Monday 5 November 2012

An apprenticeship record

Once upon a time, when looking through a box of old papers that had been passed down through the family I came across this document:

Edward Davidson apprentice doc
Apprenticeship record of Edward Davidson

It is a really interesting read....although some of it is difficult to distinguish. Edward Davidson was my great, great grandfather who was born in 1866 in Poplar, London. His father had been a Boiler Maker in the London docks and latterly in the Hull docks, where Edward followed suit.

It was interesting to read about the pay my ancestor would get throughout the time of his apprenticeship. Starting with 7 shillings a week increasing to 12 shillings a week towards the end of the apprenticeship. Having found an online currency converter tool a few years ago, I decided to see what that pay equated to today. The equivalent in todays money (or 2005's money), my ancestor would have been earning the equivalent of approximately £17 per week to approximately £29. I think it would be impossible to live off that weekly today.

I wanted to know more so I Googled the name of the employer, David Parkinson Garbutt to see if I could find out more about this employer of my ancestor. He was the benefactor for "The Avenues" in Hull. "The Avenues" were middle class housing built on in an area on the outskirts of the city of Hull, with wide tree lined streets, there is more information about the "The Avenues" on Wikipedia. In mentioning to my dad about this, he pointed out that when my mum was at university, they had both lived in these houses at different times. In effect the employer of my great, great grandfather also built the housing that 80-90 years later my parents would reside in and is also now a Conservation Area.

Interestingly only a year after employing my great, great grandfather, David Parkinson Garbutt would be made bankrupt but yet, he has left such a legacy that still exists today in this small, but significant city in East Yorkshire.

To read more about the life of Edward Davidson in Victorian Hull, follow this link...THE STORY OF MY DAVIDSON ANCESTRY.

Copyright © 2012 Ruth Hogan