Analysing Ancestor Occupations and Work History
Explore the working lives of your ancestors - from farmers to factory workers, professionals to tradespeople - and understand the social history of your family.
Why occupations matter
Ancestor occupations tell you more than just how they earned a living:
- Social status: Occupations indicate class and social standing
- Record sources: Different occupations have different record types (guild records, professional registers, military records)
- Migration clues: Skilled trades often moved to follow work opportunities
- Family patterns: Many occupations were passed down through generations
- Daily life context: Understanding work helps you imagine your ancestors' lives
The Occupations tab
Access occupation analysis via Directory > Occupations. The interface shows:
- Occupation list: All unique occupations in your tree
- Category grouping: Automatic classification into groups (Agriculture, Trades, Professional, etc.)
- Person counts: How many individuals held each occupation
- Timeline view: When occupations appear across your tree's timespan
Automatic categorisation
GEDminer automatically groups occupations into categories:
- Agriculture: Farmer, agricultural labourer, shepherd, dairymaid
- Trades & Crafts: Blacksmith, carpenter, mason, tailor, weaver
- Professional: Doctor, lawyer, teacher, minister, architect
- Domestic Service: Servant, cook, housekeeper, governess
- Mining & Industry: Miner, factory worker, mill worker
- Maritime: Sailor, fisherman, ship's captain, longshoreman
- Military: Soldier, sailor, officer ranks
- Commerce: Merchant, shopkeeper, clerk, banker
This helps you see patterns across similar occupations.
Generational trends
Look for patterns across time:
- Industrialisation impact: Did your family shift from agricultural to industrial work?
- Social mobility: Did occupations become more professional over generations?
- Geographic changes: Did occupations change when families migrated?
- Family trades: Were certain occupations passed from parent to child?
These patterns reveal the economic and social history of your family.
Researching specific occupations
Once you identify interesting occupations:
- Search for guild or trade records: Many professions had formal organisations
- Look for apprenticeship records: Show training and family connections
- Check professional registers: Doctors, lawyers, clergy often have biographical dictionaries
- Find workplace records: Factory, mine, and estate records may mention employees
- Research historical context: What was this job like? What did it pay? What were the working conditions?
Understanding historical job titles
Old occupations can be confusing:
- Husbandman: Small farmer, below yeoman
- Cordwainer: Shoemaker (new shoes, not repairs)
- Chandler: Candle maker, or provisioner
- Sawyer: Wood cutter with a two-person saw
- Huckster: Small-scale pedlar or hawker
- Fuller: Cloth finisher
- Ostler: Stable hand for horses
Many historical occupation dictionaries are available online to help decode unfamiliar terms.