> John Wooding appears in the 1851 census with a birthplace of > Buckingham. He was a tanner, aged 45. He must have been a journeyman Journeyman does not mean someone who travelled around, but a man who has served his apprenticeship to a craft trade and is now employed by the day, (or journee) not a matser with his own business. True, some did travel for work, but that is not the meaning of the word. Your man was above averagely mobile, probably leaving Buckingham because of a depression in the trade there, and trying his luck in various places. The 1830s were generally a difficult time in rural areas, but most men upped and went to London or one of the major industrial areas. Northampton was a centre of the shoe trade, so used a great deal of leather. Bermondsey was the London area where tanneries were based ( and very smelly too), It does suggest that either John was not the most skilled (so dismissed first in any recession) or (probably) that he had a very short fuse and kept quarrelling with his employers. Shows spirit, maybe,m but very hard on the family, having to up sticks and move just when they were settled. EVE McLaughlin >