Metal Plate Cutter & Whalebone Straightener ???? same man

[Guest]

I have a family with a son named James John 1848 and another named John James 1850
One is a Metal Cutter the other is a Wood Sawyer , would you say the Metal Cutter is likely to also be the Whale Bone Straightener??? Thanks

[Uncle John]

I don't think so. I don't think metal stays had replaced whalebone by then, so the whalebone straightener would be straightening (presumably flattening) actual "whalebone" which comes from the mouth-parts that strain the plankton the whale lives off. I assume they steamed it to make it pliable and then squashed it flat in a press. But I might be completely wrong.

[Guest]

why do they give their children silly names ??????gggggggggggr thanks Uncle John one is described as a Wood Sawyer most of the time and the other a Metal Worker and I dont want to add the wrong record to the wrong son.

[Guest]

ugh now in 1901 one is a Greengrocer ??? how dare they change occupations ???????????????lol