Occupation Traveller??

[els81]

I did not think of that. His son Stephen only turns up in the 1901 census but does not state where he was born and I can not find a birth record for him so he could have been born somewhere abroad, maybe??
I did post on here earlier but was wondering about the occupation of William

[els81]

yes I have been told that Stephen was related to the "Pedlar Palmer" but I think every Palmer wanted to be related to him

[Redroger]

In view of this information it looks as though he might have been a memberf of the travelling community and not a commercial traveller. Personally I would now concentrate on census records for the surname Palmer, but in London and the Home counties to keep the search (fgairly) manageable.

[AJ100]

Having made a lengthy study of Parish Records of my area, I would doubt that Traveller meant Commercial Traveller. More likely it was a convenient way of descibing someone who was on the move a lot, going from town to town and job to job but almost certainly not a Romany. If he had a specific trade such as carpenter, he would be described as a 'Journeyman Carpenter.'
A Carman is, as Redroger says, is a Driver but usually emplyed by the Railway for delivering goods.

AJ

[els81]

Hi AJ, thank you for the info. Still dont know where to go from here? William was a Traveller but dont know what he done? Stephen was a carman and a coal dealer. Obviously if William travelled alot he would not be mentioned in any cencus. I find the census records really confusing as people seem to change where they were born and the yr they were born.

My search continues...

[AJ100]

Hello Els
Census records can be confusing and the ages are conflicting, largely because people didn't really know exactly how old they were. Ages could vary by several years so take dates of birth with a pinch of salt and either take the average or use one that appears most often, if you have nothing concrete to go on.
Where they were born sometimes conflicts with with where they were baptised. A person could be born in one town and there would be no record and be baptised in another where there would be a record. So it apears he was born in the town of baptism when he wasn't. (I've come across this in my research). It's all very confusing.
Regards
AJ

[els81]

It would help if I knew where Stephen was born. In 1901 he didn't put where any of his family were born (wife and children) so my search ends there on that one. But he was living in shoreditch and was a carman so will have to look around that

[Redroger]

Hi AJ, thank you for the info. Still dont know where to go from here? William was a Traveller but dont know what he done? Stephen was a carman and a coal dealer. Obviously if William travelled alot he would not be mentioned in any cencus. I find the census records really confusing as people seem to change where they were born and the yr they were born.

My search continues...

People usually at the time we have the census available for were less consumed about their date of birth than we are. In fact, they often didn't know. Also ages were often altered to narrow an age gap between husband and wife, so you will find too that this often applies on marriage certificates.