----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected] > I found a member of my distant family worked as a silversmith. Would > this have been a good job? I'm wondering whether when he died, would > there likely have been enough money to support his widow or would she > have had to work or go to the workhouse?> I would think that very much depended on his employer as some of them were good and others not so! Can you give us any more information such as names and dates, etc. If you know who they worked for and what to find out more then Birmingham Central Library archives holds a lot of information Lesley

If I remember correctly the jewelry quarter has a museum where some of these questions might be answered. I come from a long line of silver and tin smiths, my grandfather being one and he served an apprenticeship up to the age of 21 and then came directly to the USA. He owned a jewelry company in Providence RI for many years from 1920 to 1955. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lesley" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2008 10:27 AM Subject: Re: [B'ham] silversmiths > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[email protected] >> I found a member of my distant family worked as a silversmith. Would >> this have been a good job? I'm wondering whether when he died, would >> there likely have been enough money to support his widow or would she >> have had to work or go to the workhouse?> > > I would think that very much depended on his employer as some of them were > good and others not so! > > Can you give us any more information such as names and dates, etc. If you > know who they worked for and what to find out more then Birmingham Central > Library archives holds a lot of information > > Lesley > > >

The jewellers that I am interested in are Thomas Acott and Alfred Arnold. Arnold worked for Acott and took over the firm on his death. Arnold migrated to Adelaide, South Australia in 1879 but the firm is supposed to have continued operating in his name for several years longer. ----- Original Message ----- From: Lesley To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2008 11:57 PM Subject: Re: [B'ham] silversmiths ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected] > I found a member of my distant family worked as a silversmith. Would > this have been a good job? I'm wondering whether when he died, would > there likely have been enough money to support his widow or would she > have had to work or go to the workhouse?> I would think that very much depended on his employer as some of them were good and others not so! Can you give us any more information such as names and dates, etc. If you know who they worked for and what to find out more then Birmingham Central Library archives holds a lot of information Lesley _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ Have you considered adding "postems" to "your" events on www.freebmd.org.uk , giving your contact details? Other researchers will then be able to make contact. Click on the info button to add your postem. Any problems, please contact the List Admin: [email protected] ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hello Lesley, Saturday, July 19, 2008, 3:27:39 PM, you wrote: > Can you give us any more information such as names and dates, etc. If you > know who they worked for and what to find out more then Birmingham Central > Library archives holds a lot of information Hello, Sorry for my late reply, I was the original poster. My ancestor was Richard Morris. On the 1841 census he was living in Bromsgrove Street. The 1851 census elaborates that he lived at number 15, 19 Court 8 H Bromsgrove Street. Can anyone explain the 19 court, 8H bit? I thought it meant the 19th Courtyard behind the 8th House but there seem to be an awful lot of people living in 19 Ct on that census page. In 1861 he is at 19 Court, 5 House, so does this mean he moved a few doors up? In the 1871 census he had moved to Latimer Street South, 1 Court No. 2. One of his sons was listed as a Silversmith's labourer. Does this mean he was an apprentice or was a labourer less than that? I haven't got a map of Birmingham. Would these roads, in the St. Martin's district, be in the jewellery quarter? Do any of those roads survive today? In 1871 a daughter is listed as a pen maker. Could this be another link to the JQ? Was the JQ also famous for pens as well as jewellery? Doesn't it have a pen makers' museum today? I will have to visit it. I don't know whether Richard worked for himself or for a larger company; how would I find that out? Curiously I have just received Richard's wife's death certificate. Whereas on all of the censuses and certificates Richard was listed as silversmith, on this certificate he is listed as "pencil base maker (journeyman)". What is a pencil base? Since he passed away before his wife, I am puzzled why he had a posthumous career change! I presume these pencil bases were made of silver and that both descriptions were accurate? To answer my earlier question, his widow was not the person of the same name at the workhouse; I found her living at 15 court 5 House, Latimer Street, South in 1881, so again a move of a few doors. She was living with one of her sons (not the son mentioned above). This son was working as a white metal stamper. I presume the "white metal" was silver? Would he have been stamping jewellery out of silver sheets? Thanks, Stephen.