Genealogy Chat

Hello I have a member of my family on the census down as a Boatman......Could anyone please tell me what a Boatman is and did................Please Thalk You Very Much.... Regards Harold

Boatman, 1) Worked on river and canal boats 2) Boat repairer from http://rmhh.*co.*uk/occup/b.html remove * from address Roy

My Grandfather was a Boatman, also known as an Hobbler. What he did was he had a small motor owered boat which he took out to ships that were entering harbour he caught the ships hawser hangingover the side of the ship, carried it to someone waiting on the pier end who fastened it to a capstan. It helped the ship to swing round a pier end into a harbour. He may be used also for other duties around the harbour. Hope this helps.

Hobbler / Hobler 1) Towed river or canal boats 2) Casual dock labourer 3) Unlicensed pilot. a. A man who undertakes the moving or transporting of vessels in and out of dock; a man employed in towing vessels by a rope on land. b. An unlicensed pilot, on some parts of the coast of England: = hoveller c. A casual labourer employed at quays, docks, etc. local. from http://rmhh.*co.*uk/occup/h.html Roy

Believe it was also a 'grade' in the Coastguard Service .... Annie

Could you find him on another census to give you more idea? On one census an ancestor of mine, living inland is stated as Boatman -coal barge. Another idea is to look at other people in the area and see what their jobs are, or find out what the main trade in the area was, as he may have been involved in it. maggie

Where did this chap live? On my in-laws side I have several generations that were working as boatmen and watermen, mainly in and around the East End. Watermen were licensed to unload ships that came in the docks, East India etc, and carried the goods to land. A couple of mine started out as carriers and then served their apprenticeship to become journeymen watermen. There is a lot of info on watermen and boatmen at the Guildhall Library in London - just google and it will come up.

Hi there, sorry to contradict you Claire, but I have (literally hundreds!) of watermen and lightermen back to the beginning of the apprenticeship records (1692). They were a close knit community and tended to interbreed a lot. Watermen were licensed to carry people and small goods (like taxi drivers of the river) lightermen unloaded ships goods on to their 'lighters' and took them along the river (like lorry drivers) or to docks. If you google Dockland Ancestors you can get better descriptions there and also search the records they have. You can buy the cds for apprenticeship bindings, reassignments etc from the site which have proved so very useful to me that they are well worth having. I think 'boatman' generally seems to refer to canals. Though I believe Annie may also be right concerning coast/harbour guards.(Either way, very skilled jobs)