Dear Tom
Genealogical miscellany
Tom Wood
We’ve had a fair number of puzzling occupations in these columns in the past, but this one from Lorna Young is a new one on me. Lorna tells me her ancestor Jane Stroud married a police constable named John Cameron and on the 1891 Census they are living in Camberwell. Nothing unusual so far you may think, however, in the occupation column of the census sheet it says that John is a ‘Police Constable in charge of empty house’. What does this mean, Lorna wonders? Was he disaffected with his job or is there a better explanation? Let’s hope so! Incidentally, Lorna says her ancestor Jane had two sisters: Margaret Bessie, who also married a police constable (called George Whatley), and Sarah Ann, whose husband was called James Constable! Perhaps, as Lorna says, it was a family theme!