Wednesday 12 May 2021

LUMPERS AND SNODDERS, EXE ESTUARY, 1864

 An inquest was held on Saturday 4th September 1864 on Thomas Ratcliffe, a lumper.  A lumper, the word is new to me, is a good dictionary word for a labourer who loads and unloads cargoes.  

On the previous Wednesday, Thomas Ratcliffe was working on board the Tonio, an Italian vessel lying in the Bight.  He was in the hold fastening  down the sacks of corn which were being hoisted on deck.   "One of them, however, was not firmly secured by the 'snodder' and when nearly on the deck slipped away and fell on the poor fellow." 

I can't find the word 'snodder' in any dictionary of mine.   It is perhaps related to snood and perhaps hence means a loop of cord,  Whatever it is, the sack of corn was not firmly secured by it,  and Thomas Ratcliffe was fatally crushed.

"He was removed to the Devon and Exeter Hospital, where he died on Friday,  Verdict  'Accidental Death'"


Source: The Exeter Flying Post, 7th September, 1864

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