The Knowles Collection: Unusual Occupations of English Jews

15 September 2010

Unusual Occupations of English Jews

Its always fun to look through the records for our ancestors. Yesterday as I was researching a couple of English families I came across a couple of interesting items.

The first entry is from the 1861 Census of England. Living at #4, Lower Road in Islington, is the family of Joseph Andrade. A very typical family, mom, dad and one daughter. What is unusual is the father's occupation. he is listed as a"Ostrich Feather Manufacturer". Up until this moment, I always thought this was the job of the Ostrich.

The second entry was from the 1891 Census of England. According to the transcript online, Harris Dancyger was listed as being a "water maker". This would be an incredible talent to have, and be a wonderful thing for our world. However, if you look at the original census, you will find that he is actually a watchmaker.

Sometimes, it pays to take a closer look at the original records.

1 comment:

Megan KnowlesSeptember 15, 2010 at 11:15 AM
What a funny occupation! Me and Jane are in class looking at your twitter, enjoying your humor! Keep up the good work dad!
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Growth and Change

In the 12 years since the Knowles Collection was first published, the numbers have climbed from 7,500 to over 1,4000,000. So many of our ancestors left their native lands for new homes. Because of that movement the collection will now be in 6 different databases. All of them will be under the Knowles Collection umbrella. They are Jews of The British Isles; Jews of the North America; Jews of Europe; Jews of South America and the Caribbean; and Jews of Africa and the Orient and the newest one, Jews of the Southern Pacific.. This is a great indication of how universal our families are, and of how much still needs to be done.