1841 occupation - hair dresser?

[purplemoon]

Hi

I'm struggling to transcribe the occupation details of my Saml THOMPSON b.1804 (age 37) on the Middlewich 1841 census. It looks very much like "hair dresser" to me, but I can't imagine that a man would actually have been a hairdresser in those times, although I could be wrong!

Would somebody like to take a look for me please and tell me what you think it could be?

I don't know if I'm allowed to post a portion of the scan here, so to err on the side of caution (I've already been told off for breaching copyright on another post  ) I'll give the reference details that I can glean from the scan - HO 107/121/22 Folio? 32 page 15 and he's the first entry on that page.

I hope I've done that right 

Cheers

[Necromancer]

Certainly looks like Hair Dreser - if he was a barber, he may have also dabbled in rudimentary surgery !

See Wikipedia ...

Barber surgeons in the United Kingdom

Formal recognition of their skills (in England at least) goes back to 1540, when the Fellowship of Surgeons (who existed as a distinct profession, but still not "Doctors/Physicians" as we think of them today) merged with the Company of Barbers to form the Company of Barber-Surgeons. However, the trade was gradually put under pressure by the medical profession and in 1745, the surgeons split from the barbers to form the Company of Surgeons. In 1800 a Royal Charter was granted and the Royal College of Surgeons in London came into being (later it was re-named to cover all of England--equivalent Colleges exist for Scotland and Ireland as well as many of the old UK colonies).

The last vestige of barber-surgeons' links with the medical side of their profession is probably the traditional red and white barber's pole which is said to represent the blood and bandages associated with their older role. Another link is the UK's use of the title Mr. rather than Dr. for consultants and registrars in surgery (when awarded an MRCS or FRCS diploma). This dates back to the days when surgeons gained a RCS diploma rather than a University Doctoral Degree. Even though all surgeons now have to gain a basic medical degree and doctorate (as well as undergoing several more years training in surgery), they still retain their link with the past.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber_surgeon"

[purplemoon]

Ohhh, of course!!! ... they were barbers in the old days! How silly of me - I blame the lack of sleep and spending far too many hours researching

That's a very interesting piece of information there, thank you, and I do recall being told about the red & white poles denoting blood and bandages at some point. I love all this family research, not only to find my roots, but also learning about the history of how life used to be!

[randh]

I've had a look and it is definately Hair Dresser. Regards RAL

[purplemoon]

Thank you

[nessy]

Hello,  Just saw your Hairdresser question.  I have transcribed a lot of 1841 Scottish Census for Freecen, and I was surprised how many men were hairdressers.  It surprised me as well.
Nessy