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Cork Cutters
Image Right - The Cork-Cutter" an engraving originally featured as an illustration for "The Book of English Trades and Library of the Useful Arts" in 1818
In England, the first cork-cutting workshops started to operate in London at the end of the 17th century. Cork, obtained from the bark of a type of oak tree that flourishes around the Mediterranean and Portuguese coast, was valued for a variety of uses including as a bottle sealer, such as wine corks, and for the inner soles of shoes. The interest in cork-cutting spread and, during the 18th century, workshops were established in many towns throughout Britain
A report from 1835 stated that imports of cork to England, mainly from Portugal, amounted to about 44,000 lbs. annually. At this time, cork-cutters in England were protected from foreign competition by a duty of 7s. per lb. on manufactured corks
Reference The Cork Cutter's Trade
Cork cutters would grade the cork and prepare it for the production of bottle corks or larger stoppers would have been cut from sheets of good quality cork and end cuts would be ground down then mixed with other substances to be moulded into other products. In addition to stoppers, other possible cork products would be floatation devices and shoe parts. Cork plugs would have been used for plugging the oil casks. Floats would have been used for the edges of the nets and cork was the material of choicein the 1870s..
See Cork Manufacturers
from Life and Labour of the People in London, Volume 5: Population classified by trades, edited by Charles Booth, London, 1895, pp. 216–218
Manufacturers employ from forty, at most, down to two or three men, boys and women. The average cork cutter’s shop would seem to find work for about twenty persons, of whom the men would be ‘foremen,’ ‘notchers,’ and ‘machinists,’ and the boys and women mostly sorters, though some of the boys are often put to the lighter cutting machines. The term ‘foreman’ here means the cork ‘burner.’ He is the most skilled of all the men, but not necessarily the overseer of others.
The flat slabs of cork as they arrive are full of holes and cracks and bits of rough fibre, which can only be got rid of or sealed up by the process of burning. This is done at a large open fire of cork shavings, across which run iron bars in the shape of a ‘grid’. Here the slabs of cork are placed, and crackle and burn, and are turned by their cook with a pair of tongs until they are properly done, as if they were great beef-steaks. Then they are tossed off on one side to a boy who quenches the burning embers with water, and stacks them away to dry for twenty-four hours, after which they are taken down and swept with stiff brooms to remove the loose black. Then they are cut into lengths of equal thickness, and passed to the notcher, who again cuts them into squares small enough to fit conveniently into the different cutting machines.
Brewers’ bungs or ‘shives,’ corks for pickle jars, known as ‘dăfies’ in the trade, bath corks and medicine corks, and cork rings and discs used by wholesale chemists, are the sizes most usually made in London. Odd pieces are also used in the manufacture of cork fenders (for ships), and life-belts, and thin shavings are cut for helmets and to make cigarette tips. Wine-bottle corks come entirely from abroad.
Early History
1680 has been stated as when the Benedictine monk first used cork for sealing wine. Previously stoppers had generally been made of wood wrapped in hemp soaked in olive oil. Cork was probably first used to seal wine in the sixth century BC (BCE) in Toscana (Tuscany)
London Street Views in connection with cork cutter John Newton...in 1791, the newspapers reported on a fire that started at Mr. Labrow’s chemist shop and spread to several businesses, among them that of Mr. Blower, a tallow chandler and Mr. Newton, cork cutter. Two directories from around the time do not list cork cutter Newton. John Newton’s business can be followed from 1810 onwards through the insurance records of the Sun Fire Office. In that year he insured his “household goods, wearing apparel, printed books and plate in his dwelling house” at 54 St. John Street for £150 on the proviso that no cork was burnt on the premises.
Holden’s 1811 London and Country Directory lists John Newton jun, cork cutter, at 54 St. John Street
In England, the cork-cutter’s trade disappeared with the industrial revolution.
See - History of cork closures
For almost 300 years, from the end of the seventeenth century until the 1980s, wine in glass bottles was invariably sealed with cork. In the second part of the twentieth century, in the case of inexpensive wines, this might be an agglomerated cork closure. In the 1980s the growth in the use of alternative closure began, initially with injection-molded plastic stoppers, but from the late 1990s co-extruded synthetic stoppers and screw caps.""
Cork oak is found in France, Spain and Italy regularly sheds its bark and forms a new layer, but it can be excised in regular sheets. Imported into England, it was cut into the required shapes, mostly as bottle stoppers, but also for flotation devices, shoes, wall coverings etc. Cork cutters were of both sexes but it was one of the dirtiest trades and poorly paid.
