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What occupation? (Scottish 1911 census)

Posted: 04 Feb 2019 12:35
by LornaCraig
Can anyone suggest what the first word is in each of the lines marked below?

On line 14 it looks like Lerus Weaver, Lace Factory, and line 19 looks like Lens Weaver, Lace Factory.

In both cases it looks different from the word Lace.

Re: What occupation? (Scottish 1911 census)

Posted: 04 Feb 2019 12:44
by Valkrider
Possibly Loom Weaver.

According to my list of 1911 occupation codes 872 translates as Lace Manufacture.

Sorry I can't be of more help

Re: What occupation? (Scottish 1911 census)

Posted: 04 Feb 2019 14:11
by Jane
This article suggests there is a "thing" called a Leavers machine which was used to manufacture lace.

Image

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lace,_It ... nd_History

Re: What occupation? (Scottish 1911 census)

Posted: 04 Feb 2019 14:45
by tatewise
I agree with Colin and think it says Loom Weaver.

The Leavers lace machine was developed by John Leavers in 1813.

A Google search for lace loom machine produces lots of info, including punch card machines.

Re: What occupation? (Scottish 1911 census)

Posted: 04 Feb 2019 15:37
by arthurk
The first one looks to me to have 'e' as its second letter, which makes me a bit doubtful about it being Loom. The second one does look like Lens, and I wonder if it means the person did some very fine work with lace which required the use of a lens? While looking into this briefly, I spotted a weaver's lens for sale online. (And the first word could conceivably be Lens, with an extra letter.)

We don't know which town this is in, though presumably you do, Lorna. Might you be able to look in directories etc to find out which lace factories these people might have worked in, and what kind of work they produced?

Re: What occupation? (Scottish 1911 census)

Posted: 04 Feb 2019 16:09
by AdrianBruce
Thank goodness for Google's creative "Did you mean...." - usually it's No I didn't that's why I wrote what I did!

However, in this case it shows that there is something called Leno weave. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leno_weave

I think that the first occurrence of the word went a bit wonky because of its rarity, and the extra letter in the middle wasn't supposed to be there.

Re: What occupation? (Scottish 1911 census)

Posted: 04 Feb 2019 16:24
by tatewise
Maybe, but there is no suggestion Leno Weave is used in Lace making, but mostly for much coarser products.

Re: What occupation? (Scottish 1911 census)

Posted: 04 Feb 2019 16:47
by ColeValleyGirl

Re: What occupation? (Scottish 1911 census)

Posted: 04 Feb 2019 18:05
by LornaCraig
Many thanks to all.
I think I am leaning towards 'Leno'. It seems the 'Scottish Leno Gauze weave' was produced in the Irvine valley, and the census entry I am looking at is in Galston, which is in the Irvine Valley.

Previously I had even looked at an article which had the word 'leno' hidden in it but missed it! If anyone is interested there are some Youtube videos on how to make a Leno lace pattern:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nul3etw-k6k and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ1HN7-BY-U