What jobs did the last generations of your family do?

[Feminmister]

Just watching an episode of Who Do You Think You Are and it got me thinking how family fortunes change and it can be seen by the jobs each generation does. How does your family pattern of jobs change? For me it’s:

Me: lawyer, DH: lawyer
Mother: teacher, Father: doctor
Maternal grandfather: fireman, Maternal grandmother: lady’s maid until married.
Paternal grandfather: doctor, maternal grandmother: nurse until married
Maternal great grandfather: merchant sailor, Paternal great grandfather: baptist preacher

[Rae36]

Miners. As far back as we can trace.
My dad was a miner then got trained up as a mines surveyor and ended up as a surveyor for a big building firm. My brother and I went to uni, first in our family ever.

The women worked as housemaids or didn't work at all.

I remember going on a tour of a big fancy house one time and the whole wy round all I could think was that my family were working under ground for all those years so that this rich family of mine owners could sit on their luxurious chairs eating their luxurious food. I think I've had a bit of a chip on my shoulder ever since tbh.

[MrsA2Be]

I traced my dads paternal line all the way back to 1400s a few years ago.
Jobs included head gardener, sheep farmers, child miner, headteachers, police sergeant, lighthouse keepers x3, woolcomber

[8Track]

We are an accountant and an electronics engineer.

Parents were : housewife, travelling salesman, gardener, TV engineers

Grandparents : gardener, librarian, music teacher (soldier previously), housewife.

Previous generations : mining and farming.

[Sheknowsaboutme]

Mum - baker/school canteen/cleaner
Dad - mechanic

Maternal nan -school canteen only when she was in her 50s
Maternal grandad - farm labourer and home guard during the war.

Paternal nan - munitions factory then another factory
Paternal grandad - quarry man but RAF during the war I Northern Ireland.

Both great grandads were quarry men. Hence why i love where i live and live nothing more than walking their footsteps round the disused quarries. Its a belonging.

[burglarbettybaby]

My family have a rural farming background.
Carpentry
One distant relative was a teacher but I was the first to go to university

[wegetthejobdone]

Me: Teacher
Parents: IT/Electrical Engineer then IT
Grandfather/GGrandfather: managers on railways
Back further: railways, canals, a publican, then agricultural labourers.

[worldweary45]

Me -teacher

Mum -dental nurse
Dad -IT programmer then developer

Maternal grandparents
Cleaner
Navy (no idea what rank but any money he earned he drank)

Paternal grandparents
Nurse in a asylum
Policeman

Anybody further back was either involved in agriculture or textiles

Not very exciting

[snowone]

Me: teacher DH: IT
Mum: nurse Dad: Salesman
Maternal GPs - fairly working class several different jobs.
Paternal GPs - solicitor and nurse
Paternal GGPs - solicitor and housewife / mill owner and housewife.
Not sure about maternal GGPs.

[Bagadverts]

Me: legal adviser

Mum: doctor
Dad: doctor

Maternal grandma: doctor
Maternal grandad: musician

Paternal grandma: housewife
Paternal grandad: doctor

[SqidgeBum]

Me; teacher. My sister; nurse

Father; cleaner, security, post man, all within same university. Left school at 11.
Mother; secretary, childminder, carer.
Maternal grandmother: SAHM
Paternal grandmother: worked in a battery factory.
Paternal Grandfather: security man in a university. Got my dad a job at 11.
Maternal Grandfather: painter decorator.

All very working class, little to no education bar my mother. I was the first in my Fathers family to get a degree (masters) out of a family of around 40.

[moonlight1705]

Me: database manager, DH: teacher
Parents: Lecturer in computing and IT project manager
Grandparents: Secretary/Royal Navy officer, and doll maker/factory foreman.
Great grandparents: Miner, rail engine driver, shop keeper, farmer, housewife

[SMaCM]

Me and DH: Childcare
My father: teacher/musician
My mother: admin
His father: Air Force/factory manager
His mother: barmaid
My maternal grandmother: nothing - never worked
My maternal grandfather: airforce
My paternal grandmother: music teacher
My paternal grandfather: wheelwright
Not sure about DH grandparents

[Bunnybigears]

Me: Payroll
DM: Secretary
DF: Accountant
Paternal GM: Cadburys factory worker
Paternal GF: Motorbike Mechanic
Maternal GM: Journalist
Maternal GF: Carpenter

[Pipandmum]

Me: production editor now property developer; husband: lawyer
My parents: father doctor, mother medical social worker
My paternal grandparents: teacher and businessman
Maternal grandparents: housewife (mum of 8) and doctor
Husbands parents: mother was hair salon owner, father builder;
Above that don't know.

[daisybrown37]

Me: Human Resources, Husband IT Systems Specialist.

Mum: Cleaner Dad: Quality Controller in factory
Grandad (Mums side) Railway Worker/Station Master. Grandma WRN and then housewife

Grandad (Dads side) Farm Worker, Grandma Petrol Station Owner (one of those ones where they filled your cat up for you!)

