[Nell]

Asa

I do agree. "Ag lab" is a catch-all for people who helped put food on the table of millions. I do have a game-keeper, a cowman, an oxman and a husbandman in my tree which is a bit more precise. I also have one Gloucestershire gt x 3 grandmother who is listed as an ag lab on the census. I'm sure many other women also worked in the fields but it just wasn't recorded.

It was a precarious job though, not much work in the winter, very physical and nothing if you were injured or unwell. However, I think the physical exercise, fresh air and no doubt access to fresh veg is why so many of my ag labs lived well into their 80s and beyond.