Genealogy Chat

Hi folks, I have found my friends ancestor on the 1881 Census but can't make out the occupation. I have looked at the jobs people did in the potteries but can't find anything like it so I wondered if maybe someone would know or could read it - what I have is:
1881 Census Cyrus (or Cairus) Shaw aged 16 living with parents Peter and Ann Shaw in Doncaster Road Ferryfryton Pontefract Yorkshire. The occupation looks like Hill tentor - I think the Hill should actually read Kiln
Also in 1871 the family lived in Jail Houses in Knottingley - does anyone know why these are Jail Houses - were they owned by the prison - as I would have thought prison workers would live in these houses and Peter Shaw was a navigation labourer -

FMP has this
1881 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription
Doncaster Road, Ferry Frystone Aka Ferrybridge, Pontefract, Yorkshire & Yorkshire (West Riding), England

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Print View image Add to tree Household Members
First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Birth place Occupation
Ann Shaw Head Widow Female 41 1840 Hillam, Yorkshire, England Charwoman Transcription
Thomas Shaw Son Single Male 19 1862 Ferrybridge, Yorkshire, England Plate Maker At Pottery Transcription
Francis W Shaw Son Single Male 17 1864 Knottingley, Yorkshire, England Printer At Pottery Transcription
Cyrus Shaw Son Single Male 16 1865 Knottingley, Yorkshire, England Kill Tenter At Pottery Transcription
Elizabeth Shaw Daughter Single Female 12 1869 Knottingley, Yorkshire, England Scholar Transcription
Peter Shaw Son Single Male 10 1871 Knottingley, Yorkshire, England Scholar Transcription
George W Shaw Son Single Male 5

Has put kill against other entries. Think he couldn't spell kiln

Think the occ was kiln tender

FMP have transcribed it as KILL tenter, which is what the image looks like to me. If you look down the page others are described as Killman, which is obviously the enumerator’s misinterpretation of kilnman

As for the ‘Jail houses’ perhaps googling would prove fruitful

Thank you I did think kiln tender but when I looked at the jobs in pottery that wasn't mentioned but as we both think the same ... and I did realise the word kill should have been kiln - accents do play a large part in these things don't they - thank you for your help and as for the jail houses - yep that I will google.

If you google kiln tenter, you’ll get results for kiln tender - probably a simple case of not understanding the terminology on the part of the enumerator

I'd agree that it should be Kiln Tender.

Kath. x

Hi I looked up everything I could to do with Jail Houses in Knottingley, maybe I.ve missed the obvious but I am still trying to find why my friends ancestors address in 1871 was Hill Top Jail Houses Knottingley Yorkshire. What is the connection to Jail Houses - can anyone perhaps suggest where I may find some information on this address. Hill Top is still in Knottingley - a rather long road - but cant find any references to Jail Houses

There was railway line nearby to Hill Top,could it be Rail (Railway Houses) Houses ?. as there are rail workers living in Hill Top.

Thanks Kay, I'm sure it was a 'J' but I'll take another look as there were a couple of other letters which caused confusion - and to be fair - Rail Houses sounds more feasible. Thanks again

looking at it and comparing it with other words I would say it was definitely 'J'.

Also - just a thought - when did the spelling of 'gaol' become 'jail'

Looking at the census there seem to be several houses in the Jail Houses listings each I think inhabited by one family. there are separate census entries for each family with // at the end of each

I have always spelt Jail in this way but as you say the English way is gaol so don't know about this but yes I did take another look and it is a J rather than an R so it brings me back to the the reason the dwellings were called Jail Houses. Very curious and maybe I won't find an answer but there is usually a reason why roads have been given certain names - links to local landmarks etc.

There is still a Gaol House on Fisher Street

1841 - description of area includes Jail House (enumerator just wrote 'jail'

1861 - Gaol Houses

(look for Mary Waddington as an example)

but the occupants of the houses seem to be all families with various occupations

Found in newspaper reports of 1799 it seems to have once been a debtors gaol

Thank you for your perseverance in looking, that must be the answer! The houses were nothing to do with the prison but just called Jail Houses as they are so close to the prison.
Thanks for settling my curiousity.
Lynne

I suppose they might originally housed prison staff

that was my original thought - another thought was that these houses were just owned by the prison and let out to other families but I think with a jail nearby that is the connection.
.