Courses

The Professions

By Shannon Bennett, Student Modules 4-8 of English: Occupations–Professions and Trades covers a wide variety of different occupations, laws and rules associated with them, plus lots of little bits of information that I think I digested. Once again, I stuffed information in my head and hoped that the sponge took it all in. In the future I see using this course as a great reference book when I track down English ancestors! Instead of doing an overview of the modules, I thought I would pick out a couple of occupations that I found interesting. I hope you do too because the instructor did an excellent job of presenting the information on each of them. Needless to say, it was hard to whittle it down to just a few to talk about. Domestic Service We know that from early days most women had responsibilities to the family and home. Yes, many did work side-by-side with their husbands or family members be it in stores or in the fields, but women’s work was defined by society.They were responsible for feeding and clothing the family in addition to any paid work they did outside of the home. Then with the Compulsory Education Acts of 1870 and 1880 women were better situated for different and better paying jobs, not just those of laundress, spinner, or cook. Dr. Penelope Christensen tells us that in the 1851 census, “servant” was the second most common occupation, after agricultural laborer, in England. I was enthralled reading about the division of servants in a household (no, I have not watched Upstairs Downstairs or Downton Abbey, sorry) and how they were managed. Clock and Watch Making Do you know the original difference between a clock and a watch? I didn’t!  Originally a watch was defined as an object that showed the time. A clock on the other hand announced the time by striking a bell or another mechanism. When you think about it, it makes sense doesn’t it? Clock and watch makers fell under the horology trade located mainly in Clerkenwell within London.  There were other makers who set-up shops in towns and cities that were important market towns which catered to the gentry class. I thought it was interesting to note that when clocks were first manufactured they fell under the Blacksmiths’ Company. Then when smaller clocks began to be produced they fell under the umbrella of locksmiths. It…

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An Apprentice in the Family

By Shannon Bennett, Student In English: Occupations – Professions and Trades, Module 2  we jumped right in and learned quite a bit about the apprentice system in England. Wow, that was a lot of interesting, new, and eye opening information for me. I think I will continue to process it for a while. I knew from history books that the apprentice system was complicated and long running but I really didn’t understand all the nuances that were involved.  Learning all the laws helped me understand what the changes were then and how they could affect what I found from a genealogical perspective. In fact, I did not know that there were three kinds of apprenticeship: trade, poor, and charity. Each of those categories had different rules and regulations as well. Plus, depending on which your ancestor fell under could determine what information would be available to you and where you could find it. That’s right, nothing can be easy can it?! What really struck me was the amount of potential genealogical information that is out there. If you knew that your ancestor worked an occupation that would require apprenticeship you could be in luck with the family knowledge you could uncover. It makes me want to go look a little harder for those papers that could be out there about my family! For instance, if you had an ancestor who was a trade apprentice you could potentially learn the following information about them from register books: Name and age of apprentice Date of binding or presentment Name of father, mother, or guardian Place of origin Term of the apprenticeship Master’s name and address The amount of the premium paid to the master Amount of any fees or gifts due to the company Records of any turnover to another master Trade apprentices were interesting to me. They were kept by a corporation of cities or boroughs as well as companies. When these men finished their terms of apprenticeship they would then apply for freedom from these organizations which let them practice their trade in that town. Sadly I learned that many apprentices died during their time under a master. Many more didn’t complete their apprenticeship due to other reasons. While child mortality was often high in past years, it seems that this was the reality for a majority of apprentices. However, even if they did not survive, the information would still be…

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Learning More About English Occupations

