The History

Most people who research their family history will find a number of farm workers amongst their ancestors.

The most common term is Agricultural Labourer or Ag Lab as it often appears in the Census returns.

Farm workers have been needed to farm the land ever since the Hunter Gatherers gave way to farmers.

The farming way of life was little changed over many years gradually moving from the serfs on Domesday times to paid employees in the 1700's.

The 1800's saw a series of factors that affected the lives of the farm workers with periods of great need for their services and times when many were unable to find work and forced to live in the workhouse.

This unrest caused bad feeling and at times riots. Most of these riots were linked to standards of living caused by effects such as cheap imports or increasing use of machinery.

From the early 1800's farm workers moved with greater frequency sometimes attracted by better wages , sometimes on marriage and sometimes as the result of the bankruptcy of their farmer.

Employment was normally obtained by recommendation from a relative working at the farm or by cold calling at farms asking for employment.

This cold calling is celebrated in the well known song " To be a farmers boy"

Another common way of gaining a new job was to attend one of the hiring fairs that took place in many market towns often at the same time as the market. These fairs at markets  provided the favourite place for farmers to recruit and workers to get new jobs.

Farmers with vacancies promoted their farm and interested workers spoke to the farmer who was able to choose from the interested parties.

Not only men worked on the farms it was not unusual for boys as young as 8 to be employed as bird scarers or stone pickers.

Many women worked on the farm albeit for shorter hours than the men.

Although most of the jobs for women were around the farm yard many worked on the land alongside the men.

Farm Workers jobs that may be recorded include

Shepherd - Looked after the flocks of sheep

Cowman - Looked after the cows

Stockmen - Looked after the Cows

Horseman - Looked after all aspects of welfare for the heavy horses

Hurdle Maker - made the hurdles that acted as fences for shepherds

Ploughman - Skilled Agricultural Worker who ploughed and harrowed the fields

Waggoners- Moved goods around the farm or to market by horse and waggon

Bird Scarer - Normally a boy who would scare birds from freshly sown fields

Stone Picker - Normally a boy who would pick stones from the fields and put them on the farm roads. This was important as the stones blunted the plough.

Although the above tasked were skilled many men on smaller farms performed several of the tasks and were referred to simply as Ag Lab in the census whilst at larger farms they may be referred to as their sole occupation ie shepherd.

In large estates the farm was run on behalf of the owner by a manager who was referred to as the Steward, Bailiff or Foreman.

The terms Agricultural Labourer and Farm Servant are interchangeable but normally an Agricultural Labourer was a married man living in a tied cottage , a farm Servant was a young unmarried man or boy who lived in a barn or took lodgings at the farm and a Farmer owned or tenanted the farm.

  Farm Workers Records

The Museum of English Rural Life has estate records, Union records and a vast collection of old photographs.

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Local museums and County Records Offices have records of individual farms and estates as well as records of livestock auctions and other farm related items.

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Local newspapers will record sales of farms and events at market.

They will also records social events involving farmers.