The bark is still removed today in a traditional manual way, carefully peeling off the thick bark layer every 10 years. The tree is then left to regrow the bark, allowing future harvesting from the same cork oak tree.
An informative review of the cork-cutter profession is given by Cheryl Bailey, "Bark’s Requiem: the forgotten trade of corkcutting", Family History Monthly, January 2004, pp. 22–24.
References to Cork Cutters found
A search of All UK, City and County Directories, 1766 - 1946 on Ancestry results in 27,075 entries!!
England
Cheshire
Joseph Byrne, b. 1803 in Macclesfield, Cheshire, d. 25 Nov 1866 in 41 Gordon Street, Everton, Lancashire, occupation Engraver, resided 1841 in Webster Street, Liverpool, Lancashire, resided 1851 in 3 Morley Street, Kirkdale, Liverpool, Lancashire, occupation 1841 Labourer, occupation 1851 Cork Manufacturer, occupation 1866 Cork Cutter Master. He married Elizabeth Bassington, married 18257, b. 1805 in Leek, Staffordshire.His Sons
Edward Byrne, b. 1832 in Liverpool, Lancashire, resided 1841 in Webster Street, Liverpool, Lancashire, resided 1851 in Hallifax Yard, ???? Gate, Doncaster, Yorkshire, resided 1861 in 16 Toxteth Street, Toxteth Park, Liverpool, Lancashire, occupation 1851 Cork Cutter Journeyman, occupation 1861 Bricklayer. He married Mary Ann BOLAND, married Jun qtr 1859 in West Derby District, Lancashire, b. 1835 in Arklow, Ireland.
Edmund Byrne, b. 1834 in Liverpool, Lancashire, resided 1841 in Webster Street, Liverpool, Lancashire, resided 1851 in 3 Morley Street, Kirkdale, Liverpool, Lancashire, occupation 1851 Cork cutter. He married Harriet Maynard, Dec qtr 1859 in Liverpool, Lancashire.
See https://sites.rootsweb.com/~canvey/index_files/Page19631.htm
Nathaniel Corker of Nantwich (1736) was a cork-cutter
See Corker Cork-Cutters in Census Returns and http://whistlerhistory.com/corker/cork2.htm
Essex
Will of William Borrows, Cork Cutter of Colchester, EssexReference: PROB 11/1450/317
Description: Will of William Borrows, Cork Cutter of Colchester, Essex
Date: 31 October 1806
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Married Ann Griffin 16 Nov 1784 at St. James, Colchester; Also Buried there on 26 Sep 1806. His will mentions "three youngest daughters" Catherine, Sophia and Ann; also sister Mary Palmer; daughter Mary Ann the wife of William Buller; nephews William and Jacob Borrows sons of brother John Borrows; brother Richard Borrows.
Gloucestershire
UK, Poll Books and Electoral Registers, 1538-1893 1754
Thomas Langman 20 Corkcutter's JM born Bristol
Charlotte Langman 30, born Bristol
Will of Charles Organ, Cork Cutter of Bristol , Gloucestershire
Reference: PROB 11/954/21
Description: Will of Charles Organ, Cork Cutter of Bristol , Gloucestershire
Date: 03 January 1770
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Reference: PROB 11/1964/192
Description: Will of Samuel Powell, Cork Cutter of Bristol , Gloucestershire
Date: 09 June 1842
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
A number of family members were also cork cutters -
His brother - Joseph Boon Powell (1787-1870)
His nephew Joseph Boon Powell (1823 - )
His nephew Edwin Powell
His great niece's husband - Samuel James Gwyer Lucas (b. 1855 -)
Will of Walter Welstead, Cork Cutter of Bristol , Gloucestershire
Description: Will of Walter Welstead, Cork Cutter of Bristol , Gloucestershire
Date: 17 November 1722
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Kent
Will of Samuel Cole, Cork Cutter of Maidstone , Kent
Reference: PROB 11/1293/268
Description: Will of Samuel Cole, Cork Cutter of Maidstone , Kent
Date: 24 July 1797
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Lancashire
Liverpool
Burial: 28 Dec 1754 St Peter, Liverpool, Lancs.
Isaac Makem - Son of George Makem
Occupation: Cork Cutter
Register: Burials 1754 - 1765, Page 1, Entry 13
Source: LDS Film 1656376
Hulme, Manchester
Baptism: 9 Mar 1868 St Stephen, Hulme, Lancs.
