Mechanics in Dundonald in 1854?

[akanex2]

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?

[Erato]

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.

[akanex2]

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.

[kingskerswell]

Hi,
   It may read PUBLICAN if innkeepers were called by that name in those days.

Regards

[akanex2]

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.

[Christopher]

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.

[akanex2]

My guy lived in "Gape Row" in Dundonald village and his father farmed at Ballylisbredan.

[Erato]

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."

[akanex2]

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.