What did your grandparents do for a living?

[bobsmum]

Just been pondering about the skills etc my grandparents had. And wondering how to keep some of them alive or at least be a bit more clued up about my past IYSWIM

On my dad's side:
Grandpa was a cooper, played the saxophone and clarinet in the army band and kept bees.
Gran was a dinner lady in later life, but need to find out what she did before children. Made fab mice pies and steak pie. They lived in a prefab for years after the war.

On my mum's side:
Papa worked in the thread mills, was in the navy and made jam. Was an amazing handyman - made me a dolls house and my brother a ride on steam train.
Gran was a nurse, a mad keen knitter and had a hostess trolley fully stocked with cakes on all tiers every time we visited. She loved decorating.

Anyone else?

mince pies mince pies

on my mums side

grandad wworked in a paper mill (As did most of the town it seems!) my brothers house is now where the paper mill used to be and I live where the boats used to deliver materials (we live near each other) I can remember a fab tree swing he made us when we were little

Nan did loads of jobs mainly waitressing/shop work (my auntie and mum used to sit in the tea room kitchen whilst my nan worked) then she was a cook at school kitchen

Dads side

his dad (don't call him a grandad v.long story but my dad doesmt even acknoledge he had a dad) worked on the buses

my nan was a cleaner

My grandad was a draughtsman and very good at painting. I'm also quite arty and work as a designer so I suppose I've carried that on a bit. I'm not entirely sure what my grandma did, I vaguely remember her saying something about making lightbulbs during the war. I worked in a factory making traffic lights during uni holidays so maybe I carried that on a bit too!!

dad's dad- pt instructor in the army, later civil servant, lifelong ladies' man
dad's mum - housewife and mother, never really knew her as she died when I was a baby
mum's dad - miner, managed to attract granny "because he had a nice quiff", it was not a happy marriage
mum's mum- dressmaker, gardener, ardent wrestling fan

my nan work sewing for trutex and then bought and ran a grocers

other nan bog all

grandad painter decorator

other one bank manager

grandad and nana- both tailors
other grandad - merchant navy
other nana - stayed at home

my nan was a catering manageress and worked in many big stores in Manchester.

my gran owned bars and later worked as a projectionist at the movies.

my maternal grandad was in the army

my paternal grandad - i have no idea

On my dad's side:
Grandpa was a doctor, a GP I think. A very proper man who didn't recognise me in his will because I was illegitimate (unlike my half siblings).
Granma was a nurse. She was a spinster until her late thirties when she married by Grandpa and had my dad. She died on bowel cancer when Dad was four and he was immediatley sent to boarding school.
In the second world war they turned their house into a convalescent home for injured troops.

On my mum's side:
Grandpa was an insurace broker. He was unemployed throughout his twenties because of the Depression. Because of this he strung out his engagement to my grandma until she threatened to accept the proposal of the postman. He then bought an insurance book and married her.
Grandma didn't work except during the war when Grandpa was a Fireman and she ran his insurance book. She was a devout Catholic and did stuff with the Church.

Your gran sounds very cool custardo.

Meant to add, my maternal gran was in the Women's Health and Beauty movement (anyone else heard of it?) for years and was still tap dancing in her 60s and 70s

I like the sound of all these "real|"jobs where I can picture people doing them.

my dad's dad was a director of an asbestos company.the well known one.and in fact died from asbestosis

his wife died young

my other grandad worked on the railways i think and also made sacks but was mostly unemployed i think and used to try and win things at the fair and bet i believe while my grandma took in washing and lodgers i believe

they ran a tough old east end pub

my great gran was a suffragette

Dad's side:
Grandad - builder and handyman. Kept chickens. Was stationed in London rebuilding bombed-out houses in the war.
Granny - typist before getting married. Had one of those big old 1930s open iron typewriters, which I used to like playing with even though it made your wrists ache to type with it. Don't think they'd heard of repetitive strain injury then.

Mum's side
Grandad - postman, agricultural labourer and extremely good gardener - people came from miles around to look at his flower displays on village fete day. Also had a sideline fixing clocks and watches.
Nana - busy looking after 7 dcs!