Christiana Godyear - [Child] of Thomas Godyear & Sarah
Born: 3 Aug 1867
Abode: 3 Union Place Hulme
Occupation: Cork Cutter
Baptised by: Richard Adams
Register: Baptisms 1865 - 1878, Page 27, Entry 209
Source: LDS Film 2357333
Benjamin Dickinson Cottiar - [Child] of Thomas Edward Cottiar & Sarah Ann
Born: 16 Nov 1865
Abode: 3 Union Place Hulme
Occupation: Cork Cutter
Baptised by: Richard Adams
Register: Baptisms 1865 - 1878, Page 31, Entry 244
Source: LDS Film 2357333
Baptism: 20 Oct 1833 Collegiate, Manchester, LancashireEliza Baker - daughr. of William Baker & Hannah
Born: 20 Mar 1831
Abode: Manch
Occupation: Cork Cutter
Baptised By: R. Remington
Register: Baptisms 1833, Page 550, Entry 4400
Source: LDS Film 2357017
Baptism: 20 Oct 1833 Collegiate, Manchester, LancashireCharles Baker - son of William Baker & Hannah
Abode: Manchr.
Occupation: Cork Cutter
Baptised By: R. Remington
Register: Baptisms 1833, Page 555, Entry 4438
Source: LDS Film 2357017
Baptism: 6 Nov 1833 Collegiate, Manchester, LancashireAlice Bird - daught. of Thomas Bird & Betty
Abode: Smithy door
Occupation: Cork Cutter
Baptised By: R. Remington
Register: Baptisms 1833, Page 591, Entry 4722
Source: LDS Film 2357017
Baptism: 7 Apr 1833 Collegiate, Manchester, LancashireJohn Osborn Cliff - son of William Cliff & Elizabeth
Abode: Salford
Occupation: Cork Cutter
Baptised By: R. Remington
Register: Baptisms 1833, Page 144, Entry 1149
Source: LDS Film 2357017
Baptism: 25 Jun 1848 St George, Hulme, Lancs.Mary Coe - Daughter of Joseph Coe & Sarah (formerly Evans)
Born: 26 May 1848
Abode: 108 Bedford St.
Occupation: Cork Cutter
Parents' Marital Status: Cathedral 1844
Baptised by: Robt. B. Davies
Register: Baptisms 1846 - 1853, Page 92, Entry 729
Source: LDS Film 2113127
Thomas Williams 15 December 1834 - Baptised by His Parents Thomas Williams (Cork Cutter) and Mary of Eaton St. Liverpool
Lincolnshire
Thomas Hill born about 1830 to William Hill, cork cutter. Thomas's place of birth on the 1851 census was given as Lincolnshire ( occupation cork cutter and by then living in Uttoxeter)
London
Records held by London Metropolitan Archives: City of London
Records of Sun Fire Office
Insured: John Barrett 6 Mark Lane, cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/512/1082377
Description: Insured: John Barrett 6 Mark Lane, cork cutter
Date: 5 November 1828
Insured: Henry Bucknall, 22 Crutched Friars, cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/557/1266583
Description: Insured: Henry Bucknall, 22 Crutched Friars, cork cutter
Date: 15 January 1838
Insured: Samuel Bugby, 26 Theobalds Road, cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/466/919726
Description: Insured: Samuel Bugby, 26 Theobalds Road, cork cutter
Date: 12 June 1816
Insured: William Bright 67 High Holborn cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/501/1019771
Description: Insured: William Bright 67 High Holborn cork cutter
Date: 18 August 1824
Insured: John Bulpitt 55 Whitechapel cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/446/825346
Description: Insured: John Bulpitt 55 Whitechapel cork cutter
Date: 18 January 1809
Insured: Joseph Bustin 17 Theobalds Road cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/446/830212
Description: Insured: Joseph Bustin 17 Theobalds Road cork cutter
Date: 17 April 1809
Insured: William Chambers 65 Fetter Lane cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/508/1047577
Description: Insured: William Chambers 65 Fetter Lane cork cutter
Date: 6 July 1826
Insured: Samuel Cuthurst 66 Haymarket, cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/419/706508
Description: Insured: Samuel Cuthurst, 66 Haymarket, cork cutter
Date: 23 September 1800
Insured: William Dowling 102 Wapping cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/474/934195
Description: Insured: William Dowling 102 Wapping cork cutter
Date: 18 September 1817
Insured: Matthew Fox, 135 Wapping, cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/397/628963
Description: Insured: Matthew Fox, 135 Wapping, cork cutter
Date: 11 July 1794
Insured: David French, 51 Crutched Friars, cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/467/908835
