One of my ancestors was penniless when he arrived in England and made a living making and selling ice cream and growing and selling vegetables. Growing and selling cut flowers was a booming industry around the time you're researching.
This may be clutching at straws, but I notice the year these loans started was in 1887 and coincidentally this Act became law in 1887:-
I am now going to "ramble" so bear with me
For centuries each village, hamlet, town had a "Common" this was a patch of land which the locals used for all sorts of things such as a place to meet, to do laundering of clothes, the family cow and chickens might be let out onto the Green to graze, etc., etc. Then came the Enclosure of Land Act, which eventually led to:-
The Allotment Act 1887Allotments and Cottage Gardens Compensation for Crops Act 1887 obliged local authorities to provide allotments if there was a demand for them. The local authorities resisted complying with the act and revision was required to strengthen the act.
Allotments are specifically for growing food for the family plus any excess can be sold to help the family's finances. This means allotment holders could use their allotments not only for growing fruit and vegetables but could also use it to raise chickens, goats, geese and sheep and maybe a cow for milk.
I noticed that about that time there were
moves to set up an Institute of Marine engineers. I think it might be the case that father and son made an arrangement whereby the son would organise regular meetings for groups of marine engineers and his father would provide either flowers for the dining tables, or provide food.
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Institute_of_Marine_EngineersOr son was in the local Masonic organisation/Orange Order and his mother provided the food, which his father paid for.
I think I'm all out of ideas now.
