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Topic: Mechanics in Dundonald in 1854? (Read 454 times)
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akanex2
RootsChat Senior
Posts: 271
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Can anyone help identify my gt gt grandfather's occupation from his 1854 marriage certificate please?
He was living in Dundonald at the time and his father's occupation is given as farmer. The groom himself later became a shoemaker in the village and I didn't know he had ever held any other occupation until I saw this.
It looks like "mechanic" to me but elsewhere on the certificate the clergyman has made his capital "M"s much more pointed, though his writing is so atrocious I could believe he was inconsistent on this. More importantly I didn't think that a likely job, given the year and location.
Any suggestions?
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Erato
RootsChat Aristocrat
Posts: 1184
J and J
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My gg grandfather emigrated from a small village in Scotland in 1834 and he was listed as a mechanic when he entered the US. Of course he may have lied or exaggerated.
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Wiltshire: Banks, Taylor
Somerset: Duddridge, Richards, Barnard, Pillinger
Gloucestershire: Barnard, Marsh, Crossman
Bristol: Banks, Duddridge, Barnard
Down: Ennis, McGee
Wicklow: Chapman, Pepper
Wigtownshire: Logan, Conning
Wisconsin: Ennis, Chapman, Logan, Ware
Maine: Ware, Mitchell, Tarr
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akanex2
RootsChat Senior
Posts: 271
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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OK but he would have had to serve an apprenticeship and Dundonald didn't even have a forge in 1861 (Griffith Valuation).
It certainly is possible (and was my own initial reading) but I just can't help thinking it's unlikely.
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akanex2
RootsChat Senior
Posts: 271
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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In the 1852 Belfast directory Dundonald had 3 publicans, 1 innkeeper, 2 grocers and a haberdasher - none of them him, but then he would only have been 20 when this directory came out.
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Christopher
Deceased
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 10243
1939 - 2009
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I was wondering if he did some sort of work with the railways but I've had second thoughts
and think he may have been a craftsman who'd served his time and could put his hand to several
different skills. There were Mechanics Institutes in Britain in the early 1800s where adults learned
technical skills.
I wouldn't rely on the directory. The trades listed look as though those guys worked in the village
whereas there's a possibility that your mechanic worked in the Dundonald area not covered by
the directory.
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akanex2
RootsChat Senior
Posts: 271
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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My guy lived in "Gape Row" in Dundonald village and his father farmed at Ballylisbredan.
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 Gape_Row.jpg (111.5 KB, 1000x606 - viewed 104 times.)
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Erato
RootsChat Aristocrat
Posts: 1184
J and J
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OK but he would have had to serve an apprenticeship and Dundonald didn't even have a forge in 1861 (Griffith Valuation).
Are you sure about the need for an apprenticeship? Maybe he was just a practical guy with mechanical ability and a self taught "mechanic."
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Wiltshire: Banks, Taylor
Somerset: Duddridge, Richards, Barnard, Pillinger
Gloucestershire: Barnard, Marsh, Crossman
Bristol: Banks, Duddridge, Barnard
Down: Ennis, McGee
Wicklow: Chapman, Pepper
Wigtownshire: Logan, Conning
Wisconsin: Ennis, Chapman, Logan, Ware
Maine: Ware, Mitchell, Tarr
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akanex2
RootsChat Senior
Posts: 271
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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To be honest I haven't a clue - I happy to be guided by anyone out there with actual knowledge of mechanics in the 1850s. I am intrigued as to what mechanical devices he would have worked on.
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akanex2
RootsChat Senior
Posts: 271
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Here's a couple mor extracts from the same certificate to get a feeling for the handwriting involved.
I'd better say that the handwritten words are "Belfast", "Dundonald" and "Farmer" as it's not immediately obvious.
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akanex2
RootsChat Senior
Posts: 271
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Here's the signature of the clergyman involved - it's anyone's guess what his surname is!
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akanex2
RootsChat Senior
Posts: 271
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Actually I think I know who the clergyman was - Rev Edward J Martin, who was presbyterian minister of Dundonald. He also baptised ther couple's children in Dundonald, although the marriage was performed in Linenhall Street Prebyterian Church in Belfast city centre.
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Suttonrog
RootsChat Aristocrat
Posts: 1629
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Compare the 1st letter of Martin to the 1st letter of your mystery word. They both look like Ms to me. Mechanic looks likely.
Rog
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akanex2
RootsChat Senior
Posts: 271
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Thanks to JP08 on Belfast Forum I got the following suggestion
"The danger is always present that we apply modern intrepretations to old words, acts and customs.
The word mechanic goes back to the 17th century and it was used in at least one sense which relates to manual labour. It could be applied to anyone that had a trade or craft, like an artisan and perhaps even a cobbler."
I checked out the dictionary which gives, among the usual modern meanings, the following alternative definitions:-
"handicraftsman";
"a term of contempt for the lower orders";
and, an archaic meaning for 'mechanical', "manually employed".
I'd be interested if anyone else has found this occupation on certificates in the same period to see if the term was in general use.
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