Description: Insured: David French, 51 Crutched Friars, cork cutter
Date: 31 July 1815
Insured: Thomas Hankinson 45 London Wall cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/474/942721
Description: Insured: Thomas Hankinson 45 London Wall cork cutter
Date: 10 June 1818
Insured: Joshua Hardy 26 Little East Cheap cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/385/598907
Description: Insured: Joshua Hardy 26 Little East Cheap cork cutter
Date: 11 April 1792
Insured: Robert Hum 81 Fenchurch Street cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/481/951073
Description: Insured: Robert Hum 81 Fenchurch Street cork cutter
Date: 14 January 1819
Insured: John Kewell 67 High Holborn cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/512/1080158
Description: Insured: John Kewell 67 High Holborn cork cutter
Date: 13 August 1828
Held by: London Metropolitan Archives: City of London, not available at The National Archives
Language: English
Insured: Susannah Knight, 9 Aldersgate Street, cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/390/605690
Description: Insured: Susannah Knight, 9 Aldersgate Street, cork cutter
Date: 4 October 1792
Insured: Charles Oritt, 81 Fenchurch Street, cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/557/1244354
Description: Insured: Charles Oritt, 81 Fenchurch Street, cork cutter
Date: 26 January 1837
Insured: Martin Venables, 17 Wapping, cork cutter
Reference: MS 11936/399/630481
Description: Insured: Martin Venables, 17 Wapping, cork cutter
Date: 6 August 1794
Will of John Parker, Cork Cutter of Houndsditch
Reference: PROB 11/1651/337
Description: Will of John Parker, Cork Cutter of Houndsditch
Date: 24 December 1821
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Insured: William Spooner 20 Bridge Row gent (cork cutter)
Reference: MS 11936/512/1061941
Description: Insured: William Spooner 20 Bridge Row gent (cork cutter)
Date: 20 June 1827
Will of Nathaniel Bowden, Cork Cutter of London
Reference: PROB 11/1028/348
Description: Will of Nathaniel Bowden, Cork Cutter of London
Date: 03 March 1777
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Richard Robinson - 1841 aged 15 - Cork cutter Tower Hamlets, Mile End Old Town
Norfolk
Great Yarmouth
Baptisms
- 05/03/1854 John Harry AFFLEY John AFFLEY Cork Cutter Fanny 08/09/1852
- 07/07/1854 Fanny Matilda OFFLEY John OFFLEY Cork Cutter Fanny 11/06/1854
- 30/07/1854 John BUCHAN John BUCHAN Cork Cutter Louisa Indiana 17/11/1853
Mrs James Stapleton, cork cutter, by Will dated the 18 of May 1778, bequeath'd unto the mayor and burgesses of this borough, 36 pounds upon trust that they do pay 36 shillings into the hands of the chapel wardens for them to buy of bakers residing in paradise ward, 24 three penny loaves to be by them distributed in the chapel of Saint Nicholas to poor widows residing in Paradise War, on the Epiphany, and the same number of loaves on each of the five following Sundays for ever. He died on the 4th of February Anno D. 1780
- Chapel of St Nicholas' , Kings Lynn, Norfolk
© Copyright Basher Eyre and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence.
Nottinghamshire
1851 Census
John Humphreys Head 42, JM Cork cutter born Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
Elizabeth A Humphreys Wife 31, Dressmaker born Nottingham, Nottinghamshire [Elizabeth Ann Hall]
This couple were married on 22 Feb 1844 at St. Paul, Nottingham
Rob. Marston, cork cutter, Nottingham, for 5s.: Two gross of corks.
Held by Nottinghamshire Archives
Reference: DD/E/165/3
Description: Rob. Marston, cork cutter, Nottingham, for 5s.: Two gross of corks.
Date: 9 Sept. 1779
Somerset
Perrymead Cemetery, BathJohn Wheeler Dowland married Ann Hewlett.
Baptised on 22 Nov 1835 at Walcot, Bath: John Wheeler, son of John & Ann Dowland.
Surrey
Will of Robert Clark, Cork Cutter of Southwark , Surrey
Reference: PROB 11/2170/461
Description: Will of Robert Clark, Cork Cutter of Southwark , Surrey
Date: 30 April 1853
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Yorkshire
Sheffield, YorkshireAnother Corker cork-cutter was found in the census returns for Sheffield: Charles Corker, born about 1826, reported his occupation as cork-cutter in the 1851 census and later decennial censuses.
