Have you ever taken a sliced loaf out of the freezer and then tried to split off a single slice? That is the best analogy I can think of for making slates. About 35 years ago I was taken to see the men splitting slates, somewhere up a hillside in Wales. They used hand tools to separate the layers and create ever thinner slices. It would seem reasonable to assume that the same process was used 70 or 80 years before and when you think of the nature of slate it makes sense. Transporting uncut slate would be costly and lead to a lot of breakages. When slates are transported in a lorry or are placed ready for roofing they are stacked very carefully on their ends, so that the weight on each is minimised and spread over the surface, and they support each other. So I think your slater would be doing what a slater does today ie working on roofs using ready cut slates delivered to the site. Where would he work? There would have been a demand for slaters in any area where slate roofs were traditional and also for selected buildings over a wider area. Slate roofs have to be maintained and sometimes completely replaced - not necessarily with new slates, the old ones will be taken off, stacked and then replaced. So he would not have to be working all the time on new buildings. As a rule of thumb, slates are predominant in the north and north west and in industrial districts and less common in southern rural areas where clay tiles and even thatch are predominant. Judy On 29 Mar 2006, at 06:11, JMTsparks@aol.com wrote: > Good Morning, List, > > I hope that someone may be able to uncover Humphrey LLOYD'S roots. > I am not > having much luck. > > Humphrey LLOYD married Elizabeth BARKLEY by bond of GBP 500 and > also a > license in Aug 1897, in Ellesmere. > > On most of their 8 children's birth records he is a SLATER. > They born in a few various places, Duddleston, Shrewsbury, > Colcham, Castle > Foregate. > > Would a SLATER have to keep moving in order to work? Work where? A > quarry? a > mine, just cut and install slate for roofs? > > Might he have been born in neighboring Wales and learned the trade > there? > > I welcome any ideas, theories any bits at all. I cannot find a > birth, a > death or any census for this family. I do not have access to the > 1841. I do have > access to all other census, and am certainly willing to trade info and > precious time. > > Regards, > Marjorie Lloyd, Nevada, USA > > > ==== ENG-SHROPSHIRE-PLUS Mailing List ==== > DO NOT send virus/worm/hoax warnings to the list. If you receive a > suspicious e-mail with an attachment, delete it. > Virus discussions are a no-no. > > ============================== > Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the > last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx >

----- Original Message ----- From: "judy olsen" To: <ENG-SHROPSHIRE-PLUS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 3:57 AM Subject: Re: [ENG-SHROP] Humphrey LLOYD, Slater, x4 grandfather > Have you ever taken a sliced loaf out of the freezer and then tried to > split off a single slice? That is the best analogy I can think of for > making slates. [snipped] Thank you for the narrative, Judy. Our 2 x g-gf was a slater all his working life (Stockport). so I found it quite interesting. Toni ~ Ontario

At 06:57 PM 29/03/2006, judy olsen wrote: >Have you ever taken a sliced loaf out of the freezer and then tried >to split off a single slice? That is the best analogy I can think of >for making slates. > >About 35 years ago I was taken to see the men splitting slates, >somewhere up a hillside in Wales>>>>>>. Oh Judy, that is the most incredible and evocative description I have ever heard of or seen re. slaters. Bless you. Graham