In a message dated 5/25/01 12:34:33 PM, ssmurphy5@hotmail.com writes: << I have a question for all you well-informed, helpful individuals out there. I have come across a record in a court order book for PE County for the Jan. Court of 1770. It references bounding out an individual, who was an apprentice, from St. Patrick's Parish. I do happen to know that this particular family has many blacksmith's in it. Now whether this individual was a blacksmith or not, I don't know. My question is how old might this individual, who was apparently already an apprentice, be? Any rough ideas??? (Come on, Paul...I know you know this!) >> Hello Shelly and List, A young man could be apprenticed at any age, especially if he were weaned from his mother, and could perform tasks at the assigned area of apprenticeship. Child labor laws were not in effect at these early years. The apprentisor had to provide food and lodging, and education during the youngsters tenure, which generally ended when he reached his majority, usually at the age of 21. One of my ancestors was apprenticed at the age of 12, and his brother at the age of 8, in North Carolina, which did not vary much from Virginia law. Although the apprentisor gained some benefits from his charge, the purpose of the apprenticeship was to protect the child from being without proper supervision (from a male, as women did not enjoy the same rights, in most instances) and to provide the child with training to allow him to provide for himself and his family when he married or began his life on his own; and the courts oversaw the care that the youngsters received from their master. A parent could choose to allow his children to be apprenticed, as this was a way of providing for the child's future; in the case of the death of the child's father, a determination of whether or not an estate was left by the father, and if there were estate to be protected for the benifit of the child, a guardian was appointed by the court; if no estate, then apprenticeship was considered to be the only recourse.