Peasant

[Davran]

I occasionally come across a "peasant" in the occupations column on the censuses. It seems usually to be a woman. What exactly is meant by the term? I couldn't find it in my 'old occupations' list.

[Peter Goodey]

As a meaningful term I would have thought it was pretty well defunct by the 19th century. A quick scan through the 1881 census suggests to me that there were two groups -
(a) A group of Swedish immigrants where it may be that the enumerator was using the word in a derogatory sense. Otherwise see below.
(b) 'Peasant farmers' and similar terms where I can only guess that the enumerator was trying to imply something like 'cottager' or the lowest category of farmer.

[busyglen]

I occasionally come across a "peasant" in the occupations column on the censuses. It seems usually to be a woman. What exactly is meant by the term? I couldn't find it in my 'old occupations' list.

I believe that a `peasant' is a person who makes a living from working with the soil. Or a farmer or agricultural worker of low status. I'll see if I can find a quote somewhere.

Glenys

[busyglen]

Sorry Peter, we cross posted!

Glenys

[busyglen]

Here's one version

peas·ant(pznt)
n.
1. A member of the class constituted by small farmers and tenants, sharecroppers, and laborers on the land where they form the main labor force in agriculture.
2. A country person; a rustic.
3. An uncouth, crude, or ill-bred person; a boor.

Glenys

[MarkJ]

Like Peter, I would have thought the use of the term "peasant" would be very unusual by the 19th Century. Most of my own ancestors were what would have fallen into that category in earlier times, but on the censuses they are referred to as Ag. Lab (Agricultural Labourers).
Perhaps the enumerator had some sort of superiority complex? ;)

[Peter Goodey]

I don't think Ag Lab is what is meant.

I think they're trying to distinguish between Ag Labs (employees), farmers and something else which I suggest is what some enumerators elsewhere have shown as 'cottager' (ie below husbandman which was also used elsewhere in the same census).

[Davran]

As I said originally, the ones I've come across seem to be older women. For example, here are two I found today in 1861 Speldhurst, Kent:

Mary Huntly ma-law wid 72 - peasant (RG9/491 f91 p28)
Hannah Moon ma-law wid 70 - peasant (RG9/491 f92 p30)

(and no mother-in-law jokes please!)

I can't remember if I've seen them other than in the Kentish census of 1861, so maybe it was a regional thing.

[Peter Goodey]

I don't think you can draw any conclusions from such a tiny sample. The 1881 allows a search on occupation which I why I looked at it.

If you're interested in 1861, doesn't Findmypast offer searches on occupation?

[Davran]

It's only a passing curiosity, not a real interest. It just struck me that I'd come across a few of these 'old' peasant women. The two I gave as examples were ones I found when I was checking 1861 Speldhurst for FreeCEN, so are not of any personal interest to me. I don't think I'm going to make a study of 19th Century peasants http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/chores019.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org/)... though perhaps some university boffin might like to do so. As far as I know, there were none in my family. Ag labs, yes, but peasants, no.

[Davran]

I think I've found a definition which may suit the circumstances of these women:

1 a person who owns or rents a small piece of land and grows crops, keeps animals, etc. on it, especially one who has a low income, very little education and a low social position. This is usually used of someone who lived in the past or of someone in a poor country:
This was from Cambridge Dictio3A 0px">This was from Cambridge Dictionaries Online -http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=58340&dict=CALD

So, perhaps they had a small plot with veg and chickens, etc.

[Peter Goodey]

a person who owns or rents a small piece of land and grows crops, keeps animals, etc. on it, especially one who has a low income, very little education and a low social positionWell quite. This was why I've been banging on about 'cottager'. Although I thought the term would be understood, it obviously wasn't.

The definition in The Local Historian's Glossary of Words and Terms is "occupier, sometimes also owner, of a tenement which often had a croft, a common right and a little land, usually not more than eight or ten acres".

One thing we can be certain of, the modern slang meaning of cottager was not what was meant. :D :D :D