Clarification of Listed Occupations in the 1870s (General)
A relative of mine from the Forest of Dean went to work in London and was living there by the 1870s. I have found the name of the woman he married and of their children. However two years before they were married the woman's occupation is listed in a trade directory as: "wardrobe dealer". She appears to have been running the business with her sister. Would I be correct to assume that she was some sort of outfitter rather than a seller of the piece of furniture we call a wardrobe?
I have seen this term in relation to someone else in a different part of the country so it must have been a commonly used term. If anyone knows what this occuaption entailed I would be interested to hear about it! One person has told me it was a second hand clothing dealer but someone else thinks not. In the next generation there are some people involved in the manufacture of clothing.
I've tried one search engine which threw up nothing but another one has given two definitions one as a seller of wardrobes and the other as a seller of second hand clothes. So, unless anyone knows for definite it seems to have two interpretations. I'll be sad if it's the latter as they couldn't have been very well off as the man she married worked in a gas works, though his sister who moved to Swansea was well off.
Clarification of Listed Occupations in the 1870s
There appears to be a difference of opinion on the 'net' i.e. one who sells secondhand clothes to a Seller of Wardrobe as listed in this website.
Victorian Occupations - Job Titles in the 19th century (London)
Clarification of Listed Occupations in the 1870s
This is one of the two sources I had found but I am not sure how accurate it is.