Genealogy Chat

roflmao that's hilarious.

another occupation for a prostitute was charwoman although Im sure there were plenty of genuine ones

According to the National Archives talking about 1871 census
Another name was gay girl for prostitute
Anumber were living in Wharf St Bradford. For each of the women recorded there is a corresponding man whos details were perhaps not surprisingly unknown.

Now all your missing men who you cant find in 1871 on census night might be one of these.
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Look at the 1881 census and type in playboy for occupation.

Robert Goodman occ international playboy. His son Robert is a ponce.

This has been speculated as a practical joke by the transcribers doing the work.

The Goodman family have all sorts of people working for them from Timbuctoo,Afghanistan,Pakistan.Nepal,Syria,Columbo,Australia.Persia to name a few. All the workers have English names lol

Robert is 52. His wife is 97. His son Robert 42.

"Dressmaker ~ the occupation of 'dressmaker' was commonly given by prostitutes."

Oh my lord, I had a family of dressmakers, sisters who worked at the profession until their later years o.o Their mother was described as a lodging house keeper... don't tell me this was a euphamism for brother and her the widow of a schoolmaster. lol. I think in their case they really were dressmakers, but it's fun to speculate lol.

Hi Linda,

If I was you I wouldn't be putting "dressmaker" when you fill in your next census return, LOL.

Kath. x

Oh Kathleen, and I thought my flair for dressmaking was down to a long line of dressmaker rellies!!!!!

To add to what Kath says, "in law" could occasionally be used where we would say "step".

My great-grandma was living with her mum and dad in 1871 - dad listed as head of house. The mother had had an illegitimate baby four years before marrying so the little boy was described as "son in law" to the dad/head-of-household.

It gets quite confusing when they do that.

Here are some terms used on census forms and an explanation of what they mean:-

Definition Of Terms Used On Census Returns

Annuitant ~ The term annuitant could describe someone on an annual allowance as well as someone receiving annual income from an investment. Often however, it was also used for institutionalized pensioners.


Boarder ~ a person who shares the dinner table with the family.


Lodger ~ a person who has separate accomodation to the householder.


Lunatic ~ a mentally ill person with periods of lucidity.


Imbecile ~ persons who have fallen in later life into a state of chronic dementia.


Idiot ~ persons who suffer from congenital mental deficiency.


Scholar ~ from 1861 onwards a child was described as a scholar if he/she was over 5 and receiving daily schooling or regular tuition at home. There was no definition of the latter. In 1871 the census officials in London broke the confidentiality pledge and divulged the names of all children 3-13 and their parents (with addresses) to the London School Board to help enforce compulsory education.


Dressmaker ~ the occupation of 'dressmaker' was commonly given by prostitutes.


In-Law ~ terms such as Brother and Brother-in-Law were used interchangeably and somewhat unreliably. Likewise Sister and Sister-in-Law.

Kath. x

An imbecile was used to refer to someone with the mental age of an infant. The term also applied to an elderly person with dementure.

Thanks all for replying, my suspicions were obviously correct. My reason for asking was that three of my great great grandfather's siblings were listed as I said on the census.

hi there,
i have a relative listed as imbecile, not lunatic. It usually referred to a condition that meant they could look after themselves with help from say a relative with conditions such as autism. Lunatic usually meant someone with say schitzophenia (oops really bad spelling there). Most of this type were locked up in an asylum. Why its listed under occupation i don't know it should as rightly said go under the deaf dumb or blind section. Occupation was usually none. Asylums did lock people up for all sorts as i have read some of the reports from the 1880s and half of englnad would be locked up if they still did it now, so watch out lads and lassies you could be locked up for lets say, natural things. It was really sad, but life wasn't easy for these people. mine got arrested and locked up, then transferred to an asylum. hope this helps.

Quite often you will find imbecile or deaf listed as a disability. I've forgotten what the 7 stages of mental frailty were called but no doubt some clever person will tell us!

Seems to me that Idiot has been recorded in the wrong column, should be extreme right hand side.

Could someone explain to me what this means? Is it something to do with their mental state?