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Nestor
17-02-16, 08:09
I have a male in the 1881 census aged 22 whose occupation is shown as fireman at the gas-works.
in the 1891 census he is aged 32. In the occupation column there is the notation G/D, or it might be C/D, nothing else

I would be very grateful if someone could tell me what this represents
Margaret
garstonite
17-02-16, 08:13
could it be E/D ? he may have been a Fireman on the trains bringing in coal / taking out empty wagons and then 10 years later is an Engine Driver ....a Fireman put the coal in the boiler on a train for the Driver - next step up was a Driver
Merry
17-02-16, 08:14
Margaret, there are five men who fit that criteria on the 1881 census, so you are going to have to tell us who he is! :)
Merry
17-02-16, 08:16
he may have been a Fireman on the trains

In the gas works Allan?!!
Merry
17-02-16, 08:18
We don't yet know who wrote the G/D or C/D so I wouldn't like to speculate what it means.
garstonite
17-02-16, 08:40
In the gas works Allan?!!

Yes Merry - our Garston Gasworks is still standing - they had to produce the gas and used Coal - don't ask me how they produced the gas - but Garston Gasworks had its own railway line to the Gasworks - if I remember correctly the wagons took in COAL and brought out COKE .....maybe someone can educate us both ...lol:d
added
hooray - I was right - good memory I have
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_gas

The first process used was the carbonization and partial pyrolysis of coal. The off gases liberated in the high-temperature carbonization (coking) of coal in coke ovens were collected, scrubbed and used as fuel. Depending on the goal of the plant, the desired product was either a high quality coke for metallurgical use, with the gas being a side product or the production of a high quality gas with coke being the side product. Coke plants are typically associated with metallurgical facilities such as smelters, and blast furnaces, while gas works typically served urban areas.

can someone contact The Guinness Book of Records please - I got one right ....lol
Shona
17-02-16, 08:44
GD - poss Gas Depot/Department?
Merry
17-02-16, 08:45
I still think we need to see the entry before we can know what it might refer to.
Merry
17-02-16, 08:49
I tried the 1891 census on fmp - year of birth 1859 with G/D or C/D as the occ, but no results.
Shona
17-02-16, 08:51
The fireman would be the person who tended the furnaces at the gas works. There would be stokers who added the coal to the furnaces. They would be supported by a team of wheelers who brought the coal by barrow from the heaps in the yards into the works. The chap in question may have been in the National Union of Gas Works and General Labourers which was formed in the late 1880s. Is it Ancestry or FMP which has trade union records? Worth checking (if we knew the name of the person!).

The municipalisation of the gas works was taking place in late 1880s and early 1890s, so that may explain a change in wording from gas works to GD - gas department.
Shona
17-02-16, 08:51
I still think we need to see the entry before we can know what it might refer to.

Agree!
Merry
17-02-16, 08:53
It might help to know hos occ in 1901 and 1911 if he was still alive.
Merry
17-02-16, 09:01
These are the names and birth places I got from 1881

Joseph Gibbins (no birth place) living in Fulham

David Jones b Dengby (presumably Denbigh)

Archibald Moon Southton (Southampton)

William Porter Bootle

Arthur Thomson Sheffield

It's not Archibald as he's a gas stoker in 1891. (easiest one to check!)
Merry
17-02-16, 09:03
Oh, this might be the one....William Porter, though now he's born in Ireland!

http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/6598/LANRG12_2968_2970-0151/14967992?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.u k%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3duki1891%26gss%3dsfs28_ms_r_db %26new%3d1%26rank%3d1%26MS_AdvCB%3d1%26gsfn%3dwill iam%26gsfn_x%3d1%26gsln%3dporter%26gsln_x%3d1%26ms bdy%3d1859%26msbdy_x%3d1%26msbpn__ftp_x%3d1%26msrp n__ftp_x%3d1%26msypn__ftp_x%3d1%26gskw%3dbootle%26 gskw_x%3d1%26MSAV%3d2%26uidh%3d672&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults
Merry
17-02-16, 09:05
Its fireman GD as the word fireman from the line above is arrowed down and doesn't belong to the woman on the line above. So I'm going for "fireman Gas Depot".
Shona
17-02-16, 09:58
Great detective work, Merry. I agree with you that his occupation is Fireman GD (wrongly written in as the occupation of the woman on the line above) and that GD most likely stands for Gas Depot. Ireland as the place of birth probably relates to the woman on the line above, don't you think?
Merry
17-02-16, 10:05
lol I didn't really look at that - I just noted it from the transcription entry when I was looking for him! :o:o:o