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English & Welsh Resources for Family Historians: Occupations

The State Library of South Australia has a large number of resources that may assist you in tracing your English or Welsh ancestry. This guide also contains websites of interest, contact details for relevant organisations and tips & tricks.

Introduction

This page outlines various resources available at the State Library of South Australia that may give you background to an ancestor's apprenticeship, trade or occupation.  Some resources also give advice on how to locate records pertaining to an occupation or profession.

Further down the page are a list of websites that may also be of interest when trying to locate the definition of an obscure or long lost trade or skill.

A large number of indexes and records relating to apprenticeships, trades and occupations can be found in the Find My Past and Ancestry.com databases.  The State Library of South Australia subscribed to the library editions of both and these are available for use within the Library.

Websites

Below are a selection of websites that may be of assistance:

Records available via Ancestry.com

The following links will take you to indexes available via Ancestry.com.  You will be able to search for information and see search results, however to see original records or transcripts you will need to pay as you go or use the subscription database Ancestry.com.  The State Library of South Australia has a subscription to Ancestry.com (Library edition) that may be used within the Library.

Blacksmith [B 73546]

More information about this image. 

Apprenticeships

These items below are available for use at the Library:

Apprenticeship records available via Find My Past

The following links will take you to indexes available via Find My Past.  You will be able to search for information and see search results, however to see original records or transcripts you will need to pay as you go or use the subscription database Find My Past.  The State Library of South Australia has a subscription to Find My Past that may be used within the Library.