Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

My Great Great Grandfather was a Journeyman Talior, can anyone tell me what his job entailed. Thanks, Betty

Hi Betty - have a look at rmhh.co.uk - it is a site of Old Occupations and there's a good description of what a Journeyman did - Holly ....

Thanks a lot its a brilliant site.

Hi,
The word 'journeyman' is really two words. The first 'journee', is from the French and means 'a day's work' or 'a day's pay'. So a journeeman or journeyman someone who works at his trade on a day-to-day basis.
Dickiesam

Thanks Dickiesam, so my great, great Grandad would have go paid on a daily basis for his work? Betty.

Hi Betty,
That's exactly right. A day's work for a day's 'bread'. My lot were coopers on my father's side, all the way back to the 1750s. Most were journeyman, of no fixed employer. Mind you they might find a month or more's work for the one employer but they were still paid by the day. In other words virtually no rights as a worker.

In time a journeyman cooper might in time become a fully employed cooper, or better still a 'master' who would have a permanent job and be permitted by his Guild to teach apprentices the particular trade.

Those were the days!

Dickiesam

Hi
Your gt gt grandfather would have been a time served tailor. He would be qualified as a tailor as he would have served his apprenticeship or time served as they used to say