Bricklayer

[Susan Kitchen]

One of my relatives was a Bricklayer. I thought that they would have been quite poor but on a census i see that his wife had just had a Baby and at the house was a Nurse Crane. The baby was 2 day's old. This was in 1841. As there was no NHS in those days i thought a relative or kindly neighbour would have been most peoples choice if they weren't well off, especially as you usually had to pay someone to attend a birth. I know that they had lots of relatives living close by. Any comments please ?
Susan

[Kerrywood]

One of my relatives was a Bricklayer. I thought that they would have been quite poor

Not necessarily. He could have been more of a house-builder than a bricklayer. I've come across someone who built several streets of houses in Hackney in the 1820s, but he called himself a bricklayer on his children's baptism records.

[Susan Kitchen]

Not necessarily. He could have been more of a house-builder than a bricklayer. I've come across someone who built several streets of houses in Hackney in the 1820s, but he called himself a bricklayer on his children's baptism records.

That's interesting to know. Thanks
Susan

[Zen Rabbit]

The same applies to labourer, often taken to mean someone unskilled by modern standards but in the 19th century it could equally apply to a builder with his own business. I have several labourer ancestors who owned serveral houses each!