Family History Fun: J is for Jobs, Jewellery. Jennet & John

Monday, 9 April 2012

J is for Jobs, Jewellery. Jennet & John - A to Z Genealogical Challenge -

Ros at http://genwestuk.blogspot.com/ has come up with the idea of an A to Z genealogical challenge for the month of April. It soon got me thinking, so here are my contributions.

J is for:

Jobs - My Danson family came from a rural part of Lancahsire in north west England, so jobs on the land were the norm - whether it be Ag. Lab, husbandman, carter, or cowman, with two generations reaching the status heights of being described as yeoman farmers. It was all change in the 1860's when my great great grandfather Henry Danson of Trap Farm, Carleton left farming and became a toll collector at the newly built Shard Bridge over the River Wyre, near Fleetwood.

Great Uncle George at his station bookstall

This was an age of great social change, from rural to urban life. The period saw the rise of the seaside resort of Blackpool and fishing town of Fleetwood with a predominant theme the impact of the railway.

New occupations appeared in the census entries for the family - pointsman, railway telegraph clerk, railway porter, railway coach examiner, and railway labourer, with a related trade that of my great uncle George who worked at W. H Smith's newsagent stall on station platforms.

Trades in the family included coal merchant, rope dealer, and even tripe dealer, with Danson daughters marrying a shoemaker, joiner, innkeeper, and watchmaker. The women were undertaking roles as laundress, and much more appealing - a confectioner's shop woman, and keeper of a sweet shop.

Elsie Oldham in the 1920's opened her own home-based business as a hairdresser, styling herself as "Elise". See the posting "Bobbing, Shingling and Marcel Waves"

In the early 20th century, three of my great grandparents large family, Harry, Robert and Jennie all worked for the post office.

In my husband's Donaldson family history, the linking factor was the sea with family occupations ranging from merchant, master mariner, seaman, caulker, roper, ship's carpenter and river policeman.

Have you ever puzzled over the occupation of a Scottish ancestor, as listed in the cesnus? The take a look at the listing of over 1500 occupations with their definitions and variants at: http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/help/index.aspx?430

Keep an eye open too for my posting on the letter O where I will look at Occupational Records.

Jewellery - My great grandmother Maria Danson, nee Rawcliffe (1859-1919) had ten sons and as her last child an only daughter Jennie. On a visit to see Jennie's daughters, I took photographs of Maria's jewellery and they remain among my family history treasures. Here is a necklace and brooch that her son Frank brought back from Malta who was in hospital here durng the first World War.

Jennet and John - two Christian names that re-occur down the generations of my Danson and Rawcliffe families. Jennet has an old fashioned air that appeals to me and above is the signature on the will of my great great great great grandfather John Danson (1736-1821).