RootsChat.Com
Some Special Interests => Occupation Interests => Topic started by: Amy K on Friday 15 October 04 10:28 BST (UK)
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Apart from the usual ag labs and in some cases just labs, I have found a few, more interesting occupations.
I have ....
...a customs officer....
...a fishmonger....
...a butcher....
...a poulterer...
....two stone masons....
...two jockeys...
...a pub landlady....
...a carpenter...
...a farmer...
numerous coal miners (which is the South Wales equivalent of an ag lab!!!..)
...a priest...
some sailors and soldiers
They are not too extraordinary.
What interesting occupations have you found for your ancestors???
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Mine are not that unusual either !!
Here are a few
A gun maker :o
Baker
Hairdresser
Grocer
Chandlers
And finally Henry who was training to be a vicar, but ended up running off with the pub landlords daughter..... :o and became a wine and sprirt merchant !!!!! :)
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My "best" is my (maternal) Grandfather: he was a journalist for several well-known viennese newspapers, and in between, the artistic director of a cabaret !
His line is descended from a long line of Rabbis and Torah Scholars.
My other Grandfather was a Journeyman Chimneysweep. He also set up in business with his father as a market trader, which continued down through to my father, then to me and my brother.
Small coincidences Department: One of the family was a range builder (kitchen ranges etc) my brother now has his own business installing fitted kitchens !
One branch of the family worked in the cotton mills in Lancashire. They had, between them, just about every mills job going !
Another branch worked in the ship yards of Govan, Scotland, except one daughter, Hessie, who was a pickle worker. That must have transmitted down the next three generations of Hessies, because they all love their pickled onions !
Other than those, the usual collection of Ag.Labs, etc.
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On one side I have the usual ag labs, labourers and miners. But on the other side I also have my ggrandfather who was a painter and glazier and my ggrandfather who was a sailmaker.
So nothing unusual for me either
Jaki
Ps Nearly forgot about a whitesmith, a blacksmith and a carpenter.
Jaki
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My grand dad's grandmother was a straw plaiter from Suffolk. Poor old dear's cause of death was 'senile decay' and 'diahhorea'.
Kris.
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My g-g-g-grandfather was a game keeper in the Midlands.
Sue :)
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My great grandfather also in Suffolk has through census and marriage cert records been something different in each record he has been wheelwrights assistant..Labourer...straw plaiter...brewer...general labourer...hat maker...and has culminated in 1901 as a blind piano organ player!...I am hanging to c what he is in 1911.
Kris
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My favourites are the corkcutters. I've had to work really hard to find about them because it's a job which seems to be forgotten these days. I am now obsessed! If you have corkcutters on your tree, PLEASE contact me with some details about them. I'm making an index.
I also have coachsmiths, coachmen and carmen, cleaners and dyers, an unemployed bottle washer, keepers of Ludgate and Newgate Gaols (oh dear!) and the Solicitor for Guildhall London. A mixed bag!
Another Rootschatter suggested the other day that a main section for "Occupations" would be really useful on Rootschat. I think it would be great. What does anyone else think?
Cheryl
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I have found a few 'Pea Pickers' from Boston, these where on my mothers farthers side. I have also found a train diver in Sheffield, I am keen to learn more about his service on the trains.
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Another Rootschatter suggested the other day that a main section for "Occupations" would be really useful on Rootschat. I think it would be great. What does anyone else think?
I agree !
Threads like this one, and "what is a XYZ" would find a good home there, and be easy to find.
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I've got a wine merchant, a Boiler Composition Manufacturer(??), a few coal miners, Mill Furnisher, a few yeomen and farmers, a baker, sawyer, hatter, governess, and a 'monthly nurse'!!
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Fisherman, fisherman, fisherman ... and oh yes, fisherman. Oops, nearly forgot a fishmonger!!! ;)
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So far most of mine are Ag. Lab. and Coal Hewers and Brewer... but my GGrandfather was a coffin maker which must have been passed down to my brother who is a cabinet maker... although he hasn't made any coffins that I know of yet.
;D
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At the turn of the last century my gt gt grandfather was a Night Soil labourer
I had no idea what this was,so queried it, only to be told he emptied peoples cesspits overnight.
otherwise known as a s*** shoveller.Yeuk!!!!
Still went on to have 10 kids though,so must have used the right soap. ;D
Carol
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My great grandfather, Richard Powell was a farmer and castrator [I am assuming farm animals in Powys!!!]
Obviously an occupation he thought was worth recording alonside farmer in the 1881.
I have a grest aunt in the 1901 census who describes her occupation as 'foreign correspondent'. According to a relative she was a nurse and so I really think this one was a flight of fancy
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I'm particularly fond of my great-grandfather who started off as an ag. lab but then, according to my mother, went on to shovel coal into the furnaces for the gas board and breed cattle, pigs and angora rabbits! This was all at the same time, btw.
Hannah
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;) I,M back !
Most in my tree are :
A G labs
Dock labs
Bricklayer
Baker
Carpenter
Joiner
And a skin worker !
I supose the ag lab has carried on in my line as i do gardening !
But not a clue on wood work ???
;D
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I have the usual assortment of colliers and ag labs, but there are also a couple of cloggers, some fustian cutters and an actor/ comedian !
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All the usual Ag Labs, coal miners, but lots of pub landlords, barmaids...and my favourite a town crier & bill poster
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Along with the Ag Labs who moved to London and became bricklayers and gas stokers, I have laundresses, cleaning women, and at least one inseminator. Sounds like we didn't get far away from the farm.
However, I also have an electrical engineer who did the wiring for the Apollo projects, EXCEPT #13!
Anna
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My maternal grandfather was a song-writer [snobbishly described as a "composer"]. He appeared on the northern music halls and performed comic monologues [that seemed to entitle him to claim to be an Author"]. He also sang and was widely credited with having composed a song called something like "His Day was Done" - I have the words somewhere. He didn't - it was another chap.
He died in France during the Great War in 1917.
Even more remarkable is the fact that his youngest daughter was born 2 years after he died! She even followed the same type of occupation as she sang and played piano in clubs for donkeys years.
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:D
I have some starch factory workers, two cordwainers, a teazle grower, mantua maker and a monthly nurse!!
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Nooshie, whats a Mantua Maker? sounds interesting.
The most interesting one i've come across so far is a Glass Blower for Lead Crystal. Just wish he'd left somthing to pass down through the family lol
Grandad was a Rat Catcher but everyone else were Miners or Ag Labs.
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Strange, I too have a CASTRATOR, of horses I believe and rather proudly a PROFESSOR OF MUSIC
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A mantuamaker made ladies' cloaks after a style reputedly once in vogue in the city of Mantua, Italy.
A cordwainer, in case anyone needs to know, is a shoemaker in fine leathers as opposed to a cobbler who only repaired shoes.
A teazle grower would be a farmer or small holder who grew the prickly teazel plant which was used in the woollens industry to raise the nap on cloth - g-d knows why!
I can't quite imagine what a monthly nurse did. Perhaps monthly district inspections?
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A monthly nurse I have just discovered ,was a nurse who served for a month or some short time, esp. one which attends women after childbirth.
As ALL us family historians know there were plenty of babies being born for this lady to make a good living at it! ::)
Carol
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Lord Mayor of London and Keeper of the Tower, and Castle Builder.
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lock keeper on the shropshire union canal, my husbands g,g, grandad, also one female ancestor was , school monitor. clever clogs, regards nora T
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Amongst the ag. labs, coachmen, grooms, carpenters, shipwrights, caulkers, linen drapers, Royal Marine etc, there was a vicar (of Ticehurst in Sussex), a woad man in Northamptonshire, a parchment maker in Buckinghamshire area. And way back, a Master of Horse to Henry VIII - also MP for Sussex and Gentleman of the Privy Bedchamber to Edward VI. As an occupation, I think that should go down as keeping his head!
Nell
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A teazle grower would be a farmer or small holder who grew the prickly teazel plant which was used in the woollens industry to raise the nap on cloth - g-d knows why!
Have you ever felt a dried Teazel, hack? it's rock hard and very spikey. ( and a nightmare to get rid of if you have them growing in the garden). It was used as a hairbrush too.
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In a village in Norfolk, the Vicar tended to be a little honest in his descriptions of people and my ancestor was a fishmonger thankfully. The Miller was "Teddy the Grinder" One man who fathered at least a couple of bastard children was "Tom Town Bull" The Miller's bit on the side was "Whore and Mantrap" One chap was a "Cucumber Cutter" The Publican was a "Beggar-Maker" etc etc.
These are all true transcripts from a Parish Register of the late 1820's 1830's. By the way, the Vicar described himself as "Philosopher"
My lot were mainly Agricultural Workers in one way or another but my favourite was a Wool Comber.
Teddybear1843
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Hi Fitty - as a quite keen gardener I loath all invader plants of any kind and teazels, thistles come under that heading. But, yes - when I was a kid on a farm they grew in all the drystone walls and would stick to one's woollen clothing like mad. Imagine growing them!
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I got a S*** Shoveller as well! Well he is a Manure Warehouseman on his second marriage - nowadays that would be a Senior Faecal Technician I'm sure.
Other than Michael Fallen above with his poo, I have ag labs, masons, glovers, & potters (as in dealers) galore!
Nowt much else outside them either.
Pam
;D
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I have a rat catcher who made enough money to open a pub called "the Dog and Rat Public House". I guess he and his dog did okay killing vermin.
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My great great grandfather was the Town Crier of Oswestry, can't find out much else about him though, but I will!!!!!!!!!
Viv
::) ::) ::)
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Nutkin, I think i've mentioned this somewhere before but my grandad was a rat catcher and he made a small fortune by coursing them. They would take the live rats to a field then let them, go one by and bet on whos dog would catch them first. :o
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Hi all,
I have not got anything interesting, thought I had a Lawyer, turned out to be a mis-transcribed Sawyer. :'(
I had wondered why he gave up law to lay plates on the railways. ::)
I have a chair-woman, but think it is a char-woman.
Kazza.
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I have a whole bunch of BUTTON STAMPERS! I even have one in the 1850 Birmingham Trade Directory. I didn't think it was much of a job until I started to read about the 19th century pearl button trade.
Pearl buttons were a sign of wealth and the more you had...on your shirt, blouse, dress or shoes, the higher your social standing! I think my Alldridges were pretty good at making beautiful pearl buttons....even though they lived in the back houses of Brum.
Wished I could get hold of some of those buttons.
India ;D
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I had a g.uncle who was a street scavenger, which according to my dad was something to do with drains! another s*** shoveller I guess!
Linda
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;D Careful there Molar ,Where theres muck theres brass !!! ;D
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A Mangle Woman
A Leech Lady
Ag Labs
Game Keeper
Coal Miners
Master Wheelwrights
Blacksmith's
Joiners
Dress Makers
Shop Owners
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On the main Jowett line they mostly seem to be Master Wood Turners, Printers/Stationers/Bookbinders of one sort or another or shoemakers. There are the usual ag.labs, miners & publicans; Millworkers such as Alpacca Weavers, silk spinners, slubbers, and a wool warehouseman; a pork butcher and a soprano vocalist. Down another line we have a few yeomen, farmers, lead mine owners and a couple of Lords of the Manor, one of whom was also Attendant to the Earl of Northumberland in 1569. On yet another line there are a couple of vice makers and a general carrier and a few nail makers.
A pretty wide range overall!
Jill
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Hey, I have just discovered that I may have acquired a "Billiard Marker" on my tree....is this something to be proud of, or is it more likely a sign of a misspent youth? Lindy :o
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Ooooh, I've got a Billiard Marker too!
He was in the workhouse in the 1881 census.
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A Billiard Marker! Was that with the family name of Chalk by any chance?
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I have lots of "Gentlemen", clergymen, barristers/solicitors, magistrates, First Lord of the Admiralty (is that an occupation?), esquire to the body of Henry VIII, Auditor of the Exchequer (bean counter), Lord Chief Justice (fancy name for lawyer), Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, coachmaker, civil engineer, clothier.
Minn
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No, not a Chalky, sorry, it was either a Collinson or a Snowdon. I have just found my Colllinsons back to 1706. Wheeeeeeee..... ok its only froml the LDS, but when I get back to the UK I shall be dashing up to Durham/Yorkshire border and checking it all out. I am feeling over the moon even though they were only miners and Ag. Labs. Lindy :) ;) :D ;D :o 8) ::) :) :)
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I know how you feel. Mine were all peasants and miners with a few "aristocratic" printers thrown in. I have to laugh at the postings we get about how they are descended from a bunch of Kings and Queens or the odd Earl or Lord Chief Justice. It stands to reason that 99.5% of us must be of working class origins just a few generations back. One of my grandfathers was a railway porter, another a music-hall artist another a house painter, the other a small farmer - not a Baron on Countess in sight.
