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Turner and wheel turner. Does any body know

ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

GillfromStaffs

GillfromStaffs Report 23 Oct 2005 15:11

what these jobs would be, could be in the pottery industry around 1851.I live just outside potteries but never worked in a pot bank. Gill

GillfromStaffs

GillfromStaffs Report 23 Oct 2005 15:28

Thankyou Cas. does that mean they were lathe workers or street performers, sorry having abit of a senior moment here. Gill

Merry

Merry Report 23 Oct 2005 15:34

I would think a wheel turner would be in the pottery industry. If the same person also said turner, i would think they meant the same. However, if they said turner, with no association to the pottery trade, I would assume (maybe wrongly? lol) that they carved wood on a lathe. The street performer thing would surely need to be defined?? Maybe by the occupations of others in the household. Merry

GillfromStaffs

GillfromStaffs Report 23 Oct 2005 15:47

Thanks for your reply Merry. It's on a marridge cert. James is a 'Turner' and Elizabeth a 'Wheel Turner' it doesn't say Pottery industry but most of my lot were, lol so i just assumed, bad thing to do in this game. Gill

John half a scot

John half a scot Report 23 Oct 2005 15:49

I think he worked on a lathe possibly for the railways as they have wheel lathes John

GillfromStaffs

GillfromStaffs Report 23 Oct 2005 15:56

Thanks John. Do you think she would have been working with him then ? as she is a Turner. Gill

Maggie

Maggie Report 23 Oct 2005 19:44

I don't know for sure but I would have thought a wheel turner was the guy that made the wooden spokes for wheels using a lathe. Maggie

The Ego

The Ego Report 23 Oct 2005 20:12

Turner is someone who makes chair legs or turns wood on a lathe,even wooden bowls,anything in furniture that required lathe work,table legs,details like columns used in fire surrounds or other circumstances(anything cylindrical)

Aunty

Aunty Report 24 Oct 2005 13:15

If the family have a lot of pottery connections then the job could have been a 'thrower's wheel turner' or 'potter's wheel turner'. Monica

Doris

Doris Report 30 Jun 2014 00:18

On the 1861 census in Bridport,Dorset where they made twine and ropes,young children,as young as 7 are listed on the census as wheel turners.Any ideas about this job?

Judith

Judith Report 29 Jul 2014 18:40

My husband used to be a 'turner' . Working in engineering. A centre lathe turner.

John

John Report 30 Jul 2014 11:23

I believe that clay, in the corrrect consistency, can be turned like wood, (horizontally) on a lathe, whereas a wheel turner shapes the work-piece vertically. Both quite skilled work for both parties concerned.

To clarify:

http://www.thepotteries.org/jobs/turner.htm