While many of my ancestors were farmers and farm labourers, others resided in a much more urban setting. Tracing their addresses through censuses, directories, newspaper articles and other resources. As cities grew and industrialisation drew many into urban living, urban ancestors became more and more common.
One ancestor, Christopher Prentice, worked as a Water Bailiff in Ipswich, Suffolk in the late 1700s. Too early for the census records, much of my knowledge of Christopher's life comes from newspaper articles.
I hadn't known the job of Water Bailiff was an elected position until I found the article above, which was placed in the Ipswich Journal on Saturday 12 September 1778 thanking those who had elected him to the position for their trust.
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