Cheers - well, I have lots of questions so perhaps a mod can move this for me if this isn't the appropriate place?
I have no knowledge of the lives of boat people but have just realised that I have some in my tree.
William Newton m Ann Tidd in Grantham in 1824. I have no knowledge of William's family background but as far as I know, the Tidds were largely builders/joiners. William and Ann's children were born variously in Grantham, Redmile and Nottingham so I guess they worked the Grantham canal. William's occupation was given as waterman or boatman until 1861, when he was a lockkeeper at Long Eaton.
My q's:
Was it common for boatmen to marry landlubbers?(!) I sort of imagined that, like travellers, this was a community that tended to marry within itself - was I wrong?
His daughters were listed as lace finishers/winders/workers. Was it common for the women to do work like this on the boat or would they have stayed in the town for work?
How were boat families addresses usually shown on censuses? This family's addresses in the censuses were in Nottingham, not obviously by the water (but then again I don't know Nottingham!)
I may think of other things but for now, thanks for any help
