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« on: Wednesday 11 May 11 19:20 BST (UK) »
This is not specific to names, but an interesting adjunct to the Excise Officers way of life.
When an excise officer visited a trader on revenue business he would keep a written record. This would have to include how long he spent on the premises. In an era when few people could afford a watch how did he do it? Note, I said "he" as women did not join the the "Outdoor Service" as officers till 1971.
Excise officers were locally based and without a watch would have to keep an ear open for the church or town hall clock. If he had heard the clock strike 10 (am) then he would note the record as "mp10" (without quotes), this stood for "morning past 10". If he left the premises after 2pm then he would record the time as "ep2", which stood for "evening past 2". Noon had its own notation, "pn" for "past noon". If the time to be recorded was on the hour then it would be "m10" (morning 10), "e2" (evening 2) or "n" (noon).
The sharp amongst you will realise that this was open to abuse.
So "mp10 to mp11" could be 2 minutes work or nearly 2 hours, e.g. 10:59 to 11:01 =2 minutes, or it could be 10:01 to 11:59 =nearly 2 hours.
This system, known as "Excise Notation" was still in use until the early 70s, yes I do mean the 1970s.
tom
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