Mike Clouston wrote: > Norman Tulloch wrote: >> Margaret VanAuker wrote: >>> I have been checking the 1841 census for Walls and Flotta. I have come >>> across an occupation called: seabong. Can some one tell me what this >>> means? >> >> >> Margaret, >> >> I'm a bit worried about this "seabong" thing. It sounds more like >> something out of Lewis Carroll rather than the occupation of a >> long-dead Orcadian. I've never heard of it at all. Google does >> produce some hits, but they mostly seem to be from Korea rather than >> the island of Hoy. I checked the Scottish dictionaries at >> http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/ but they came up with nothing either. >> >> Are you trying to read a copy of the original handwritten census? If >> so, are you sure that it says "seabong" rather than, say, "seaman"? >> Not all of the handwriting in such documents is easy to make out. If >> it's a transcription you're reading, maybe the transcriber just got >> it wrong? >> >> Is the person with such an occupation male or female? Could the >> mystery word possibly be read as something else? "Seabong" has me >> stumped but a bit intrigued! >> >> Regards, >> >> Norman Tulloch > Margaret, > > What is the name you are looking at? I'll have a look on my copy and > see if I can find anything. > Margaret, I think I have found the answer to the problem. On http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~relys4u/R4U_Update/Orkney/ORKNEY-WALLS%20&%20FLOTTA-Alp-A-Z.htm it clearly states "Seabong" alongside the entry for Janet Heddle. I then looked in my hand-written copy of the 1841 census and couldn't find a Janet Heddle at all. However, using the names of her neighbours as references, I found a Jennet Harrold aged 60 and a Mary Harrold aged 20, both residing at 'Seaberry' with a question mark alongside the name of the residence, meaning the transcriber wasn't happy with what he was reading, exactly where Janet and Mary Heddle appeared in the on-line version. So I would submit that 'Seabong' was an attempt by whoever transcribed the 1841 census for relys4u at the name of the residence and 'Seaberry' was an attempt by whoever transcribed my hand-written copy of the same census. I don't think it is an occupation at all. In fact, no occupation is shown for Jennet or Mary Harrold on my copy. Hope this helps. -- Mike Clouston