Hallo Cactus Flower,
Both occupations you spoke of are skilled ones and both entail having to
work an 'apprenticeship' under a 'master tradesman' for not less than 5
years. Your great grandparents would have had to pay for your grandfather
to be taught both these crafts. (I still have the 'Indenture' document of
my father which showed his widowed mother paid Sterling �240.00, a small
amount of this would pay the boy's wages). In Britain, each trade had its
own 'Guild' which recorded the transaction and Scotland still has most of
its archives intact.
A "tanner" cured the hides (skins) taken from dead animals. The leather was
used for many things in those early days, for example:- thick straps used as
'shock absorbers' on carriages pulled by horses, and 'pulleys' to work steam
machines.
In the engineering trade (formerly called 'blacksmith trade') a 'turner' had
to be able to read and understand technical drawings and do calculations to
operate a 'lathe'. In the 1940's-1950's many Italians settled in Britain,
their country's engineering apprenticeships lasted four years. They were
allowed to work on the machinery but were classed as 'semi-skilled' and thus
were paid less than those who had served a 5 year apprenticeship.
Rena in England