Questions tagged [occupation]

For questions about determining or interpreting the job, profession or avocation of an ancestor.

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Does being a "Yeoman" imply that the person is a "Bachelor"

I have seen in english church marriage registers: Richard Carver of this parish, yeoman and Elizabeth Chapman of this parish, spinster and was wondering if a yeoman must be unmarried?
Barnaby's user avatar
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Clarification about men being Munition Workers (on Birth Certificate)

I am intrigued by this occupation on a birth certificate from 1918 in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire: Munitions Worker According to this article it implies such a role would be performed by women. Can ...
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Occupation Column on Passenger List [duplicate]

On the Mar 9, 1853 Passenger List for the Shannon, what does “do” in the Occupation Column for a child mean?
Mary Ellen Gray's user avatar
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Transcribing place of occupation (Coal Pit) and information about it

I am trying to determine the Coal Pit where Samuel Harris was stated to have been working on 13 Feb 1877 in Irvine. I can make out: Samuel Harris Engineman at Bay? Coal Pit I tried to google it (eg: ...
Andrew Truckle's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
277 views

Translating profession from two records written in Kurrentshrift

I'm struggling to identify these characters in two records for the same person, recorded one year apart. The documents are from around 1900 and written in Kurrent, and I've tried using both a Kurrent ...
dave_from_heuristics's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
104 views

Reading occupation in 1860 US census record

Below is an excerpt from an 1860 US Census record for Wheeling, (West) Virginia. What is the occupation listed at the bottom? The first letter looks like an M, and the last three look like 'der'. ...
user5836's user avatar
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Where in England would a young man, 14-15, be sent to learn trade of an iron molder about 1815?

My ggf, Robert Stanton, was born somewhere in England about 1800. We do not know parents or siblings names. The first record we have is a baptism of a daughter in St Ann, County Antrim, Belfast, with ...
Judi wagner's user avatar
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How to find a slater named Patrick M Golden in 1870 records?

According to this image from NARA microfilm publication M233, published as part of United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914, Irish immigrant Patrick Golden worked as a slater ...
Ellen Spertus's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
263 views

What is Census occupation named Folder Work?

A Census record for London from 1901 includes “Folder Work” as the occupation of a 15-year-old boy. (What is possibly the same individual a decade later was occupied as a “Malsters Labourer”.): The ...
pnuts's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
119 views

Who would grant a lion tamer licence in northern England?

My great uncle Walter Manton Partington trained circus lions. His circus name was Retlaw. He was apparently the only trainer to have a licence in northern England in the early to mid 1900's. Under ...
Maggie Speak's user avatar
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1 answer
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What type of journey from Plymouth to Exeter in 1751 might cost 1 pound 5 shillings?

My 6th great-grandfather Robert Osment was baptised on 8 Mar 1703, married (to Elizabeth Simons) on 3 Jan 1729, and buried on 6 May 1756, with these life events all occurring at Plymouth Charles, ...
PolyGeo's user avatar
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1 answer
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Reading occupations in 1841 UK census for James Nichols and his father William?

I can not read either occupations on this 1841 UK census date for James Nichols and his father William Nichols, can somebody else read it? I can not find any occupations starting with PIN that match ...
Morgan's user avatar
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1 answer
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Looking for more occupational records of Walter Cowin

Looking for occupational records of a Walter Cowin, born circa 1910. He can be found on the 1939 register living at 6 Mill Street Chester, as a "public works labourer". He was between the age of 18 ...
Charlie's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
113 views

Records of joiners in Glasgow and Edinburgh

What was the procedure for becoming a joiner in Glasgow and Edinburgh around 1840? Are there records of qualified joiners? Was it necessary to have already a relative in the trade to be accepted for ...
stephen henderson's user avatar
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175 views

Apprenticeship records or trade information for 1830s Sheffield, Yorkshire?

This is the same family as in the related question Finding residence information for Toronto in the 1840s? I have two references to George Hindley in Sheffield, Yorkshire -- both identify him as a ...
Jan Murphy's user avatar
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133 views

At what age did girls leave home in 1880s England?

Ellen Sutton (born to Harriet and John Sutton 1868 in Wolverhampton) appears in the 1871 Census, but not the 1881 Census, even though her siblings do. The death index shows that a 4-year-old Ellen ...
browly's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
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Understanding meaning of professions in 19th century Calabria, Italy?

This is not a pure Italian translation issue, it looks, after investigation and discussion with Italian native speakers, a question more related of how professions are recorded in Calabria (or whole ...
Trebia Project.'s user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
2k views

Records of miners in the California Gold Rush?

