They seem to haave evolved from their original function of supplying ships to be scrap metal and second hand dealers.  They are mentioned several times in Henry Mayhew's "London Labour and the LondonPoor" (1851) and he comments "marine stores being about the only things the marine store men do not sell". http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=iBIIAAAAQAAJ&q=marine+store#v=snippet&q=marine%20store&f=false   Henry Mayhew describes "Rag and Bottle" and the "Marine Store" shops in the same chapter.  He says they are basically the same:  "The chief distinction appears to be this: the marine-store shopkeepers (proper) do not meddle with what is a very principal object of traffic with the rag-and-bottle man, the purchase of dripping, as well as of every kind of refuse in the way of fat or grease. The marinestore man, too, is more miscellaneous in his wares than his contemporary of the rag and-bottle- store, as the former will purchase any of the smaller articles of household furniture, old teacaddies, knife-boxes, fire-irons, books, pictures, draughts and backgammon boards, bird-cages, Dutch clocks, cups and saucers, tools and brushes. The-rag-and-bottle tradesman will readily purchase any of these things to be disposed of as old metal or waste-paper, but his brother tradesman buys them to be re-sold and re-used for the purposes for which they were originally manufactured" Interestingly in the light of Henry Jones's change of occupation to Team Leader, Mayhew says of the Rag and Bottle dealers "Some of these men make a good deal of money, and not unfrequently unite with the business the letting out of vans for the conveyance of furniture, or for pleasure excursions". Joy ________________________________ From: Alan <alanhawks@btinternet.com> To: cheshire@rootsweb.com  >  2. Team Owner: Navvies and highly trained Horses (Ruth J) Hi list I was interested to read that Henry Jones, Team Leader, was shown on an earlier census as a "Marine Store Dealer", and I wondered if anyone had more information on these folk and their role. I've been working through Birmingham newspaper archives for references to canal boatmen, this being my family background, and am turning up a lot of references to Marine Store Dealers, who seemed not only to provide canal boat equipment, but also to buy and sell pretty well anything, including items which "fell off the back  of a canal boat", as opposed to a lorry, or which had supposedly been raked out of the canal. Does anyone on the list know more about this trade than I do? Angela ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to CHESHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Thank you Joy. I found Henry Mayhew's "London Labour and the London Poor" very interesting. The Henry Jones, Marine Store Dealer, is mine and I wondered why the change in occupation. Now it makes sense. Apparently along with all sorts of junk, 'rags' were a very lucrative sale item. I find that interesting as well as in 1881 Henry had a lodger in his home who was a rag sorter. Henry Jones seems to have done very well. When he died in 1907 in his Will he specified that his sons were to be paid wages not exceeding £2 pounds a week. In those years £104 per year was quite a nice living. Apparently a skilled shipbuilder in 1911 earned about £58 and a teacher £70. Marg >From the Beautiful British Columbia Cariboo Region, Canada ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joy Langdon" <joy.langdon@btopenworld.com> They seem to haave evolved from their original function of supplying ships to be scrap metal and second hand dealers. They are mentioned several times in Henry Mayhew's "London Labour and the LondonPoor" (1851) and he comments "marine stores being about the only things the marine store men do not sell". http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=iBIIAAAAQAAJ&q=marine+store#v=snippet&q=marine%20store&f=false Henry Mayhew describes "Rag and Bottle" and the "Marine Store" shops in the same chapter. He says they are basically the same: "The chief distinction appears to be this: the marine-store shopkeepers (proper) do not meddle with what is a very principal object of traffic with the rag-and-bottle man, the purchase of dripping, as well as of every kind of refuse in the way of fat or grease. The marinestore man, too, is more miscellaneous in his wares than his contemporary of the rag and-bottle- store, as the former will purchase any of the smaller articles of household furniture, old teacaddies, knife-boxes, fire-irons, books, pictures, draughts and backgammon boards, bird-cages, Dutch clocks, cups and saucers, tools and brushes. The-rag-and-bottle tradesman will readily purchase any of these things to be disposed of as old metal or waste-paper, but his brother tradesman buys them to be re-sold and re-used for the purposes for which they were originally manufactured" Interestingly in the light of Henry Jones's change of occupation to Team Leader, Mayhew says of the Rag and Bottle dealers "Some of these men make a good deal of money, and not unfrequently unite with the business the letting out of vans for the conveyance of furniture, or for pleasure excursions". Joy