Peter: Many folks are sending the message that "whitesmith" worked in tin. In some areas this may be a transferrable meaning, however, a tinsmith was usually just that a "tinsmith". A whitesmith on the other hand worked in the white metals other than tin (but often including it as the need in his area demanded) and this included steel and often pewter. The "blacksmith" worked with black metal such as iron. Some blacksmiths worked in a mixture of iron and steel in later years, including those in your ancestors time frame. Whitesmiths were also sometimes "gun smiths" as the same type of metals were used in this trade, and it proved to be a lucrative "sideline" for many whitesmiths who had talent in that area. Hope this helps. Sher at Ontario, Canada At 01:42 PM 2/5/03 +0000, you wrote: >A certificate C. 1870 shows occupation as ''whitesmith''. Does anyone >know what that was? > >TIA > >Peter > > >==== ENG-EAST-YORKS Mailing List ==== >LOST? please use the "Where is it in Yorkshire?" index >http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/Misc/Where/index.html >The Maintainer of the Genuki Yorkshire pages is Colin Hinson > >============================== >To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, >go to: >http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237