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Music Porter

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*Melanie*

*Melanie* Report 29 Jan 2008 21:47

Hello, could anyone tell me what a music porter is?

BrendafromWales

BrendafromWales Report 29 Jan 2008 22:35

Maybe it is someone who is in charge of taking instruments around for,say an orchestra.
These days would be called a "roadie".
Just a guess!!

KathleenBell

KathleenBell Report 29 Jan 2008 22:50

Are you sure it's "music porter"? It isn't something I've heard of before.

Have you seen this on a census? Can you tell us where and who so we can have a look?

Kath. x

Heather

Heather Report 29 Jan 2008 23:38

Yes, do let us all have a look in case its just weird writing or something confusing you.

JaneyCanuck

JaneyCanuck Report 30 Jan 2008 02:31

I don't have access to JSTOR -- maybe an academic in the vicinity can check it. The google results list shows this snippet:


JSTOR: Laborers of the Nineteenth-Century Theater: The Economies ...
The music porter called musicians to rehearsal, attended them from morning until ...
supported by inspection of manuscript census data from each of London's ...
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-9371(199401)33%3A1%3C32%3ALOTNTT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-M -

Researching:
Please use the "ADD YOUR REPLY" box below to reply. Please DO NOT click "Send Message" and send a private message (unless info is about living people or otherwise sensitive). THANKS!

JaneyCanuck

JaneyCanuck Report 30 Jan 2008 02:35

Someone else had the same question. ;)

http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/
LONDON/2005-09/1128073339

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It sounds as if he was the rather important man who made sure that all the musicians had the right piece of music put out before them, marked up with cues, and open at the right place. Without him, the flutes would be silent, the violins never come in at the right place, and Sir Thomas would have lost his legendary temper, with explosive resylts. He may have started as a fourth flute or eighth violin, but when he was found to have a tidy mind and an organising capability, he would be seconded to the librarian job.

There must be records - but I am not sure if they would be at the Theatre Museum (which is at 1e Tavistock St, the side entrabnce to Covent Garden, or if there is a separate Museum for Opera.

Music porter is a bit downmarket as a description. True, he would have carried, or organised the carrying, of the scores, but he was so much more.

Eve McLaughlin

Author of the McLaughlin Guides for family historians
Secretary Bucks Genealogical Society

Researching:
Please use the "ADD YOUR REPLY" box below to reply. Please DO NOT click "Send Message" and send a private message (unless info is about living people or otherwise sensitive). THANKS!

*Melanie*

*Melanie* Report 31 Jan 2008 17:47

Hello, thank you for your replies. Sounds like an important job indeed. Heather and Kathleen the record is the 1851 census, William Bradish, b. c1819, London. If you'd like to check it, the writing is quite clear I'm sure it definitely says that.