In August we heard about the delightfully-named Morwood Windle, who had the rather unsavoury occupation of ‘pig killer’. Although probably not seen as a desirable occupation nowadays, put into context, this occupation would have been more common in 1921 when the census was taken. In those days, it was common practice throughout the country for people to keep one or more pigs in a sty in their back garden and feed them on leftover scraps of food in order to fatten them up. This provided much needed food for the family, particularly at Christmas.
When the pigs were of suitable size, they required despatching quickly and efficiently. This was not a job for the faint-hearted, therefore the pig owners had to find someone who was proficient at the task. Morwood Windle decided to earn extra money by fullfilling this need, earning him the title ‘Pig Killer Windle’ locally. He unfortunately ‘lost’ his hand late in life – one can only speculate how this happened! So, what other interesting occupations have readers managed to discover?
Peter Cope has some rather interesting ancestors on his tree and amongst them there are some rather unusual occupations. Peter’s 2x greatgrandfather, Mark Helmore (1821- 1899) was a publican in Exeter. Not that unusual, I hear you say, but he lost his licence for running a brothel!
Peter’s 5x great-grandfather Davis Prichard (1734-1803) was a peruke (wig) maker in Gutter Lane, Cheapside, in London, and his sonin-law William Rich (1753-1811) was a pastry cook and reputedly the man who invented the tiered wedding cake! Peter’s 7x great-grandfather, Francisco Goodsens (1676-1741) was a Huguenot, a viola player and member of the Chapel Royal who played privately for King George I at Kensington Palace and for whom Handel wrote music.
The highlight amongst Peter’s illustrious ancestors, though, is his 4th-cousin-once-removed, Marjorie Hird (1915-81) who was born in the USA and worked as a wartime reporter based in Lisbon. She met and married Frederick Danielski