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The one that caused me the most trouble, as it was nearly illegible, and had been overwritten by the census office, was 'horse team leader' This was my mother's paternal ancestor, in Widnes, Lancs. The census clerk had written above this house builder, which set me off on a wild goose chase looking for houses my ancestor might have built. But earlier census entries and other documents confirmed he was a horse team leader/owner. What this meant was that he owned, maintained and managed teams of horses to haul loads and power cranes on Liverpool docks before steampower. His father had been a tenant farmer, and most of his ancestors landowning farmers. Several of his sons became steam engine drivers; my great great grandfather in docks and factory sidings, a brother on passenger locomotives. It is a good illustration of the transition from rural life to industrial revolution.
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Hackstaple - I did expect to find only ordinary bods when I first started on the ancestor thing since my grandfather earned a living by spraypainting cars in a big shed in his backgarden. All those important sounding ancestors were all on his side so it was quite a revelation, & one that I didn't really believe for a while, nor do I take particularly seriously, just a bit of fun. Hope you don't hold it against me...
Minn
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Minn - please don't apologise to me! I only do this for fun anyway and I have the unfortunate habit of finding humour in too many things.
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Not to worry Hackstaple - I have an unfortunate habit of getting the wrong end of the stick! ;D
Minn
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Hi all
My Great grandmothers brother was a cook on board those ships with big sails are they called schooner ships?
He sailed many times around the world, sadly when he decided to come home to his sister in Pontypridd Wales he was mugged and all his money stolen. I would have likes to have talked to him about his adventures and the places he visited.
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Minn,
As has often been said, its a rotten job but sombody has got to do it. The question is, what did you gain from their experiences? for example, with an 'Auditor of the exchequer' does it make you good at managing your pennies?. Lots of my ancesters were miners, is this the reason why I used to go potholing in my youth?, and if this is so, since I also have a carpenter in the dim distant past, why is it that my shelves always fall down?.
Lindy
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Lindagene
Interesting you should say that, my occupation is to do with financial management, though I've never thought of it as a result of ancient genes!
Minn
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Paternal Great Aunt - owned a Mangler :D and Grt Grandpa was an Engine Driver for a Threashing Machine..
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My father was a Merchant Marine (Seaman). Don't know if that is unusual or not. I did gene. for a friend and one of His ances. was the hat maker to the Queen, I think it was Victoria. Now there couldn't be too many of those. My family were mostly farmers and railroad workers w/some mill workers thrown in. Me, I started out to be a Zoologist but as u can see I can't spell it! And the math involved was way beyond me, I am more of a "digger" so genealogy is great for me. Tests in collage showed I should be a Librarian or Biologist. I like animals and the outdoors but like searching for info and working on my own. I have worked in a Vet's due to my love of critters.
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I've just discovered that some of my Daniel ancestors were slavetraders from Bristol. The shame :-[
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I haven't posted here before because I have no interesting occupations!
My Lincolnshire folk are all, without exception, Ag Labs - and poor as church mice.
The Gloucestershire side are all Colliers & Wood Cutters and not a great deal better off.
Nothing remotely resembling 'Gentry'. I still look for wills though - maybe somebody left his best boots, or even his bed, to a family member......I'm an optimist ;D
Darcy
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It's good to hear that i,m not the only one who's family never left a Will.....i keep searching too Darcy. Cept i don't think my lot even had beds.......or if they did they pawned them Monday and got them back out on Payday! :)
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LOL Fitty ;D
mine were probably queued at the pawn too! I was trying to be a bit posh there ::)
Darcy
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I've just come across one of mine who was a COWBOY in rural Wales in 1871. Sounds more exciting than Ag Lab anyway.
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D ap D - his name wouldn't have been Williams by any chance? ;D
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Funnily enough it was. John. Any relation? ;D
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Funnily enough it was. John. Any relation? ;D
??? Nuh!
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??? Nuh!
Seriously? Many Americans do. I get so many emails telling me they are related to John Williams, born in Wales in the 1800s. I thought he just got around a fair bit.
:P
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:D :D LOL I know what you mean!
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Occupations in my family (both British and Dutch):
Luitenant-Colonel in Dutch Army(my stepdad)
former RAF something-or-rather (my biological father)
Scots Guard member/school teacher (grandfather)
Ordinary Seaman B.R.N/blacksmith (greatgrandfather)
inspector/detective in armed forces (gr.gr.gr.grandfather)
blacksmith (gr.gr.grandfather and gr.gr.gr.grandfather)
carpenter/architect (several gr.gr.grandfathers)
reverend (a few of those as well)
millers (about 7 of those)
and a few royal bastards - literally!!!
One line of the family can be traced back to Charlemaign and beyond, another seems to have been pulled out of the Frisian clay around 1720, just like that.
Keeps it interesting ;D
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When I was young, my dad used to tell me about his 'Uncle Offord' who was a lion tamer, my sister and I used to believe him, well in fairness you usually do believe the things that your parents tell you when you are small...don't you? Maybe I should add that he often used to get us to run to the windows and look out when he told us there was an elephant in the garden. Now that I have reached the ripe old age of ** I no longer think that my dad was always to be believed. (he used to play the same tricks with both my children, I never knew whether to tell them the truth or not, in the end, I left them to enjoy his antics. He is now 82 going on 13) To get back to the point, this 'Offord' did end up doing some pearl diving in the south seas (I think) trouble is, I now have trouble believing anything much at all...I wonder why?
:-\ ::) Lindy
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How about Go-Go Girl? That's what I was back in the 60's. Danced on stage behind the bar in nite clubs. Good money for the times but you had to be careful Where u worked. In New Orleans the bar owners on Bourbon St. also wanted u to give selected customers "Extra" attention. I never did work on Bourbon St.!
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Think my favourite is my great grandfather, who ran the horsebus in Auchenblae, Kincardineshire in the late 1800s... in his will, he left "one horse (aged)" - aw!
(http://gmo.webspace.fish.co.uk/images/horsebus.gif)
My g-g-g-g-g grandfather was a Master Coppersmith in late 18th century Leith, and I recently tracked down the inventory of his estate. It has several fascinating pages of debtors, amongst whom was King George - I hope he coughed up the three shillings he owed. (Then again, think of the interest I could claim if the debt's still outstanding....!!!)
Good question - interesting answers. Cheers!
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I've got......
Mariners
Watermen
Millers
A Tine Wire Plate Maker - whatever that is?
Seamstresses/Tailors............ and about 100 Labourers!
Kimi :D
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my lot consists of the usual crop of ag labs and servants but today i found my paternal grandfather and he has the rather grand sounding occ of ! custom house officer!
now what would he do?
JOE
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Hi,
I have all the usual ag labs, labourers, cotton weavers,winders,piecers etc, coal miners, also a butcher, a baker (no candlestick maker) and a bit more unusual a broom maker and an envelope folder! Gosh that sounds exciting.
Magrat
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my family seems to be all at sea I have
two Foyboat men
3 ships Pilots
and several dock labs.
and not to forget the landlubers
a Smatering of Coalminers
Ponytail
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my lot consists of the usual crop of ag labs and servants but today i found my paternal grandfather and he has the rather grand sounding occ of ! custom house officer!
now what would he do?
JOE
OOooh, Joe you lucky thing. Customs House Officers worked for Customs and Excise and their careers are (in theory) easy to trace. I have one in my tree who is, naturally, the exception to that rule.
I'll dig out my notes on tracing this occupation for you, if you like.
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I know someone who has an ancestor who was a Knock Knobbler haha! actually its the official name for a Dog Catcher
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I have a female Dutch ancestor whose last name literally translates as "the little whore".
You can safely assume I will NOT look into her profession ;D
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I have ....
...a customs officer....
...a fishmonger....
...a butcher....
...a poulterer...
....two stone masons....
...two jockeys...
...a pub landlady....
...a carpenter...
...a farmer...
numerous coal miners (which is the South Wales equivalent of an ag lab!!!..)
...a priest...
some sailors and soldiers
I have recently welcomed into the fold...
...an engine tender...
...a tailor...
and ...a cloth dealer!!
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Hmm, the little "sleeper" ??? I guess that was censored, but let's say her last name insinuated she was sleeping during the day and ermm, "working" by night. ;D
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How's about this for the slightly unusual: Grandad was a rat catcher........................ not so unusual but you don't get too many of em married to a lady 'pig killer'!!!!!!!
Lo :D :D :D :D
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The most interesting occupation in my is a musician, he was a 4ft tall midget who travelled the country singing and dancing. His parents sold him to a travelling show to be exhibited as a midget. He also was exhibited at the Reynolds Exhibition in Liverpool in a glass jar as a live exhibit among the wax works. It is nice that i have a photo of him, not as an exhibit though.
The most interesting one in my husband's family was a miller who died as a result of a windmill accident.
Dorothy
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The most interesting occupation in my is a musician, he was a 4ft tall midget who travelled the country singing and dancing. His parents sold him to a travelling show to be exhibited as a midget. He also was exhibited at the Reynolds Exhibition in Liverpool in a glass jar as a live exhibit among the wax works. It is nice that i have a photo of him, not as an exhibit though.
Dorothy
Wow, Dorothy, that is a fascinating story! :o
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According to the 1901 census, one of my ancestors is the rather grand sounding:
Surveyor of cats meat !!
I looked into it - he was actually a purveyor of cats meat.
that's about the most exciting my lot got (off the top of my head). Did have one whose job was 'feather curler'. I presume she worked in the millinery trade.
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Amongst a load of the more usual things such as wheelwrights, train drivers, engine fitters, puddlers (iron workers), coal miners, coal merchants, button workers, grocers, glass flatteners (for lighthouses), blacksmith, game keepers.....the other side of the family were gentlemen, stock brokers, fundholders, Lloyds names, the founders of Barings bank and part of Barclays, solicitors, cornfactors, tea dealers, farmers, brewers, victuallers, pub landlords, maltsters, house agents, policemen (the original Bow Street Runners), a couple of Mayors of Exeter, masses of priests (including Bishops of Exeter) and doctors, surgeons and apothecaries back to pre-1600 BUT my favourite of all is the "Overseer of Sewers" who really did for the whole of London in the early 19th century. I don't think I'll look into that one too much......HAHA! THAT STINKS!!! ;D 8)
Here is Bishop Cotton of Exeter! He's my 15*great-grandfather 1540-1621!
See Graceland Below....
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he was a 4ft tall midget
Ooops! Careful Dorothy - you are not allowed to call him a midget! I read somewhere that the correct terminology is "vertically challenged".
What a load of !!!!
Jill
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;D Geoff , just tryin to make your pic smaller ,to fit the page !!!
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Wow and it worked !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :o
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Mine is an umbrella maker and guess where he lives, near Manchester of course
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Most interesting site I've come across in ages !
My lot includes : Farmer
Master Carpenter
Train Driver
Bus Driver
Shoemaker
Car-man (before Motors)
Tailor
Nailer (Nail-smith)
Chandler
Coalminers
US soldier
Seamstress
Book-keeper
Versatile, weren't we !
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Many of the usually ...Ag labs/coal miner/farmer ::)
but then I also have ...
Solicitor
Wheelwright
Naval Apprentice
EIC Army Officer
Actress
Surveyor Customs
Bank Clerk
Doctor/Surgeon/Apothecary
Showman
Captain 18th Hussars
Wheeler (Coal ?)
Grazier
Milk Vendor
Auctioneer
Gentleman
Ladies Companion
Pan Collector ??? ;D :-[ :-[ ;D
Minister
Dealer ??? :- :-X
The Pan Collector worked for the local council .. so I am guessing what his occupation was ????
The Dealer again I am only guessing, as no one has been able to confirm ... but traded in 2nd hand goods ?
Just to mention a few!!!
Cheers
Jennifer in OZ
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Ok! Ok! now you're all just showing off..
Beat this then - I've got
Agricultural Labourers
Farm Labourers
Builders Labourers
Dock Labourer (actually he's hubbies)
Bricklayers Labourers
Ordinary labourers
General labourers and
a Fishmongers labourer plus
a few described simply as Labourers..
Hows that for a load of old labourers ;D
Suey.
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Now, that's what I call "labouring the point" !
(Sorry - couldn't resist.......only joking!)
By the way -I notice the name Sturgeon among the list below : Any info on this ? I had a Sturgeon relative in Ireland...but can't be found.
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Hi Mike - My Sturgeons are all from Hertfordshire !
Suey
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Thanks, Suey...Just wondered. The only local Sturgeon I could find (1850s) was a land-steward, but he was listed as "living in England"...which doesn't help much. Don't suppose any of yours were 'absentee landlords(or stewards)'...?
Mike W.
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Sorry Mike - the intersting ones were Blacksmiths, the others were all in service and my Herbert goes AWOL after 1897 :(
Suey ~:0(
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mainly labourers, 1 placer, 1 sponger & 1 mould runner (all pottery workers)
peter
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Here are some of mine:
coal miner
coal hewer
collier
propman - colliery
engine fireman - colliery
door-boy - colliery
And those not in the mines :D
mariner
waterman - canal
seaman
ag. labourer
labourer
sawyer
woodcutter
stonemason
quarryman
domestic servant
carriageman
shoemaker
farmer
Nothing exalted, but you have to make a living ;D
pritch19
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I have ....
