England Business and Occupations: Difference between revisions

If you know:  

*a date range to focus your search

then there are several useful places to start searching for your ancestor's occupation:  

*'''Vital Records'''. Parish records of baptisms and marriages usually record the occupation of the father of the child in the case of a baptism and the occupations of the parties and their fathers in the case of a marriage. Parish records of burials less often record the occupation of the deceased. Civil registration of births, deaths and marriages will contain the occupation of the father in the case of a birth, the deceased in the case of a death (sometimes also that of the father) and, in respect of marriages, the occupations of the parties and their fathers. For more information on using these records, see: [[England Vital Records]].

*'''Directories'''. From the 18th century, variously styled publications began being produced which contained alphabetical lists of persons, their trades and addresses. In the 1840s, street directories began to appear which included among its listings the occupation of the householder. Post Office officials began publishing their local ''Post Office Directory''. For more guidance on using trade and other directories, see: [[Directories in England and Wales]].

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For classification of occupations in England, see:  

To learn a trade, an individual had to be apprenticed. Records were usually created of the agreement between the master (the one doing the teaching) and the person (father, guardian) or the organization (parish) placing the apprentice.  

'''Master''' was the level after journeyman. A master was the most skilled craftsman.  

Between 1710 and 1811 a tax was assessed on the masters of the many who were apprenticed. For more information about these tax records, see the [[England Taxation|Taxation]] topic page.  

Apprenticeship books of Great Britain: Inland Revenue, town registers, Oct. 1711-Jan. 1811 and country registers, May 1710-Sept. 1808; and indexes to apprentices, 1710-1774 and indexes to masters, 1710-1762 See the following:  

Often the craftsmen of the same trade banded together to regulate trade and protect their members’ interests. The organization they formed was a '''guild'''. Those belonging to the guild were given special privileges, such as voting, and were called '''freemen'''. In a city a freeman was also called a citizen. In a town or rural area, he was called a burgess.  

Freemen records are more useful than apprenticeship records because they usually give ages, birthplaces, parentage, and occupations.  

Guild records are usually among city or borough records or in the possession of the modern guild. Many are in London at the [http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Libraries/City_of_London_libraries/guildhall_lib.htm Guildhall Library]. Chapter 14 in the following book explains guild records:  

Freemen and apprenticeship records are usually at the [http://www.oz.net/~markhow/englishros.htm county record offices].  

Many of the London Guild records have been indexed and are available:  

British Origins has an index of just under 500,000 names a this link for [http://www.britishorigins.com/ London Apprentices 1442-1850] (£) from indexes created by Cliff Webb.  

In early use, the term "profession" was limited to the law, the established Church, and medicine (these three often called the "learned professions") and sometimes extended to the military profession. Training was undertaken, not through apprenticeship, but at schools, colleges and universities, although the solicitors' branch of the law was subject to a special form of apprenticeship called 'articles' undertaken by articled clerks.  

Members of the did not join guilds; they had their own associations, disciplinary bodies and publications. For details see:  

*[[Clergy of Church of England (in England)]]

See also:  

Records of persons employed in various occupations by the government have survived in various archives. They are usually organised by employer rather than occupation. Details of officeholders have also been complied.  

*The Coastguard and Custom and Excise Officers:  

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