what is a biomisher ???

[pianoman81]

what is a biomisher-
it was a trade of one of my ancestors and struggling to know what it was doing- dates to 1901 ??

[Octavius]

Tricky one.

A misher is a form of tithe, particularly in Judaism. Perhaps they were a collector or something to do with the voluntary contributions paid by tax or levy, usually to support a Jewish or Christian religious organization.

[jno]

never heard of this one... neither has the OED and neither has Google. Any chance that it is a misreading of something that's been handwritten?

[Quizmonster]

I suspect that what you have here, Pianoman, is a mis-spelling...not on your part but on the part of whoever wrote the old document in which the word appears. Such mistakes are very common in old census records, parish registers and so forth.
Unfortunately, I can't imagine what the actual word might have been, but I'd certainly suggest that you look more closely at the source document. There isn't a word 'blonister' either, but that's exactly the kind of error which happened.

[Quizmonster]

Ah, your answer was not there when I started to type mine, J!

[shaneystar2]

Are you sure it's not a Burnisher ..these were people employed in the Potteries burnishing the outside of clay pots by hand .
Burnishing reduces the porosity of clay.The burnishers used to do this by hand with a stone or piece of metal embedded in wet clay.

[Grunty]

There were also burnishers in other industries, in particular jewellery and metal-working.