It’s often said these days that we are no longer in the era of a ‘job for life’, as though this always used to be the case. In fact, as genealogists discover, it was not uncommon for many of our ancestors to pursue a variety of different employments during their time. Significant career changes are less likely for our forebears who were in one of the classic middle-class professions such as doctor, lawyer, clergyman where stability of employment was one of the undoubted attractions. For many other people, however, one or more major changes in career might happen for all sorts of reasons.
Limited rights
Terms and conditions of employment were very different in the past. Until the 20th century, there were few legal protections for workers, with employers ‘hiring and firing’ largely as they saw fit. It was not until the 1960s, for example, that the law mandated a written contract for employees, that workers were entitled to be given notice before being dismissed, and that people could expect a severance payment if made redundant.
Some of our ancestors lost their livings because their skills Similarly, there was a catastrophic collapse in the plumage trade at the outbreak of the First World War and it never recovered.
