1841 census occupation

[Narelle]

Hello All,
I am trying to work out what my GGgrandfather's occupation was back in 1841. The census shows that he is living at Strangeways Hall in Cheetham Manchester with 9 other people whose occupations include merchant and independent means.

Caesar AUGUSTUS my GGgrandfather's occupation is stated as M.S. or M.L. He is the only one of this occupation at that address. There are 4 females whose occupations are F.S. or F. L. I would love to know what this means.
Regards Narelle

[Mythology]

M. S. and F. S. are standard abbreviations on the 1841 for Male Servant and Female Servant.

[Narelle]

Brilliant. Thanks very much for this verifiication. I thought as much but my knowledge of the census is very limited. Would he have been a bulter? Can you tell me if there a publication or something that gives a summary of occupations etc to do with the census?
Kindest regards
Narelle

[Mythology]

In the introductory pages of each enumeration book for the 1841 census, there is a page headed:

DIRECTIONS
Respecting the manner in which Entries may be made in the Enumeration Schedule.

But if you're using a popular online version, I expect they've missed these out as they don't think they are of any use to anyone - they are very good at that. :rolleyes:

The CDs from Archive CD Books (http://www.rod-neep.co.uk) include these pages, so I can tell you that for servants it says:

All domestic servants may be entered as "M.S." for Male Servant or "F.S." for Female Servant, without statement of their particular duties as whether butler, groom, gardener, housekeeper, cook, &c., &c.

So - yes, he could have been a butler, but it's just one of a number of possibilities.

I expect there's a copy of the whole thing around on the web somewhere, but as I've never needed to look for it I'm no wiser than you are as to where - sorry!

[Narelle]

Thanks for that info. At the moment I am considering purchasing the CD's for convenience and cost savings. It is amazing what vital info gets overlooked even at the beginning of microfiche. You can find a wealth of info there if you just take the time to read it.
Kindest regards
Narelle