TRADE DIRECTORIES
When you’re researching your family history, the most common approach is to concentrate on the major sources and life events, such as birth, marriage and death certificates, and census returns. While each of these records can provide information about your ancestors’ trades and occupations, many people don’t realise how easy it can be to discover more about what your relatives did for a living.
WORK AND STATUS
A person tends to be defined through their work. In the past a man’s trade or occupation dictated both his status and his wife’s. Knowing how a forebear spent their working life – especially when put into the context of the geographical location, social history, etc – will add colour
