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occupation read please

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  • occupation read please

    occ of James on William Knights bap.JPG

  • #2
    Oilman, (some of my grocers were also oilmen)

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    • #3
      oh no really ? he should be a Cabinet maker, or picture Frame maker, they all were? hmmm got me thinking now, I do have an oilman in the other line , thanks Jill

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      • #4
        Notwithstanding that he could have been a purveyor of motor spirits etc, I wonder if the term oilman could mean a person who rubbed oils into furniture for preservation and improving

        their looks. This would fit with your forebears who as you say were cabinet makers/picture frame makers.
        Whoever said Seek and Ye shall find was not a genealogist.

        David

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        • #5
          Perhaps they traded in oil as a sideline, if he worked from home? Perhaps they thought it sounded more prestigious to be in commerce.

          Jay
          Janet in Yorkshire



          Genealogists never die - they just swap places in the family tree

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          • #6
            I would've said Oilman too
            Julie
            They're coming to take me away haha hee hee..........

            .......I find dead people

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            • #7
              thanks for all your suggestions , but I think I may have the wrong parents.:(

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              • #8
                Hi I know that some small shops used to sell oil for paraffin lamps. On a visit to my cousin in Hastings, England she did point out to me a small corner shop which was known locally as "The Oil Shop" even though it had been closed down for many years. I think the word is "Oilman"

                Dorothy

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                • #9
                  thanks Dorothy, and welcome to the forum

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                  • #10
                    The trade of Oilman appears in some of the Lord Peter Wimsey books, I seem to remember. Definitely a purveyor of paraffin oil for lighting, heating and cooking. When I was young my parents had a "Beatrice" paraffin stove - wonderful for creating moisture!
                    Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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                    • #11
                      we had a paraffin heater when we first got married ,I remember it stank .we did not keep it long.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Val wish Id never started View Post
                        we had a paraffin heater when we first got married ,I remember it stank .we did not keep it long.
                        I came across my tenancy agreement the other day for a flat I rented in 1985, we were expressly forbidden to have one. In the early sixties my dad managed an ironmongers in north London and we lived above the shop. In the back yard next to the access to the flat stairs there was a tank of Aladdin Pink, it was my delight to watch the pink paraffin level go down in the glass measure as he dispensed into people's cans.

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                        • #13
                          The Oilman, in his van,with tank of pink paraffin, plus assorted wicks, cans, buckets etc was a regular visitor when I was a child, and he still calls regularly, though nowadays he's more likely to sell me eggs, gro bags and potting compost, or cards etc in support of the local hospice. A few people still buy paraffin to heat greenhouses etc but I believe his main source of income nowadays is renting out marquees.
                          Judith passed away in October 2018

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                          • #14
                            Funny that Jill our first flat had no hot water and no heating, plus the electrics were dangerous ,thats why we had a paraffin stove and a gas stove ,the other end of the room ,so I took the landlord to a tribunal and won , he had to reduce the rent by £1.50 a week, seems paltry now.
                            Judith we have man come round with sea food and eggs and stuff, but he always comes when my freezers are full, and I feel awful telling him I have no room.

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                            • #15
                              The first flat we rented had an open fireplace and the landlord brought round a skipful of rubbishy wood for us to burn, plus lots of polystyrene, which was a relatively new material then. We burned it. It made a lot of black smoke......!!!!!!!!!! I can only assume that it was all the draughts in the place which saved our lives!

                              OC

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                              • #16
                                must have been awful OC, did you also have ice inside the windows ? that flat we had then was so bad we used to sleep with overcoats on top of the bedding, those were the good old days, and we had to queue up to get it.

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                                • #17
                                  Oh yes, ice on the windows and our toilet was in the kitchen! Shared bathroom but we used to go to his mum's once a week for a bath instead. We didn't know any better, so we were happy there.

                                  OC

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                                  • #18
                                    Bathroom ? no luxuries like that, we used to go to our parents ,and as for the toilet it was in the garden, Tom put a light bulb on a flex, and we used to hang it out of the window to whichever of us was going ,then bring it back up, as we did not get on with the downstairs neighbours, to think I had two babies there, must have been mad.:madd::madd:

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                                    • #19
                                      Hi, Oil lamps were dangerous. I recall around the 1950's my Aunt and Uncle had one burning in the hallway of their little prefab. We kids were playing in one of the bedrooms and one of us ran into the hall and sent the paraffin heater flying and started a fire. Luckily my Uncle managed to douse the flames before there was any damage done to us or the house and the heater got thrown out. I don't think we ever had a paraffin heater again.
                                      Dorothy

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                                      • #20
                                        very dangerous you were lucky, we did put a guard round ours, just in case.

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