Showing posts with label trades. Show all posts

Workday Wednesday: Trade Unions

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Findmypast which is available on the Digital Library now offers access to some historic Trade Union membership records, especially those for the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (ASRS) and the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners (ASCJ).   Unfortunately it doesn’t include the other big craft Union, the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE).

Back in the day, I was asked for details on a carpenter who was active in Labour Party and Union politics in the early twentieth century in Auckland.  The family were unsure as to where he had first apprenticed and worked as a carpenter, but I happened to know that the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick in Britain had historical records of the ASCJ.   That Union, and others, acted as an international Union with branches worldwide, including within New Zealand.   The Centre in Warwick had no difficulty in tracing our carpenter and confirmed that he was a member of a Dublin Branch before moving to New Zealand, where he transferred to an Auckland ASCJ Branch. Members readily transferred from one Branch to another as they moved around the world for work.

Image of record from findmypast.

The example shows a page for the Mount Eden, Auckland, Branch of the ASCJ for 1911.   Note the Branch number was 892.



The particular carpenter I was looking for here was Tom (Thomas) Bloodworth who was a long time Labour Party, Trade Union and local body activist.  Note he is here just as ‘T. Bloodworth’, at number 10 on the page.


You can search by name, or drill down using Education & Work and then Record Set: Britain, Trade Union membership registers.  You can then select Image or Transcript.


David Verran

Location: 44 Lorne Street, Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand

Workday Wednesday: Pipe and Drain Tradies

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Are there any plumbers or drainers in your family's history?

There is a quirky gem of a magazine in our heritage serials collection titled NZ Plumbing Heating & Ventilation Review.

In the No 4 April 1964 publication, one of my colleagues spotted an article Old Letter Revealed Merchant Firm's Origin,  the old plumber merchant's letter was actually found hidden in a desk drawer at the premises of George McCaul Limited, whose office was located on Wellesley Street.

For anyone who has visited us at the Central Auckland Research Centre, you will know that we are located at the intersection of Wellesley and Lorne Streets; in fact George McCaul Ltd traded from a building which was demolished in order to make way for Auckland's new library.

There are many articles in the NZ Plumbing Heating & Ventilation Review featuring local companies, their employees and business advertisements. Some of the editions are indexed and searchable through the Index Auckland database.

Plumbing work by journeymen students, 1905.
Sir George Grey Special Collections.
AWNS-19050202-16-6
Auckland Council Archives which is also located in the same building as the Research Centre, has an online name searchable database of plumbers and drain-layers. Click this link to access the Auckland City Council License Register of Plumber and Drain Connectors 1904-1921 database.  The record details include the person's qualification, for example journeyman, and whether they held a full or provisional license as a plumber, drainer, or drain connector. 

Karen

Location: 44 Lorne Street, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand

Workday Wednesday: Old Occupations

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Last month I wrote a blog post about revisiting old copies of family history magazines as articles which may not have had relevance at the time could be the very thing you are needing now. This got me thinking about a series of articles which were published in Family Tree Magazine 1987-1994 about old occupations.  

 How often do you wonder exactly what a strange occupation on the census or certificate involved?

 Of course, there are a number of books which describe different trades and occupations but these usually only give a short explanation. For example, a Cheirothecarius is a glove maker, and most records would use that term, however, the articles give more detail as to what was involved with a particular occupation.

One of life's more perilous occupations.
Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19290814-37-2 

 Each article is a minimum of one page and some are split into 3-4 parts over several issues.  The occupations covered are varied, there are the usual suspects of agricultural labourer, nurse, shoemaker, midwife, etc but also include: lace cleaning, pugilist, cider maker, Proctor, Chapman, fuller, Mersey Flatmen, and English merchants in Aleppo to name a few.

Have a look at these articles as you never know what you will find and it may be that the mystery which has been put aside may just be solved. 

Do check our catalogue as well as we have a growing collection of books concerning specific occupations.

Marie Hickey

Location: 44 Lorne Street, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand
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