...a customs officer....
...a fishmonger....
...a butcher....
...a poulterer...
....two stone masons....
...two jockeys...
...a pub landlady....
...a carpenter...
...a farmer...
numerous coal miners (which is the South Wales equivalent of an ag lab!!!..)
...a priest...
some sailors and soldiers
I have recently welcomed into the fold...
...an engine tender...
...a tailor...
and ...a cloth dealer!!
Oh, I forgot to mention... a cordwainer and ... a cook on a yacht!!
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Hi,
I found my g.g.g grandpa was a Broom maker in Sussex as was one of his sons and I later my g.g.g.g grandpa!
Nothing out of the ordinary elsewhere, I'm afraid lots of railway people and a station master.
I love some of the occupations listed, on 1841 census for Aboyne I was looking for my Farquhar links..I found the family of Admiral Sir Arthur Farquhar (not anything to with my family! mine worked for him by the look of things!) Lady F listed her occupation as 'Admiral's wife' and his daughters are listed as 'Admiral's daughters'!
Isn't that great?
My Broom Maker's Mrs didn't list herself as Broom Maker's wife, doesn't have the same ring somehow!
My favourite name discovered during my searchings is Philadelphia Shoesmith' who is on the Sussex 1841 she sounds as though she ought to have been a novelist! Lots of Philadelphia's on 1841 in Sussex wonder why.
Meg
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Hi Meg - you're Admirals wife made me chuckle.
Hubbies Great Grandpa was a Sgt in the Royal Artillery - and his missus described herself as Sgts Wife! Hubbies elderly Aunt remembers her Grandmother and said 'She always was a snooty piece' rofl !
Also we had a discussion over on the Sussex board somewhere re: the preponderance (phew that took some spelling) of Philadelphias in Sussex. If I knew how I'd put up the link thingy for you :(
(I've done a search but can't find that thread is there any kind soul who can help? :( )
Suey.
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Hi Suey,
I'll have a nose on the Sussex board when I have a mo to see if I can find that discussion on Philadelphias!
Odd the things you come across, still it makes life interesting.
I'm really jealous of the people who have cordwainers in their families and I'm dying to find an Obidiah or Philadelphia in my family.
Cheers
Meg.
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Talking about names that "grab you":
Not-Wearing-Pants
Born-Naked
Bean
Of-The-Area
Under-The-Trees
Never-Thought
I guess most of my ancestors decided Napoleon's law of taking a surname was just a passing fancy. Rest assured that I for one am very happy that these are distant relatives and NOT the ones that passed on their last names to me! ;D
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Mine seem to be a varied bunch. Ive got:
carpenters,
butchers
Steel Workers
Coal miners
Lead miners
carters
farmers
ag labs,
labourer in Brickworks
gardener
annuitant
mayor of Derby
presbyterian ministers
C of E vicar
Lord Protector
mariner
Master Mariner
Governor of the Bank of England
Chairman of the Bank of England
but the one that intrigues me most is:
CASTRATOR
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Hey, I've got an Artificial Inseminator on my tree. I guess he made them and yours fixed them?
I also have a Tinner's Tools Maker. What kinds of tools did tinners use?
Anne
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Well, I think my most interesting occupation I have found is a Cordwainer ??? and have yet to find out what it actually is!
I also have:
Dressmaker
Tailor
Milliner
Parlor Maid
Laundress
Hatter
Bonnet Maker
Straw Bonnet Maker
Leather Cutter
Fishmonger
Leather Merchant
Railway Clerk
Station Master
Ag Labourer (loads of them! but it had to be in there didn't it!)
Gamekeeper (several of them!)
Farmer
Cook
Domestic Servant (Coachman)
Dairyman
;D They're a varied bunch but I love them!
P.S. Forgot to mention the Shopkeeper and Blacksmith too!!
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Basically a Cordwainer was a Shoemaker Rebecca.
Jill
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Oh ... thanks for that Jill! It makes sense now! :D
Doesn't sound that exotic now though! ::)
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::) Can I claim a witch ?
She was outed at the trial of another poor so and so who claimed that my rellie danced around the kirkyard 3 times with the devil .......
I'm still trying to find the trial transcripts or what passed for them in 17th C Scotland but she may only have been an apprentice witch ;D
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Very cool story!!!!
The only witch I can claim in my tree is my mother!!
No, I'm not being rude!! She's always says she is a welsh Witch!!
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D ap D's ancestor's occupation 9th on the list, probably took a couple home with him to do a bit of moonlighting! ;D
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Hmmm, Interesting occupations eh?
My GG Grandfather James Burke was an Engine Fitter, and his wife Emily trained at a Domestic Service school. They later owned and operated a Laundry Business in Streatham before moving to Stoke Gabriel in Devon. James and Emily's daughter Winifred's mother in law Florence Hill (nee Bignell) was working in a Greenwich Coffee house in 1871. Florence's husband Thomas Hill was a Butcher and Butcher Journeyman by trade. Florence's younger sister Nellie Bignell was living with Florence and Thomas in Clapham in 1901. Her occupation was Life Attendant.
Up north in Stoke, the majority of my Feredays were Iron Forge workers and employees holding various titles at the potteries.
My GGG Grandfather Michael O'Callaghan, an Irishman from Cork was a Horse Clipper :-\
:)
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Hi Rebecca - Just to add, the term Cordwainer was originally used to describe someone who worked with Cordovan - a special kind of Spanish leather :D Makes the shoe maker sound a bit more interesting eh ? ;)
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Aha! Thanks for that Suey!
Yes, you're right it does sound a bit more exciting now!! :D
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Ryan,
I don't suppose you know where James & Emily had their Laundry in Streatham do you?
I'm trying to piece a family mystery together at the moment.
My Grandmother was born in Streatham in 1906, but she grew up in Bisley, Gloucestershire with her 'Grandparents and 'Aunts'. She never knew who her parents were, and was never given her birth certificate, although it was always promised.
What I am trying to figure out now is whether one of her 'Aunts' lived in Streatham at that time. I know there were family in the London area and that one of the 'Aunts' was a Laundress in 1901. ??? and was just wondering, (I know its a long shot), if your family had their Laundry near to where she was born.
:-\
Rebecca
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I got a lot of the usual Agricultural Labourers/Labourers and quite a few Domestic Servants of various sorts.
Otherwise sundry types:
Master Tailor
Ships Engineer
Compositor
Potman
Printer
Shoemaker
Publican
Sail Maker
Fishmonger
Butcher
Greengrocer
Sadler
Policeman
Master Brush Maker - always makes me smile that one
Costamongers
Whitesmith
Blacksmith
My favourite is a Coke Dealer, but I think far from being a cool dude he disappointingly sold coal on the docks 8) :-X
Jonathan
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I have just found the 5 month old daughter of a fundholder, described on the census as occupation: bottleholder!
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I have just found the 5 month old daughter of a fundholder, described on the census as occupation: bottleholder!
Great find Minn! I wonder if it was the parents or the ennumerator who had the sense of humour?
Jill
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I've a BIRD DEALER
Would that be like a pet shop owner or a fowl butcher?
(As an aside, he actually only had one arm! Maybe he wasn't avery good butcher!)
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Hi all,I have a couple of boot clickers in my tree.Does this mean they stood around street corners clicking their heels? ;D.Regards,Pete 8)
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My maternal GGGGF, born about 1803, has his occupation listed as handcuff maker. He had 16 children. Enough said! ;)
Lainie
Researching: Potter, Birken, Froggatt, Beardsmore, Blackwell, Mowat, Watt
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D ap D's ancestor's occupation 9th on the list, probably took a couple home with him to do a bit of moonlighting!
I think you're right with that one. I got a copy of his will. He ended up owning the brickworks. Mind, I think he was one of those who told the emunerator the first thing that came to mind. Every census he was born in the place where he happened to live just then (each one different). Every census a different age, every census a different job. And to top it all, his obituary contradicts everything else I've managed to find out about him.
I've decided to put together his biography, as he was apparently quite a local character.
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I've just found my most interesting jobs -
George Douglass was an Actor and his sons were both Vocalist(musician)
I presume that's because I have found my first Welshmen in my tree!! ;)
The sons were born in "Wales" the father in "Calcutter"
I presume that's the one in India and doesn't mean he cuts Calico!
Makes a change from joiners
Cheers
Keith
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My maternal grandfather is shown on official documents as "Composer of Music". I reckon that was exaggeration.
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My maternal grandfather is shown on official documents as "Composer of Music". I reckon that was exaggeration.
hey, don't be so sure Hackstaple!! Even I have been known to whistle the odd made up tune now and agian!!
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I composed two songs once, out of sheer desperation :-\
The first for my then 5 month old son, who wouldn't stop screaming but fell asleep shortly after I started to sing (maybe that was his way of avoiding a not-so-great singing voice :P ) and one for my infant daughter who screamed for 4 months straight.
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I have a Soprano Vocalist (Music)! What other types of soprano vocalist are there???
Jill
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So Jill ,You have a Pavarotti ;D
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So Jill ,You have a Pavarotti ;D
Graceland where did you get your musical education???
Jill
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;D Elvis told me everything i know ;D ;D ;D
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;D Elvis told me everything i know ;D ;D ;D
That explains it then!
Jill
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:D
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A soprano vocalist tonight on "Who do you think you are"? If Graceland watches that he will hear the difference between Pavorotti and a soprano.
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Doh ;D
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I live in hope Hack!
Jill
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:-[ :-[ :-[
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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George william cherry my great grandad was a submariner in the 1st world war
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On Sunday 21st November AlgarvePete wrote
I have a couple of boot clickers in my tree.Does this mean they stood around street corners clicking their heels? .Regards,Pete
I hope I'm not duplicating a reply, but it is a skilled job in the boot and shoe trade. I thought that someone else could probably come up with a more succinct description and Google came up with:
BOOT / SHOE CLICKER This was one of the skilled and best paid jobs in the shoe industry. A clicker CUT out the leather for the different parts that made up the shoe and the term comes from the sound made when carrying out the job.
from a useful brief list at http://www.countrylovers.co.uk/craf/oldcraft.htm (ftp://http://www.countrylovers.co.uk/craf/oldcraft.htm)
There's a fuller description of the trade in Victorian times at http://www.victorianlondon.org/publications3/newtoilers-23.htm (ftp://http://www.victorianlondon.org/publications3/newtoilers-23.htm) - which is a good time-waster for pursuing the social history side of genealogy!
Teea
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I finaly tracked down my Coastguard, James Woodgate....what an interesting fella he's turned out to be.
He joined the Royal Navy between 1840 and 1850 after a bit of research i've found out his last vessel was the HMS Queen. After that he joined the Coast Guard service and served in Kent, Dorset and Devon. He was promoted to Commisioned Boatman on the 17th June 1865 and then to Coxswain in 1870 http://dover-lifeboat.dovercliffs.co.uk/coxwains/coxswains.htm#
During his time as Coxswain he won 2 Silver Medals and 2 Bronze ones for bravery at sea. I have found details of one of his Bronze Medals which he won for bravery 20/9/1867 at East Cliff, Dover.
I have to wait now till after christmas to get the details of the other 3.
Here is a pic of the HMS Queen in Portsmouth in 1842 - strange to think that my James might have been on Board then!
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Fitty,
Wow! That is impressive! Bet it's made your Christmas!
Jill
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I finaly tracked down my Coastguard, James Woodgate....what an interesting fella he's turned out to be.
Wow Fittty, you must be so happy!
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To say i,m pretty chuffed is an understatement ;)
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I have just found a 1901 census which records one of mine as being a scavenger (in London). Well I'm proud of him and I expect him mum was too.
Peter
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I have just found a 1901 census which records one of mine as being a scavenger (in London). Well I'm proud of him and I expect him mum was too.
Peter
Today he'd be called "a purveyor of recyclable materials" or some such thing!!
Isn't it amazing what our ancestors did to make a living? So many old occupations are dying out.
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Hi everyone - thought id revive this thread as some of the replies gave me a right old giggle! I think the best was the overnight soil labourer or whatever it was! (aka the s**t shoveller!)
Ive found:
On the one side i have tons and tons of coal miner hewers - but then again i do come from South Yorkshire...my grandad was a steeplejack painter, my g g g grandma was a char woman
But on the other side i have a g g g grandad who was running his own form of 19th century off licence on one census and then on the next he was an innkeeper and his daughters were all barmaids on the next! This was back in the 1850s and the pubs still open today...
I also have dressmakers - that was passed down a long way like the miners. I have a bricky as well as the odd pauper or too...and me right at the bottom and breaking the mould - im a musician/music teacher!
Alison
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My Wifes great great grandfather Stanley Duffy Sang on workers playtime during the second world war and had some records one was something about the Kings highway
I have it on tape. is there anway to find out more.
regards Lee
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My x3 great-grandfather was a "calico block cutter".
The family were living in Paisley so we have an image of him making patterns in the Paisley print shape - but probably nothing like that...
Another bit on my list of things to look up.
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My wife has a rellie who had 11 children. We looked up their baptisms in the parish records. For the first 9 kids the rellie was noted as an Ag lab. But for child 10 he was a bailiff. Yippee we thought, the fellow has got promoted, gone up in the world. But, alas, his rise was shortlived; two years later he was back to an ag lab for the baptism of child 11. Nice try. :(
Peter
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Hi there
Just tracked down a marriage certificate for 1900 and the bride's father is described as a "traveller" .
Interestingly from same certificate my great-grandfather, who the family only ever knew as a miner/coal hewer from a family of miners had his profession recorded as "baker".
So far my familys occupations are a strange mix - canal boatmen, miners, gardeners, cofters, weavers and a grocer.
On husbands side brickmakers, horse-drawn omnibus driver ( a GRAY driving 2 grey horses),farrier, groom, and a signalman on GWR...
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Yesterday, on the 1861 census, I found an-
Umbrella Stick Varnisher
I love it!
Darcy ;)
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Yipee ;D another Labourer ! a Ships one this time.. I'm actually beginning to enjoy collecting them now :D
Suey
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I have a humble basket weaver of whom I am very proud, 'cause he is shown as being 'blind since childhood'
He also managed to marry and bring up a family. That shows real strength of charachter. ::) :D
Lindy
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The most interesting occupation in my family tree so far which seems to be made up of Agricultural Labourers and Brickmakers is Chicken Fatteners. Maybe I shouldn't actually admit to it!
For those who don't know a machine was invented in Heathfield, Sussex in 19th century that chickens were fitted to and food crammed by tube until they were fat enough to be sent by train to London for the ovens! My Great Grandfather was one of the first farmers to take part in this illustrious career!
Kerry
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Hi There!!
What about a Stallion Walker!!
Apparently, he was the guy who took the Stud around to the various farms in his area...(Radnorshire/Shropshire)
Best Wishes
JeannieR
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The usuual ag labs, but also slubbers (in the wool and cotton induistries), clickers and closers(From the shoe industry),a hatter, slipper manufacturer, manufacturer of fancy waistcoats, customs officer, stevedore, carpenters, whitesmith and bell hanger, coach builder, registrar of BMD, gas inspector, brewer, seamstress and more
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we've found on my husband's an organist - who was also blind! and my ggrandfather was shown on the 1891 census as 'evangelist'.
Happy New Year to you all
Gillj
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Found this one today...
"Screwer at nut and bolt factory"
Not a bad job for a 38 year old woman in 1881 eh? :-)
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Forgot to add - her surname was Horne - LOL
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There's a g g grandfather in our tree whose occupation is 'Hind'. Not a word that I knew and in the dictionary it says.
A farm servant with a cottage on the farm, formerly bound to supply the landowner with a female field-worker (bondager)
Interesting?
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That's really interesting - I founf 'Hind' on one of my certificates - and thought it was 'hird - a misspelling of herd' - now I know ! They were all Ag. labs. in Norfolk !
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Hi all.
I got a monthly nurse.
A few french polishers
And loads of box makers. How many boxes do you need for goodness sake
An umbrella finisher
And some more box makers
???
Happy new year everyone. And here's to another year of geneology
:D
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Hi
One of my relations was a 'Burler'. He lived in Yorkshire and worked in a Woolen Mill? Can anyone tell me what a Burley did?
Gerry
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Hi Gerry
BURLER - A quality inspector for clothing.
Regards
Jonathan
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Possibly a gt gt granny in court "on the pretence of telling fortunes"!
Casalguidi
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I'm told that most of my elusive Williams family, (who I'm yet to find) were ag labs. With the exception of the girls, my g grandmother being a confectioner/cake decorater. My nan says this is where I get my neat writing, ::) steady hand lol.
The youngest sister apparently was a published poet, another interest of mine. I would love to be able to find something she wrote.
Other family members, from Staffs area all seem to be involved in industrial jobs, but my g grandad was a bootmaker and moonlighted as a pub singer. :D
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A relative in scotland was an "Iron monger"
I think that is a fairly common occupation.
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I've got a Local Preacher/Iron Monger ;D
Lots of Farmers, a Gardener, a few Ag Labourers. I think that's about it. :-[
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In a family consisting almost entirely of Ag Labs, my g-g-grandad broke the mould and went off to sea. He made a success of this and became a Master Mariner. In subsequent years two of his sons, and a couple of nephews followed suit. The sons drowned, the nephews went back to being Ag Labs! :'(
Further back in the fam tree, on a sideline, someone became a grocer and set up his own shop. His sons and grandchildren followed in the business, and set up shops far and wide. What I want to know is why there is not now an 'Edmonds' supermarket alongside Sainsburys and Tesco. ???
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In Australia: Farmers, civil servants, bank manager, sales persons, Prime Minister (current), Ballet dancer,
In England: quite a few Solicitors, Navel Commanders (quite a few in the navy and army), Governor of Western Australia, Judge of the Vice Admiralty court of Barbados, a couple in Holy orders, architect, artists, major land owner in Shalford, Surrey.
Me, well I did a trade as a bookbinder (not many of them around these days) but worked my way to become a Sales Manager. Didn't inherit any of the brains of my ancestors, unfortunately.
Reg
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I've just found a relative who was a 'wardrobe mistress' at the Grand Theatre....... staying her were an actress and her husband ..... he is listed as 'Tragedian' ...... I can just imagine him telling the poor enumerator that 'he wasn't JUST an actor !
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I have three thieves that got caught (two in one generation) - wonder how many others got away with it!
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coffee smeller --mmmmm!
and coprolite digger (fossils - I think)
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I MAY be able to lay claim to a Ship's Captain! I have yet to prove my hunch, but I may be descended from Bartholomew Kitcher Captain of HMS Halfe Moon, which saw action during the Anglo-dutch Wars of the 1600's!!
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How about a 'blanket raiser' -
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I've also got a "rag grinder"...
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I always fewlt sorry for one of my families - most of the girls worked in the mills - but one was a 'chocolate packer' - I wonder if she got samples ?
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Found another Labourer for my collection yesterday - in a Jam and Sweet Factory !
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I've got a "Card Maker" - don't suppose thats playing cards - expect its for a factory machine - but bet he was good at Pontoon!!
Keith
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My GF was a food sampler :o yummy what a great job ;D
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HI
RICHARD HEALD SHERIFF OF NOTTINGHAM, I LIKE THAT ONE. A BLANCHE HEALD WHO WOULD NOT TAKE KING HENRY THE EIGHTHS OATH(TO BE A PROTESTANT I ASSUME) NOT AN OCCUPATION AS SUCH.
AND MY DEAR GRANDAD WHO WAS A SOLDIER IN BOTH WARSANS LOST A LUNG AT DUNKIRK AND WAS CARRIED OF IN A STRETCHER,,HE IS PRETTY INTERESTING TO ME(1896-1968)
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my brother tells me that our aunt was a "deesil fitter" what ever that is. she worked in a clothing mill of some sort in Massachusetts.
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Sorry for that. Brother was teasing me. it was a joke. Here is how it goes":
Two imigrants applying for a job. When asked what experience they had, the first one said that she worked in a lingerie factory stitching ladies underwear. The second one said she was a deesil fitter in the same factory. the second one got half again as much per hour as the first one received. One day the first one asked the second one what a deesil fitter was. the second replied that she worked on the end of the assembly line. her job was to verify that the underwear was acceptable. She would pick up a pair of panties and look at them carefully and if acceptable she would say: "deesill fitter" and put them in the accept bin.
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Hi steve-o,
The Old Ones are always the best ones!! ;D ;D
Keith
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When I was in the Army in Malaya I had the task of financial inspections on army units. Three of these were military hospitals with staff from the QARANC - the nursing corps. I received an urgent message to interview the quartermaster at one because of an unusual indent for supplies he had placed. It was for 6000 manhole covers. When confronted with this the red-faced major confessed that this was his euphemism for sanitary towels. His regular clerks knew that but he had dictated this indent to a new clerk. ::)
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A mantuamaker made ladies' cloaks after a style reputedly once in vogue in the city of Mantua, Italy.
A cordwainer, in case anyone needs to know, is a shoemaker in fine leathers as opposed to a cobbler who only repaired shoes.
A teazle grower would be a farmer or small holder who grew the prickly teazel plant which was used in the woollens industry to raise the nap on cloth - g-d knows why!
I can't quite imagine what a monthly nurse did. Perhaps monthly district inspections?
I have the same occupations in my family tree as you. I was told a mantua maker was a posh name for a paper pattern maker!! the original fashion designers maybe!!
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Basically a Cordwainer was a Shoemaker Rebecca.
Jill
A cordwainer only worked with new leather and was not to be confused with a cobbler. Usually refers to a certain class of shoe and boot maker. There is a guild of cordwainers....try a search on google.
Maybe I'm biased because I have a few generations of cordwainers.
Perhaps you will be more impressed now!!
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Hi Sue
I have a "Boot & List Shoemaker" - do you know what the list part was?
Cheers
Keith
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Hi Keith,
My guess is that 'list' is actually LAST.
LASTER - A person who made shoes using a last, a cobbler.
The last I think is the device for holding the shoe whilst making/mending.
Regards
jonathan
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Thanks jonathan,
Of course!! ;D - it's easy when you know.
I was trying for a special occupation as per Sue!! ;)
Even the census enumerators couldn't always spell ;D ;D
Cheers
Keith
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OK I have to own up, some time ago I posted on this site saying that my father had told me such things as Lion tamers and Pearl divers were occupations of some family members. Naturally with my accrued wisdom of age I always spoke of this somewhat 'tongue in cheek' Well, I'M SORRY DAD, it now seems that it was all true, we DID have a pearl diver in Australia, and although it is just a little tenuous, we also had a lion tamer. OOps :-[ :-[ :-[
Lindy
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I have a marriage certificate which shows the father of the brides occupation as 'leather lace maker' - you can't be more specific than that.
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I found a 'pew opener' the other day!
Def: one who opens the door to a private pew.
Not a bad job for an elderly lady - presumably only works one day a week !
Helen x
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"Teapot Knob Maker"
Presumably a very skilled job? Anyone have the "Teapot Spout Maker" in their family tree?
Nigel
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Lecturer in Absolute Temperance - certainly not one of my ancestors [perish the thought] but I found him whilst looking amongst the Taylors to answer a query 8)
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hi
I have ag labs, garden Marketers, Licenced Victuallers, servants (general and domestic), Sawyer, maltster, brick layer, carpenter,lime kiln labourer, charwoman, fieldwoman,tailor,
lime burner,rector of parish, alot of silk workers, cooper, stationer apprentice, printer apprentice, drafter apprentice (apprentices all from same family), packer, and what looks to be a shoe breaker, i think
legs11
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:) Legs , have you followed in any of them trades ?
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Hello everyone
If you really want to laugh, cry or just be be envious of your ancestors occupations then take a look at the following:
http://rmbh.co.uk/occup/f.html
Gerry
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Legs11 - a shoe breaker? I used to have 3 of them, all boys, but they have grown up now ;D
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sorry, there was one that I should've put in and that was house wife/domestic engineer, and that is the only one I followed. These are on hubby's side as my side has been done.
I too had 3 shoe breakers, 2 girls and a boy and they have all grown up now also.
legs11
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The most unusual so far is Radical Political Agent 1901 Census
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The only really interesting occupation I have come across is for a female who was a 'scupper'.( early 1900's) I had no idea what that was and someone advised me that a scupper was a drain hole on a ship. :)
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Griz
That doesn't bear thinking about! Poor woman!
Jill
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Hi Jill,
I do so agree . I am still laughing. :)
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I don't know if youwouldclass thisasan interesting occupation but I came across a transcription wit occupation "Cordwainer"
deadants
http://www.google.com.au/search?q=cache:7y6qtVcmqHAJ:www.thehcc.org/backgrnd.htm+cordwainer&hl=en
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I have 2 asylum attendants. My grandfather was deputy head attendant in the 1901 census & he & his brother both married asylum nurses. :)
Apart from them there is the usual quota of Ag labs, wheelrights, whitesmiths, dressmakers, farmers, publicans, bacon curers etc. ::) ::)
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I have from ag labourers to priests and also rabbis, actresses, solicitors, outfitters and ironmongers
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I have found a book binder and a professional gambler!!
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How about HANGMAN - well you don't get many of those do you.
Bartholomew Binns, related by marriage to me, was what you could call 'slapdash' at his job, although he did send a few to meet their makers. He was also mentioned in the Lords where his conduct was discussed. He is also mentioned in various books relating to his occupation.
Carol
www.wakefieldfhs.org.uk
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How about HANGMAN - well you don't get many of those do you.
Bartholomew Binns, related by marriage to me, was what you could call 'slapdash' at his job, although he did send a few to meet their makers. He was also mentioned in the Lords where his conduct was discussed. He is also mentioned in various books relating to his occupation.
Carol
www.wakefieldfhs.org.uk
Wow Carol!! That is amazing!!!
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Ho hum..the above post makes my latest find..no not another Labourer...look a bit miserable..
James Stevens age 74, living with his sister in Hastings, occupation 'Odd Man' ??? Phew my lot were an interesting bunch!
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In no particular order:
Farmer's, Yeoman, Groom, Fishmonger, Ships surgeon, barge captain who was also a sargent in the Napoleonic equivelent of the waterborne home guard, and hundreds of Ag Labs and their varients.
What I find most strange is there are no Cheesemongers on my Furminger side, as seemingly the name comes from the old english word Furmenger = a cheesemonger. The nearest connection is a referecne in a 17th Centry will of the husband leaving his wife "four score pounds of lawful money and 3 cheese rounds"
Adrian
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At the risk of being pilloried and pelted with cheese and tomato sandwiches ......
Maybe they were all cheesed-off by by then ! ;D ;D
(says he, sneaking off quickly while no one's looking .....)
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Just out of interest, does anyone have any idea what a Higgler is? ???
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Hi Rebecca,
According to this site:
http://rmhh.co.uk/occup/h.html
an Itinerant Peddler. Bet that's made your day!
Jill
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My great great great grandfather's job title changed a few times during his thrilling career in the legal profession. He was a law writer (???) in his teens, later he was a solicitor's clerk. At the advent of breathtakingly exciting new technology towards the end of the 9th century he became - a Lithographic Writer - was this an early typewriter, I wonder? Well grandpa was keen on it anyway!
His daughter was a mantle maker - dressmaker to you and me. Her husband was a coachman, then a hansom cab driver (a handsome hansom cab driver, obviously!) and finally a taxi driver. Their son in law Alf Redfearn was a Ship's Plumber, and his son was a Chief Accountant, following his wartime service in the RAF.
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Thanks for that Jill :)
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Well to go with the hangman from another side of the family. Needless to say these are all in-laws !!!!
We have a second hand clothes dealer that was framed for attempting to murder the Primeminister of England. She was a sufferagette and know to the Pankhursts. By all accounts she was a formidable woman and from seeing her photo in the papers - I for one on a dark night would not like to meet her ;D
But on another side - these are all inlaws, the main lines are boring. But the inlaws we have a couple of Sir's who were Knighted for there service to medicine .
What happened to the direct lines, well we have a goldsmith who became a Burgh in a Morayshire town, salt hawkers, miners, a policeman or 2 a couple of soldiers KIA. Quite mundane really oh, there is an exemplory family historian ( no that is not in my mind ) I was told that the other day ;)
Carol
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:(
I want to reply to Suey cos in my family I searched all my Dads and got Farm Labs, Ag Labs and Labs....
I did my Grandmothers and got miners ..... got a bit better Licenced Victuallers and a Colliery Owner.
Then I did my Mums....................In the same family I have bricklayers labourer, railway worker, hawker, traveller and nun oh and I forgot fitter, upholsterer, errand boy and Dom servant - I don't know if I'm comin or goin!!! All in different places- I could spend a lifetime searching these people!!!
And I have only just started ...................................
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My favorite belongs to James Bishop father of Richard Bishop born 14 Feb 1843 in Kings Lynn Itinerant Comedian :D
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Well the latest two to add to my mixed bag are
grate fitter
and
hook tier in Fishing Tackle shop ..... at least its different for mid 19th C ::)
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amongst the gamekeepers ,Shepard's and mattress makers i have an artists model/muse.
exciting one would say thinking beautiful formal portraits.
no my aristocratic half Spanish ancestor was a artist model /muse for the bi-sexual opium smoking ,erotic (read borderline porn ) misogynist artist Fuseli.
they are fantastic but not quite what we imagined a counts daughter to be doing.
suits us tho,and always exciting to talk about. frederickay
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As well as the previously mentioned 'Scupper', I did, for a while, think I had a most interesting ancestor as he was down as a 'French Publisher. ' It sounded a bit naughty to me, like Fredrickay's connection to Fuseli. :) Yet it was different, and I mused about what he may have published.
I admit I was a little disapointed to find he was actually a French Polisher. It was one of so many mistakes in transcription.
Oh, and there was a chap who was in the 2nd Regiment of the Life Guards. He guarded William IV then Victoria when she became Queen. That's sort of dashing and romantic I think.
I wonder what he would think now if he knew the real king of England is living in Australia: King Michael, a Plantangenet. ;D
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How about a Marine Store Dealers manager?????
I was told it was a Gypsy term for a scrap dealer. Mike :)
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The most interesting occupation in my family tree would have to be, Frogman Spy!.......it's true. 8)
My ggrandmother's nephew was Commander Lionel 'Buster' Crabb who dissapeared in very mysterious circumstances in the 1950's,and was never seen again.
It's a fascinating story and quite a few books have been written about him.I wonder if anyone else has a frogman spy in the family?
Mick ;)
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How about a Marine Store Dealers manager?????
I was told it was a Gypsy term for a scrap dealer. Mike :)
Mike, I must make a note of that - I found a Philadelphia Carter in Lewes who I hoped was one of mine with just such an occupation.
cfmshrops - keep going - it does get better - I do have a Laundryman, a Gamekeeper and a Great Aunt who 'Owned a Mangle' ;D
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As well as the previously mentioned 'Scupper', I did, for a while, think I had a most interesting ancestor as he was down as a 'French Publisher. ' It sounded a bit naughty to me, like Fredrickay's connection to Fuseli. :) Yet it was different, and I mused about what he may have published.
I admit I was a little disapointed to find he was actually a French Polisher. It was one of so many mistakes in transcription.
Oh, and there was a chap who was in the 2nd Regiment of the Life Guards. He guarded William IV then Victoria when she became Queen. That's sort of dashing and romantic I think.
I wonder what he would think now if he knew the real king of England is living in Australia: King Michael, a Plantangenet. ;D
Long live King Michael, say I! (Got a soft spot for a Michael!) ;D
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Me too, MrsLizzy ;)
Its quite exciting finding a Plantagenet that has a more legitimate claim to the throne that the present occupants.
Its like going back in history when they were always scrapping about who was the rightful heir, and eliminating the competition.
It is interesting to speculate what the history of England would have been like with a different array of kings and queens in our past. Imagine! no Henry VIII, no Charles 1, so no civil war? No puritan influence, no Victoria, so how different would the 1800s have been?
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I've always fancied the HOSE off Richard III! I always say the great thing about being in love with a man who's been dead for 500 years is: you don't have to meet his parents! 8)
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ROFL, Mrs Griz
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No good thinking the Reformation wouldn't have happened though, because it was already happening. Henry VIII tried to use it for his own political ends, but it was already happening all over Europe. Without Henry its development in England would just have been a lot slower.
I think What If history is quite interesting. What if Richard had won at the Battle of Bosworth? What if Edward VI had lived to grow up healthy and marry and have sons of his own? What if, God help us, Mary and Philip had actually had a child? Maybe What Ifs aren't such a good idea after all! :o
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I have come across someone who goves their occupation as a rippier
This was in a will from the 1500's. Basically it was a perosn who "sold fresh water fish at the markets or maker and seller of baskets "
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I wonder if there was ever one called Jack :)
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I've mentioned before that my great great grandfather was a handsome hansom cab driver - he actually worked in the Mile End/Whitechapel area during the time of the Whitechapel Murders! My great grandmother was born in Mile End in 1886, so she was about 2 years old at the time of the murders.
:o :o
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I have a gggg aunt who was a "knitter of worsted stockings" and her brother was a "knocker upper of people in service"
I also have a "lamp lighter" who 10 years later had graduated to a "rag and bone man"
The one I like the most is a very honest ggg aunt who describes her occupation as "Paramour houskeeper"-not much time for houskeeping as she had 9 illegitimate children!!!!
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Miners, miners and more miners couple of Ag Labs, Labs, Hawkers and a Green Grocer - Cordwainers, Cobblers, Glovers and Tailors (loads of them!) Piano Forte Makers, Dentist, Mineral Teeth Mechanic, Gold & Platinum Refiner, Huntsman, Maltser & Horse Slaughterer (ewww!)
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I love that 'paramour housekeeper' what a brave woman! and she still kept her sense of humour in all the chaos of that large family. I like the 'handsome hansom driver' too.
I have remembered another one of mine that might be considered unusual in that he had three occupations all at once. I suppose he was a type A personality.
B. 1853, he was a lay preacher with the Primitive Baptist church,( just how primitive were they?) and a naturopathic doctor. and a master bootmaker and factor. What is rather amusing is that the premises where he carried on his shoe business which was continued by one of his sons, is now a chiropodists. ;D
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think I'd rather be a paramour housekeeper than a Primitive Baptist. Sounds much more fun.
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I was fascinated to learn my Great Great grand father, was City Crier of Coventry, at least from 1861 to 1881. His name was Thomas Ascough Lower. It must be where I get my big loud voice from!
Slightly more down market, there were two brothers in another branch of my tree. One was a castrator, and the other was assistant castrator. Makes your eyes water, doesn't it!
A Great Grand Aunt is listed as a bicycle manufacturer. Definately a liberated lady for her time. This is proving a fascinating topic. Thanks!
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I have found a couple more coachmaker, chaff cutter and a porter.
legs11
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We've got a fustian worker , two millers,a rope maker and a station master.One relation started as a pit pony driver,then a flagger and paver,then an oyster and tripe bar owner and finally opened the first fish and chip shop in Wigan.The most intriging one is an architect and when or if I can find hisbirth and burial records could be the brother of the Jesse Hartley ,Dock Engineer ,who designed the Albert Dock at Liverpool.
d.livesey
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I know a Mr Livesley in Colchester . . . 8)
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Do you know if the family originates from the Wigan Bolton area?
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One was a castrator, and the other was assistant castrator.
Presumably the Assistant's job was just to catch? :)
Paul
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::) ::) ::)
I don't know about an 'interesting occupation - but one of my female relatives was described on her marriage certificate as an 'Engineer's Screwer' - ahem ! not a term you could use today !!
::) ::) ::)
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Do you know if the family originates from the Wigan Bolton area?
I will ask him when I see him tomorrow. I believe he and his family have lived many years in the Colchester area though. He is a solicitor and district judge, but a very nice chap, nevertheless! 8)
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'Engineer's Screwer' :o :o :o :o :o :o
Mobo :o :o :o
Well i never !!! :o :o :o :o :o
;D ;D ;D ;D
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;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Did you never GRACELAND ??
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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'Engineer's Screwer' :o :o :o :o :o :o
Mobo :o :o :o
Well i never !!! :o :o :o :o :o
:o :o
;D ;D ;D ;D
Graceland! And in front of Jess, too!
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Graceland?? What is Jess doing in that picture? Is she smiling or threatening us? :(
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Yes shes embarrassed now
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Poor Jess, give her a cuddle and kiss from her Aunt Lizzy. :-* :-*
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I have TWO watch balance compensator makers...... god knows what that means but i was highly impressed!!!
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Hi agabenson,
I posted this on the Occupations thread because of a query about a watch jewel hole maker: http://www.watches-lexic.ch/pages/eng/tec/exp3.htm
I think you can be very impressed !
PS: does "benson" as in "agabenson" have anything to do with Bensons in Dorset in the 19th. century ?
regards,
Bob
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>I think you can be very impressed !
>PS: does "benson" as in "agabenson" have anything to do with Bensons in Dorset >in the 19th. century ?
>regards,
>Bob
Wow i am impressed... I'll see them in a different light now. No Bensons were not of dorset, but Poland originally, but thats another head ache ;).
Thanks for that.
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what about :
-a rag cutter (did you need to cut them, wouldn't tearing do?),
-a hind,
-a proprietor of houses (?),
-a "tutor for gentlemen".
-a steamer (in a factory) and
-a drain labourer.
Wotty.
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Hmmm - Gx3 Grand Mother was a Bath Attendant for over 30 years with a stint as a Medical Rubber in the 1881 Census - the mind boggles :o
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what about :
-a drain labourer.
;D Wow, Wotty, as everyone must know by now I come from a long line of labourers of all descriptions, I've been collecting them - but i'm well impressed with your one ;D
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My g,g, grandfather was a 'mole-catcher' in Staffordshire. He lists this as his occupataion in 1851 through to 1881.
Must have been an awful lot of moles about!
- aitch :)
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Must have been an awful lot of moles about!
- aitch :)
I think there must have been, as I have come across quite a few mole catchers here and there on the censuses. Presumably most villages needed someone who specialised in this.
Nice to make it a life-time's work, though, aitch! :)
Paul
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a stint as a Medical Rubber
I s - a - y ! :o
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Anyone have a 'wardrobe dealer' in their tree?
