When tracking ancestors back in history, research usually takes in the census as well as birth, marriage and death records. Sometimes when the object of interest lives in a town, directories can fill in some details which can be handy in the years between censuses but beware, the information on the directory entries was gathered beforehand. I've found recently dead people listed.
I haven't yet look at directories for my Maidment gamekeepers but, since their profession often saw them in court with poachers and the like, I decided a perusal of historic newspapers was in order so my subscription to Find My Past is coming in handy. I've just begun to look up the names of Elias and his sons and I've already hit pay dirt. There have been the reported on court cases where the Maidment in question had to give testimony about a person caught red-handed with game. Also of interest were some ads placed by one of the men looking for a new position, an ad that gave specifics of height and age and trustworthiness. I also came across the report of an inquest into the death of one of the Maidment men's wife. That's one I need to look into further!
Because I've been so successful in my search for the gamekeepers I'm interested in, I've started to wonder if I should perhaps try newspaper searches for those in other professions, like shopkeepers and publicans - I have a few of those I'd like to know more about.
Sources:
FindMyPast newspaper search https://www.findmypast.com
Image:
By Gamekeepers Cottages. by Mick Malpass, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=108140086
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