New information/research?

[barnflatwyngarde]

So, horse-slaughterers were used to using knives in low light? Interesting...

Absolutely!

[Pcdunn]

Bear in mind, horse slaughtering took place overnight, and before the arrival of electricity the activity was carried out by flickering gas/candle light.

So, horse-slaughterers were used to using knives in low light? Interesting...

[MrBarnett]

Bear in mind, horse slaughtering took place overnight, and before the arrival of electricity the activity was carried out by flickering gas/candle light.

There is an amusing story of a knacker named Nicholas Shippy who had connections to Whitechapel and at one time lodged with Henry Tomkins in Manchester. On one occasion when he was working in Wolverhampton, his boss sent him out to buy some candles for the night’s work, and on the way back Shippy allowed himself to be lured into a pub by a ‘woman of the town’ who took the opportunity to steal his candles.

[MrBarnett]

Bear in mind, horse slaughtering took place overnight, and before the arrival of electricity the activity was carried out by flickering gas/candle light.

[MrBarnett]

Potler 4

[MrBarnett]

Potler 3

[MrBarnett]

Blank

[MrBarnett]

Potler 2

[MrBarnett]

Potler 1

[MrBarnett]

A few pages from Charles Dickens’s All The Year Round journal describing the skills of a particular knacker (called Potler here, but I suspect his real name was Cutler) up in John Harrison’s yard in Islington in the late 1860s.

[MrBarnett]

I can’t be sure of this, but I suspect that some, if not all, of the catsmeat produced at Winthrop Street may have been taken to Coventry Street to be sold/distributed. It seems HB had a wholesale outlet there.

[MrBarnett]

some interesting posts there.

Does anyone know where, or have a map of, the main stables in Whitechapel? Would most pubs have had space for a few horses or were there a few main locations? Did they have night watchmen - I'm guessing so?

Also, apart from the very obvious, what did a horse slaughter do? Did they actually cut the meat up or was it just to dispatch (e.g., bolt gun)? Would someone so employed have any particular knife skills?

Thanks

There were stables dotted about everywhere.

Knackers killed horses (and other animals), bled them, gutted them, flayed them (removed the hides), butchered them (removed the flesh and fat from the bones) and boiled the flesh to produce catsmeat. Every inch of the animal had some value - the blood, the bones, the hair, the flesh, the fat, the entrails, the hides etc.

I use the term ‘knackers’ to distinguish them from butchers who produced food for human consumption. There was a strict legal distinction between the two.

[MrBarnett]

The humane cattle killer (gun) came into use in the late 19th century. Before that a poleaxe was used.

You’ll find more about the knacker industry on this thread.

https://www.jtrforums.com/forum/victoriana/the-east-end-of-london/6270-harrison-barber-horse-slaughterers

The image is of an early version of a ‘humane cattle killer’.

Although it’s rather disorganised, I’d like to think there’s more about the history of the knacker trade on this thread than anywhere else online. If anyone can find a better resource, please let me know.

[MrBarnett]

The Victorian Blogspot has an article on "The Knacker's Yard" at http://vichist.blogspot.com/2016/11/...20in%20comfort.

It states that worn out working horses were "killed, broken down, and squeezed for every bit of worth" from their carcasses. So, yes, I guess knife skills were involved in at least cutting up the animal.
I had put in "how were horses slaughtered in Vjctorian times?" for the search. Exactly how isn't stated, but an episode of the rebooted "All Creatures Great and Small" depicted a vet with a short gun that is placed against the head of the animal. That is in the 1930s , of course. In Victorian times they may have used a mallet or cut a horse's throat.

The humane cattle killer (gun) came into use in the late 19th century. Before that a poleaxe was used.

You’ll find more about the knacker industry on this thread.

https://www.jtrforums.com/forum/victoriana/the-east-end-of-london/6270-harrison-barber-horse-slaughterers

The image is of an early version of a ‘humane cattle killer’.

[Pcdunn]

some interesting posts there.

Does anyone know where, or have a map of, the main stables in Whitechapel? Would most pubs have had space for a few horses or were there a few main locations? Did they have night watchmen - I'm guessing so?

Also, apart from the very obvious, what did a horse slaughter do? Did they actually cut the meat up or was it just to dispatch (e.g., bolt gun)? Would someone so employed have any particular knife skills?

Thanks

The Victorian Blogspot has an article on "The Knacker's Yard" at http://vichist.blogspot.com/2016/11/...20in%20comfort.

It states that worn out working horses were "killed, broken down, and squeezed for every bit of worth" from their carcasses. So, yes, I guess knife skills were involved in at least cutting up the animal.
I had put in "how were horses slaughtered in Vjctorian times?" for the search. Exactly how isn't stated, but an episode of the rebooted "All Creatures Great and Small" depicted a vet with a short gun that is placed against the head of the animal. That is in the 1930s , of course. In Victorian times they may have used a mallet or cut a horse's throat.