Differing Responses to an Industrialising Economy - eTheses ...

about the family and businesses of the deceased. For example, who were their relations
and how far did their business networks reach? Such individuals who are mentioned in
other people’s probate were entered in the general database, but not in the analytical
tables.
The bias of probate is well known. As mentioned above, few poorer labourers
and craftsmen left probate documents, so percentages of such workers in the probate
analysis is misleading. Nevertheless, where parish registers before 1813 fail to give
occupational information, probate is one of the most consistent sources for indicating
which trades are present and for comparing different communities and different periods.
The bias of probate records compared with other sources is examined at the end of this
chapter.
Marriage bonds, allegations and licences
Although much used by family historians, these documents are probably
underused as a source for historians seeking occupational data. 25 The Worcester diocese
marriage allegations for those intending to marry by licence proved to be a useful source.
Not only were the occupations and parish of the would-be groom and his guarantor (or
bondsman) usually given, but also the age of the bride and groom. As the parties were
required to sign or make their mark, these documents also provide clues to the literacy of
individuals. 26
As with probate records, it must be borne in mind that those marrying by
licence are not proportionally representative of the whole workforce. Those applying for
25 Information on this source can be found in J. S. W. Gibson, Bishop’s Transcripts and Marriage Licences,
Bonds and Allegations, (Bury, Federation of Family History Societies, 1997) and in M. Heber, Ancestral
Trails, (Stroud, Alan Sutton, 1997).
26 Better in this respect than wills, where, when a testator made a mark, it may have been because he or she
was too ill to sign, rather than illiterate.
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