“A to Z Genealogy Tips – Fortnightly Series”

Understanding your ancestors’ work helps explain their lives and movements.

Trade directories, apprenticeship registers, guild records, and employment documents reveal occupations, locations, and social networks. These records can also lead to discovering relatives and uncovering social status.

While very few personnel records have survived, some occupations are more likely to have survived than others.  Some State Records Officers have index cards and occasionally larger files for teachers, railway employees, police officers etc.  You may not always find occupation records relating to your ancestor, however always worth checking, because if there is something, then it adds to your ancestors story.  Alternatively, if you know your ancestors occupation, research what that occupation entailed in your ancestors era.

Investigate occupation records for an ancestor to gain insight into their daily life.