Genealogy Chat

I found in 1841 census the occupation of a lady I was researching was down as F.L..Her name is Emma Winter 1820 Southwark living in St James St Holborn.Does anyone know what F.L.means. Thank-you, Daphne.

It is F.S. not F.L. It means Female Servant.

Kath. x

You're in good company -- Ancestry misreads the capital "S" all the time (among other things) -- hence all the people whose occupation it has transcribed as Lawyer who were really Sawyers. ;)

I've always assumed, but I'm not sure whether correctly, that "female servant" didn't necessarily mean a domestic servant. "Master and servant" are the archaic terms for "employer and employee", and could relate to any employment situation. On a farm, for instance, the FSs and MSs might be dairymaids and cowherds, if I'm right on that.

... that's probably not the best example since they might more likely both be "ag lab"s. I'm sure there were other jobs people did as employees, though!

A longtime contributor to rootschat seems to post this often in reply to similar questions:


These are the official abbreviations used in the censuses

Ag. Lab. 1841-81 Agricultural labourer
Ap. 1841-61 Apprentice
Army 1841 Members of HM land forces of whatever rank
Cl. 1841-61 Clerk
FS. 1841 Female servant
H.P. 1841 Members of HM armed forces on half-pay
Ind. 1841 Independent - people living on their own means
J. 1841 Journeyman
M. 1841 Manufacturer
m. 1841 Maker - as in 'Shoe m.'
MS 1841 Male servant
Navy 1841 Members of HM naval forces, including marines,
of whatever rank
P. 1841 Pensioners in HM armed forces
Rail Lab. 1851 Railway labourer
Serv. 1861 Servant
Sh. 1841 Shopman


which makes me think that FS and MS must refer to non-domestic servant employees as well, since there's no other category for them.

Thank You Janey

That list will be invaluable to many of us who get caught with the same query,I shall print it off for future references.

Suex

Thanks to all who replied and a special thanks to you Janey for your most helpful list. Daphne.