My 3x great-grandmother, Agnes Gilchrest Crosser, was a tambourer by trade. What's that?
Family member name: Agnes Gilchrest Crosser
Lifetime: 1820 - 1895Tree branch: Anderson
Relation: My 3x great-grandmother (My mom's dad's mom's mom's mom)
How do we know she was tambourer? The 1871 Scotland Census mentions her occupation. See it highlighted in red.
In French, le tambour means the drum. It's where we get the word tambourine. But was my 3x great-grandmother a drummer? No, probably not. Here is the definition of the word tambour.
a: an embroidery frameespecially : a set of two interlocking hoops between which cloth is stretched before stitching
b: embroidery made on a tambour frame
She most likely was an embroiderer. Throughout the centuries, when fine clothing with embroidery or beading was made, it was done by hand. Even though machines have been invented to add beads to fabric, upscale, haute-couture clothing even today is still embroidered by hand.
The tambourer uses a tambour hook tool and fabric stretched tightly across a frame to create beautiful designs.
Here is an example of a fancy Victorian dress that was made around the time of this Census. Perhaps Grandma Agnes was commissioned to add the detailed embroidery to dresses like this.
Sources:
1871 Scotland Census for Bothwell, Holytown
No comments:
Post a Comment