Fàilte! (Welcome!)

Fàilte! (Welcome!)
This blog is the result of my ongoing research into the people, places and events that have shaped the Western Isles of Scotland and, in particular, the 'Siamese-twins' of Harris and Lewis.
My interest stems from the fact that my Grandfather was a Stornowegian and, until about four years ago, that was the sum total of my knowledge, both of him and of the land of his birth.
I cannot guarantee the accuracy of everything that I have written (not least because parts are, perhaps, pioneering) but I have done my best to check for any errors.
My family mainly lived along the shore of the Sound of Harris, from An-t-Ob and Srannda to Roghadal, but one family 'moved' to Direcleit in the Baighs...

©Copyright 2011 Peter Kerr All rights reserved

Tuesday 30 March 2010

Tinker, TAILOR, Soldier, SAILOR

Tailors & Sailors of Harris

This is a very simple, crude listing of returns for the search terms 'Tailor' and Sailor'.

I came upon several 'Tailors' in 'Merchant Service', perfectly reflecting the perils of dealing with this data which is what led me to take a look simultaneously at these two very different occupations.

Tailors
1841 14
1851 07
1861 13
1871 07
1881 14
1891 11
1901 18

With a range from 7 to 18 and an average of 12, Tailors certainly fluctuated but hardly alarmingly.
I shall detail these Tailors another time.

Sailors
1841 08
1851 10
1861 01
1871 02
1881 17
1891 04
1901 06

With a range from 1 to 17 and an average of 7, it appears that very few folk on Harris worked as Sailors.

Of course, it is entirely possible that, due to these censuses being taken in late March or early April, all the sailors were at sea. In theory they should still appear, listed aboard their 'Vessels', but in practice this is often not the case.

The other clue as to whether there were more is by looking at the number of Sailors' Wives left at home:

1851 07
1861 00
1871 02
1881 04
1891 01
1901 02

These figures tend to confirm that Harris was home to very few Sailors, but what about Seamen?

No comments:

Post a Comment