Hard to pin down

I am always duly cautious about assuming that a person had one job throughout his life - then as now. I am prepared to consider most career changes short of e.g. ag lab to surgeon between successive censuses. (If this seems to be the case, I am probably looking at two different men) However, I have been looking at a relative who seems to have had remarkable flexibility, either in his career or his relation to the truth.

The man is Arthur Shreeve, who married Elizabeth Fisher in Norwich in 1816. When his first child was christened in the same year (both parents named, so no doubt about the identification) Arthur was described as a sawyer. Three years later, at the next christening that I have found (again both parents have full names given) he was a weaver, and was described as such on all four subsequent christenings, up to and including Samuel in 1832. This was a slightly surprising change of trades, but not unbelievable. However, in the 1841 census, just a few years later, Arthur is down as a labourer. Little doubt of identification - his wife was with him, as was young Samuel. In 1851 Arthur is again - or still - a labourer, and Samuel is now a stonemason. I have no doubt, then, that Samuel is the same one who married in 1853, giving exactly these occupations for himself and his father.

The obvious explanation is that Arthur had perhaps a change of trade in early life, then fell on hard times and worked as a labourer rather than a weaver. However, he appears in both the 1861 and 1871 censuses at the Great Hospital for Aged Men and Women in East Wymer described as 'formerly stone mason'. It appears here that he 'borrowed' his son's trade to describe himself. This is turn leads me to wonder whether he was always a labourer, and the descriptions on his children's christening records were a touch, er, fanciful. (In case you are wondering, I did go back to the original image of the 1816 baptism and I'm pretty sure it says 'sawyer' not 'lawyer' - anything would seem possible!)

 

Any occupation being listed is better than none. The euphemistic description "gentleman" has plagued some of my research!!

 

Yes indeed!! This (generally) seems to be self-awarded at the end of the working life, and possibly describes someone who was (just) wealthy enough to not need to work till he dropped.

 

I dropped long ago but like the idea that perhaps I have at last attained the position that my mother always wished for me.