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Wharf or Dock Labourer

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  • Wharf or Dock Labourer

    Still trying to find who was the Father of my Grandfathers half Brother , he is described on three childrens Births as a Dock Labourer , can anybody tell me what is the difference between a Dock or a Wharf Labourer.
    Last edited by Guest; 14-08-16, 17:32.

  • #2
    think I have answered my own question, bit confusing when some sites say its the same and others say it isn't.

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    • #3
      I would say they are the same occupation.

      The difference between a dock and a wharf comes down to semantics, and local dialect. Generally a dock is a closed area of water where ships can be loaded/unloaded or serviced, and a wharf is the (usually) wooden platform that comprises the side of the dock. However the two are often used interchangeably, and it could even be that one company owned the area of water, whilst another owned the platform at the side. A port is usually a collective term for several docks and wharfs (e.g. The Port of London).

      The work of a labourer would be exactly the same on either, and the job description may well come down to what the company he was working for called their premises, dock or wharf.
      Co-ordinator for PoW project Southern Region 08
      Researching:- Wieland, Habbes, Saettele, Bowinkelmann, Freckenhauser, Dilger in Germany
      Kincaid, Warner, Hitchman, Collie, Curtis, Pocock, Stanley, Nixey, McDonald in London, Berks, Bucks, Oxon and West Midlands
      Drake, Beals, Pritchard in Kent
      Devine in Ireland

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      • #4
        thats interesting Pete as I am looking for a dock labourer birth date unknown in 1901 but only found a wharf labourer with the right name so wonder if thats him then? thanks for that

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        • #5
          I live in a village which grew around the canal basin, where a canal joins the estuary.Ships used to come in through the lock gates to be unloaded into canal barges. On census returns the same jobs were described as dock labourer, dock porter, coal porter (dock) (a lot of the ships were carrying coal) wharf labourer and wharf porter so as Pete says, although the two words may have slightly different meanings, it's down to what words the particular employer (or census enumerator) decided to use.
          Judith passed away in October 2018

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          • #6
            now thats another interesting thing I did find a coal porter who I thought was him but decided as it did not say Dock labourer it could not be, wondering now if that was him.

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            • #7
              Here's another that dock labourers in Hull seem to have been called ..... a lumper.
              Also a stevedore.
              Maybe easier to gather those ones you think might be right and then check if the job could have been on the docks! LOL
              Anne

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              • #8
                might be easier to disown him Anne;) not such a common name yet ,yet really hard to find.

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