Hi List, Lachlan Grant was a master blacksmith employing 3 journeymen in the 1851 Census for Nairn. Their address was Ferness Bridge and they left Scotland in 1857 to travel to Australia. Is there anyone who knows anything of the blacksmith trade? Would they be indentured? Apprenticed? Would they travel around the country? Lachlan's son, John was employed in the same trade and possibly his other sons. Any news is good news!...........Judy. Perth. W.Australia.

> Is there anyone who knows anything of the blacksmith trade? > Would they be > indentured? Apprenticed? Would they travel around the country? A blacksmith did have to serve an apprenticeship, though I doubt that all apprentice blacksmiths in rural areas would have been formally indentured. Just as with other skilled trades, sons are often found in the census as apprentices to their fathers. Once he had served his apprenticeship, he would become a journeyman. However this has nothing to do with travelling, though many journeymen did exactly that. It is from French 'journée' maning '[the duration of a] day' and meant that, having completed his apprenticeship, he was a skilled man and could work for a master and be paid by the day. Many young men took the opportunity to go and find paid work with a master in another part of the country, and though some subsequently returned to their home parish, many did not. (Girls did the same thing, entering into domestic service away from home, and often marrying where they worked.) After working as a journeyman for a time, a man could then decide that it was time to set up his own business. In some trades there were restrictions on who could and could not become a master, but I doubt if these restrictions could have been readily enforced among country blacksmiths. Once established as a master, he could then employ journeymen, and take on and train apprentices in his turn. Ferness Bridge, incidentally, is about 10 miles from the town of Nairn, though still (just) in the County of Nairn. It is where the road from Nairn to Grantown crosses the River Findhorn. You can see it on www.streetmap.co.uk if you search for Ferness and zoom in (use the third 'house' symbol in the box below the map to get the best scale). HTH Anne

Hi Judy Further to Anne's reply on the trade, if you want to find the location of a particular blacksmith, have a look at the 1896 Ordnance Survey maps [re-published by Caledonian Maps]. These are all held at ANESFHS [who will sell you copies] and probably in Elgin Library. Ferness would be on Sheet 84, which I don't have. The maps show the location of each "Smithy", usually about 2-4 miles apart. This was the equivalent of the UK Automobile Association showing the location of AA-authorised garages in the inter-war years. As the main means of personal transport in Victorian times was by horse, travellers would need to know the nearest Smithy should they suffer the equivalent of a mechanical breakdown - shedding a horse-shoe or breaking a carriage wheel! Best wishes Ray Hennessy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Anne Burgess" <anne.burgess@btinternet.com> To: <MORAY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2005 10:11 AM Subject: Re: [MORAY] GRANT/Blacksmith >> Is there anyone who knows anything of the blacksmith trade? >> Would they be >> indentured? Apprenticed? Would they travel around the country? > > A blacksmith did have to serve an apprenticeship, though I doubt that > all apprentice blacksmiths in rural areas would have been formally > indentured. Just as with other skilled trades, sons are often found in > the census as apprentices to their fathers. > > Once he had served his apprenticeship, he would become a journeyman. > However this has nothing to do with travelling, though many journeymen > did exactly that. It is from French 'journée' maning '[the duration of > a] day' and meant that, having completed his apprenticeship, he was a > skilled man and could work for a master and be paid by the day. > > Many young men took the opportunity to go and find paid work with a > master in another part of the country, and though some subsequently > returned to their home parish, many did not. (Girls did the same > thing, entering into domestic service away from home, and often > marrying where they worked.) > > After working as a journeyman for a time, a man could then decide that > it was time to set up his own business. In some trades there were > restrictions on who could and could not become a master, but I doubt > if these restrictions could have been readily enforced among country > blacksmiths. > > Once established as a master, he could then employ journeymen, and > take on and train apprentices in his turn. > > Ferness Bridge, incidentally, is about 10 miles from the town of > Nairn, though still (just) in the County of Nairn. It is where the > road from Nairn to Grantown crosses the River Findhorn. You can see it > on www.streetmap.co.uk if you search for Ferness and zoom in (use the > third 'house' symbol in the box below the map to get the best scale). > > HTH > > Anne > > > ==== MORAY Mailing List ==== > Don't forget that if you delete a message, you can always visit the > archives of this list http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/MORAY/. > The archives are also worth looking at, whether you be a new or > established lister. > > ============================== > Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. > New content added every business day. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx >

Hello Judy, I come from Nairn and my grandfather had a farm at Glenferness which is close to Ferness Bridge. All this area belonged to the Glenferness estate. This is a farming area, small by Aussie sizes and a blacksmith would be a necessity in that area. My uncle was still using Clydesdale horses on his farm until the very late 1940s/early 1950s. Petrol was still rationed then. I am pretty sure that there would have been an apprenticeship. Coincidently my grandfathers first occupation was 'Journeyman Blacksmith'. A journeyman was a qualified tradesman. Two of my uncles although not qualified were good farriers. One settled in Melbourne and looked after horses used for delivering the early morning milk. I have a lot of ties with Australia, one of my great aunt and family settled around Katanning and York in W.A. I now live in N.Z. Hope this helps. Regards, Min Walker minw@ihug.co.nz