Percy Posted 23 August , 2003 Share Posted 23 August , 2003 I am researching geneaology on the combined families of myself and my wife. I have recently recieved a copy of my wifes maternal grandparents, her grandfather, who was 21 on marriage in 1917 had his occupation listed as "Gunner Royal Artillery Garrison Machineman". Can anyone give me any clues as to what a machineman was? His home address and place of marriage are listed as Newcastle upon Tyne. His name was Joseph Sweeney and I would be interested in tracking further information on his service career. Regards Percy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 23 August , 2003 Share Posted 23 August , 2003 Just a thought - the marriage certificate of those days asked for "Rank or Profession" of the people marrying. Of course, this didn't refer specifically to military rank. Perhaps the person responsible for completing the certificate thought that it would be a good idea to mention the man's present status - gunner in the RGA - and also his pre-war profession? Machineman was a job-title for someone who was responsible for setting up, running and maintaining a machine. There were lots of machinemen involved in coal-mining and Newcastle was a big mining area. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Percy Posted 23 August , 2003 Author Share Posted 23 August , 2003 Thanks for that Tom, yes I had given that some thought as the rest of the family on the paternal side was all involved in mining. To the best of my knowledge though his civilian occupation was a wharfy and the family still alive can only remember his occupation as that. P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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