I found the policeman's wife in later census reports. She's a dressmaker and laundress by then. Quite a come down from "Female Searcher at Police Station". I probably read too much into job titles, but I do get the impression this lady was probably the Police Station "frisker" circa 1861.
Can you imagine the bragging rights her children had in school? "My mum's better than your mum! Mine frisks women down the nick!"
In all seriousness, the enumerator for this particular 1861 census deserves gold stars. So many of his occupation descriptions read like a veritable penny dreadful.
For one elderly pauper, he describes how much her pension is - to the exact shilling!
There's a middle-age clerk. Not just a "clerk" mind you - but a "Clerk in a Bazaar".
One chap is recorded as "Lieutenant Army - Half Pay". (I detect an obsession with pension amounts)
Another fellow is "Clerk in General Post Office".
Then we have the "Private in Royal Berks Yeomanry Cavalry" (Nice one! Thanks for the heads-up)
One woman is "Laundress - husband in the Union" (I take that to be "in the Workhouse"?)
Hey, why notate just "Brush maker" when you can record "
Copper Brush maker".
So you can imagine how let down I was to see one fellow described simply as "Musician". No mention of an instrument, or even where he played. Can you imagine if the enumerator
had added his special extra detail? "Musician - piano player down the corner boozer".
Honestly, it's like the enumerator was having a cheeky cup of tea and gossip when he enumerated each property. "And her next door, Madam.....what do you reckon her pension is?"
Can you imagine his delight at enumerating the 1921 Census! He would've been in his element with recording everyone's current and former Employer details.
He was clearly ahead of his time.