Insured: Andrew Graham, Doncaster, Yorkshire, cork cutter
This record is held by London Metropolitan Archives: City of London
Reference: MS 11936/391/605507
Description: Insured: Andrew Graham, Doncaster, Yorkshire, cork cutter
Date: 1 October 1792
Warwickshire
Will of John Boyce, Cork Cutter of Coventry , Warwickshire
Reference: PROB 11/948/78
Description: Will of John Boyce, Cork Cutter of Coventry , Warwickshire
Date: 03 May 1769
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Wiltshire
Will of Robert Simister, Cork Cutter of Bradford , Wiltshire
Reference: PROB 11/1516/128
Description: Will of Robert Simister, Cork Cutter of Bradford , Wiltshire
Date: 24 October 1810
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Scotland
KILMARNOCK with the villages of Riccarton and Kilmaurs Ayrshire
Directory - 1837 - by Pigot & Co
- Stewart, James, cork cutter, Regent st
Insured: John Dick, Dalkeith, cork cutter
This record is held by London Metropolitan Archives: City of London
Reference: MS 11936/351/541449
Description:
Insured: John Dick, Dalkeith, cork cutter
Date: 26 February 1788
Insured: Thomas Anderson, Kircaldy, cork cutter
This record is held by London Metropolitan Archives: City of London
See contact details
Reference: MS 11936/387/604455
Description:
Insured: Thomas Anderson, Kircaldy, cork cutter
Date: 27 August 1792
Held by: London Metropolitan Archives: City of London, not available at The National Archives
Language: English
In the villages of Lundin Links, Lower Largo and Upper Largo in Fife, Scotland
- John Ballingall (1859-1919) worked in Largo as a cork cutter.
Born in 1859, the ninth of the ten children of weaver and amateur astronomer William Ballingall senior and his wife Jane (Jean) Wilson. While the majority of his siblings moved away to Edinburgh for work, John remained in Lower Largo. At the time of the 1881 census, John was a journeyman cork cutter. As a cork cutter, he likely had close ties with both the fishing community and the net factory. n 1883, He married Annie McIntosh in Edinburgh. By the time of the 1891 census, there were four children in the household and John's occupation was described as 'cork manufacturer'. At this time, the family were living in part of Goodsir House.
A cork cutter based on the upper part of Kirkton of Largo's North Feus. On the 1861 census Henry Kirk employed '1 man and 1 boy' in his cork cutting business. He was listed in the 1862 Westwood Directory (above) under 'miscellaneous'. Henry Kirk died in 1862 aged just 28, leaving behind a wife and baby daughter. Henry's business was taken over by an English cork cutter, who relocated from Norwich to Largo. Edward Johnston stayed for decades to continue the business and in 1864 he married Henry Kirk's widow Annie. The couple went on to have 7 children of their own, as well as raising the daughter of Henry. The 1871 census tells us that Johnston employed '2 men, 4 apprentices and 1 woman', suggesting that the business had grown significantly since 1861.
John Edmonstone Miller b. 1831, was based in Kirkton of Largo's North Feus. He and Edward Johnston (above) both went to Largo around 1862 having previously worked in Norwich as cork cutters. His father John Edmonstone Miller senior (1801-1871) was also a cork cutter in Norfolk. John E Miller' daughter Mary Ann married another cork cutter William Barber in 1853. His father William Barber Snr. born c. 1794 was also a cork cutter. He was born in York, Yorkshire.
- Thomas Rankin Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Cork cutter
- James Rodger.
- Robert White grocer of Largo, and J.A. Bertram and Company cork manufacturer,
Reference Lundin Links and Largo
Ireland/Northern Ireland
Michael Cashin 1864 - 1908 County Waterford
Robert Ellis 1857 - 1943, Belfast
Edward Haniish c1876 Dublin
Archelaus Norcross
John O'Flunn 1878-1911 - Ireland
Michael O'Hannahan 1877-1916 Co. Wexford
Wales
Gilbert English, Cork cutter
Record held by National Library of Wales: Department of Collection Services
Reference: C/1788/12
Title: Gilbert English, Cork cutter
Description: Will. Miscellaneous.
Diocese: Chester
Parish: Haverfordwest (St Mary). Normally under the Consistory Court of St David's
County: Pembrokeshire]
Date: 1788
United States
George Elsworth Smith (July 13, 1862 – February 1, 1905) was an American gambler - worked at a cork factory when he was 10.
Sweden
Adolf Ahlberg in The Minneapolis journal. - Feb 17 1905
Newspaper Name Index, USA, Canada, and Australia
"... opposed to the new ministry and will naturally make trouble. President Frier of the folkething has withdrawn from the leftists reform party and resigned the presidency. A Handy Knapsackf. Adolf Ahlberg, a cork cutter of Holmstad, Sweden, has patented a knapsack which will answer as a life preserver in the water. It is said to have proven a success after repeated ..."
Publication place: Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota