Why would a family of boot makers move from town to town endlessly?
I'm tracking the Purnell family who are boot & shoe makers over several generations. Joseph Frederick Purnell starts life in Cheltenham, and then has children in Bristol, Warwickshire, Glamorgan, West Bromwich, Staffordshire, Birmingham, Country Durham, Sunderland, Hartshill and back to Sunderland. His brother Thomas follows the same pattern having children in Dudley, Tipton, Derby, St Helens, Gloucester, Newport, Cradley Heath, Birmingham and Ryhope near Sunderland.
When they appear in the census, the accommodation is always modest.
Having travelled endlessly for throughout the nineteen century they appear to settle in Sunderland. Can anybody offer an explanation? Is there a precedent for this as a boot and shoe maker who worked “own account”.