I thought after 50 years of Genealogy I'd seen most things but today I had two novelties presented to me by the 1891 census of Newcastle-under-Lyme The writing is by no means immaculate but the boy is named MESHEC and the daughter of 18 years is a "lath treader" The rest of the family work at an iron works, presumably Shelton bar and have perfectly ordinary English names. Fed into the 1901 census the search turned up almost 200 !! Meshachs but I had not seen it before. What on earth does a lath treader do? are these bits of wood used wet to make them pliable? the enumerator has added the word "Earth" in the vicinity.A possibility is that she operated the treadle of a lathe, but that seems a peculiar job for a girl. Anybody any ideas (particularly a plasterer?) DrGeneal

Dr. General and Listers: I like Grahams theory re. Meshec. It seems to me, and this is only surmising from different things I have seen, that the Potteries had more than its fair share of "non-conformist" Christian types. In my mind, that would explain the use of names from the Old Testament that hadn't typically been used in England before. The late 19th Century is a time (I believe) that is called by many the "Great Revival" -- ie. alot of religion going around. Guess the point of this post is to look for confirmation that this area of England was indeed a hotbed of Methodists, Baptists and the like and any other interesting facts that might flow from there. Jeffery Davidson ----- Original Message ----- From: <DrGeneal@aol.com> To: <ENG-STS-THE-POTTERIES-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, July 15, 2005 10:04 AM Subject: [Pots] Meshec and the lath treader - any Ideas? > I thought after 50 years of Genealogy I'd seen most things but today I had > two novelties presented to me by the 1891 census of Newcastle-under-Lyme > The writing is by no means immaculate but the boy is named MESHEC and the > daughter of 18 years is a "lath treader" The rest of the family work at an > iron works, presumably Shelton bar and have perfectly ordinary English names. > Fed into the 1901 census the search turned up almost 200 !! Meshachs but I had > not seen it before. > What on earth does a lath treader do? are these bits of wood used wet to > make them pliable? > > the enumerator has added the word "Earth" in the vicinity.A possibility is > that she operated the treadle of a lathe, but that seems a peculiar job for a > girl. Anybody any ideas (particularly a plasterer?) DrGeneal > > > > ==== ENG-STS-THE-POTTERIES Mailing List ==== > The List for the Pottery Towns of the Ancient County of Staffordshire > > >

Names: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego - the three children of Israel cast into the fiery furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar ( see O.T. Book of Daniel) Plaster and lath was a way of constructing walls and ceilings ( our church porch has it) and sometimes floors. see http://www.soundhome.com/topics/topic_plaster.shtml A list of old occupations has LATH RENDER(ER) A person who puts the first coat of plaster onto laths on floor and ceiling. (a plaster's assistant). perhaps this was what your lady did? HTH Anne On 15 Jul 2005, at 17:04, DrGeneal@aol.com wrote: > I thought after 50 years of Genealogy I'd seen most things but today I > had > two novelties presented to me by the 1891 census of > Newcastle-under-Lyme > The writing is by no means immaculate but the boy is named MESHEC and > the > daughter of 18 years is a "lath treader" The rest of the family work > at an > iron works, presumably Shelton bar and have perfectly ordinary English > names. > Fed into the 1901 census the search turned up almost 200 !! Meshachs > but I had > not seen it before. > What on earth does a lath treader do? are these bits of wood used wet > to > make them pliable? > > the enumerator has added the word "Earth" in the vicinity.A > possibility is > that she operated the treadle of a lathe, but that seems a peculiar > job for a > girl. Anybody any ideas (particularly a plasterer?) DrGeneal > > > > ==== ENG-STS-THE-POTTERIES Mailing List ==== > The List for the Pottery Towns of the Ancient County of Staffordshire >