Montgomery and district
Earning a living
  Slater's directory: Ironmongers to milliners  
Don't forget!
The surnames are first.

Some of the trades in Slater's Directory are still familiar today. here we can see the ironmongers of the area selling pots and pans, nails and rope, and dozens of other useful items.

The joiners and carpenters both worked with wood. Originally the joiners made furniture and the carpenters worked more on buildings, but in rural areas these craftsmen handled almost any kind of job with wood.

 
 

Limestone was brought into the area in barges and heated in kilns alongside the canals. The powdered lime this produced was spread on the fields to improve fertility. (Click here to see images of local canalside kilns).
The dealers of coal and lime listed here are all based at the canal at the nearest section to Montgomery.

The maltster is a tradesman who is not found in smaller communities today. He treated barley with malt in his malthouse. The finished product was then used to brew beer.

A milliner is a hat maker. This was a very important trade in Victorian times. If you look at Victorian photographs you will find that you rarely see anyone outside without a hat.
In Victorian times ordinary working people got all their clothes locally (or made their own). The dressmakers listed here would have been kept busy.

 
 

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