Reserved occupations

[charlielavin]

I was just wondering if there was a list available for reserved occupations in WW1 anywhere?

Any help appreciated!

Cheers Charlotte

[charlielavin]

Sorry I know there have been quite a few threads about this but I wanted to check specifically about jobs relating to electricity supply. Apparently my Great Grandfather Thomas H(enry) Brookes didn't serve in the war as he worked for the local generation board. He was born in 1887 in Manchester.

I did have a quick scout for a possible MIC to see if he did serve but there too many Thomas H Brookes's

[Guest mruk]

Hi Charlotte,

I can't say with any certainty, but I think it unlikely that those working in utilities would be exempt from service. Approximately 170 employees from the Electricity Department in Leeds joined and served. Many did not come back. It may be worthwhile having a look through the annual reports and council minutes for Manchester to see if there's mention of your Great Grandad. You should be able to find them in the main library, and they usually list other departments.

Good Luck,

Dave

PS: I should have added that the occupations were wide and varied, and included amongst the dead were those who worked as Labourers, Stokers, Meter Fixers and Inspectors, and Draughtsmen.

Cheers,

Dave

[charlielavin]

Hi Charlotte,

I can't say with any certainty, but I think it unlikely that those working in utilities would be exempt from service. Approximately 170 employees from the Electricity Department in Leeds joined and served. Many did not come back. It may be worthwhile having a look through the annual reports and council minutes for Manchester to see if there's mention of your Great Grandad. You should be able to find them in the main library, and they usually list other departments.

Good Luck,

Dave

PS: I should have added that the occupations were wide and varied, and included amongst the dead were those who worked as Labourers, Stokers, Meter Fixers and Inspectors, and Draughtsmen.

Cheers,

Dave

Thanks Dave for the info. It s seems I've got another search on my hands! Searching the MIC's there were lots of thomas brookes is there anyway I can narrow this down without having to download everyone of them. I don't have a clue as to what regiment he would be and there doesn't seem to be any Thomas Brookes in the manchester regiments

[charlielavin]

Thanks Dave for the info. It s seems I've got another search on my hands! Searching the MIC's there were lots of thomas brookes is there anyway I can narrow this down without having to download everyone of them. I don't have a clue as to what regiment he would be and there doesn't seem to be any Thomas Brookes in the manchester regiments

Hi sorry I was wrong....there is a Thomas brookes for the manchester regiment but how do I know its him?

[PBI]

Hi Charlotte,No Doubt many of the Men Enlisting would have changed their Occupations at Attestaion so as to evade being refused.I seem to remember some Men listing their profession as Froth Blowers,Mule Skinners, or Monkey trainers,the List is Endless.One recruit being asked what job He Did replied "Any Old Job Guv".

[Guest mruk]

Russ PBI has done a lot of 'froth blowing' and 'monkey training', so he should know , but I would stick with the annual reports and council minutes for the moment, and then download the MIC if you have no joy there. [it could prove costly]. Take a few service numbers from the NA anyway [just in case you need to cross check], and there may also be school journals in the library which list those who had joined and died. It depends on what job he did as some of the men were skilled and probably had a better standard of education than most. It's all worth a look, and there are also plenty of Manchester experts on the Forum, and maybe one of these would like to come in here.

Cheers,

Dave

[PBI]

Pass The Peanuts Please.........Gertcha...........

[charlielavin]

Ok! Here's the Thomas Brookes from the Manchester regiment....sadly its no help at all!

[Frank_East]

Sorry I know there have been quite a few threads about this but I wanted to check specifically about jobs relating to electricity supply. Apparently my Great Grandfather Thomas H(enry) Brookes didn't serve in the war as he worked for the local generation board. He was born in 1887 in Manchester.

I did have a quick scout for a possible MIC to see if he did serve but there too many Thomas H Brookes's

If you can detail where your Great Grandfather lived in Manchester,I can supply a list of Undertakings, both generation and distribution for the Manchester area that might be a source of information for research.It is a fact that in this era, people generally did not travel far to work and one would expect, for example, that power station workers would live within biking distance of their work.

[charlielavin]

If you can detail where your Great Grandfather lived in Manchester,I can supply a list of Undertakings, both generation and distribution for the Manchester area that might be a source of information for research.It is a fact that in this era, people generally did not travel far to work and one would expect, for example, that power station workers would live within biking distance of their work.

Well all I really know is : Thomas is shown on the 1901 census as living with is mother and family at 34 Parker St, Gorton. Though he married Leah Harris in Chorlton in 1907, though I'm pretty sure they were in the Gorton/Ashton-under-lyne area as my grandfather was born around there in in 1921. It says on his birth certificate that his father worked for the local generation board.

Ah what a pickle!

Charlotte

[Muerrisch]

I believe he was exempt from military service: the 'List of Certified Occupations' 26th September 1918 is the harshest, and by virtue of being born before 1893 he was in Category 571 if engaged in 'Electrical Generating Stations, Transmission and distributing mains and lines etc etc. Previous lists give an unconditional exemption.

Now ask me a difficult question!

[Frank_East]

Well all I really know is : Thomas is shown on the 1901 census as living with is mother and family at 34 Parker St, Gorton. Though he married Leah Harris in Chorlton in 1907, though I'm pretty sure they were in the Gorton/Ashton-under-lyne area as my grandfather was born around there in in 1921. It says on his birth certificate that his father worked for the local generation board.

Ah what a pickle!

Charlotte

There was a "Tame Valley" Power Station which in 1926 was replaced by the now defunct Hartshead Power Station which apparently was erected on the same site. I do not know which electricity undertaking owned the "Tame Valley" plant.However there was an undertaking formed in 1899 by the name of "The Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley and Dukinfield Transport and Electricity Board"

However it is probable that your Great Grandfather was in the employment of the Ashton under Lyne Corporation Electricity Department.This was an electricity undertaking and as far as I can see it did not own any generating stations being merely a distribution undertaking which bought energy from the generators and sold it on through their own distribution system. I would hazard a guess that the headquarters may have been in Wellington Road, Ashton under Lyne, as these premises continued to be used after nationalisation in 1948 and may have been in use from the Great War. It is probably worth while to locate and search the archives of the former Ashton under Lyne Corporation Electricity Department.

Regarding enlistment from reserved occupations, it undoubtedly happened in the Great War as testified by the large remembrance memorial erected to fallen in the main offices of the Leeds Corporation Electricity Department at Whitehall Road Power Station.It also happened in Second World War as I know of a junior shift engineer who left his employment at a large power station to join the navy and then resumed his career after the war on demobilisation.