Thanks - this makes sense. Would you believe we had this sort of thing into the early 1960s in the small town I lived in in Australia? We didn't have ashes but we had cans that were collected every week from the 'dunny down the back'. I was always afraid (as a child) that I would be sitting there with my behind exposed when the 'dunny-man' came round to remove the can from underneath me. Cordelia 14526 On 7 August 2015 at 17:34, Dave <Dave@thejupps.net> wrote: > This came up in my tree many years ago. I found the answer from a > gentleman, > who would now be about 130 years of age, who came from Yorkshire. He still > recalled someone that did the job - it was not a pleasant one! > > At the times when toilets were outside units, often at the bottom of the > gardens, it was common to put 'ashes' over the 'soils'. The toilets, > particularly within towns, backed onto an alley way with easy access. There > was a rear trap door to the toilet to collect the soils. It was the job of > the 'collector of ashes' to go around on a weekly basis and do his job!! > > Dave > > -----Original Message----- > From: sfhg-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:sfhg-bounces@rootsweb.com] On > Behalf > Of Cordelia Hull via > Sent: 07 August 2015 05:13 > To: SFHG SxFamHXGrp > Subject: [SFHG] collector of ashes? > > I have in my tree a William Heasman in Slaugham in 1851 whose occupation is > listed as 'collector of ashes' (at least, I think it is that). > > Can anyone enlighten me as to what this job might entail? > > The closest I have found on websites listing old occupations is 'ashman' > (dustman) and I know that garbage bins are called dustbins in England, so I > presume this guy might have been a garbage collector? > > If so, why 'ashes'? (and why 'dust' for that matter !) > > Is that all people threw out in the days before today's mega-packaging? Or > were ashes collected separately for some special purpose like soap-making? > > Cordelia > 14526 > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SFHG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in > the subject and the body of the message > > >

According to a television programme many years ago relating to a London house owned by an American who ran it as it had been run in past times only he was the only occupant. He showed people round and explained how it worked both upstairs and downstairs. He made the point that people then burned all their rubbish and so ash and dust were the only 'garbage'. Judy Excell -----Original Message----- From: Cordelia Hull via Sent: Friday, August 07, 2015 9:05 AM To: Dave Cc: SFHG SxFamHXGrp Subject: Re: [SFHG] collector of ashes? Thanks - this makes sense. Would you believe we had this sort of thing into the early 1960s in the small town I lived in in Australia? We didn't have ashes but we had cans that were collected every week from the 'dunny down the back'. I was always afraid (as a child) that I would be sitting there with my behind exposed when the 'dunny-man' came round to remove the can from underneath me. Cordelia 14526 On 7 August 2015 at 17:34, Dave <Dave@thejupps.net> wrote: > This came up in my tree many years ago. I found the answer from a > gentleman, > who would now be about 130 years of age, who came from Yorkshire. He still > recalled someone that did the job - it was not a pleasant one! > > At the times when toilets were outside units, often at the bottom of the > gardens, it was common to put 'ashes' over the 'soils'. The toilets, > particularly within towns, backed onto an alley way with easy access. > There > was a rear trap door to the toilet to collect the soils. It was the job of > the 'collector of ashes' to go around on a weekly basis and do his job!! > > Dave >