Social class is still important in the UK. (To those who think these things important, that is!) People did move up and down the social scale all the time in the 19thC, because of the speed that money was changing hands and because the surpluses produced by capitalism allowed the emergence of a middle class usually described as 'burgeoning'. (A medical condition that compels people to collect antimacassars, bone china and arcane items of cutlery ;-) ) The upper classes sneered at people in 'trade' but longed to get their hands on their cash. As so often, a really good way to understand the subtleties of the UK class system in the 19thC is to read the great social novelists: Dickens, Trollope, Mrs Gaskell. etc I too have noticed that the men in my family all tended to follow the same profession. I dont think this is just about social class, its about 'getting a start'. Your dad or uncle was in a good position to offer you an apprenticeship or have a word with the foreman. Judy ---------- >From: b1caez01 <b1caez01@home.com> >To: SCT-EDINBURGH-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: [EDB] Social Class distinctions... >Date: Tue, Oct 2, 2001, 6:54 am > > Especially when social class was so > important to the early UK,