- In 1848 Joseph McQuay, a Pin Pointer, dies in Redditch.
- In 1851 Peter McQuay is one of only three Pin Pointers recorded in the census in Redditch.
- In 1853 John McQuay, a Pin Pointer, marries in Redditch.
Still without any evidence of a relationship between these pin pointers, trying to understand their employment and community, a visit to Redditch, Worcestershire, England seemed sensible. In particular, we had to visit the Forge Mill Needle Museum which "tells the fascinating and sometimes gruesome story of needle making in Victorian times".
The museum's information says that in 1851 the work was 11 hours per day with breaks for meals, six days a week with 10 full days and 7 half days holiday per year. The production process was split into many stages and the workers were very specialised, each focused on doing one particular task in the sequence. This correlated with the very specific occupations listed throughout the 1851 census for Redditch.
We discovered that pointing was the most dangerous and best paid job in needle manufacture. It involved sharpening the metal points using rapidly spinning grinding stones. (See for example "History and description of needle making" Morrall, Michael T. 1862.) We came home with a copy of "Pointing Woman" by Sara Fraser (1988), a fictional novel about a character who "takes well-paid work as a 'pointer' grinding needles".
Over the years, my research has covered a range of places, people, occupations and events. I am always looking in the general information for specific details relevant to the journeys and lives of these McQuay pin pointer families. I am still looking for long-awaited answers to questions such as:
- What brought them from Dublin in Ireland to Redditch in England? And in the case of Peter, at least, via the Stroud area in England?
- Were they pin pointers before they relocated? What records are there of pin pointing in Ireland?