By Shannon Bennett, Student Many of my and my husband’s family come from England. Lots. Lots and lots. Did I say quite a few?  Well, needless to say I am intrigued by the records that are over there but at times I do not understand exactly what is being said. We sort of speak the same language. I am sure some of you can relate. Even here in the US our words have evolved over time. For example I had an ancestor who was a paperhanger. What in the world did that mean?  After I researched it I learned he hung wallpaper (in addition to painting houses and odd stints as a carpenter). It occurred to me that as I delved deeper into various records across the pond that I might come into more and more occupations that I didn’t quite understand, let alone understand the way the labor system was set up there. Thankfully there is a course I can take through The National Institute to help me learn all about this side of genealogy. My next course is English: Occupations. Professions and Trades by Dr. Penelope Christensen.  I have to say it looks intriguing!  Looking over the syllabus it really looks like it is going to cover a wide range of information across a variety of fields. Most of our family ancestors were farmers or miners with a couple who were merchants or had a trade. While none of them were professionals, I think it will be interesting to learn that aspect as well since you never know when that type of information will come in handy in the future. Fingers crossed it is not all modern, or 20th century, occupations. That would be okay for one of my husband’s lines, but I hope there is information about occupations and trades from the 1800s and before. Better yet, I hope there is information presented that might just cross over to the colonies. That would really make me ecstatic. On that note I am off to start the first module. This course has me really excited and intrigued. Here’s to using it to understand my family heritage a bit better!   See you online!  

Finishing Up: The US Census Course

By Shannon Bennett, Student What a wonderful course!  Really, once again I am surprised by exactly how much I didn’t know about a simple, basic topic. The U.S. Federal Census is a staple for researchers in the states, but it is also complicated and at times detailed. Unless the family history researcher takes the time to dig deeper it will never give up all of its secrets to them. I would almost say it could be a trial in patience and perseverance. Some people might not understand why this course could be of use to anyone who is already an intermediate or more advanced genealogist. Simply put, I would say anyone with that outlook is wrong.  (Well, unless they are a true expert in the U.S. Census.) So, unless you have written a book on the subject, or this is your niche, I bet you can take away quite a bit from the course. I thought I knew quite a lot about this basic subject but I was very appreciative of how in-depth the course is. There were obvious holes in my knowledge, and I enjoyed learning about aspects of the census that I didn’t know as much about. I really liked that there were a large number of charts and tips to aid the student in their classwork. Which, I will admit, I have already tabbed so that I can use them again for future reference. Speaking of classwork, I was excited to have a few case studies to do. These type of problems really help to hone your skills and ingrain the lessons the instructors were trying to teach.  Working on “real” problems to me is a lot of fun. I mean really, genealogists are detectives to begin with so we should all love questions where we get to go out and do research to put to the test what we have learned. If you have US ancestors, consider taking this course. It provides a good foundation for solid research techniques using these records. See you online!  

Introduction to German Research for North Americans

By Michele Simmons Lewis, Student So why would a native German take the German Records courses offered at the National Institute for Genealogical Studies? Most of the research I have done in the past 23 years has been in American records not German. I mistakenly thought that German family history research was pretty much impossible for those living in the United States. Although I was born in Germany, I came to the US when I was only six years old so I don’t have a good working knowledge of German geography or history. I do not know the laws that govern civil vital records, the traditions that govern the church records nor do I have knowledge about what records are actually available. These are the things I need to know, and the things I am counting on The National Institute for Genealogical Studies to teach me. Introduction to German Research for North Americans is my first course. In the first module, we learn the four essential things you need to know about an immigrant before you can do more in-depth research. I had the funniest problem with this week’s assignment! I needed to make a table of my German immigrant ancestors to include these four essential pieces of information. As far as I know I don’t have any German immigrant ancestors because my mother and I are the first immigrants. My family, both past and present, are in Germany so I contacted a genealogist friend of mine and borrowed a couple of her immigrant ancestors for the assignment. Module 1 goes on to explain the seven key elements to German research. One thing that I was happy to read in the text was, “…German research is often easier than British, Canadian, or U.S. research.”  I was immediately mad at myself for not taking the time to learn about German research before now. At this point I was only in the first week of my first course and I had already learned more than the sum total of my previous knowledge. A concise history of Germany and the history of German immigration is found in Module 2. The assignment for this module was to do some in-depth research on two of the events listed on the timeline provided in the materials. This assignment had a direct bearing on my own research. I have a Prussian document dated 10 Jan 1922 that…

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