeship and this was usually at an out of town establishment where they could practise on the "working man" and children.  The successful town shops would only hire qualified men.

By the end of the century, working-class establishments opened from 8.30 to 10 at night in the week and closed at noon on Saturdays.  They then opened again on Sundays so that the men who had spent Saturday afternoon getting drunk could still get their hair cut.  This meant that the assistants worked really long hours and they had to work Bank Holidays too.  The best they could hope for was one afternoon off every two weeks.  They also had to provide all their own combs, scissors etc. and launder their own aprons.  In respectable areas the hours were from 9 till 6 (those specialising in ladies' work worked slightly shorter hours) .  They worked Saturdays too but were closed on Sundays.  Tips were expected from men but not ladies.

Hairdressers increased their profits by selling lots of beauty preparations and hair preparations, and, at the end of the century, cigarettes too. 

There were two large training establishments in London where hairdressers could come in the evenings, travelling in from the suburbs, so that they could study new styles and go in for competitions for medals and money.  There were similar institutions in most major cities.  The Hairdressers' Guild was founded in 1882 in Brompton Road in London and was originally intended for masters only, though later journeyman joined too.  There was also a self-help friendly club for journeymen founded in 1839.

It was only after the First World War that hairdressing became a popular occupation for young women.  The apprenticeship regime was changed and there were also evening classes and colleges for those who wanted to learn.

So being a hairdresser was not an unusual occupation for a man at the time you describe.  Where did he work?

Best wishes

Cheryl

[Brian & Berni]

He lived in Clive Street in 1881 & Appleby Bank 1891 both North Shields
I cant make out the address on the 1901 census **** bank stairs
I dont know if he had his own business or where he worked apart from the 1901 census has him down as 'own account'
His name was John Chisholm Reed b 1860

[corkcutter]

Right.  Not an area I looked closely at I'm afraid, but a close look at his neighbourhood should give you an idea of whether he ran a "genteel" business or was simply the local hairdresser.

Cheryl

[TonyJ]

My gg grandfather, William Major, had hairdresser as his occup when he married in London (address 25 Old Bailey) in 1863.  According to family tradition(!) he travelled widely in Europe tending to the hair of the nobility.  This *may* explain why tracking him down is hard & why his daughter was passed to an aunt to be brought up from a few months old.  I assume her mother died in childbirth but this is unconfirmed so far.
Tony