ORDER XXII.—PERSONS EMPLOYED IN TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION

Sub-order 4.—Other Workers in Transport and Communication

759.—Porters (not elsewhere enumerated)

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auxiliary porter (Post Office)

as for auxiliary postman (753); for duties see porter.

badge porter

see town porter.

bagman (Post Office)

sorts and checks returned mail bags, and issues them as required.

bagman ; barrow man, sample man, sample carrier, travellers' porter

carries samples for commercial traveller (773) q.v. by hand or by truck; may be attached to outdoor staff of commercial hotel or may work on own account as out porter q.v. at railway station; accompanies commercial traveller on his rounds and assists him in unfastening and fastening packages of samples.

bagman, senior

in charge of bagmen q.v. attached to large commercial hotel, and is responsible for their timekeeping and discipline; allocates bagmen to commercial travellers (773) q.v. and keeps records of their hours of duty; furnishes daily records of hours worked by bagman, to cashier (939) q.v.; is responsible for housing of barrows; sometimes also does work of bagman q.v.

coal porter

during winter months, carries coal (in buckets, sacks, etc.) from cellars to separate rooms of hotel, suite of offices, block of flats, etc.; sometimes also removes ashes raked out from fireplaces by charwomen (922) q.v.; is usually employed in other duties, e.g. window-cleaning, etc., during summer months; cf. coal porter (970).

deal porter ; timber carrier, timber receiver, timber poster

carries boards, joists, etc., from railway wagons to timber yard, and stacks them in piles so arranged that air circulates freely between boards, or carries timber from timber piles to saw mills or to machine shops.

fellowship porter

a fish porter q.v. who is a member of Fellowship of Porters of Billingsgate, London.

fish porter

a porter q.v. working in or around a fish dock or market; carries on shoulder or wheels in truck, barrels, baskets or boxes containing fish from one part of dock or market to another, or to carts, lorries, railway wagons, etc., to be loaded.

fruit porter

a porter q.v. working in or around fruit market; duties as for fish porter.

furniture porter

(i) (sale rooms) a porter q.v. employed in moving furniture about, in sale rooms, for display to customers; removes selected goods to delivery vans and replaces other furniture in store or show room;

(ii) (depository ) a porter q.v. carrying furniture from van to store and vice versa; packs and stores furniture away with protective wrappings, etc.; cf. furniture remover (945).

labourer (Post Office stores)

does unskilled work of any kind in or around Post Office Stores; loads and unloads vans; carries material, tools, etc., as required.

licensed porter

see town porter.

light porter

see luggage porter.

loader (air liner)

a porter q.v. specially skilled in stowing luggage and goods on air liner; assists passengers to enter cabin of air liner, and accommodates them in seats according to their respective weights, so as to balance weights on each side of cabin as far as possible; stows passengers' luggage and goods in luggage chamber, so that packages will not shift on journey, taking care also that packages are stowed evenly on either side, to balance liner.

luggage porter, luggage carrier ; light porter, out porter, outside porter

a porter q.v. usually licensed (see town porter), who plies for hire outside railway stations, piers, quays, etc., or collects luggage at hotels, houses, etc., by request.

luggerman (chilled stores)

as for meat porter.

market porter

general term tor a porter employed in any market carrying goods to saleman's stand or from stand to customer's conveyance, includes fish porter, fruit porter, meat porter.

meat porter ; pitcher

a porter q.v. who unloads carcases of meat from railway wagons, lorries, etc., on arrival in market; carries carcases on shoulders and hangs them up on hooks in stalls or salerooms.

out porter, outside porter

see luggage porter.

packer and porter

fetches and carries stores or raw material in factories; packs and unpacks, loads and unloads, incoming and outgoing goods.

packer and porter (Post Office)

packs and unpacks stores in Stores Department; fetches and carries stores by hand or on truck.

parcel post porter (G.P.O.)

a porter (Post Office) q.v. carrying parcels and mail hags containing parcels.

pitcher

see meat porter.

porter

(i) moves and carries cases, packages, etc., in store and loads delivery van; carries, or pushes or draws on truck or Darrow, stores, packages, cases, raw materials, manufactured or semi-manufactured articles from one part of warehouse, shop, etc., to another;

(ii) conveys luggage, packages, hampers, etc., to and from railway stations, hotels, houses, etc., by hand, truck, barrow or vehicle; is sometimes required to take out a licence and wear a badge with a distinguishing number; sometimes specifically designated, e.g. barrow porter, delivery porter, shop porter, store porter, warehouse porter.

porter (Post Office)

ties up, seals and conveys mail bags from one part of building to another; loads and unloads mail bags into and from van, and lifts to and from van out of or into train; does heavy manual work in sorting office.

sample man, sample carrier

see bagman.

shore porter

a luggage porter q.v. attending at piers, quays, etc., to meet passengers at sea-port towns.

timber carrier, timber porter, timber receiver

see deal porter.

town porter ; badge porter, licensed porter

a porter q.v., usually a luggage porter q.v., supplied with a badge by local authority or railway company and authorised to carry passengers' luggage from railway station or steamship wharf to private address, or to another station or wharf; cf. porter (706) who is employed within station.

transfer porter

a luggage porter q.v. who conveys, by hand or truck, passenger luggage from one railway station to another in the vicinity.

traveller's porter

see bagman.

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From: A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921,
Ministry of Labour, 1927. Digitised by Peter Christian, August, 2016.   This text is in the Public Domain.