Anyone recognise the job of a Tillifer?

[arthurk]

Could it possibly be meant to be Filleter? (I haven't looked at the page image, but comparison of other letters might help to answer this.)

I haven't found this word in a dictionary, but one meaning of 'fillet', according to the OED, is 'a thin narrow strip of any material'; more specifically, in a Carding-engine, 'a strip of card-clothing'.

Joseph Wright's Dialect Dictionary includes 'filleting' as a West Yorkshire term for 'narrow strips of leather, india-rubber , or cloth, used for covering certain parts of a scribbling or carding machine'. One of his sources is a bit more precise: 'A piece of leather or cloth in which the pins of a carding-machine are fastened, and which is then fastened round a roller.'

Edited to add:
On the other hand, I like the look of Stan's tillotter too (OED has tillet or tillot, and tilloting, but not tilloter).

Another edit:
See my further thoughts at reply #12

[JenB]

I think Mike and Stan are right, the occupation, is tilloter (or tilliter as written Malcolm's snip).

Here's another 1881 example

[Malcolm Bull]

Here's a larger section of the original 1881 census at Stainland for comparison

I agree that Stan's response - tilloter - is most likely.

MB

[arthurk]

In case anyone wants to check, the reference is RG11/4412 fo88 p17.

I tried looking for an upper-case 'F' in the same handwriting to see if my suggestion can be excluded. There aren't many to be seen, but p16 has a Cloth Fuller, and p19 has a Farmer and a Fireman (as well as another Tilliter). In all cases, the 'F' is clearly crossed, so I now think Filleter can be ruled out.

[stitchwitch]

Yep, def Tilliter(sic).

The other thing that sadly strikes me is the 12yo already skilled as a worsted spinner.

[stanmapstone]

From a Dictionary of obsolete and  provincial English

[Dalum]

...and the OED

tillet/tillot
" A kind of coarse cloth, used for wrapping up textile fabrics and (formerly) garments; also for making awnings."

apparently from Old French tellette - a wrapper of cloth

[Mike in Cumbria]

...and the OED

tillet/tillot
" A kind of coarse cloth, used for wrapping up textile fabrics and (formerly) garments; also for making awnings."

apparently from Old French tellette - a wrapper of cloth

Interesting.

In that case, it presumably also derives from the French word "toile".

Toile is a fabric, from the French word meaning "linen cloth" or "canvas", particularly cloth or canvas for painting on. The word "toile" can refer to the fabric itself, a test garment (generally) sewn from the same material, or a type of repeated surface decoration (traditionally) printed on the same fabric. The term entered the English language around the 12th century.


And ultimately from the Latin Tela, meaning web.