[daisybrown37]

fill up your car not cat!

[lots33]

Me - social worker. DW - Police officer

My parents:DM social worker and DF teacher
My maternal grandmother: Social Worker
My maternal grandfather : University professor

My Maternal G great father was an economist

PIL : steel worker and shop worker
Their ancestors were men in Manuel labour including mining and women were housewives or worked in factories and shops.

[CrochetToTheMoon]

Me - nurse DH - IT analyst

Mum - line supervisor in a computer place
Dad - labourer

Maternal gran - carer
Maternal granda - don’t know him

Paternal gran - kitchen supervisor
Paternal granda - I actually don’t know what he done, he was always retired when I was a child and I don’t think I’ve even really known, I must find out

[InFlagranteDerelicto]

Me: financial services
My mother: care work
My father: carpenter
Maternal GM: married young, had DC very soon after marriage.
Maternal GF: security guard, worked in various factories, gardener - odd jobs really but he always worked.
Previous couple of generations on each side were in service. One was apparently the illegitimate child of a politician.

Paternal GM: ran own business later in life with DGF
Paternal GF: soldier, baker, butcher, ran own business with DGM
Not sure about my Paternal GF's family, except that they were very poor & lived in industrial London. The father survived the war but died of his wounds (WW1) soon after, so he can't have been very old. My GF never met his dad.
My Paternal GM's family were not of the working classes... big country house, recently returned from India, etc. Her marriage to the youngest son of a poor family from Poplar must have caused a bit of a stir. I know they had a lot of money when my father was young, so she wasn't cut off!

[Wond3rment]

Love this thread!

Me: Senior Management DH: Company Director

DF: MD of large export business
DM: Boutique owner, retired to be SAHM when we were young as DF travelled extensively

Maternal GF: Farmer and Pub owner (His father was an engineer and a ‘gentleman Farmer’, pub and shop owner and his mother was a SAHM)
Maternal GM: Shopkeeper, her own independent supermarket back in the day (Her father was a Farmer and her Mother was a SAHM)

Paternal GF: Farmer (His Father was a Farmer and agricultural contractor, his Mother was SAHM)
Paternal GM: Shopkeeper and butcher, own shop (Her Father was a Blacksmith and Farmer, her mother was a SAHM)

FIL: Farmer, large farm
MIL: SAHM, never worked but ‘helped at home‘ before getting married

Maternal GFIL: Farmer and pub owner (His Father was a Farmer and his mother was a SAHM)
Maternal GMIL: Shopkeeper, her own grocery store (Her Father was a Farmer, pub and shop owner, her Mother was a shopkeeper)

Paternal GFIL: Farmer
Paternal GMIL: SAHM

Previous generations: Mostly farmers, lots of uncles and aunts in each generation were in religious orders, a few Doctors, Creamery Manager, Teachers, Nurses

DH and I love how similar our family histories are. Our Grandparents are unbelievably similar

[Embolio]

Me - nurse, DH - software developer
My parents - both senior civil servants
MIL - secretary, FIL - solicitor
My gran - worked in cotton mill, grandad - electrical engineer (built aircraft engines)
Great grandad - cotton mill manager, great grandma - housewife.

My gran was supposed to carry on at school but left at 14 with the onset of ww2.

My mum is the only one of her siblings (6) with a degree, whereas all of my generation (cousins and siblings) have gone on to higher education.

[Ginfordinner]

Me: Website content
Mum: Secretary, SAHM, TEFL teacher
Maternal Grandfather: Industrial consultant
Maternal Grandmother: Artist
Dad: Railway clerk
Paternal Grandfather: Railway worker, then British Transport Police
Paternal Grandmother: in service, then stopped working when she got married

All my grandparents were born in the 19th century.

[Embolio]

I see lots of us nurses have partners in IT! Theres a study in there somewhere

[planplan]

DH- engineer
Me- Social Worker

FIL- TV producer
MIL- nurse

Mother- Housing at LA
Father- Factory 'gaffer'

Maternal gm- housewife
Material gf- accountant

Paternal gm- cleaner
Paternal gf- labourer

Mum was posher than dad!

[opinionatedfreak]

Me: doctor

DM: bank clerk initially but SAHM after I was born
DF: Mechanical Engineer

MGM: cleaner/GP receptionist
MGF: foreman in electronics factory
PGM: WAAF, shop work while her kids were young, ended up as a civilian stores clerk on an army base for almost 20yrs pre-retirement
PGF: RAF Sergeant Pilot in WW2, Hugely successful career in engineering having done an HND at night school post war.

Only 1 of my grandparents had post 14 education (PGF), 2 got scholarships to grammar schools but weren't allowed to take them up (MGF/ PGM).

Entire family very supportive of education. My entire generation is degree educated and mostly working in professional roles.