Household of James Vernon
1841 Scotland Census

In the 1841 Scotland Census, James Vernon was enumerated living in Newton Stewart with his wife Margaret, and their granddaughter Margaret Gordon, daughter of Margaret Vernon.

Interpreting James’s Occupation

James’s occupation is written as “Shoem”, which is not one of the approved abbreviations for occupations[1] in the 1841 Scotland Census. It is close to the abbreviation “Sho.” for “Shopman” (a retail worker). However:

1. the 4th character, which could be interpreted as a “p”, making the unapproved abbreviation “Shopm.”, is distinctly different to every other lower-case “p” written on the same page by the enumerator, and is similar to other lower-case “e” characters, and
2. according to the official instructions, the enumerator should have prefixed the name of the relevant trade to any abbreviation of “Shopman”.

There are no other abbreviations of “Shopman” on the same page of the enumeration book with which to compare, and currently additional pages of the enumeration book have not been sighted.

Based on the above, the occupation has been interpreted as “Shoemaker”. However, in light of James’s 1851 Census occupation of “Retired Inn Keeper”, confidence in this interpretation is low.

Transcription

Name and Surname	Age	Gender	Occupation	Where Born
James Vernon	55	Male	Shoem	Wigtownshire, Scotland
Margaret Vernon	51	Female		Wigtownshire, Scotland
Margaret Gordon	5	Female		Wigtownshire, Scotland