I am looking for an ancestor who may have been in Grass Valley, Yuba Co., CA in 1850 as a gold miner. Did miners leave any records? I did not see any references to mining in the FamilySearch WIKI for ...
Steve S's user avatar
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Seeking records of 18th century Somerset surgeons named John Chichester?

This question is related to Interpreting "married by Licence as I am credibly informed" on 1732 Gloucestershire marriage record? in which I began to try to find the birth family of my 5th ...
PolyGeo's user avatar
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4 votes
6 answers
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Meaning of job recorded as "USAF – AFSC#29430"?

I am interested to know a description of the job recorded on old family papers as "USAF – AFSC#29430". I cannot seem to find this job description anywhere.
Ed Chaimberlin's user avatar
9 votes
4 answers
833 views

What did a 'chemist' do in the 1920s?

My great-aunt Susan Jane Wright declared her occupation as chemist/chemistry when she arrived in Canada from the UK on at least two occasions in the 1920s. Given the family background, I'm pretty ...
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1 answer
99 views

What records might survive of nautical assessor who died on London Docks in second half of 18th century?

In Could John Stacy who lived/married at London and later lived at Exmouth (Devon) have been baptized in 1759 at North Petherton (Somerset)? I have been trying to identify the parents of John Stacy (...
PolyGeo's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Finding records of Transport-office that John Smyth worked for in London prior to 1806?

I have been trying to determine the occupation(s) of my 4th great grandfather John Smyth, who married Sara Osment on 13 Jul 1764 at Stoke Damerel, Devon, when a "Captain's Clarke ... on his majestys ...
PolyGeo's user avatar
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2 answers
151 views

Discovering what Swiss ancestors did for living (i.e. their occupations)?

I am researching my Swiss ancestors and although I have quite detailed family trees on both sides, I would like to know more about individual ancestors, specifically, what some of them did for a ...
Susan O'Connell's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
282 views

Is it really written "Bauer" here?

The profession of my ancestors is indicated in a catholic church book from Upper Silesia. I'm fairly confident they were farmers, so it should be written Bauer since the register is written in German. ...
Bregalad's user avatar
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5 votes
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What did a Scientific/Philosophical Instrument Maker do and what other sources might be worth looking at?

My 2x Great Grandfather was Robert H Mason, born in 1858 in Romsey, Hampshire to Robert Mason & Ann Pearce. He came from a reasonably poor family where the majority of his siblings and cousins ...
Danny Barber's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
453 views

Becoming a master tailor?

At the time of the 1841 census, one of my ancestors in Nottinghamshire, England was undertaking his apprenticeship with a tailor. A decade later, on the 1851 census, my ancestor is recorded as a "...
Harry V.'s user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
55 views

Would variety store in Albany, New York, USA (1862-1872) leave records and what would it sell?

As mentioned in Finding Naturalization Record for Hugh Sellars from Scotland who lived in Albany (New York State) 1855-1872? my 4th great grandfather Hugh Sellars and his second wife Mary had a ...
PolyGeo's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
118 views

What is an "ehemalige Trompeter"?

On the death entry for my great-great grandfather, it says that he was a master weaver, which I knew, but also an "ehemalige Trompeter," a former trumpeter? I find this intriguing, because the fact ...
ewormuth's user avatar
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572 views

What might Wine & Spirit Vaults be in 1841 Census at Helston, Cornwall?

I have mentioned my 4th great grandmother Alice Rutter previously in Were Liquor Licenses required in early 19th Century Cornwall? I know that she and her husband William Symons were wine/spirit ...
PolyGeo's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
106 views

Are South Australian Miners expected to appear in Boothby and later directories?

My 2nd great grandfather Edward Sleep, with his wife Charlotte Hancock, immigrated to Port Adelaide, South Australia aboard the William Prowse on 22 Sep 1853. Edward's occupation was recorded as ...
PolyGeo's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
194 views

Finding apprenticeship record for Blacksmith born 1846 at Illogan, Cornwall, England?

In another, currently unanswered, question (Where was Matthew Nettell, of Illogan, Cornwall, for the 1861 Census?) I sought the 1861 Census location for my 2nd great grandfather Matthew Nettell who ...
PolyGeo's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
143 views

Interpreting Service Record of QAIMNS nurse in Egypt at time of Gallipoli campaign?

My great grand aunt Eleanor Bessie Stacy (1879-1925) was a World War I nurse with Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) and later the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS). ...
PolyGeo's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
806 views

Apprenticeship records for Ship Carpenters at Glasgow, Scotland in first half of 19th Century?

