portal canvasser

[petalxxx]

has any one any idea what this job entails ?

[stockman fred]

Is it a posh way of saying "door-to-door salesman?" A portal is a doorway and grandad's 1880 dictionary says a canvasser is "One who solicits orders or votes."
Just a guess, though,
Fred.

[petalxxx]

on the census someone has written "phota" above it   and that my gggrandfather had his own account could be wrong but i think it means he was self employed so im still guessing

[oldcrone]

hi Petalxxx

A canvaser (one 's') is someone who makes canvas.  Have you looked for your relative's occupation on other censuses?

Clara

[stockman fred]

Hi all,Two more ideas from "The Everyman Encyclopaedia "(c1900) " Canvass- to sift through canvas,hence to examine carefully",
or "Canvassing- applied to the soliciting of trade or business by commercial travellers."
But was does the "portal" mean?

Fred