What type of job did your ancestor do? Whether they were a farmer toiling in the fields, working in the factories that sprung up during the Industrial Revolution, or a member of the clergy, giving others spiritual enlightenment, the working lives of our ancestors give us a great insight into the type of person they were.
However, finding an ancestor with a common surname among the array of records can make tracking down the right person a nightmare. Therefore the best way of navigating the thousands of matches to just a few is by using the term ‘occupation’ in TheGenealogist Master Search.
The ability to search by occupation makes the job faster and easier, and TheGenealogist is the only family history website that lets you search and discover your ancestor by their occupation and name alone. Using the Master Search feature you simply add an occupation as a keyword to help with your search. Using this method we can find John Smith, an ironworker on the docks in Monmouth. Originally from Staffordshire, he is living with relatives in Newport who also work on the docks.
With the comprehensively transcribed census records on TheGenealogist you can discover how they made a living all those years ago. For the more obscure job titles, there is also a handy help tool to explain more about the job, to provide explanations on what occupations such as ‘stevedore’ and ‘lighterman’ involved.
People’s job titles give us more of an insight into their lives, and by searching the census records on TheGenealogist you can find the professions of your ancestors, from stonemason and carver to ship carpenter and even ‘ironer in dye works’. Tracing the jobs they had through each census is easy once you have their year and parish of birth. Instantly you get a snapshot into their life of financial hardship or a one of success and privilege.
TheGenealogist also has specific records dedicated to certain professions. If your ancestor has a trade or skill you can search for them among the comprehensive range of specialist records covering a number of professions including legal, medical and aviation, as well as sports people and actors. By using the Master Search facility we look for a clergyman who achieved a lot in his lifetime in his chosen profession. William Archibald Spooner was a renowned academic who was ordained deacon in the Church of England in 1872 and became a priest in 1875. From the occupational records results, we find William Spooner listed in the 1907 and 1911 clergy lists and the official list of registered teacher in 1917.
Even if your ancestor wasn’t well known in their particular field, you can still locate them by their occupation in the numerous trade directories on TheGenealogist. The trade sections in directories can help you find an ancestor’s place of employment. The official sections of directories list all public buildings and officers, so if your ancestor was a doctor or clergyman, his place of work may also have been his residence, and the commercial sections list everyone in business, from small businessmen to large factories.
These resources are available from the 1700s up to the 1950s and are invaluable for tracking ancestors before, after, and in between census years. |