My maternal grandmother was a cook later aftre her children left home but worked as a cinema usher in the 1950's,grandfather was a builder.
Paternal side-my granddad was a railway man after ww2 and my Nanna coped with their 5 children aswell as helping out with her family owned village shop.

my god what an illiterate post from zippi

Grandad - electrician, made fabbo wooden kid's toys, painted them in meticulous detail.
Gran - stenographer, liked snooker, amazing baker
He sang, she played the piano and they travelled all over the place entertaining church groups etc (all on public transport of course)

Grandpa - printer, worked for Collins. Taught himself 4 languages from books.
Grandma - bookkeeping. Painted china tea sets. Became treasurer and secretary of just about every local group - church ladies' club, Scottish country dance group etc.

I am quite good at languages and music, but dreadful at crafty things, baking and numbers, so I guess I have inherited a couple of the skills...

Mum's side
Gran - psychiatric nurse, she used to walk a 10 mile round trip to get to work
Grandad - worked at the Ford plant in Halesowen although was originally a nurse.
They came over here from Ireland after the war to nurse.

Dad's side
Nan - SAHM, brought up 6 kids on her own when her husband died in 1950

my mum's parents - have no idea - her mum died when she was born .
My grandfather on my father's side was in the Army out in Egypt when my dad was born, then in India. He was a Colonel and very sporty,won lots of tennis tournaments and played the french horn. lovely man.
My grandma went to art school (in the 20s - so quite unusual) and did some commercial art before marrying and being an army wife. She still painted until she was quite elderly.

Oh yes forgot - Grandad also grew loads of fruit and veg - it was always delicious.

On my dad's side, my grandad was a miner (it was a mining village; everyone went down t'pit). He had the most enormous vegetable garden you have ever seen, and they never needed to buy fruit or veggies because he knew every way of preserving them that there was. When the pit's cats had kittens, he would bring some of them home; the house was always full of cats when my dad was growing up. Grandma was what we would now call a SAHM - she made the best cakes you've ever tasted, all on a big, open range that she always used, even when grandad bought her a modern electric cooker. She did all her baking by guesswork and would have scoffed at the idea of needing kitchen scales.

On my mum's side my grandma was in domestic service until she married my grandad, who worked in a factory which made car horns. I'm not sure how he avoided service during the war, but he did. I don't remember him ever working - he retired through supposed ill-health but was really just a lazy bugger who preferred to let my grandma do all the work. After he jacked in his job, grandma became a postwoman and worked until way past the age she should have been retired at. She liked things like quilting - she grew up needing to recycle old clothes into rugs and things, and that never went away.

Salesman & a nurse.
Draughtsman & shop assistant

I have absolutely no affinity for any of this - hate sales, can't draw & faint at the sight of blood but my nan is a great cook & knitter & has taught me a lot of what I know so at least I learnt something

Both sets of my grandparents were farmers.

They each only had one child, who became my mother and father.

My mother went to work on my father's parents' farm as part of her training at agricultural college.

She and my father fell in love, he did two years national service in the RAF, they got married and he stayed in the RAF.

They had 4 babies and my mother stayed at home and looked after us until she trained to be a teacher when I was a teenager.

They've been married for 54 years.

my paternal grandfather had a stinky compost bin and ate bad home made yoghurt in a yoghurt maker and froze ratatouille by the batch load
this was the early 70's
when they came to stay they would bring a sack of bran and scatter it liberally on their meals ( honk)

Ditto LongMeg, except I have matching pairs: both grandfathers miners, both grandmas in domestic service before marriage.

(My mums side) My grandad was in the War (he was an old man when he died about 20 yrs ago!)
My Nin had 6 kids to love after and her youngest one was born when my Nin was about 40

(My Dads side) My Grandad.....i really dont know as i never met him as he died before i was born but prob in the builder trade
My Nan - i dont recall her ever worked!!!

I dont really know my Dads side...ill find out later off my Mum

mums side-

grandad was a teacher then headteacher, also was a signal man in RAF.

grandma was a school cook then office clerk in a paper mill.

dad's side-

grandad was/is head of family businesses ranging from repair garage, corner shops, staitioners, cafe etc etc (all in morocco) now retired running a small farm with chickens and an olive grove.

grandma was busy mum of 11 children now also retired to farm.