Image ID: 08373

Coal Higgler

Farnsfield
England

A coal higgler sold coal to householders, usually by horse & cart. Most English market towns had their higglers. They were middlemen - they went round the farms of the local area, buying up produce such as poultry, rabbits, eggs and cheese to sell in the market. In return they supplied goods the household needed. Some of the trade was done by barter rather than by money changing hands, but all of it involved haggling - which is where the name came from, as it's just a variant spelling of haggler. In some places, higglers had a bad reputation, because they were thought to manipulate prices to their own benefit.

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