Gong farmer

Gong farmer

A gong farmer or gongfermor was the term used in Tudor Britain for a person who removed human excrement from privies and cesspits. [ [http://www.discoverychannel.co.uk/history/worst_jobs/tudor_stuart/index.shtml Discovery Channel] article "The Worst Jobs in History" page "Tudor and Stuart" section "The Gong Farmer"] Gong farmers were only allowed to work at night and the waste they collected, known as night soil had to be taken outside the city or town boundaries. As flushing water closets became more widely used, the profession of gong farming disappeared.

A latrine or privy was the toilet of the Middle Ages. A gong farmer dug out the cesspits and emptied the excrement. Some people believed that attendants at public latrines were immune to the plague. ["Archers, Alchemists, and 98 Other Medieval Jobs you Might Have Loved or Loathed" By Priscilla Galloway 1930- ©2003"]

Gong farmers could earn a good wage: those employed at Hampton Court, for example, were paid sixpence a day during the time of Elizabeth I of England.cite book
first = Tony
last = Robinson
author-link =
title = The Worst Jobs in History
place = London
publisher = Channel 4
year = 2004
doi =
isbn = 0752215337 ] However, despite the ability to earn a good living, the rules governing when gong farmers could work and where they could live—combined with the terrible conditions associated with the job—caused historians on the "The Worst Jobs in History" television series to consider the profession as one of the worst. Gong farmers could only work from 9pm-5am and were only allowed to live in certain areas. Due to the noxious fumes produced by human excrement, coroners' reports exist of gong farmers dying of asphyxiation.

References


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  • Gong farmer — Gong Gong, n. [AS. gong, gang, a going, passage, drain. See {Gang}.] A privy or jakes. [Obs.] Chaucer. [1913 Webster] {Gong farmer}, {Gong man}, a cleaner of privies. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Gong — Gong, n. [AS. gong, gang, a going, passage, drain. See {Gang}.] A privy or jakes. [Obs.] Chaucer. [1913 Webster] {Gong farmer}, {Gong man}, a cleaner of privies. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Gong man — Gong Gong, n. [AS. gong, gang, a going, passage, drain. See {Gang}.] A privy or jakes. [Obs.] Chaucer. [1913 Webster] {Gong farmer}, {Gong man}, a cleaner of privies. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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