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Hi wondered if anyone can help:
1901 Census
Charles Umpelby age 35
Born: Kennington, London
Address: 41 Windsor Street Islington
Occupation: HUMAN SKIN DRESSER
What is a 'Human Skin Dresser'?

Hi Carolyn, do you think it could be something to do with bandages??

Not sure, there is some other writing on the census but can't make out what it says thought it might be main tailor but i'm really not sure.

Hi Carolyn,
Skin Dresser:- An obsolete bookbinding term for the workman who shaved or pared leather.

The mind boggles at what a Human Skin Dresser did!!

Thanks for that Maxine, various thoughts had been going through my mind!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have enlarged it and I think it is actually Human Hair dresser...ie probably something to do with wig making?

Yes I enlarged it as well but thought it looked like skin, couldn't make out what the other writing was 'mai? tailor'
Any ideas?

Just taken a look and it does look like human skin dresser to me - or shin, but that doesn't make sense!
Linda

I think the H of hair is so looped it does look like Sk...and that the word following is actually 'hair' where the enumerator has tried to clarify it... definitely 'tailor' underneath, but I take that to be for his wife...mantle maker mantle as in 'cloak' I assumed

A Tatooist maybe! The mind runs riot!

Annx

Hi every one,
please excuse me for butting in,but i'v been following this thread from the beginning and trying to find out what a Human Skin Dresser was as well,but no luck
I can't wait to find out what it is though.
I thought it was maybe something to do with embalming!
Good luck
Blue

Just had another look at the census and agree that the 'tailor' is for his wife as she is a mantle makers machinist so that fits but if you look where it says 'Human Skin Dresser' there is another word written which I can't make out. Has anyone got any ideas as to what it says? It looks like Mair to me but I havn't a clue what it means.

I think it says 'Hair'.

Beginning to think I'd had too much red wine tonight!
Hope we can sort this out.

Do you think it could be to do with making wigs or toupees??

The enumerist obviously had his own idea of what people's occupation was . If you look at some others he writes (printer) next to compositor and (sawyer) next to saw mills.

If it is hair surely in 1901 all wigs were made from human hair and therefore there would be no need to put 'human hair dresser' they would of just put hairdresser. Then again the extra word written does not begin with an H.

Human Hair Dresser - yes I think he could be a wig maker. The scrawled word at the end is Hair. These are not written by the enumerator but by the boffins back at head office when collating the information into statistics.

And wigs made from non-human hair were available in the 19th century. Some were made from plant fibres. I'd hate to see what they looked like! And what they were used for. As far as I know barrister's wigs have always been made of horse hair.

Human hair was the most common.


Ozi.

What other type of hairdresser would you get other than human?

1891 census doesn't help with his occupation - porter. have you found him in 1911?

He was an errand boy for his dad when he was a nipper. Dad was a hatter.

Ozi.

Dresser 1) A surgeon's assistant in a hospital 2) Operator who assembled the yarns or threads prior to weaving of cloth 3) Assistant to a noble person, preparing clothes etc. 4) In an Iron Foundry, the person who removed the flash and unwanted bits from castings