Hi, I am helping a friend who has an ancestor described in the 1841 census as Traveller. What would this have meant then? The name was Lee and the place was Burslem in the Potteries. Would I be be right in assuming a gypsy connection? Or is the Traveller connotation a recent development? >From subsequent employment, it seems unlikely that he was a sales representative or agent. Jeff

I would go with the old meaning, i.e. a commercial traveller. Not all Les have gypsy connections, though it is a common name in that community. But commercial traveller would fit better with subsequent employment. HTH Anne On 16 Feb 2007, at 09:03, jeffgould@bulldoghome.com wrote: > Hi, I am helping a friend who has an ancestor described in the 1841 > census > as Traveller. What would this have meant then? The name was Lee and > the > place was Burslem in the Potteries. Would I be be right in assuming a > gypsy connection? Or is the Traveller connotation a recent development? >> From subsequent employment, it seems unlikely that he was a sales > representative or agent. Jeff >