Posted by Peter Hyland on April 16, 2007 at 15:32:00 from 86.154.106.41 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Re: Charcoal burners' wives? posted by Ian E-N on April 16, 2007 at 12:49:08:
possibly working as cooks, or other paid help, at local larger houses or farmhouses
Yes, that sounds quite likely, as I shouldn't imagine that a burner's income amounted to much - depended on how much they could get for bagged charcoal locally. Usually, it seems that there was a 'middleman', and he would take his 'cut' too. However, I think that Old Billy's wife, if still alive, might not have been up to much in the way of domestic chores if she was OB's age !