My father-in-law (b1909) once discussed the occupation of what I assume would be called a "stone breaker". In Northumberland men were employed to break stones for road metal - the size of the final pieces had to go through an iron ring. Colin Edinburgh ----- Original Message ----- From: "Harrison McKnight" <harrison_mcknight@yahoo.com> To: <DUMFRIES-GALLOWAY@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 3:20 PM Subject: [DUMFRIES-GALLOWAY] James Ritchie, Kirkconnel "Stone Breaker" Hi All, I am enjoying the interesting discussion about Stone Masons. One man in our line is James Ritchie, born 1809, listed in the 1851 and 1871 censuses as living in Kirkconnel with the occupation of "Stone Breaker." Any thoughts on: 1. what exactly a Stone Breaker did, and 2. where it is most likely that a Kirkconnel Stone Breaker would be working? 3. any records related to that place of employment? Harrison McKnight Michigan ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DUMFRIES-GALLOWAY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message