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