How many occupations to the pound

[Milliepede]

My gggrandfather was an engineer/fitter in the railway and that's the occupation on all census plus certificates I have for him.

I know he dabbled in brewing beer as there are beer licences and in 1861 he is at a pub (but still down as fitter) but last night looking at a trade directory in 1875 to my surprise he was listed as a baker!  I know its him because the address is the same as the 1871 census. 

This is the first whiff of baking I have come across and am curious to know how he carried out a, presumably full time, railway job plus did his brewing and baking at the same time.

Is it possible his wife did the baking and poured the beer? 

[artifis]

Very possible.  I have an ancestor in a similar scenario to yours and in a subsequent census he is described as the head with his usual occupation and beneath that his wife is described as beer house keeper/brewer.  In the next census he had passed away and his wife is now a licencee of what's now described as a public house, a position she held in the next census and then succeeded by their eldest son with her still employed at the pub.  The pub sold food and as there were no others living there it's reasonable to assume she did the cooking.

[toby webb]

There seems little doubt that our ancestors were pretty tough. They got up very early, might have walked a considerable distance to the railway works and tended their kitchen garden plot when they got home. Bakers started early and after leaving for work, the family might have completed the tasks. Brewing could be done at any time including the Saturday afternoon and Sunday. Did he have a family old enough to help? These were ambitious people determined to get out of penury. I have relatives like that too. T

[Rena]

Did he have a family old enough to help? These were ambitious people determined to get out of penury. I have relatives like that too. T

I was going to ask the same question.  According to my grandmother, when young she and her siblings helped their father bake for his confectionary shop. They were noted as scholars.  His occupation on the census was "Sawyer" and his shop was advertised in the local trade directory..

[JohninSussex]

A few decades ago, it was quite common when someone had no fixed occupation and did "a little of this and a little of that" to ask them "well what is written in your passport?"

 We don't have occupation in passports now, but it was a situation when you had to decide how to describe your position in society that you would be stuck with for ten years.  So I imagine such a person might put down the job they were trained to do, especially if it was something with status, even if currently they were doing something else completely. 

So how someone completed the census question might be how they thought of themselves as a worker in a trade or profession - while at the same time they wanted to be found in the current directory offering the service of the moment, whether as a baker, publican or what ever.

[Maiden Stone]

Did your engine fitter bake bread? Beer and bread have synergy, they have yeast in common.

My 18thC innkeepers in a small, quiet, seaside town were also the town butchers. Neither was a full time occupation. Butchery was seasonal, mainly late autumn to early winter. Wife and children could look after inn when husband was working. This continued for 3 generations. Occupation in parish register was variously innkeeper, butcher, yeoman (inn had land + cottages attached). Return of Papists 1767 has elder man's occupation as innkeeper (he was 67 and died shortly after) and younger man, aged 29 (possibly nephew) as innkeeper & butcher.

When the younger innkeeper & butcher listed in Return of Papists died in 1780 he was innkeeper in burial register. 5 years later his only son married, occupation butcher. Around same time his widowed mother married a maltster. (Synergy again.) She might have run the inn while her son was being a butcher. Then seaside holidays & trips became popular. Coaches arrived at the inn. Business was booming. Fortunately the latest Mrs Innkeeper-Butcher produced a large number of healthy children to help run the inn. Youngest surviving son (my direct ancestor)  learned about meat as well as serving customers. After 30+ profitable years, Mr & Mrs Innkeeper gave up their business and lived on investment income. When the youngest son, my ancestor needed to earn money again, he turned to selling meat. Later he did a day job for a wage while his wife looked after the shop. This man had at least 8 occupations in his long life, including most of those followed by his father and 3 of his 4 brothers.

[Milliepede]

Thank you all for interesting replies.

To answer the question about if he had family to help - in 1871 he was 40 wife 39 and they had 6 children at home - aged 18, 13, 11, 7, 4, 2. 

The eldest described same as his father "fitter in railway works"  13 year old described as labourer.