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Archiver > LANARK > 2003-07 > 1057415893


From: Pat McIntosh-Spinnler <>
Subject: Re: [LKS] Occupations
Date: Sat, 05 Jul 2003 15:38:13 +0100
In-Reply-To: <200307050902.h6592QRf013327@lists5.rootsweb.com>


Bill wrote:
>
> Came across this occupation on 1881 Census - "Coachman Domestic Serv". I
> don't see it in Old Occupations. I suspect it's self explanatory - He was
> working for a rich family and drove their coach. Would someone care to
> expand on this.
> Thanks, Bill


It looks as if this man might have been a general servant with special
responsibility for carriage-driving. A very rich family would keep several
male servants, though I learned only last night that male servants were
taxed (at least in England & Wales) until the 1930s-- that is the employer
paid a tax-- so it was quite ostentatious to have several men. A smaller,
but still well-off, household wd usually have one manservant at least to do
the heavy stuff round the house and grounds, and of course if one kept one's
carriage someone had to look after the horse[s] and keep the carriage clean
etc. (They must have got very muddy on the unmade roads in our climate.)

Coachmen did not have a good life expectancy. For one thing, they rode up on
top of the carriage in all weathers, so were prone to lung complaints and to
arthritis; for another, the standard livery included high boots or gaiters,
which cut into the back of the knee when one sat still for a long time (as
on top of a carriage), and this gave rise to circulation problems in the
legs. Rupture of the artery in the knee was a frequent cause of death.

It was a well-trained and responsible trade.

Best,
Pat

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