Occupations

Relatives obviously followed many occupations but there are several that occur repeatedly.

• Farmers. Various relatives in the 19th century were farmers, several of whom moved into urban centres during the course of the century. See Farmer for further discussion.
• Collier. Many relatives are colliers, whether hewers or labourers or surface hands or managers. Sadly it is impossible to know which colliery relatives worked at until the 1921 census included employer information. See Coal Mines for further discussion.
• Mill Worker. I suspect a lot of female relatives were mill workers but this tended to be omitted from certificates and census returns. A few details creep in after the First World War.
• Grocer. Several relatives became Grocers in the second half of the 19th century. This is probably due to the migration of people into urban areas at that time and their need for food, which relatives presumably had access to due to their contacts with local farmers. These are usually small scale local shops which carried on until after the Second World War when the advent of supermarkets probably removed the need for them. See Grocer for further discussion.
• Publican. Several relatives became publicans or hotel keepers in the second half of the 19th century. Some made a success of it and others did not. See Publican for further discussion.