continuity 1760-1840

[Wulfsige]

In 1841 my greatgreatgrandfather William Young was living in Somerset with his wife and her grandparents, both aged "80" (George and Ann James).  The 4xgreatgrandfather was a 'pauper' and my gtgtgrandfather was an ag lab, as were most of the rest of the Young family, though one son of George (also George) was a blacksmith, not an ag lab. What I am wondering is this: if most of the family were ag labs in 1841, and this one was living with his wife's grandfather, a pauper, born ca 1760, is it probable that the whole 'clan' were ag labs in the mid-1700s? It may be relevant that they had lived in the same general are of rural Somerset (Milton Clevedon and area) from the late 1600s.

[Peter L. Mitchell]

Hi Wulfsige.

My research into both my wife's and my ancestors has shown a strong pattern of successive generations being involved in the same work. From the early 18th Century until they migrated to Australia in 1861 my ancestors were all pitmen in Northumberland and Durham. They lived near the pits and some died in the pits. In over 100 years only one ancestor to my knowledge was not a pitman (he became a publican).

My wife's family were agricultural labourers in Huntingdonshire from at least 1724 until her grandfather (who was recorded on the 1909 census as being an agricultural labourer at 11 years of age) emigrated to Australia in 1911.

It seems to have been a long-established tradition for the male family members to follow their fathers in the same work. There was little chance to change because education was limited and social climbing was hindered by class prejudice. My great-grandfather came to Australia in 1861 aged 11, and he had worked in the mines in Durham before embarking. Compulsory education in Australia allowed him to study to become a teacher - a commitment that took him almost 10 years because in the first four years he had to work hard to achieve an acceptable educational standard just to be able to start the teaching course.

Incidentally, if you have any ancestors who migrated to Victoria and became teachers, you can find their full teaching records (free and downloadable) on the Public Records Office of Victoria (PROV) site:
https://prov.vic.gov.au/search_journey/select?keywords=Arabia#search-top
All you need to do is search the name of the person and add (teacher) after it (eg. Joe Blow (teacher).

I hope this helps. Good luck with your search.

Peter

[garstonite]

you say Milton Clevedon from the late 1600's

John Young
Born April 8, 1600 - Clevedon, North Somerset, Somerset, England, United Kingdom
Deceased April 7, 1661 - Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States, aged 60 years old
Buried April 8, 1661 - Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States

are  Milton Clevedon and Clevedon 2 different towns

[KGarrad]

are  Milton Clevedon and Clevedon 2 different towns

Yes!

Milton Clevedon is a smal hamlet, 1 mile south of Evercreech, in the Mendip district.
Clevedon is a town on the Bristol Channel coast, north-east of Weston-super-Mare.

32 miles apart.