Lady at local family history group had one lady described as such - conjured up pictures of little old lady struggling up hill with heavy wardrobe on her back.
Then she found out 'wardrobe dealer' is actually someone who goes in after a death and clears the deceased's wardrobe.........presumably house clearance on a very small scale! :o
So now you know....
H ;D
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Got a few odd ones;
Bacon Curer.
Drysalter.
and from the 1901 census the occupation states;
"Keeps a Mangle"
joboy
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I haven't got too much information as yet what jobs the family did, but I know I had shoemakers, pyrotechnists, furrier, and a World Champion Heavyweight Boxer, Bombadier Bily Wells. And there was me thinking I might have to odd Highwayman or Pirate! ;)
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I seem to have a right boring lot -
Domestic Servants, ironer/washer, factory hand, labourers, roper makers and a lighterman, although I'm beginning to wonder about the last.
Sandie
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Cecilia,
Seeing your post remided me of something.
A few years ago, my boyfriends Auntie started doing her family tree. All was going well, until she came across a Highwayman, and was so embarrassed she stopped doing it there and then!!!
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Marry him, chui - then any of your children can claim descendence! That would be 8) for them, wouldn't it?
Paul
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:D it certainly would Paul! Unfortunately, its an Auntie by marriage though, but I suppose we could claim him!
We are actually engaged, so I suppose I should call him my Fiancee instead of my boyfriend!
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:) :) :)
Quite a lot of my ancestors were 'Hatters' - and it wasn't until I started doing genealogy, that I discovered just where the term 'Mad' Hatter came from.
To make a finished hat, especially with the cheaper furs, Hatters brushed a solution of a mercury compound, usually mercurous nitrate, onto the fur to roughen the fibres and make them mat easier, a process called carrotting, so called because it made the fur turn orange.
The fibres were shaved off the skin and turned into felt, then immersed in a boiling acid solution to thicken and harden it. The finishing processes included steaming the hat to shape and ironing it. During this time, the Hatters, working in poorly ventilated workshops, would inhale the mercury compounds and accumulate the metal in their bodies.
We now know that mercury is a cumulative poison that causes kidney and brain damage, resulting in trembling, loosening of teeth, loss of co-ordination, and slurred speech, irritability, loss of memory, depression, anxiety, and other personality changes. Thus the term 'mad' hatter syndrome.
I've always known I was a bit scatty - too much mercury in the blood I 'spect
;D ;D ;D
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Not sure if this one is classed as "interesting" or "gross" .... we've today found a rellie whose occupation on 1901 census is " Dealer in sheep's feet " .... blech!
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How about this>
In 1861, one of my ancestors was a 64-year-old 'molecatcher' in Cambridgeshire.
It was quite a specialised occupation - moles don't come up to the surface too often! :)
That's got to be one of your more unusual ones!
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My best so far are:
Fustian cutter
Silk Weaver
Policeman
Publican
Stone miner
Coal miner
Carpet weaver
Tarpauler
Tent & Sheet Maker
Woollen Spinner
Midwife
WW1 army nurse
Tube Screwer in Gas Tube Works (yes, honestly!)
Gas Tube Drawer (the screwer's brother)
Milk Dealer
Apparitor of St Peter's, Gorse Hill (Manchester)
Level Crossing Attendant
Horse Keeper
Hackle Maker
India Rubber Mat Maker
Mechanical Rubber Worker
Waterproof Garment Finisher
Plus a couple of nobby ones
Solicitor/"Gentleman" (acc to ggrandmother's birth cert)
Fundholder/"Lady" (acc to census returns)
And of course, what some of them should have put, but didn't....
Pathological Liar
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Chui, Ienvy that Auntie who found something as different as a Highwayman, did she ever find out what became of him?
8)
Cecilia
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I have a 'Public Scavenger'!!.....age 60, a job in his retirement as he was in the building trade for many years before. I think it means he was some kind of rubbish collecter. Oh well, at least he was of some use to the community! :)
Elaine
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'Public Scavenger'
Hi Elaine
I think the modern-day equivalent is 'Member of Parliament' :)
Paul
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I,m suprised that no one had a window cleaner in the family. Mine is only brought in because he was once employed on the Liver Buildings in Liverpool,and at sometime in the 30,s also employed to give the birds themselves a clean up,actual dates not yet discovered.
This is only one sample from the ho-hum collection of Knights,Knaves,Assassins,killers,Gangsters,Rebels,farmers,dressmakers,tailoresses,oh yes, a Mantua maker,couple of Reverends,Army,Navy. R.A.F people,more types than you can shake a stick at,and seemingly so many other connections that we are all probably
related
Makes you think,Goggy
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P.S. Anyone got a Mule Skinner?Not taking the hide off! R.A.S.C,Mountain Transport,famous carriers in mountain country,and used with the Chindits in Burma,for which area their vocal chords were allegedly(?) "disabled."
Goggy
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I have just found I have a 'coal porter'
Heaven knows, anything goes! :)
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My 5x Great Grandfather gave his occupations as Doctor, Surgeon and Oculist. all sounds wonderful but I am sure he was just a 'quack doctor' or herbalist. His brother had the same occupation and was said to have performed miracle cures.
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My 5x Great Grandfather gave his occupations as Doctor, Surgeon and Oculist.
Just thank your lucky stars it wasn't 'Occultist'! :)
Paul
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One of mine had occupation listed as Lunatic! Would that have been a full tim job do you think??
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:) :) :) Depends if he was a professional or just an amateur!
Paul
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How about these. A Tricker at Projectile Factory, Several Cowkeepers, Medalist?, Pressman, Die Sinker. These are the most interesting of my lot, dont know what most of them mean though.
Sue ???
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I could not believe what the brother of my 4x great grandmother did!
Wait for it ............drum roll.......
He was The Surgeon General of the American Army under George Washington
Tada.......
His name was Robert Wellford and I am still in shock!
India, from a long line of ag labs, brush makers, publicans and A Surgeon General!
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:( I've got another labourer this time in the Chalk Pits, makes a change from Ag Labs I 'spose :-\
Suey
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My favourite is 'Feather Sorter' . Every other male in that branch of the family for generations was a sawyer, apart from one coal merchant and a wheelwright. Lighter work I suppose....
Angela
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Hi I have a lot of ancestors from the tool making and forging trades around the turn of the century - one of my great uncles was a torpedo case turner!
There are some straw plaiters too (see above)! (further back in that same branch of the family) - apparently it's something to do with making straw hats.
Sam
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I think i have some nice occupations in my lot
A Dealer or Chapman
A Victualler
A Cordwainer
A Shoe Laster
A Boot Laster
A Shoe Rivetter
A Machine Closer
Wholesale Boot Manufacturer
Shoemaker
Shoe Stitch Hand
A Carpenter
A Clicker
Cooperage
Theater Manager
Courier Driver
Draper
A Bookbinder
Accountant to a Brewery!
Woodman.
And i think the best one of the lot a Scholar at the age of 8 WEEKS ! Start early i say !
Ian Markie
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In my Family I have plenty of Farmers and
Overlookers, I found an Steam Engine Maker
and became all excited.
My Father is a train enthusiast.
I rang him up all excited telling him we have an
ancestor who made train engines, only to realise
further down the line it did not mean this.
:-[
I have a hen-penner, not quite sure what this is
but I guess it is someone who farms hens,
but it sounds weird
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While doing a look-up recently, I discovered a young lady who gave her trade as "ostrich feather manufacturer"
Think about it... :o :o
Arranroots ;)
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My grandfather,whilst not having any particularly interesting occupations,certainly had plenty of different ones:
1891 census--- Pupil teacher,school.
1899 marriage cert---Railway guard.
1901 census---Ticket examiner,railway.
1902 childs birth cert---Relieving officer.
1910 childs birth cert---Workhouse master.
Then bet Feb 1930 and March 1932 he kept a pub.
1944 death cert---Finance clerk to a county agricultural committee.
Whilst pursuing these occupations he also moved around the country quite a bit......Montgomeryshire,Cardinganshire,Warwickshire,Salop,Cheshire and Flintshire.
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My latest discovery which I had to look up was a:
fellmonger
a leather dresser - someone who scrapes the fur off skins.
later he was a fellmonger courier.
Andy
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I am so excited. I have my first saloon keeper in the US. He goes along with my beer house owner in the UK. What a bunch of lushes in my tree...
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Poppies,just caught Arrowsmith flying past on my daily check!Do you have an Irish connection a Cook for a family of Pendergast,s?She was my Step G,Ma, supposedly an ex aerialist injured in a circus acccident,who lost her husband in China,during the Boxer rioting.
That is just from memory,no paper work,no family help,not just a brick wall but a dungeon!!
Cheer,s
Goggy.
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Alas, not my family but I found a minstrel, a clog dancer, a frog catcher, and an Indian docteress in San Francisco.
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Well,Chaps+Chapesses,of the name I am chasing,one Slave.Who must have descended from a family transported in the late 1600,s-early 1700,s.British West Indies.Not very nice at all,and the name still survives there.
Goggy
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Hi all
Mostly Agricultural Labourers
A few Paper mill workers
Brass moulder
A Sawyer who doubled as coffin maker
Gamekeeper
Train Driver
Signalman
River bailiff who later became a river watcher!
Coal carter
Cooper Brewer
A couple I spotted while browsing was a Thisle digger, and a Night soil carter.
Linda
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I,m suprised more slaves havent popped up in this forum.Or" Bonded persons",putting it into the polite vernacular of the times.Whole families were transported to work the plantations overseas.That inclusion in family history would I suppose,just add to the hunt!!
Cheers,Goggy
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Has anyone got these unusual occupations in their tree?
These are all 'one-offs' from the censuses
William Arnfield TICKLER 1881
Henry Tuner MINK VENDOR 1881
James C Turner CAD 1881
Hugh Shaw WOOLEN WEFT SWINGER 1881
James Ray SHEEPDIPPER 1881
Charles BIGTOP TIGER SLAYER 1881
Anthony Orag MONKEY TAMER 1881
Sarah A Blick TUCKER & TYER 1881
William Marwood EXECUTIONER & SHOE DEALER 1881
Joseph Dean BEARD MAKER 1881
Fred Hadsworth SMITH STINKER 1881
William Harbour WINKLE GATHERER 1881
Freeland Lovett BUNGLER 1881
David Hill SHODDY WRESTLER 1881
New contributions welcome - for the basic 'rules' see page 1 of the http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=29743.new#new thread.
Paul
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T,riffic!!Now for the zeppelin builders apprentices and thrice decorated kamikaze pilots!!
Good one,Goggy 8)
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Paul,
just looking through your lists of occupations and I find Marwood, the executioner. I am just preparing a talk to give to my local fhg about an attempted murderess and hangman in my family - well someone has to have the 'iffy' ones !
It seemed fate that I should stumble across Marwood at this time. Marwood from what I can discover from various sources, did have a proper job, unlike others, as well as selling his 'trophies' including bits of his rope, clothing from his victims and other momentoes and telling the sordid details in local public houses.
My hangman took up the 'job' a year or so after the 1881 census, so his whereabouts are only known from his days of work.
Thanks for finding Marwood
Carol
www.wakefieldfhs.org.uk
Wakefield Family History Sharing
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Hi Rootschatters
My Ancestors Occupations where
Stationers
Carvers and Guilders
Watch Makers/Jewellers
Picture Frame Makers
Gardner
Silk Bonnet Makers
Worker in Water Works (Liverpool)
Stable Owners
Carriage Ex
Coal Porters and Coal Yard Owners
Railway Workers
Looking back at my Ancestors.. My Mums Family where Quite well off where's my Dads Where more working class
Regards
Iria
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Most of my recent family, due to them being from Lancashire, were mill workers, although i have -
2 gardeners
1 basket maker
1 dress maker
1 bricklayer
1 coal miner
buts that only what i know so far in reagrds to my ancestor's occupations.
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Don't know if this one has come up before but we have a Queens Messenger at the beginning of the last century.
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I have just been looking through St Pancras on the 1851 census and this occupation made me scream with laughter !!!
A Joseph Eldridge age 60 b Lincolnshire,a lodger, profession LOITERING ABOUT!!!!
I wonder if the census enumerator could see that? Or did householder gave him that info,or did Joseph himself decide that was what he did best ;D
Carol
Who also has never found at rellies with enough money to leave wills.
Still hoping though................. ::)
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Dont know if its interesting or shocking.
My ancester MARY FURSON was a prostitute.
Exeter police records has an entry for her in 1851 for soliciting. She received a 2 shilling fine and the charging officer was Inspector Fulford
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Carol,dont be shocked!There was a piece of advice given to daughters by mothers at one time.Dont ever be ashamed at what you may have to do."Have" was emphasised,think about it.
My Family of yester years have a few Ladies(in word+deed )who were in the "Rag trade",on paper,it seems this was a polite way to indicate a prostitute.Yes,they were Irish,yes, some of them survived where others didnt.Walk a mile in my shoes eh?
Regards,Goggy.
