K
karenmurphy
Guest
Hello everyone out there.
I've just discovered an ancestor who changed jobs in the 1860s from being a cordwainer (shoemaker) to a coal miner.
This has puzzled me and I am wondering if anyone out there knows any history of the shoemaking industry (or just has an opinion!)
I can't imagine why one would want to exchange a fairly comfortable and safe trade for such a dirty and dangerous trade.
Was the wage higher for a miner than a shoemaker?
Was the shoemaking industry in decline and he had to look for a change in career and this was the only choice?
His wife came from a mining family so perhaps it was just peer pressure from the wife's family!
Would love to hear from anyone who could she any light on this.
many thanks Karen
(PS It did end up being a dangerous job for him as he got killed down the mine in 1881)
I've just discovered an ancestor who changed jobs in the 1860s from being a cordwainer (shoemaker) to a coal miner.
This has puzzled me and I am wondering if anyone out there knows any history of the shoemaking industry (or just has an opinion!)
I can't imagine why one would want to exchange a fairly comfortable and safe trade for such a dirty and dangerous trade.
Was the wage higher for a miner than a shoemaker?
Was the shoemaking industry in decline and he had to look for a change in career and this was the only choice?
His wife came from a mining family so perhaps it was just peer pressure from the wife's family!
Would love to hear from anyone who could she any light on this.
many thanks Karen
(PS It did end up being a dangerous job for him as he got killed down the mine in 1881)