I can see his father Alexander died 1879 Frederick would have been quite young and maybe unsure of his father's occupation
Rosie
Quite true and within about 10 months Frederick and his younger brother Normanhad been bundled off to a paupers school which would have been confusing. He had a second brother, Douglas, (my grandfather) who managed to stay at home with his mother until he went in the army and trained at Mallow which is why the family seemed to end up there.