Hi Juddee,
This may be a bit confusing, but I am going to take a shot at this farm worker question.
There are three common terms for farm workers in the 19th century , "ag.lab.", "farm servant" and "farmer's man", as well as individual skilled jobs such as "cowman", "carter", etc. On census returns the generic term "ag. lab"tended to be used for all of them and this term seems to have been adopted by family historians.
Properly speaking, "ag.labs." were lower down on the totem pole, did unskilled jobs and moved around quite a bit and were usually unmarried. They were paid by the week or by the job. Whereas,
. permanent farm workers, often called "farm servants" or more often, by their job title, "shepherd" or whatever.. These men, usually married, lived in a cottage on the farm or in a nearby hamlet, were skilled workers and were paid a quarterly or yearly wage. The terms "farm servant" and "farmer's man" were often used interchangeably, therefore sometimes a "farmer's man" may have been a shepherd, carter, or cowman.
Sometimes the term, "farmer's man" was used to describe a young man learning a skilled farm job such as that of shepherd or even general farm management (a sort of farm apprentice) or it could be applied to a boy or an old man doing odd jobs around the house and farmyard. The term could even be applied to someone with great responsibilities, for example a bailiff or steward.
I have seen the term in wills and guessing that farmers, even fairly big ones, did not employ valets or man servants, I did a little research to find out just what they meant by "my man".
I am afraid that there is no way of knowing what a particular "farmer's man" actually did for a living without knowing a lot more about him, his background, education and other jobs, etc. and the social hierarchy
on the farm where he worked.
Hope my explanation was not too confusing.
Cheers,
Carmela
P.S. Leagan, ag.lab.= agricultural labourer
