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  • A Spital Turner ?

    This occupation is written on a Marriage Certificate in Liverpool 1876. I can find no reference to it from a Google search.............has anyone any ideas. Since I'm transcribing, I dont desperately want to know...just curious.
    I should add that the writing is very clear and no doubt about what is written.
    Last edited by AlanC; 11-11-10, 16:58. Reason: More information.

  • #2
    I would have said Spiral turner, but you say the writing is very clear.

    However, are you transcribing from original records or from copied records?

    If the name is not too common, maybe we could find him/them on a census and see what work he's doing?

    OC

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    • #3
      Hello O.C....thanks for your response. The detail is from the Parish Register and the Marriage dated 30/9/1876 is of a Sarah Anne Watkins aged 22 of 27 Stonewall Street, Everton, Liverpool. Her father, William Watkins is deceased. Definately Spital, the 't' is crossed.
      The groom is 24 year old Charles Turpin but not related to 'Dick'
      Sorry should have said the Bride's father was the Spital Turner.
      Last edited by AlanC; 11-11-10, 17:26. Reason: more detail

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      • #4
        I'd side with OC and assume the crossed letter was a mistake. I can recognise most engineering occupations, and "spital" makes no sense in this context.
        Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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        • #5
          This is a real off shot - could it mean Splitter - (splitting timber or wood) - otherwise, there's Spittleman but that seems to mean Hospital Attendent and that doesn't make sense with being a Turner...Spital is an old word for hospital which I didn't realize until just now when I looked at the meaning of Spitalfields.

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          • #6
            Maybe the Cleric who entered the details made a mistake and who doesn't.
            Thanks to Naomiatt & Uncle John for their imput.

            Comment


            • #7
              Alan

              Sorry, I couldn't face lookiong for a William Watkins, lol!

              OC

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              • #8
                I did a search at your suggestion OC and very quickly gave up...............dozens of them.

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                • #9
                  Collins Dictionary has spital listed as :-
                  spital [ˈspɪtəl]n Obsolete1. (Medicine) a hospital, esp for the needy sick
                  2. a highway shelter[C13 spitel, changed from Medieval Latin hospitāle hospital]


                  Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

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                  • #10
                    Could it be something to do with 'spit' roasting? Is spit short for spital which would be say for a hog roast
                    Margaret

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                    • #11
                      Could it be a spurtle turner?
                      I don't make porridge, but I do have a spurtle, which I use for stirring other things. The wood would have to be shaped and turned to get the correct shape.

                      Jay
                      Janet in Yorkshire



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

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                      • #12
                        I like the idea of a Medical reference and Margarets Spit roasting appeals to me. Some Historian will know and until he or she comes forward, we can only speculate. I actually lived in a place called 'Spital' on the Wirral which is only a couple of miles from a big Oncology Hospital.
                        Janet, the writing is very clear but as mentioned earlier, it could have been transcribed incorrectly.
                        Last edited by AlanC; 13-11-10, 22:02. Reason: more detail

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                        • #13
                          Spurtle can be spelt 'spirtle'. Perhaps it is a spelling mistake - often happened

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by AlanC View Post
                            Janet, the writing is very clear but as mentioned earlier, it could have been transcribed incorrectly.
                            I wasn't questioning the writing, Alan - I said spital quickly and it made me think of spurtle! I wondered if it had been recorded as it sounded??????

                            Jay
                            Janet in Yorkshire



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

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                            • #15
                              As you say Alan one can only speculate on what the meaning to this is however I wonder if the answer is more to do with the land rather than a hospital or hostel as in spitleman.
                              One meaning for Spittle is "a spade, small spade, hoe or scraper", whilst another meaning for the word Spittle gives it as "to dig in, to pare etc with a spittle". Keeping in mind that the depth of a spade thrust into the earth is called a spit could the meaning of the phrase "Spitle turner" be connected to someone working with a spade and "turning" the earth over?

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                              • #16
                                Isn't "spurtle" a Scottish word?

                                OC

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                                • #17
                                  No help but - does anyone know what a Railman in a Forge is?

                                  After checking for likely Sarah A Watkins births I noticed that many were in Wales. So after checking England in 1861 I check Wales and apart from several Farmers I came across a William Watkins as a Railman in a Forge. After it in brackets is something like I or T ?

                                  Last edited by Chrissie Smiff; 14-11-10, 11:05. Reason: To add link
                                  Chrissie passed away in January 2020.

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                                  • #18
                                    Originally posted by Chrissie Smiff View Post
                                    No help but - does anyone know what a Railman in a Forge is?

                                    After checking for likely Sarah A Watkins births I noticed that many were in Wales. So after checking England in 1861 I check Wales and apart from several Farmers I came across a William Watkins as a Railman in a Forge. After it in brackets is something like I or T ?

                                    http://search.ancestry.co.uk/iexec/?...=&pid=15281690

                                    Found this on RootsWebChat :-

                                    From: Roger Kelly <rmj4@ix.net.au>
                                    To: <MONMOUTHSHIRE-L@rootsweb.com>
                                    Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2001 2:44 AM
                                    Subject: [Mon] Railman in Iron Works


                                    > Hi Listers,
                                    >
                                    > Thanks to all who replied, hope I have replied to all directly, I
                                    appreciate the
                                    > advise to get "A History of Ebbw Vale" by Arthur Gray-Jones - such local
                                    knowledge is
                                    > great for new comers from remote Australia. It seems consensus is
                                    "Railman in Iron
                                    > Works" is a skilled progression from "forge labourer" where they used
                                    their
                                    > blacksmithing skills to cast or asses quality of rails for railways around
                                    the world.

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                                    • #19
                                      So many perfectly reasonable explanations for which I thank you.

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                                      • #20
                                        Just a late thought about the original question - could it have been 'spindal' turner? (Misspelling of 'spindle'?) Either a spindle for wool or cotton spinning, or for stairs. The 'nd' could perhaps be read as a 't'?

                                        BTW, there's a village called Spittal in Pembrokeshire - no hospital very close these days, but may have been a 'travellers refuge', as it's just off the main route to St David's.

                                        Bee.
                                        Bee~~~fuddled.

                                        Searching for BANKS, MILLER, MOULTON from Lancs and Cheshire; COX from Staffordshire and Birmingham;
                                        COX, HALL, LAMBDEN, WYNN, from Hants and Berks; SYMES (my mystery g'father!) from anywhere near Bournemouth.

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