Did people in the 1800s UK sometimes work two totally different jobs ?

[Rena]

I'm a bit concerned about those two jobs as they are both normally "main" occupations in my experience (willing to be corrected though)

I would have thought it more likely that a census entry was wrongly copied from the notes but of course anything is possible. A number of my ancestors appear variously with more than one job but usually one was obviously skilled (e.g. tailor) and the other was a filler that lots of people in the area did from time to time (sold home brewed ale fro the from parlour)

I agree that the census entry/entries might be incorrect and I can understand hesitancy concerning two (or more) skilled tasks that perhaps one man should not be able to perform to its highest degree.

I do not have any experience of the clothing industry, but I have a suspicion that some mill owners might have given an extremely rounded experience of the whole trade to the young people during their 7 year apprenticeships.   e.g. the large engineering company owned by Quakers organised for their engineering apprentices to have six months in each of various shop floor departments and offices.  It mostly depended on the capabilities of the apprentice; those quick to learn and who did a good job at whatever skill would certainly not have been a square peg in a round hole.

How do we know that during his many years working for a company that the ancestor changed jobs because he applied for a particular position and won the position because the owner/director/managers knew he was capable of doing it.  Did he change his job because of higher rates of pay?  or he had a bad back?  He lost some fingers and changed jobs?  etc., etc.
 

[youngtug]

Not that fustian cutting would be a job needing an apprenticeship, it would have been full time however. 12 hour shifts in a mill, every hour possible if at home.

[Rena]

Not that fustian cutting would be a job needing an apprenticeship, it would have been full time however. 12 hour shifts in a mill, every hour possible if at home.

My father's ancestors were weavers and other tradesmen of Calton, Scotland.  I don't know anything about ancient crafts, but I do know that they guarded the quality of their skills and formed "Guilds" (Unions).   Parents paid money to have their offspring trained in a skill and each registered Guild had to send (tax) money to London for each apprentice.  The only time parents didn't have to pay for an apprenticeship was if a family member trained the youngster.

There's a list of ancient Guilds on the url:-

https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol4/pp312-327

Weavers and fullers, and glovers are listed on that webpage and I'm pretty sure that in the mid to late 20th century I heard of a few other unions allied to the clothing industry. Unfortunately a few of my memory cells have gone astray.

[youngtug]

https://www.lymmhic.co.uk/fustianmasters

and from the above site;
   https://311f93d8-615f-4149-8a68-432b9bb4556e.filesusr.com/ugd/9ac899_5676bf7685834e00b9b2ce2971bd4b56.pdf

[brigidmac]

Im  wondering if joiner could have some meaning in the cloth trade rather than in the sense of carpentry
Could there be a profession which involved joining fabric

Pure speculation ...is there any evidence of aother Thomas Sharp in the region ( maybe married to a Margaret ) .you need to rule out that possibility.

[Jane Sharp]

Im  wondering if joiner could have some meaning in the cloth trade rather than in the sense of carpentry
Could there be a profession which involved joining fabric

Pure speculation ...is there any evidence of aother Thomas Sharp in the region ( maybe married to a Margaret ) .you need to rule out that possibility.

Yes, you are right. I don't want to leave this up to speculation. I'm looking as deeply as I can !

I have found these others:

1841 census:
Thomas Sharp "joiner" b abt. 1816 and Margaret and daughter Margaret, Salford, Manchester.

1841 census:
Thomas Sharp "cardmaker" and Sarah in Rochdale
(pretty sure a cardmaker is related to the cotton industry / carding. Rochdale is much closer to Manchester so this maybe them)

[Jane Sharp]

I'm a bit concerned about those two jobs as they are both normally "main" occupations in my experience (willing to be corrected though)

I would have thought it more likely that a census entry was wrongly copied from the notes but of course anything is possible. A number of my ancestors appear variously with more than one job but usually one was obviously skilled (e.g. tailor) and the other was a filler that lots of people in the area did from time to time (sold home brewed ale fro the from parlour)

Yes it is strange and unusual in my research too. Usually a person sticks with the same job their entire life. That's why I'm concerned that I might be barking up the wrong tree with the fustian shearer Thomas Sharp. But the names, birth years and addresses correlate (except the 1841 census where i think the census writer has incorrectly entered Margaret as the wife and daughter). The 1851 census has Thomas Sharp as a Joiner, living with wife Sarah, and children Margaret, Thomas, William, Robert, Samuel. The address: Davisons Court, Redbank (Redbank is a street / place immediately north east of Victoria Station, extremely close to Collyhurst) John Henry and James had not been born yet.

The only evidence I can find of someone else working in both carpentry and cotton is this web article:

"James Hargreaves .... was a weaver and also a carpenter in the Lancashire village of Stanhill, two miles east of Blackburn..... Though illiterate and humble, he was one of the greatest inventors and improvers in the cotton manufacture’; legend has it that he conceived of the jenny after seeing a traditional spinning wheel accidentally overturned, and noticing that wheel and spindle continued to revolve -hence the notion that it could continue to spin.... "

Website:

taken from: http://grimshaworigin.org/grimshaw-involvement-in-the-industrial-revolution/manchester-the-first-industrial-city/

[Jane Sharp]

https://www.lymmhic.co.uk/fustianmasters

and from the above site;
   https://311f93d8-615f-4149-8a68-432b9bb4556e.filesusr.com/ugd/9ac899_5676bf7685834e00b9b2ce2971bd4b56.pdf

Thankyou so much for this information. I learnt a lot. It does sound like a fustian shearer stuck with the job and did not deviate doesn't it. Doesn't sound like a well paid or respected job.

I was reading though about the carpentry / joiner industry and apparently after the great fires in London in the 1700s, buildings started to be mostly constructed from brick and so the work of carpenters and joiners greatly reduced over the coming years throughout England. So maybe Thomas Sharp had to work in the cotton industry as wood constructed buildings reduced or was sporadic ?

[ShaunJ]

JOINER:
1841 Census with possibly wife Sarah incorrectly written as Margaret, and first child Margaret

He's not a joiner in the 1841 census - he's a fustian shearer