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Taeama!
Please swap this mail with Carol would you?I accept full blame for the foul up!!
Now then,where was I??Ah yes,in the poo again!!
My extended fore bears have, it seems had it all one time or t,other.Iknow from memory what one G,Ma had.Sadly,interest in Wills and hierlooms was lacking until recent years,mainly stimulated by Genealogy hunting!
Just keep your hopes up,to travel hopefully is sometimes better than the arrival.
Cheers,Goggy.
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G,Day ALL!
One of my Family names turns out to be derived from the occupation involved in,so,let me ask anyone from a mining community for a bit of a leg up, Yorkshire, .Cumbria,Tyneside,areas are involved
so dont go away!
Bannister,Bansted,Benstead,Binstead,all other spellings,probably something to do with pit ponies fodder in earlier years.
Any one got an inkling??
Goggy.
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Bannister,Bansted,Benstead,Binstead,all other spellings,probably something to do with pit ponies fodder in earlier years.
Any one got an inkling??
Goggy.
Hi Goggy
Not sure whether this helps, but I used to live in a house called Bannister Hey in Claughton, near Preston. I think there is some reference to a Bannister family living in the area out there on Google.
cheers
Paul
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Just paid my first visit to the 1861 census index on 1837online - and found a 'Pocket book maker'
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Most of my family are all Ag Labs, Labs or servants of some kind but we found one possibly interesting link.
In Spalding Linconshire the Hames family were Ropemakers in the 1860s and their daughter worked at the prison, as in those days they would have hanged people for serious offenses the family could've provided the labour as well as the hanging rope!!
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My best one yet has to be from 1851
Alice Wardrobe 79 occupation: KEEPS A MANGLE!
Have also got:
Boot & Shoe Makers
Solicitors
Watchmakers & Jewellers
Corn Merchants
Dress Makers
Dinosaur Hunters!
Gem Setters
But Alice gave us the best chuckle!
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Most of my family are all Ag Labs, Labs or servants of some kind but we found one possibly interesting link.
In Spalding Linconshire the Hames family were Ropemakers in the 1860s and their daughter worked at the prison, as in those days they would have hanged people for serious offenses the family could've provided the labour as well as the hanging rope!!
Blimey Helen I've heard of keeping in the family!
Have you found the coffin maker yet? lol
Willow x
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G,Day Paul,
been into the Bannisters closets thanks m,dear,this evolution of the job name into the Family name is another slice of the investigative cake!Takes me way,way off course,but,once the bug bites its best to let the fever run its course!!
As mentioned in an earlier post,Im a dilettante compared to other members of Rootschat,the broad brush suits me.
Thanks again,Goggy.
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-Cardinal & Chancellor of Scotland (David Beaton....He was murdered in May 1545
for ordering the execution of George Wishart (burned at the stake).
-A couple of Archbishops
-A rope spinner who hung himself from a tree one Sunday morning
-A Gentleman's butler / gameskeeper who worked for the same family for 86 years
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Not anything unusual. On my grandfathers side, Agricultural labourer 1858-1940. My Grandfather was the black sheep of the family, b 1901, joined the army. Went to India in 1938- 1945, serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps.
My Great grandmother was a childrens nurse. Isabella billing, worked for a William Bishop Beafield, in honiton.
It has been said that my son takes after his great grandfather.
Would love to know more about him.
Thanks and happy hunting
nicola
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Just got to page 5 and came to the conclusion that I won't be able to read all the posts today! Haven't been to the site for a while, a lot of catching up to do.
Anyway I seem to have plenty of Ag lab's as do a lot of you, plus quite a lot of millers, (mainly watermills). And ship builders, fishermen, greengrocers, coach builders, decorators, railyway signalmen, a couple of men who were in the army.
I think the most interesting are the premier of Newfoundland who wasn't blood related but married into my family and a famous gardener on my husbands side.
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More boat-builders - one had his own boat-yard in Gorleston. (If anyone has heard of, or knows anything about, Darby's Hard I would be interested to hear.) Sailmakers, a wharfinger, and a fisherman.
I think my g.g.gran's husband was an ag.lab. On her death certificate (if it is hers!) she is an ag. lab's widow. Granddad was a master butcher, and had his own shop. And though I can't match a Premier, my husband thinks his step-mother was employed as a servant at Buckingham Palace.
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Hello Suziet
Just read your post about Alice. I have a Mary Ann who "took in mangling". Appears on a later census as Retired Laundress. Sounds as if your Alice and my Mary had similar jobs.
Audrey
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The most interesting occupation in my family tree would be that of my father, a retired insurance broker in Belfast, who became the Financial Director of the Queen's University Festival (now known as the Belfast Festival).
Other occupations in the tree (both maternal and paternal lines) include -
Accountant, auditor, circus employee (advance publicity), coal merchant,
hotelier, paper manufacturer, seaman, school teacher, solicitor
and - %Ernærer sig ved Søm og Øludsalg% %Supports himself/herself by sewing and beer-selling%
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My great great grandfather was a Saggarmakers bottom knocker in the pottery industry in Burslem, Staffs then he moved to Castleford, Yorks. He was promoted to a Saggarmaker eventually!
If you needs a full job description 'Saggarmaker's Bottom Knocker - The sagger maker was a pottery maker who made the containers that fine stoneware was put into before firing. The bottom knocker assisted him'.
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The most intresting occupation in my family would have to be what Richard, Thomas and Martha Wooldridge did. They were all Warden's of Peck Lane Prision, or the Dungeon in Birmingham
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I have found a few 'Pea Pickers' from Boston, these where on my mothers farthers side. I have also found a train diver in Sheffield, I am keen to learn more about his service on the trains.
contact aslef the train drivers union they keep records of all thier drivers. address:_ 9 arkwright rd hamstead london nw3 6ab
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I have found a few 'Pea Pickers' from Boston, these where on my mothers farthers side. I have also found a train diver in Sheffield, I am keen to learn more about his service on the trains.
contact aslef the train drivers union they keep records of all thier drivers. address:_ 9 arkwright rd hamstead london nw3 6ab. all the best kali.
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cordwainer
tailoress
currier
master engine smith ( lord mayor of london designate)
maltsters clerk
shipping clerk
printer/compositor
musician
carman
trunkmaker
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A bit boring but here goes.....
about 200 ag labs!! surprise surprise!!!
mobile grocer
blacksmith
organist
church warden
plate layer
millar
wheelwright
farmer
horse man
tailor
traction engine driver
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Have just received a marriage certificate of 1850 for my gt-gt-gt-grandparents. Discovered there that my gt-gt-gt-gt-grandfather Charles Gruby White was an undertaker - this is definitely a first for our family...
Keith
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I also have an ancestor who married a coffin maker.
My most intersting has to be a wheelwright who became a schoolteacher and founded a school in a belltower.
As his ancestor i have been invited to the school for a special service and see children lay flowers on his grave...
I also have a duckmaker, ( I believe it was sailcloth on barges but it is more interesting if you let your imagination run wild.
I also have 2 seamstresses 'mens shirts(unemployed)' and 'ladies knickers'. It was obviously better to be in ladies knickers so to speak..
Alice
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Oh! how I wish he was one of mine - 1851
George Jellehort age 28, a Medical Botanist Practioner of Dr Coffins Botanical System of Medicine.
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Heres a few of my family occupations.
Ag lab,cattleman,stevedore,railway guard,railway signalman,cordwainer,gardener,bricklayer,shipwright,servants,lacemakers,cook,
bookseller,footman,drayman,needlewoman and a glover shop worker.I imagine thats something to do with gloves.The list goes on.
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Our only achiever was Thomas Clifford who became a headmaster aged 29.
Others were:-coachman,art metal worker.marine store dealer (in Brum?),glass manipulator,bedsteadmaker,pubs trade paddy stoker? house agent, Sacristan of St. Chads Cathedral,gunmakers clerk (I wonder if he ever got fired....sorry)
jim1
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Whilst looking for someone else in the 1881 census, I found a 16yrs old boy who was described as a servant.However,his occupation was given as ODD BOY.
Makes yer wonder don't it........ :-\ :-\
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I have just found a 'cow hornkeeper'!! Also a fancy dress finisher and a woolen bag sorter.... how excitng is that compared to me.... a boring accountant!!
Possum_pie
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I have one branch of the family who were Shoe Hands, Boot Finishers, Boot Lasters and Boot Makers and another that were all Framework and Stocking Knitters. We had the feet covered!
Also have a butcher, Coal Agent (and a Coal Agents Wife), a hawker and a railway porter.
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I have a Land Surveyor,
Butcher,
Farmer,
Gardener,
Groom,
Gamekeeper,
Wheelwright,
Miner,
Carpenter,'
But i think the most unusual iv'e come across so far is an' attendant to the insane'
Sandra.
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My ancestors are mostly coal miners, farmers, agricultural labourers, general labourers, but also
wheelright
carpenter
ship carpenter
tin miners
tin dressers
copper miners
underground pony drivers
colliery weighman
colliery deputy
oil works foreman
hotel proprietor
grocers
farm bailiff
sexton
trumpeter in RA
sgt majors in RA
soldiers in RA
hairdresser
platelayer
station master
bricklayer
iron forgeman
blacksmiths
brewers
fish merchant
housekeeper
domestic servants
farm servants
etc
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Been trawling the 1851 for Woolwich and found living in Hog Lane...
Peter Wooten age 54 and his son John 25, both Birdcatchers - can't have been many of those in London
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I have just come across an Out door Pauper as the occupation for one of my family members on the 1871 census
Dorothy
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Have a carm lurryman
Bob
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Our only achiever was Thomas Clifford who became a headmaster aged 29. (I wonder if he ever got fired....sorry) jim1
Mom's side were mostly "Ag Lab"; Dad's side were mostly "Miners" (including some dressers). But Mom had an ancestor who was a schoolmaster at a primary school for over 30 years. He also served as postmaster part of the time, as well as a farmer. He got his family involved. One son, age 18, was a letter carrier (in the countryside), two children were assistant teachers. Teaching occupations continue to this day by several cousins, aunts (retired), and uncles (retired). We still have the "Ag Lab", but most have to augment the farming with "day" jobs. RedFox
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Not mine, but I recently came across a
"fire escape manufacturer"
Sorry now that I didn't note the reference
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Well - I have a Sicilian Sailor (whatever they do!) a School Master at the Poor House - who teaches the idiots and imbeciles (I think I have his soul!) and a Great Granddad who worked at Ogdens ( no wonder I've got "dickie" lungs and I'm finding it hard to give up smoking !!)
Annie
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I HAVE :- CLERK AT THE GATE, FORTRESS GRAUDENZ,
CASSEN CONTROLLER,
PIKEN MAKER,
PIKENEER,
MANTLE MAKER,
LIGHTERMAN,
LOTS OF MARINERS,
AND HOW ABOUT A PETLINER, DON'T EVEN THINK
ABOUT THAT ONE.
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Here's one to get you all guessing . . . . one of my ancestors back in 1806 was a DASKER . . . ?
For years I've been trying to find out just exactly what this occupation was so I suppose it could be classed as 'interesting'.
Anne
P.S. He worked in Bothwell, Lanarkshire according to the OPR's.
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would it be dancer? in the danish or german language i think dasker means dancer. i am only guessing???
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No its not dancer in German - thats Tanzer - sorry i cant help you
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Re DASKER . . . It's most definately Dasker.
The handwriting is very easy to read (even although it's from the OPR's from 1806). I could probably make something amazingly interesting definition up, no-one would be any the wiser!
Anne
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GGGGrandfather Matthew Fairclough was a frying pan maker.
I love the precision of the description, not just any old pan, but a frying pan.
Bless him
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Re DASKER . . . It's most definately Dasker.
The handwriting is very easy to read (even although it's from the OPR's from 1806). I could probably make something amazingly interesting definition up, no-one would be any the wiser!
Anne
Hi Anne
Well, there is a family (only one - therefore a genuine Censuswhack!) in the 1881 census called Dasker - the head of house has probably the least interesting job in the world: an insurance salesman for the Pru!
cheers
Paul
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In that case, all is clear - he is a DASKER i.e. a maker of DASKERs. :o
Didn't do a very good job of it in 1881, did 'e then ;D
(Ooops, go wash your mouth out with soap and water !!!) :-X
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Bob
Didn't the man from the Pru have a bike ?
Annie :P
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Occupation seen yesterday
Sick in Bed
Bob
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Forgot to mention this too.
A man who emigrated to usa to become .......
a pencilcase maker
Bob
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My favourite occupation among all of my miners in Dalton in Furness, Isle of Man and Durham is one of the sons listed as 'Coal Miner Better Below Ground'.
So is a 'Better' an actual job or was his dad being a bit snarky!?
Sarah
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My favourite occupation among all of my miners in Dalton in Furness, Isle of Man and Durham is one of the sons listed as 'Coal Miner Better Below Ground'.
So is a 'Better' an actual job or was his dad being a bit snarky!?
