1861 Aberdeen Census, One word needed.

Kent Gardiner

I am hoping someone can help me with a single word from this 1861 Scotland Aberdeen Census. My great grandfather was a candy maker, confectioner and pastry cook in Scotland. He is the first entry in this document. I can’t figure out the second word. "Pastry, ?, Apprentice." Ancestry says it is "cook" but that doesn't look right to me. Any ideas?

Paul W

I'd be quite happy to accept the word in question is "Cook", even though the second letter "o" doesn't match the third in appearance and the last letter is a really elaborate looking "k"!

Often, a comparison with other words / letters on the same page will present confirmation that it was just the writer's way of recording particular letters, but there is seemingly no replication on this page. Even still, I have found (particularly with vowels) that the same person still often records them in totally different forms throughout a page, or entry.

Knowing that your ancestor is found to be a pastry cook in other records, I'd have no hesitancy in believing "Cook" is the intended word in this case.

Kent Gardiner

https://community.familysearch.org/en/profile/Paul%20W Paul: Thanks for confirmation. I appreciate your time and thoughts. All the best, Kent