Finding Out More

 

Finding out more about your female ancestors’ working lives is a fascinating extension of family history. Perhaps reading through the dictionary has inspired you to investigate further? The suggestions given below for background research are intended to supplement those included with the occupations listed in the dictionary, and to give ideas for possible progress with the many entries that have no obvious ‘next step’.

Records – of companies, trade unions, associations, individuals – can turn up at surprisingly long distances from where you might expect, and in the past might have been undiscovered. However, searches can now be easily made through the websites below, as well as through local record offices (see ‘Useful Addresses’). Records of town and city life are sometimes of great help in tracing businesses and the owners of premises, through local rates books for instance. Other property records such as deeds, estate records, business papers, apprenticeships, licensing records, tax records can all prove useful.

A2A, short for Access to Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a), is a searchable catalogue of archives held locally in England and Wales, in record offices, libraries, universities and museums. There are currently over 10 million references to records on the database and it is regularly updated. This is a great starting point, though obviously not everything is here.

The National Register of Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/default.asp) has information on the location of manuscript and historical records, which you can search by company, personal, family or place name.

The Women’s Library (www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomenslibrary) has an extensive collection of archives connected with women’s history.

The Scottish Archive Network (www.scan.org.uk) is an online catalogue of historical records held in Scottish archives, and the National Register of Archives for Scotland (www.nas.gov.uk/onlineRegister/) lists private collections registered with the National Archives of Scotland.

Many businesses over the years have run into difficulties and gone bankrupt. If your ancestor ran her own business for a time, it is always worth checking these records. The National Archives (see ‘Useful Addresses’) has a research guide detailing their relevant holdings. Bankruptcies were also listed regularly in the London Gazette and its sister publications in Edinburgh and Belfast. These can be searched online (www.gazettes-online.co.uk). There may also be reports in local newspapers.

 

An example of what might be found in family papers. Clues to women’s working lives may be discovered in birth, marriage and death certifi cates, census returns, parish records, and family stories and heirlooms.

 

The Business Archives Council (www.businessarchivescouncil.org.uk) is dedicated to preserving ‘business records of historical importance’, and, although it holds no archives itself, it suggests, amongst other things, using A Guide to Tracing the History of a Business, Dr John Orbell (Gower, 1987) for sources and ideas. Most small companies’ records, it warns, were destroyed in the past unless they were kept in the family. Companies House (www.companieshouse.gov.uk) is the place to go to trace a current company. The National Archives holds a variety of company records (see contact details in ‘Useful Addresses’; they have a range of relevant research guides available through the website or at Kew). See also Company and Business Records for Family Historians, Eric Probert (Bury, 1994).

In Scotland, the British Archives Council of Scotland (13 Thurso Street, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G11 6PE) fulfils a similar role. See their website (www.gla.ac.uk/services/archives/scottishbusinessarchive/) for business records since the 18th century, advice on sources for specific industries, and an online catalogue.

Trade and town directories are very useful aids, which developed from the late 18th century to fill the need for quick access to commercial information and were well established by the 1850s. Kelly’s is a well-known name but there are many others, and they include listings of businesses and prominent local residents. Some were very local, targeting visitors to spa and seaside resorts. Good runs of locally important directories are usually held by the local record office or main libraries (see above); most were published regularly, if not annually, and can help to trace a business or individual through several decades. They will not identify individual wage-earners, but will include anyone with a shop or business in the area.

 

From a Post Office Magazine of 1937 – company journals can be a mine of information about staff.

 

Some directories can be searched online. The major website is that of the Historical Directories Library of the University of Leicester (www.historicaldirectories.org), and other examples can be found by using a search engine, with the word ‘directory’ and a county or city. Many have now been published on CD by various suppliers, for instance S&N Genealogy Supplies (www.genealogysupplies.com; telephone: 01722 716121).

There is a huge archive of advice on researching occupations for family historians in the back copies of the major family history magazines. For Ancestors, see the website www.ancestorsmagazine.co.uk – go to ‘Search Issues’; for Family History Monthly go to www.familyhistoryonline.com and click on ‘Back Issues’.

Businesses that have been in existence long enough to have an anniversary often publish a company history describing the development of the firm and including photographs and perhaps details of long-serving employees. Their websites, too, have a certain amount of historical information. Histories of towns and villages, and of particular crafts, trades and industries are common. Autobiographies written by local people may also help you by describing what local people did for a living.

Many of the books mentioned in the dictionary are out of print, but should be available through your local library and the inter-library loan scheme. Sale catalogues of secondhand book dealers are easily available and searchable online (eg, www.abebooks.co.uk and www.addall.com, but there are many more – simply type ‘secondhand books’ into a search engine). Support your local bookshop for books in print, and a website such as www.amazon.co.uk will also produce a list of available books, both in print and out of print, for whatever subject you desire. The catalogue of the British Library (see ‘Useful Addresses’) lists every book published.

For background information, advertisements and news stories there is nothing like a contemporary newspaper. Unfortunately there are few indexes to local newspapers and going through them is time-consuming unless you have a specific date or event in mind. The local record office should know if there is an index to any newspapers in their area. Copies of county newspapers, usually on microfilm, will be found at the record office or library.

The Newspaper Library of the British Library (see ‘Useful Addresses’) holds copies of every newspaper and magazine published in this country. There is an exciting development online with the 19th Century British Library Newspapers website, currently available at the British Library itself and at further education and higher education institutions; this has examples of Victorian newspapers from around the country, searchable by keyword. Also available online and a tremendous source is The Times digital index, fully searchable from the 1780s; this is available at many libraries and record offices.

Many professional bodies, large companies, trade associations etc had, and have, their own regular journals, which list staff news such as promotions, retirements, awards and so on as well as items of interest – the Post Office Magazine, for instance. Some of these are mentioned in the dictionary, but it is always worth finding out if there is anything relevant to your search: you could enquire from the company, association etc direct, or the Newspaper Library at the British Library. Copies relating to local industries may also be found at record offices or museums.

Telephone directories have been in existence since the 1880s and there are examples now available to search online at www.ancestry.co.uk (fee payable). Shops, companies, tradeswomen and professionals may all be found here and traced to an address in much the same way as trade and street directories.

The Modern Records Centre at Warwick University has links to occupational sources, including the trade unions associated with them. It also has some trade union archives, as well as employer or trade associations and business records. It gives advice for family historians on its website (www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library.mrc).

Museum collections are indispensable for getting the feel of an industry or craft, and for bringing to life the local working community. Addresses of museums across the UK are available online (www.24hourmuseum.org.uk; or see ARCHON below).

See Family History on the Net, Colin Waters (Countryside Books, 2008) for more suggestions for searching the internet.

There are many suggestions for further reading or research throughout the book, but two Victorian writers deserve a special mention. Henry Maythew (1812–1887) wrote a series of articles on London Labour and the London Poor which first appeared in the Morning Chronicle between 1849 and 1850, and were published in four volumes in 1861–2; there have been many edited versions since then, but Dover Publications reprinted the full text in 1968. Similarly, Charles Booth (1840–1916) wrote a massively important study of the Life and Labour of the People of London, which first began appearing in 1889 and was finally published in 17 volumes from 1902 to 1903 (see the website http:///booth. lse.ac.uk for more information). I also find the website www.victorianlondon.org full of wonderful things.