Sheep Dresser?

[Trina]

Does anyone know what a sheep dresser is? I've googled and checked "Victorian Occupations" but haven't got anywhere. Am assuming it could be some sort of butchery or maybe a shearer, but would like to know more precisely.

At least it is a bit more interesting than an Ag Lab!

What would you dress a sheep in anyway?

[yummy-mummy-amy]

sorry cant help, its not even listed in my book of early occupations and trades.

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

From Bristish History Online:

The SKIN of a SHEEP, used especially to make APPAREL or PARCHMENT, was commonly dressed with ALUM or with OIL rather than being TANNED. When RAW and UNDRESSED such a skin was technically a SHEEP PELT, although names of skins were not always used with precision. At least from [Acts (1606)] onwards sheepskins were neither searched nor sealed so that production was relatively unregulated and merchants and processors were freer to use their own terms. However, some sources like the Gloucester Coastal Port Books did use a relatively consistent vocabulary and can therefore be used in conjunction with the Dictionary Archive to indicate the stages a skin went through from the moment it was taken from the sheep's carcass to the final SHEEP LEATHER. Many skins were transported IN THE WOOL or IN THE HAIR, the latter probably from WALES where the sheep's wool was noticeably hairy. These pelts would have been unprocessed except for an initial drying (hence DRY SHEEP PELT), or packed wet in salt (hence WET SHEEP PELT) for transportation. Once at the yard of the tanner or dresser, the skins were cleansed and then soaked in LIME (hence IN THE LIME) to facilitate the removal of the wool or hair and the fatty tissue. Only then was the skin ready for the chosen method of tanning or dressing. Although the 'Sheep skins blue of France' were rated at over 3s apiece, suggesting a high value overall, and one sheepskin defined as LARGE was deemed to be worth 10d, most sheepskins were worth very little, often being valued at 6d or less. Tanners and dressers must, therefore, have looked for innovative methods of preservation to make the skins to look like those of higher value. With this in mind, SUMACH was used as a tanning agent to make an imitation SPANISH LEATHER, while at least one operator processed his skins intended for making GLOVEs in a secret way to make them as good as KIDSKIN, thereby making a large profit.

[Trina]

Thanks for looking. I suppose they may have given their own self styled descriptions sometimes. Or it could be a term used locally.

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

I wonder what someone working in that field would smell like? lol

[Trina]

You are so clever to find that Merry! Fascinating.

[Trina]

And what their hands looked like after a few years! No rubber gloves then!

[Uncle John]

The ingredients for tanning included urine.

[Rachel Scand]

The ingredients for tanning included urine.

Some people drink their own each day and I understand that it's also good for treating chilblains

[Anne in Carlisle]

Just a thought that occurred to me when I read the thread title. Does it definately say 'sheep dresser'? Could it have been tripe dresser - an occupation I have seen several times on censuses.

Anne

[Uncle John]

Some people drink their own each day and I understand that it's also good for treating chilblains

Chacun à son goût.

[Rachel Scand]

Chacun à son goût.

mais oui