#143 A VISUAL STORY OF FAMILY OCCUPATIONS

 

                                        What Our Family Occupations Reveal

These two charts provide a glimpse into the lives of Steve’s and my Canadian ancestors and the world in which they lived. By tracing occupations back through five generations to about the 1850s, they reveal not only how our families earned their living, but also how society itself changed over time. (we do have some family lines in North American much earlier than these charts.)

The first impression is how both families were connected to the land and why our families immigrated to Canada. In the earliest generations (the mid 1800s), the farm was not simply a workplace but the centre of family life, providing food, income, housing, and identity. Success depended on hard physical labour, cooperation among family members, and the ability to adapt to weather, markets, and changing economic, political and social conditions. Most people lived their entire lives within a relatively small geographic area, and farming skills were often passed from one generation to the next. The predominance of farmers and farm wives in both family trees reflects the reality of nineteenth-century Canada, when a large proportion of the population lived in rural communities and agriculture formed the backbone of the national economy. These ancestors cleared the land, built homes, established communities, and created the stability upon which later generations would build. Although their descendants eventually pursued a wider variety of occupations, the values often associated with farming families like hard work, self-reliance, thrift, and perseverance were hopefully passed down through our family DNA.

 On Steve's side, farming was the dominant occupation, with three generations (and more) working the land. My family also began with strong agricultural roots, but my ancestors then went into jobs like factory work, carpentry,  shopkeeping, domestic work, pharmacy, and optometry. 

The charts also illustrate the importance of education. The earliest generations worked in occupations that depended on physical labour or practical skills learned at home. By the twentieth century, however, members of both families had entered professions requiring formal training and higher education. The appearance of pharmacists, optometrists, and teachers reflects the expanding educational opportunities available to Canadians and the aspirations of our families who wanted their children to pursue different paths.

Another noteworthy feature is the designation "housewife" for nearly every woman in the family trees. While this was the term commonly recorded in censuses and official documents, it must not be interpreted as a lack of work. Farm wives were essential partners in running farms and households, often caring for livestock, tending gardens, preserving food, raising children, and helping with family businesses. Their contributions were substantial, even if the historical record seldom recognized them as occupations.

Taken together, these charts tell our family story of continuity and change. They show families that began largely as farming families, who worked hard to build stable lives, and gradually expanded into trades, business, and the professions. They also remind us that each occupation represents a real person who faced the challenges of their own era and contributed to the opportunities enjoyed by later generations.

In many ways, these charts are not simply records of occupations but are a visual history of family perseverance, adaptation, and progress across more than two centuries of Canadian life.