General Chat

Has anyone any idea what job a 'borer' did. My 3x gt grandfather's job is given as 'a borer and tinker'. I know what a tinker is but can't find any information about a borer.
Thanks
Lynne

Where did you see this occupation - is it somewhere we can have a look (like on a census)?

I would have thought a borer was someone who drilled things - either wells or holes in something, but that doesn't seem to fit with a tinker. Could the word be something else?

Kath. x

Joan,

I think your idea is the most likely - certainly sounds like they go together.

Kath. x

IF we are talking machining, the "drilling" is making a NEW hole in a piece of material.

BORING,
on the other hand, is the act of machining an existing hole, say on a casting....OR making an existing hole bigger..ie like opening up a gun barrel, or the like to the required diameter......or even a well for water....


Bob

My copy of "The Complete A-Z Guide of Early Occupations" doesn't list Borer.
But it does have Borler = A person who made cheap coarse clothing.
Tinker = A travelling salesman of pots & pans etc. or travelling repairman.

K

This was on the death certificate for John's wife, Betty. It said widow of John Bentham, a borer and tinker.
I spent some time going through all the appropriate websites and found that borer is another name for a travelling tinker. At some point John had been an underlooker in the local pit so he appears to have fallen on hard times. Perhaps that's why most of the family moved away from the Standish area.

Lynne