Anyone know old profession names?

[karohemd]

An online friend is doing some genealogy research and came across "cordivainer" (see screenshot). Our Google fu only came up with "cordwainer", a type of cobbler who works with soft leather.
Any suggestions most welcome. Thanks!

ETA: Thank you for your comments. The explanation of poor spelling/weak lines/poor scan is rather likely.

Comments

[bibliogirl.livejournal.com]

I think that probably is "cordwainer", but poorly written (or poorly scanned)...

[mr-malk.livejournal.com]

Not necessarily. My guess is that it's an alternate or regional spelling.

Etymonline gives the following:

cordwainer
"shoemaker, leatherworker," c.1100, from Anglo-Fr. cordewaner, from O.Fr. cordoan "(leather) of Cordova," the town in Spain whose leather was favored by the upper class for shoes. Cf. cordovan, a later borrowing directly from Spanish.

cordovan
1590s, "fine Spanish leather," from adj. Cordovan, from Sp. cordovan (modern cordoban), from cordovano (adj.) "of Cordova," the Spanish city, former capital of Moorish Spain; a later adoption of the same word that became cordwain (see cordwainer). The city name is from Phoenician qorteb "oil press."

Cordovan to cordivainer, possibly as a conflation of the two words (accidental or otherwise) seems quite a plausible hypothesis.

If you really want to know, send an email to Michael Quinion at www.worldwidewords.org/. He researches odd words and sends out a weekly newsletter with his latest curiosities in them. I don't know what sort of turn-around you might expect before your request appears though!

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Thank you for mentioning etymonline. *bookmarks*

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

*nods* I just spotted the missing dot of the first i (if it's supposed to be one)

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

The 'IV' does look more like a 'W' where the ink has run very thin (so it didn't scan cleanly), or where the pen has jumped slightly leaving a gap.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Mm, that's what I think too. mr_malk's theory above is interesting, but I'm pretty sure spelling of this occupation would have been fairly standard among educated people (eg. census-takers) by 1871.

Other 'cordivainer' Google hits I peeked at also look like mis-scannings.

See also: http://genforum.genealogy.com/pa/philadelphia/messages/2458.html

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

It's also backed up by looking at the other professions within the households (if you assume that families/neighbours would be likely to work in similar industries)

As far as I can tell (some of this is guesswork since there's no headings on the scan) it transcribes as:

Name           PositionInHouse MaritalStatus Age[M] Age[F] Job

John Butt      Head            Married        44           ?????
Mary A "       Wife "                                44    Machinist
Susan "        Visitor         Widow                 65    Domestic Work
\\
John Smith     Head            Married        44           Shoe finisher
Phoebe "       Wife               "                  43    House Keeper
Samuel "       Son             Unmarried      18           Shoe finisher
\
Frank? Cornell Visitor         Unmarried      17           Cordwainer
Sarah "           "                "          51           Laundress
\\
????? Smart    Head            Married        24           Shoe finisher
Elizabeth "    Wife               "                  24    House Keeper
Alfred "       Son             [blank]        5            [blank]
John "          "              [blank]        2            [blank]

NB: I think "Do" must be an abbreviation of "ditto", I've used the more space-saving & familiar " symbol for this instead.

I'm guessing that \\ is a mark indicating next household,
and \ indicates a separate familial group wihin the same house - I've left these as-is since there's no equivalent mark that people are more familiar with. I seem to remember using // as a paragraph mark when re-drafting, which is similar! The other vertical/diagonal marks look as
though they were added afterwards, and may be from someone marking off details they've transcribed.

Alongside shared surname & age differences etc), the absence of a \ in the first block of names would suggest that the third entry, Susan Butt, is possibly the widowed mother of John Butt. Listed as visitor rather than a resident - I wonder whether that's because of limitations on what people could be listed as, or whether it indicates she was still maintaining her own home elsewhere, or perhaps living with another sibling of John's?

Sarah Cornell on the other hand is listed as unmarried, at 51 - with a 17 year old lad of the same surname staying in the same house (couldn't make out his name) - 34 years difference, so they could be mother & son, if so is that a whiff of illegitimacy?



PS - more thoughts on Susan Butts - On the other hand, it looks like the wife goes out to work, unlike the others who get described as house keepers - so is the mother in law skivvying while still being meanly described as only living there temporarally?
I'm also guessing that it should be Carnell not Cornell as I've written above, based on the file name of the scan!
Can't work out what John Butt's profession is, or Mr Smart's first name - anyone else good at squinting?

[colonel-maxim.livejournal.com]

Do not forget that a cordwainer makes shoes as opposed to a mere cobbler who only repairs them.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

*nods*