Relatives who moved around a lot

[Ellenhall]

Does anyone know if it was quite uncommon to move around a lot (same county, different towns) in the mid-late 1800s? I have one branch of the family who flitted between Bolton, Manchester, Blackburn, Salford, back to Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale and then back to Blackburn - all within the span of about 20 years. As far as I can tell they only had relatives in Bolton. They were also iron moulders and cotton operatives so it's not like they would have had much spare money.

What would make a working class family in the late 1800s move around that much? Almost everyone else in my tree tended to stay around the same few streets in the same town.

[nanny jan]

One of my families moved from rural Kent ending up in Plumstead with most of their 13 children being born in different villages along the way; agricultural labourer following work.

One of my London based families had a habit of crossing the Thames many times....again lots of different areas on the birth certs.

They don't make it easy do they!

Oops....Welcome to Rootschat. 

[jim1]

My Great Grandfather moved 12 times over 3 Counties.
Work was usually the main reason.

[JenB]

Does anyone know if it was quite uncommon to move around a lot (same county, different towns) in the mid-late 1800s?

I would say not uncommon at all. I have one, a coal miner, who between 1860 and 1880 moved from County Durham to Lancashire then to Scotland, back to County Durham and in 1880 took himself off to the USA.

[iolaus]

I've got one who managed to move himself to Calais, first two children born in Leicester, then several in Calais where he died then his widow moved back (with all the kids) to Leicester

Another started in Newport, had various children dotted around England before settling in Bristol

[iluleah]

Generally on the trail for work.... remember at that time often the house they rented was also rented from the person they worked for, so if they lost their job they also lost their home, so off they went along with family in tow to find a new job and a new home.

[Chilternbirder]

The siblings of one of my gg grandmothers were all silk weavers. A lot of them moved from Braintree to Spitalfields and then back to Braintree again.

Her husband moved from farm to farm around the county in his younger days.

SWMBOs ancestors moved from the Dales to factory work in Lancashire and then back to Wensleydale again.

While some families stayed in the same village for generations others always moved around for work.

[Skoosh]

Proliferation of the railways plus newspaper "Situations Vacant" pages opened the country up to the more adventurous of the working class chasing the bucks!

Skoosh,

[Ellenhall]

Thank you!

So those who moved around were chasing the better paid jobs! That would make sense especially as this iron moulder could read and write as he signed his own name on his marriage certificate so he'd be able to read the ads in the newspapers. Maybe my other relatives couldn't read (most of them) or just weren't adventurous.

I would have thought there were plenty jobs for iron moulders in Bolton but maybe at times there were much better paid jobs in other towns.