Occupations

Detailed occupation data was collected from 1841. Statistical reports reported the number of persons in 877 occupations, grouped into 12 classes, excluding the unoccupied, wives and children. For 1851, occupations were grouped into 17 classes divided into 90 sub-classes. The categorization was modified in subsequent years and for 1881 included:

This 1881 categorization has been used, with additional divisions of the "unoccupied" class. There are 3819 distinct occupations included in the database after removing variations such as "Ag Lab". "Ag. Lab.", "Agr. Lab." etc. for "Agricultural Labourer". This loses none of the original information, but otherwise the original has been retained. We have, however, introduced a "Preferred Occupation" to remove abbreviations and to clarify a "work status" which includes "Unemployed", "Pensioner", "Formerly" etc., and to clearly identify "Master", "Journeyman", "Apprentice", etc. This allows these terms to be searched for, as well as the Classes, Groups, Sub-groups and Categories.

Number of persons in each class

Number of persons in selected Classes, Groups, Subgroups or Categories

Select one or more from the appropriate list and click the corresponding "Extract Data" button.