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What is a Tailor ?

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  • What is a Tailor ?

    I'm transcribing marriage records in Liverpool early 1800's. What seems very clear is that there are an abundance of Tailors, far too many for the city from one Parish.
    Could my conception of a Tailor be different to one 200 years ago?

  • #2
    My ancestors for many generations back from my maternal great grandparents were all tailors. They all lived in areas where most of their neighbours were also tailors. There seem to have been specific areas where tailors congregate and live, especially in Jewish communities, although mine were all C of E originally from the Trowbridge general area of Wiltshire. The area was known for it's large clothing industry from 13th Century until the late 19th Century and there were many wool mills there.

    Was the area in Liverpool you are transcribing known for it's textile industry? Was there a large proportion of Irish born people there? I think many tailors came from Ireland to Liverpool to find work.
    My avatar is my Great Grandmother Emma Gumbert

    Sue at Langley Vale

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    • #3
      Hi - with regards to the Jewish angle, they were only allowed to perform certain occupations at one time, one of the most popular being a Tailor or any occupation related to the rag trade like cap makers for example. This was most popular in the East End of London and in Liverpool http://www.ourwardfamily.com/victorian_london.htm there's an article in here about the sweatshops etc
      Last edited by naomiatt; 05-10-10, 10:39.

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      • #4
        Good Morning Sue. The area surrounding the church is part of the traditional view of Liverpool ie, The Waterfront. This will account for the many Irish names but not a textile area other than Import & Storage...........Thanks for your input.

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        • #5
          Many poor people were apprenticed as tailors and other trades as part of the Poor Law reform to ensure that the poor and many in workhouses etc obtained useful employment. I have a few tailors apprenticed as part of the poor law in Northamptonshire in the late 1700's and early 1800's. However, I also have two army people who attended an army school in the late 1800's and as the aim of the school was to either prepare them for the army or give them a trade, they both opted for the tailoring trade, but then went into the army, one training as a Gymnast Instructor and in later life a clerk and Medical Attendant! So he clearly never used his tailoring trade learnt at his army school.:D

          Janet
          Last edited by Janet; 05-10-10, 10:49.

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          • #6
            And don't forget that absolutely everything was still hand cut and made at the time. There's obviously some background reason for the numbers you're seeing.

            Kate

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            • #7
              Apart from the Jewish idea and the traditional area where tailors lived, don't forget that many more tailors were needed before the sewing machine was ivented and commercialised in the 1840s (?) (I seem to remember that Margarete Steiff was one of the first to get a real state of the art sewing machine). Many working class people had to sew their clothes themselves and consequently only had one good dress for Sundays (initially the wedding dress) and one for during the week (they must have stunk!), but rich people had an abundance of clothes to choose from every day (changing for sports in the morning, lunch, afternoon and dinner; necessary for the smell probably) and they all had to be sewn by tailors. Hence the huge amount of seamstresses you see on the censuses. Those huge dresses we see in films all had to be seamed by hand. I mean, think about it: three meters, more, of cloth to be maticulously folded twice and then sewn on the bottom, not counting the sleeves, necks and everything.
              Coats were smaller, but they require an inside, also to be sewn on maticulously; same goes for the waistcoat. Now it is already a job to make a coat (can't do it myself), but then, there were no machines to do it for you, so everything took much longer. On top of this, sewing done by hand is much more delicate, so the stitches have to be smaller, otherwise, if someone just puls something like a sleeve, off it goes. You don't want that during match of polo...

              Beside which the confection industry only took off really for the working classes, because they did not have time to sew their own and it was cheaper to buy confection than to sew themselves. Rich people still went to the tailor, as they do now for big occasions. They did not want to be seen in cheap printed cotton and in the same model of coats/dress or whatver as 1000 other people.

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              • #8
                I wonder if they were sailors, not tailors?
                I have seen many handwritten records where tailors have turned out to later be sailors.

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                • #9
                  Thank You all for your constructive observations, each of them make sense and add to the 'picture'.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Gwyn in Kent View Post
                    I wonder if they were sailors, not tailors?
                    I have seen many handwritten records where tailors have turned out to later be sailors.
                    haha! I didn't know it, but it makes sense... :D

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Gwyn in Kent View Post
                      I wonder if they were sailors, not tailors?
                      I have seen many handwritten records where tailors have turned out to later be sailors.
                      That's a good point - I'm looking for Tishman and often find them recorded as Fishman...
                      the T's, F's and S's can look really similar sometimes..

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by kiki1982 View Post
                        haha! I didn't know it, but it makes sense... :D
                        Either this or it was an occupation that was abundant in that region at the time at least imo.

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