Category: Work
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Staging a move from house painting
1920s switch from manual work
1920s switch from manual work A combination of silver screen and architecture is Cutlock & Co’s top find from a speedy trawl through the online 1921 census records, made available for free by Findmypast over the recent Remembrance Weekend. Plus some other items of interest. Thatch and bright lights The husband of great aunt Ellen (nee Neal), Henry JV Williams, appears in the 1911 census as a general decorator (and earlier as an upholsterer/paperhanger) – the same line of work as great grandfather Arthur AB Howes. » »
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Expanding the retail experience
Or: shop counter intelligence
Or: shop counter intelligence Over the last year, Cutlock & Co’s editor has been busy facilitating Zoom sessions for the local U3A family history group, plus creating and giving a variety of presentations for them. This website has proved a good source of material, but the creative process also works the other way. Preparations for a talk titled “The Selling Game” (subtitle “from official establishments to street traders”) was the prompt to explore in more detail the shop work that great uncle George Neal’s bride to » »
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More than a musical footnote
Joe Gregory, popular accordionist, band leader
Joe Gregory, popular accordionist, band leader Joe Gregory’s name crops up online from time to time, usually as a mention in the history of “the oldest record shop” Spillers Records in Cardiff. An album launch by big name rock band The Pixies at the shop got it (and Joe) page 3 attention in The Guardian (14th September print edition) {1}. There’s not much on the web about Joe, accordionist and band leader originally from Bush Houses, Tonypandy and a first cousin twice removed, so here’s » »
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Not quite teetotal Norwich ancestors
A pub for every day of the year
A pub for every day of the year One of the first stories to emerge when reviewing my initial family history research some years ago was the contrast between my Norwich born grandparents tendency to alcohol abstinence and the number of pubs managed by relatives. I made some notes at the time but never quite got round to turning them into an article. A U3A group session on ‘Pubs and Publicans’ {1} has spurred me on. A family of pubs or non-drinkers? The Norwich side of » »
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Squeals of delight
The wheeling dealing Osbornes
The wheeling dealing Osbornes Another delightful occupational title has come to light, after a little gap filling and “new” records checking on the family tree {1}. Previously I had somehow identified 4x great grandfather Joseph Osborne as a (farm) labourer, supposedly per his son Robert’s marriage registration {5}. However, on making use of Ancestry’s Somerset collection, the original image for this event shows him to be a ‘Pig Jobber’! As defined by a list of old occupations {2}, this is someone who “Bought pigs and then » »
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The changing face of work
Electric job generation
Electric job generation The changing lines of work, along with developments in technology and society, come through clearly in searches on the September 1939 register {1}. Of course, many others continue to be employed in more traditional jobs of shop keeper, coal miner, metal worker, gardener, insurance agent, teacher, printer etc. {4} Some examples below, but this piece starts off with an oddity or two. Much call for this line of work? As already illustrated in Pitching for a job, occupation descriptions can be remarkably » »