Sarah
Nice one, Sarah! The nearest I could imagine would be 'Putter', which is a particular job in the mines. But I like 'better' better! :)
Paul
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My family has a wide range of occupations including:
Traveller with show- working on the Gallopers
Hawker of Hardware
Painter and decorator
Bricklayer
Gardener
Signalman on the railways
Gas works manager
Publicans
Sagger-makers-bottom-knocker plus other pottery based occupations
Various coalmining trades
and a Nippy at the Lyons tea-rooms!
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Most of my paternal family have been gun makers or nail cutters but my Great great Grandfather was a Sword Mounter - now that sounds painful! :D
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Hi all,
Most of my ancesters were cordwainers (bootmakers).
It was a family busines and only stopped recently as my grandfather was a butcher.
Kim
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I have a fitter of lightning conductors! Also a cricket ball maker (whole family of these) - obviously a skill handed down through generations.
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Oh yes, and a manager of a pork pie factory....
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In my Walker line, linen draper, smallware dealer, frilling winder, battery maker, ring spinner, spindle and fly maker, clog iron maker, tripe dresser, carver & gilder.
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When I was a child a great aunt came down from Scotland for a visit. I heard her telling my Gran the work she did was very demanding. Being nosey I asked what she did. Answer a lighthouse keeper. My reply was, must be very lonely for a lady out on a rock all alone. Rather puzzled she explained clearly, a light house keeper, in other words an odd jobber, or domestic.
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I just found one - "Diploma d'Accoucheuse". I haven't a clue what this means but it sounds very grand for a 54 year old widow who was a Monthly Nurse in the previous census!
Jill
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I have just found a 'Theater Dresser' now would that be the stage or the actors?
Willow x
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All of my folks on my fathers side were all involved in billiards in some way - grandfather held some sort of record - dont understand the game myself - to my shame! My G.Granfather was world champion in 1871 and a few times after and he came from a long line of people who owned billiard premises and so on and from Wales too - I bet not many people know that!
The only other ones I have found were music hall singer, actor, factory owners, cordwainers, upholsterers - quite a mix - cant wait to find more
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I have just found a 'Theater Dresser' now would that be the stage or the actors?
Willow x
Hi Willow,
Just noticed your question - try this link for someone who works as one!
http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/2420
Cheers
Keith
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Thanx for that Keith its a really interesting read. Looks like this relly could be worth digging into a bit more even thought he isnt a direct relation
Willow x
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Hello Willow,
There was a famous film "The Dresser" - adapted from a stage play.
All about the Dresser (Tom - later Sir Tom - Courtenay) who had to get the aging actor 'Sir' (Albert Finney) through a performance of King Lear.
JAP
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a highway robber
a forgerer
but then I' m an Aussie
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cordwainers
bootmakers
ag labs
sawyer
tea dealer???????????
gas lighter
fisherman
prisioner...............
ops nearly forgot the lunatic! bless her! tried to kill herself in the bath! sounds like postnatal depression to me!
and me im just a librarian!...................
Happy hunting
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Really enjoyed reading all about the various occupations! My claim to fame? My GtGt Grandmother was a French Polisher and my GtGt Grandfather a Brassfinisher. His father, on their marriage certificate stated he was a ship owner, however, i do not have anything which would support such a claim, and i think it was probably wishful thinking (he had eleven children!) ;D
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I just found one - "Diploma d'Accoucheuse". I haven't a clue what this means but it sounds very grand for a 54 year old widow who was a Monthly Nurse in the previous census!
Jill
My understanding is that an Accoucheuse would normally be a female Obstetrician or (particularly these days) a qualified Midwife - and even more generally, any female person who assisted at the birth of a child. We had (may still have - it's on mine but that was a while back ;)) the rather grand word Accoucheur on birth certificates in Victoria Australia. The column for Witnesses has three possibilities - (i) Accoucheur - this was used only by qualified doctors, and the assumption obviously was that these would be male, (ii) Nurse by whom certified, and (iii) Name of occupier or other witnesses. Mine has a Doctor under (i), a Sister under (ii), and no entry under (iii). But in earlier times I have certificates where there was only one name and it was recorded under (iii) - often Grandma who was both occupier and amateur midwife - or none at all.
So I suppose that the Diploma was a nursing (Midwife's) qualification - I wonder where your widow obtained it! Pity you don't have a copy. A Monthly Nurse, of course, one who attended a mother for the month after the birth.
JAP
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Hi JAP,
Thanks very much for that information - very interesting! It ties in nicely with what it actually said in the 1881 census, i.e. Monthly Nurse (SMS) and I have since found out that this stands for Subsidiary Medical Services, which in turn means "not a doctor but qualified in some way".
I guess she would get the Diploma in Nottingham - she lived there all her life. Have you any idea where I should go to get a copy of it? I have to admit it is something I hadn't thought of!
Thanks again and best wishes.
Jill
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On a much more mundane note ;D
I did a 1901 look-up yesterday for "oop north" and found that along the road from the genteel family I was seeking on behalf of the "poster" was a chap who described his occupation as "Chip Shop proprietor".
The politically correct enumerator had scrawled over the top - "coffee house".
Gosh is it lunchtime yet??
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I haven't researched my mother's side of the family yet-but she tells me her mother was the result of a union between a catholic bishop and his housekeeper. Not sure how to research Belgian records, but I'll get around to it one day. Nothing exotic on my fathers side-cockney dustmen, hawkers and vestry carmen
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My most unusual amongst all the Ag Labs,Crofters and Shepherds in my family would have to be my x4 great grandfather who was a Birlyman.
In Scotland this was a ground officer or parish arbiter.
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I have a few unusual ones in my family tree.
a superannuated tide waiter
a cow keeper
several coopers
a yeoman
a piecer
a cotton bobbiner
a cotton minder
Brian
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I have a few unusual ones in my family tree.
a superannuated tide waiter
Brian
I can understand the others-but what is one of those?
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Heres a couple Ive come across.....
School slate maker
Tent cutter
Cork sorter
But my best has to be President of bank and cattleman.
( he owned 40,000 acres in Nebraska and started a settlement there)
Tazzie
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Hi Mc
Superannuated tide waiter is the description of a customs man who waited at high tide to inspect cargoes of ships entering port for tax purposes. The superannuated refers to the fact that he has retired and has some sort of annuity.
Brian
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I have a "dealer in gents fur goods" [buffalo robes???]. The same individual is otherwise listed as running a "clothing, boot and shoe, cap and hat store," being vice president of the local bank, and having an interest in a barrel stave factory.
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Whilst looking for my 3 x great grandfather in the 1841 Scottish census I found someone of the same name with the occupation of "card sharper"! I wonder if this is really what it seems?
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I have a "dealer in gents fur goods" [buffalo robes???]. The same individual is otherwise listed as running a "clothing, boot and shoe, cap and hat store," being vice president of the local bank, and having an interest in a barrel stave factory.
Not related to Paul E - was he?? ;D ;D
Keith
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There were Farmers with up to 100 acres employing men and boys - their sons mostly started as Ag Labs. One moved to SE London and became an Inspector Metropolitan Police, even working at Scotland Yard. Most of the women were Dressmakers, but one was a Milliner as well, took in apprentices and was a Shopkeeper. Among this side of the family were also Grocers from Monmouthshire. They married into Farmers and Millers and a Barrister's Clerk, with a couple of Printer compositors.
Another group were all connected with the Rope Making in Bridport. Along with rope makers there were Twine Spinners and Combers. Some even owned quite a bit of property including spinning lofts. Others there were Bakers and Master Bakers, Town postmen (2) and a Lodging House Keeper.
Today I found a family of Hairdressers(male), Straw Bonnet makers and a Cab maker.
Then there's the Cab Proprietor employing 6 men and his son, who was a Coachman (not domestic).
Wheelwrights and Coopers, Beer Retailer, Able Seaman, Sail Cloth Weaver, Precision Tool Maker.
My favourite is the Poulterer, who moved in with her daughter in her old age and became a Higgler
.... and there is one who never seemed to have any work "Own means" on the censuses - but we know he was a railway worker but retired due to an accident and ended up working on the funicular Clifton Railway in Bristol.
I'm waiting on research to see if we really descend from a Sheriff of Dorset - or the line of Devonshire farmers....
Dressmaker, Soft furnishings maker, artist, scenery painter, theatrical costume maker, ex-systems designer, mother, housewife, cook
Watermusic
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I have a gent in my tree with an occupation to beat all the others in this long thread!
Henry Scarisbrick - the official flogger at Kirkdale prison in Lancashire :)
(or :'( :'( :'(- if one met him in his professional capacity).
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What I find amazing is the use of the term scholar for the children in the household on census returns.
By no stretch of the imagination could a 2 year old be in what we now term education. I guess it must be a term used for any child in a household which learns from its mother or other siblings.
Brian
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i've got an animal stuffer and a pugilist in mine.....
Toni
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Did some checking of a census return for Lancashire on behalf of a member 'down under' and came up with this occupation.
Butcher finisher in Laviage!
Anyone any idea of what a finisher in laviage could mean?
Brian
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Did some checking of a census return for Lancashire on behalf of a member 'down under' and came up with this occupation.
Butcher finisher in Laviage!
Anyone any idea of what a finisher in laviage could mean?
Brian
I did a google on that and only surnames came up-is there a jewish link?
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Mostly manual workers in my tree so far. One great grandfather owned a cats' meat shop and described himself rather grandly as "purveyor of horseflesh". Several silk weavers and rope makers (twine spinners) and a 14 year old girl tin miner (no idea if she worked underground or not). One very distant relative was a lamplighter and knocker-up.
Amazing how many trades have completely died out in the 20th century
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Anyone any idea of what a finisher in laviage could mean?
Brian
It could be a variant of the French "lavage" - washing. Maybe he washed the corpses?
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Either he worked for a butcher called "Laviage" - as I can only find this as a name
or lavage - as you suggest, phillipsearching - means
A washing, especially of a hollow organ, such as the stomach or lower bowel, with repeated injections of water.
He cleaned the tripes!
My mum loves tripe and onions! (Yeugghh)
Watermusic
By the way another one found this week Hemp Draper The draper meaning dealer in dry goods - he was a buyer of hemp for the rope industry.
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i have a sarah ann taylor, who at one point in her life was a mantel maker, for those of us who remember gas mantels
you can imagine that must have been a pretty intricate peace of sewing!!
Moderator comment:
The resulting discussion about "mantel maker" has been split off to this new topic
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,92986.0.html
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A Fancy Dress Party with everyone dressed in the attire of their ancestor with the most interesting occupation might well come up to the standard of the Chelsea Arts Ball.
I understand some of my ancestors were master mariners
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My g g g g grandfather James KITCHENER from Newington, Surrey, England was an ovenbuilder c1821. Not much info about! :-\
Sarndra
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I would say the most interesting would be my great great great great grandfather who worked as a lime burner, and occupation I had to look up and which sounds fairly dangerous and unpleasant.
The most bizarre - my great grandmother was a glass bottle stopperer for a while.
Also, my paternal great great great great grandfather was a mariner, despite living several hundred miles inland.
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I was researching my Clarke line - without success, but came across an unrelated Clarke who was a
Roughstuffman
You didn't want to mess with him!
Bob
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I was researching my Clarke line - without success, but came across an unrelated Clarke who was a
Roughstuffman
You didn't want to mess with him!
Bob
something to do with barges?
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I would agree it was probably something to do with ships.
The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue defined ROUGH as -
To lie rough; to lie all night in one's clothes:
called also roughing it. Likewise to sleep on the bare
deck of a ship, when the person is commonly advised to
chuse the softest plank.
I imagine only the wealthy wore pyjamas in those days.
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Bob,
Do you have any more info about this chap? What was he in earlier or later censuses?
I suspect that rough stuff could have many meanings.
Perhaps a particular kind of (woollen?) cloth (stuff)?
Or what about this from:
http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/images/ronstadt/jan/ss31/ss31pt3.html
"... Rough stuff is a filler which has a consistency of heavy cream and dries hard. When the rough stuff had dried, it was polished with fine sandpaper down to the white lead coats before the flat color coats and varnish coats were applied. ..."
And here's a reference to 'rough stuff' in 1727 at:
http://www.campus.ncl.ac.uk/databases/history/latham/years/la27.html
Googling finds other references.
Regards,
JAP
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JAP - fascinating information from the U of Ariz. I could have spent hours reading about and looking at the pictures of the wagons built in the West and to know that also occured in the East with the Conestoga and other wagons and carriages. I found F. Ronstadt a gentleman worth knowing more about. Wonder if he could be related to a well known singer of today. Just as interesting was the spelling of the words in the list from the account. You've found the stories behind the facts and that's what I would like to do. RedFox
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As this thread is getting so long, I have now split it (at 400 replies) and locked this part.
You can still add your entries to the continuation thread
What is the most interesting occupation in your family tree? (#2)
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,107779.0.html
Bob