Two of my direct ancestors were Ship Carpenters: my 4th great grandfather Hugh Sillars was first noted as such in the 1841 Scotland Census: Hugh Sillars 37 Agnes Sillars 30 Robert Sillars 9 Agnes ...
PolyGeo's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
155 views

Finding personnel records for Railway Company in Panama around 1865?

Margaret Elizabeth Sellers was born on 28 Jul 1865 at Tradeston, Glasgow. On her birth certificate (which I have not sighted), the occupation of her father, Robert Sellers (my 3rd great grandfather), ...
PolyGeo's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
309 views

What occupation is a "bottom puller"?

My father's enlistment document lists his civilian occupation as: bottom puller code 8-61.01. What does that mean?
user3863's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
153 views

What was occupation of Skipper in 1855 New York State Census?

In the 1855 New York State Census the household (Residence: Albany City, Ward 6, Albany, New York, USA, Line Number: 12, Sheet Number: 1) of my 4th great grandfather Hugh Sellars, a Ship Carpenter, ...
PolyGeo's user avatar
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2 votes
3 answers
759 views

What is occupation that looks like "Pre MJ" on 1841 census from Cornwall, England?

In the screenshot below, I have been unable to decipher the Profession, Trade or Employment of Joseph Green in the 1841 Census at St Clements, Cornwall, England. To me the first word has three ...
PolyGeo's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
118 views

Establishing identity of Edmund Rouse of St Clement, Cabinet Maker, Private in Napoleonic Wars and Weaver?

I always wondered why my 4th great grandparents Edmund Rouse (of St Clement) and Christian "Kitty" Crossman (of the parish) who married on 1 Feb 1801 at Truro St Mary, Cornwall appeared to have had ...
PolyGeo's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
207 views

What would Captain Richard Boyens do as Toller to Duke of Leeds in Cornwall?

In another recent question (Is there Index to Cornish Mining Captains that might include Richard Boyens (1750-1838)?) I referred to my 5th great grandfather Richard Boyens (sometimes spelled Boyns) ...
PolyGeo's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
88 views

Were Liquor Licenses required in early 19th Century Cornwall?

My 4th great grandfather William Symons had his occupation in Helston, Cornwall described at least half a dozen times in christening records and marriage certificates of his children and his own death ...
PolyGeo's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
360 views

Researching photographers in England and the UK

While collecting census records for my husband’s family in South Devon, England, I found an 1861 census entry for their family with a visitor/boarder who was a photographer. William Haddy was born ...
Jan Murphy's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
78 views

Who would someone in convict shipping to Australia (ca 1830s-1840s) have worked for?

My great-great grandfather, Walter Cole, was born at Ottery St.Mary, Devon, England in 1810. The family oral history is he shipped convicts to Australia approximately in the 1830's and 1840's. He ...
Jane Ryan's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
86 views

Did glaziers rescue medieval stained glass in World War II?

Does anyone out there have any information on glaziers rescuing medieval stained glass in World War II? My grandfather William Manning was in this reserved occupation and I am trying to find out if ...
TraceyKate59's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
360 views

What does the occupation "Works in Woods" mean?

In an 1880 US Census entry, the occupation of Daniel Card is listed as "Works in Woods." What does that mean? Where I grew up, the word "woods" was a synonym for forest so I immediately thought "...
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13 votes
2 answers
325 views

Finding Edinburgh map engraver apprenticeship records of William Slight in 1840s?

My 3rd great grandfather, William Slight, was born about 1832 in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland to James Slight (a Mason) and Elizabeth Boyd (daughter of a Mason). In the 1841 Scotland Census he ...
PolyGeo's user avatar
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14 votes
2 answers
979 views

Finding resources about circus ancestors?

I am trying to find the family name of the trapeze act (and ideally the individuals) who toured Ireland back in the 1950's with the Chipperfield Circus. I'm struggling to find any resources that ...
ACProctor's user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
654 views

What was occupation of Viewer?

On my parent's marriage certificate dated 1954, my mother's occupation is given as "Viewer". From oral testimony, I know that they met while both working at the Rover car factory in Solihull, UK. I'...
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11 votes
1 answer
737 views

How did the lives of Worcestershire nail-makers change 1840-1880?

The 1851 Census of England and Wales shows my ancestors living in Forge Lane, Halesowen, Worcestershire. Not only are all the adult males on the page working as gun barrel forgers, but also every ...
Fortiter's user avatar
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