lamp contractor for the streets

[apowell]

Hi,

My ancestor William Herbert born abt 1784 St Lukes, London was living in Kidderminster, Worcestershire from the 1841 until 1871 census and his profession is given lamp contractor for the streets or just lamp contractor. I assume he was responsibile for lighting the street lamps in Kidderminster.

What interests me is:

How one would get such a job and was it just a manual job that anyone could walk into.

Would he have moved all from London for this job.

What was the actual work eg. just lighting the lamps every night or was there more to the job.

Any general information on the job itself would be of interest.

Regards
Adrian

[Coromandel]

From this 1820 account it seems that the lamp contractor was responsible for supplying the hardware and oil etc. to the lamp-lighters:

'This public Lighting was, until about 10 years ago, exclusively performed by a class of Persons called Lamp Contractors, whose Trade consisted, in keeping a dead Stock, of semi-globular Lamp-Glasses, with their respective Covers and Oil-holders, of Tinned Iron, of Oil Casks and Canns of different sizes, and of Ladders and large hand Lamps, of a peculiar construction, called Flambeaus; and also a live or consumeable stock of whale Oil and of Cotton Wick; which two last articles, these Contractors serve out, either daily or at intervals of a few days apart, to Men in their employ called Lamp-Lighters, each one having a small district of Lamps appointed to him, the Glasses of which, he is to keep clean, to supply Cotton to their Burners, and a nightly supply to the Oil-holders, of the Oil so served out to him by his Master the Lamp Contractor.

Within a few of the last years, this system has, in a considerable degree been broken in upon, by the partial introduction of Gas Lights, in great numbers in the central Streets of the Metropolis, and in others . . . by the use of Lamps . . . for the burning of animal Oil, and in some recent instances also, for the burning of essential Oil of Coal-Tar, or Naphtha; yet after all, very considerable lengths of the Streets and Roads of the Metropolis remain lighted with common Oil-Lamps as formerly...

It is usual for Lamp Contractors to engage, to keep their Street or Road Lamps burning, from the time of the Sun setting daily, until the time of its rising on the following morning, and they are in the habit . . . of serving-out Oil to their Lamp-Lighters, for such purposes, at short Intervals . . . '

From 'On apportioning the Supply of Oil, Naphtha, or Gas, necessary for Street-Lamps, according to the varying Lengths of the Nights of the Year'. Philosophical Magazine, Vol. LVI (July-Dec 1820), p.115 onwards (see Google Books).

[apowell]

Hi,

Many thanks for the information.

I've found a Bapt' for one of William's children in London and his trade was watch maker ?

It seems he moved around and found other jobs along the way.

Interestingly a couple of his sons moved to Birmingham and were lamp makers.

Kind regards
Adrian