The group met for tea, biscuits and chat around the topic of our Agricultural Labourer ancestors. It was agreed that sometimes it is difficult to find out much detail about their jobs, but we shared what we had been able to glean.
One member reported many ag lab threads in her family tree. They were often large families and were found until the late 1800s when her direct line moved to London. Her husband’s ancestors moved around the marshy areas of Lincolnshire, and she traced others in Northamptonshire, who worked with horses, and in Hampshire, where they squatted and were called ‘tree-stealers’.
Another group member reported that by going back to her three times great grandparents, all apart from one were agricultural labourers, with the other one a fisherman. Gardening and market gardening seem to have been related jobs that their descendants moved into.
There were a large number of ag labs in one member’s family tree from the Goudhurst area. Using AI, she was able to ascertain the actual tasks that they likely undertook in their jobs. These tasks would change with the seasons and were mainly connected to the production of hops, fruit, grain and cereal crops along with the care of livestock.
One member had not found a single ag lab on one side of their family tree, but many from Wiltshire on the other side, although it was tricky to find what they actually did.
Other group members looked at jobs that their agricultural labourer ancestors moved into, which included carman, coachman, platelayer for the railway, draper, working on a dairy farm and farm manager.
The discussion showed that, although the lives of agricultural labourers can be difficult to trace in detail, combining family records with local and historical context can reveal the varied, seasonal nature of their work and the occupations pursued by later generations.
Report by Helen Stenhouse