You may have had the good fortune to discover what your ancestors did for a living, by searching through electoral rolls, census records etc. If you’d like to find out more about their professions why not look at some of the titles held in the Genealogy Centre. We have a number of excellent titles that not only provide a history of specific occupations but include details on  how to find further information using available records and archives.
Here are some recent publications that may be of interest to you.

Female occupations : women’s employment 1850-1950 by Margaret Ward

This is a fascinating book that lists, in alphabetical order, the various occupations women held from the 1840’s to the end of WW2. It covers everything from the hard, monotonous, dirty work undertaken by working class women in the 19^th century through to the immense barriers women faced when trying to become doctors, lawyers, accountants etc. Of particular interest is the broad range of jobs that existed, from the dangerous – Lead Smelting Worker, Gun Cartridge Maker, Aerated Water Bottler (exploding bottles) ; the unpleasant – Fur Puller (choking on rabbit down), Trotter Scraper (500 sets a week) ; the outmoded – Lacemaker, Bathing Machine Attendant ; and , the new – Typist, Telephonist, Civil Servant.

Trades and professions: the family historians guide by Stuart A. Raymond.

A huge amount of information about our ancestors can be discovered by consulting the records of their occupations. Employers kept records of their employees. Trade unions, professional associations, and trade guilds kept records of their members. And governments attempted to regulate a variety of occupations. Many of these records still exist and can be found in archives and record offices. This book recommends some key UK sources relevant to a broad range of particular occupations, including Stonemasons, Railway Workers, Miners, Blacksmiths and Publicans. Sources include books, journals, websites, directories and parliamentary papers.

My ancestor was an agricultural labourer (rev. ed.) by Ian H. Waller.

Look at any mid-19^th century UK census and you will find men employed as “ag lab”, agricultural labourers, farm worker, farm servant or shepherd.  This book provides an outline of an agricultural labourers life, looks at the social and economic conditions that shaped their world and how poor harvests and the Industrial Revolution forced many to leave the land and find employment in towns. The second half of the book lists the various resources, records and websites which may help you with your research, including employment records, maps and  local archive collections. This is a revised edition of Ian Waller’s popular book.

Web Sites for Genealogists

Here are just some of the websites and gateways you can use to find information on occupational histories and records.

Australian

• The Public Record Office Victoria’s  Wiki has a number of occupations listed, including Police, Railways, Teachers. Click on the relevant category to find out what records are held at PROV.

• NSW State Records. Short Guide 10 – Professions and occupations This guide lists a selection of the more significant State archives relating to particular professions and occupations.

• Occupations in Australia (Coraweb)  A gateway to a number of useful Australian websites. Some of the occupations listed include – Police, Publicans, Artists, Railway Workers and Miners.

United Kingdom

• Research Guides National Archives (UK). The surviving records for a number of UK professions are often held by local archives and record centres and can be difficult to locate.  To help you find information the National Archives has developed a series of Research Guides  on such professions as the Police, Lawyers, Nurses and Railways workers.

• Occupations – GENUKI United Kingdom and Ireland Includes a great list of books and websites on such occupations as brushmakers, canal workers, postal workers, court officials etc.

• Who do you think you are. Take it further – Jobs Includes an interesting collections of websites for such professions as Coal miners, Shopkeepers, Textile workers and Agricultural Labourers.

May 2012 marks our blog’s second birthday. Two years ago we began with our first post “Hello world!” More than 110 posts later we are celebrating our second birthday!

We looked forward to sharing the State Library’s window on the world of family history with you and we hope we have achieved this over the past two years with regular posts, a number of guest bloggers and a wide variety of genealogy and family history topics covered.

Edward Bennett lighting candles on his 100th birthday cake. Mona Catherine McLeod, 1934.   State Library of Victoria  H18604    B52779

Comments about our posts are always welcome. In our third year we look forward to sharing more of the Library’s world of family history with you.

Anne

Saturday 31 March 2012 from 10am to 4pm join Ann and Grant from the State Library of Victoria’s Genealogy Team to “Byte into your family history” at the National Archives of Australia’s annual Shake Your Family Tree Day event at the Victorian Archives Centre, 99 Shiel Street, North Melbourne.

 Image courtesy National Archives of Australia

As well as stands from a number of Victorian agencies and societies, there is also going to be an accompanying talk and activities program. Your family might want to join in the all day Make Your Family Tree kids program (parental/carer supervision required) or from 12.30pm to 1.15pm you might want to become a ‘wiki warrior’ with Public Record Office Victoria.

For those of us who are regular viewers of the popular SBS television series Who Do You Think You Are? the 1pm to 2pm talk by researcher Kirrilly Brentnall should be a highlight.

 All talks and activities are free but bookings are essential to 03 9348 5600 or to prov.vic.gov.au/what’s-on.

From North Melbourne to my lovely home city Adelaide for the major 13th Australasian Congress on Genealogy & Heraldry  from 28 to 31 March. On Friday 30 March I am speaking on “Publicans and public servants : some ideas for researching the occupations and working lives of your female ancestors from the collections of the State Library of Victoria”, including manuscripts, photographs and newspapers.

A copy of my full paper and accompanying list of references will be available in the proceedings after the Congress.

  Two women working a plough 1910-1920  H99.224/47, State Library of Victoria

We look forward to meeting you if you attend either of these events!

Anne

Reference and research librarians, especially those fortunate enough to work at institutions such the State Library of Victoria, have a large arsenal of reference sources to draw on in the course of their professional duties.
Bibliographies are reference sources that can excite librarians and researchers alike. Bibliographies are a complete or select list of works on a particular subject or by a given author.  They confirm that a resource exists and state the publication details. Annotated bibliographies provide descriptions of the sources.

One example of a frequently used bibliography located on the Library’s Helen Macpherson Smith Genealogy Centre shelves is:

British directories: a bibliography and guide to directories published in England and Wales (1850-1950) and Scotland (1773-1950)

Some bibliographies are seldom used, however, when they are, they can really shine.

When a recent enquiry came to the Library requesting access to the ‘Hayes records’, it was a bibliography that saved the day.

The enquirer had been advised to “use the Hayes records” for her Irish research. “They are at the State Library and they have to be ordered in” she was told by her informant and that was pretty much all there was to go by. Initial searches of the Library’s online catalogue did not retrieve an entry of interest.

The following source came to mind:

Bibliography for researching Irish family history in the Victorian State Library.

The bibliography’s index has the entry: “R.J. Hayes. Page 12″. We are closing in! How exciting! Page 12 contains a description of a publication edited by R.J. Hayes including the exact piece of information we want, the publication’s title. A search of our online catalogue retrieved the bibliographic entry for: Manuscript sources for the history of Irish civilisation and the desired volumes were ordered for delivery to the Library from our off-site store.

Bibliography saves the day!

Grant