Not an assistant!

[bugbear]

Whilst transcribing census data, I've come across people described as "Assistant"; now, for some people this has seemed quite reasonable, given the context, but for others, it's struck me as odd.

Today I had a wealthy woman of 73, living with 1 servant described as "Assistant", which just cannot be right. Ten years previous her occupation was "fundholder".

So I stared hard at the word, and inspiration struck. A quick google revealed the word

"annuitant"

noun
formal
noun: annuitant; plural noun: annuitants

    a person who receives an annuity.

And reviewing some of my other "assistants" has revealed that (some of them) are also annuitants.

I suppose it's a variation on pensioner.

I hope this helps others.

  BugBear

[stanmapstone]

Annuitant is in the RootsChat Reference Library
http://surname.rootschat.com/lexicon/reflib-lexicon.php#top_data

An annuitant is someone who receives a regular, fixed, sum of money, commonly annually, sometimes for a specified period but often for life. Most of the annuitants who are recorded as such in census returns, parish registers, etc. received their annuities from private settlements. If the private settlement ceased, and he/she had no other income, then he/she would become a pauper, reliant, originally, on the parish for poor relief.
A major source of annuities could be the will of a husband or father (or other relative) usually providing for dependent females. The money could be invested in Government Bonds, from which the interest would be paid for life to the annuitant, This was a very safe form of investment and people did this especially to guarantee an income in later life, or to provide the female members of the family with a safe independent income. It could be paid by an insurance company from a nonreturnable lump sum.  Another source could be a fixed sum paid annually out of the profits of rents or a business. Occasionally, an annuity could be made up of three or four contributions from a number of sons who had been left land or other assets.


Stan

[bugbear]

Annuitant is in the RootsChat Reference Library
http://surname.rootschat.com/lexicon/reflib-lexicon.php#top_data

(good info snipped)

Oh yes, I know all that - now. The trouble is, as long as you're satisfied that you're seeing the word "assistant", you don't even attempt to find information about "annuitants".

It's a Donald Rumsfeld "unknown unknown".

 BugBear

[stanmapstone]

Sorry, I did not make myself clear. I meant that once you realised it was Annuitant, you would find it in the RootsChat Reference Library.

Stan