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Jeremiah Smith aged 65 in the 1841 census recorded living in Brewood, Staffordshire.

I cannot work out his occupation and would be very grateful for some expert help on this, please.

Thank you. :-)

I have found his death and burial:

Event Type Burial
Name Jeremiah Smith
Age 83
Death or Burial Date 28 Dec 1854
Death or Burial Place Brewood, Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom
Death or Burial Place (Original) SS Mary & Chad, Brewood, SS Mary & Chad, Staffordshire, England
Death Date 1854
Birth Date 1771

I have been unable to find him in the 1851 census. From official records, he could be either in Brewood [see above] or in Leamington.

This looks like him - Felicia is an unusual name

1851 England, Wales & Scotland Census
Clarendon Square, Leamington, Warwick, Warwickshire, England

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Jeremiah Smith Head Married Male 79 1772 Clerk in holy orders and housing care of sends Brewood, Staffordshire, England
Felicia Smith Wife Married Female 67 1784 - Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
Rebecca Smith Daughter Unmarried Female 38 1813 - Worcestershire, England
John Beddington Companies Married Male 59 1792 Companies Calverton, Buckinghamshire
Thomas Manning Servant Married Male 23 1828 General servant Cambridgeshire, England
Joseph Austin Servant Unmarried Male 25 1826 Coachman Leek Wootton, Warwickshire,
Eleanor Davis Servant Unmarried Female 20 1831 Cook Monmouthshire, Wales
Catherine Jones Servant Unmarried Female 35 1816 Housemaid Llanfachraeth, Monmouthshire, Wales
Ellen Stanton Servant Unmarried Female 16 1835 Housemaid Brewood, Staffordshire, England


From original - his occupation is Clerk in Holy Orders and having Care of Souls !!!!

Doesn't help with what the 1841 has as his occupation.

and John Beddington is a Companion

You're wonderful to have found him! I've searched and searched. Which site did you find this on?

He resigned the High Mastership of Manchester School [Cheetham's] in 1837 after more than 30 years. Until he died on St. Thomas' Day, 1854, he lived partly in Leamington and also "his native place of Brewood, Staffordshire where he is buried".

This very helpful entry follows one of my ancestors' entries in the Register who was a Scholar there like many of the family.

Do you think that the 1841 could be 'Ind. Clk' for Independent Clerk????

Found via Find My Past

Here's Ancestry's version - (I just put in Smith 1772 Leamington Warwickshire once I knew what to look for)

They have Eleanor Davis as aged 70!!

NAME: Jerewal Smith
AGE: 79
ESTIMATED BIRTH YEAR: 1772
RELATION: Head
SPOUSE'S NAME: Felscia Smith
GENDER: Male
WHERE BORN: Brewood, Staffordshire, England
CIVIL PARISH: Leamington Priors
COUNTY/ISLAND: Warwickshire
COUNTRY: England
REGISTRATION DISTRICT: Warwick
SUB-REGISTRATION DISTRICT: Budbrooke
ED, INSTITUTION, OR VESSEL: 01o
NEIGHBORS: View others on page
HOUSEHOLD SCHEDULE NUMBER: 15
PIECE: 2072
FOLIO: 550
PAGE NUMBER: 6
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
Name Age
Jerewal Smith 79
Ellanor Davis 70
Felscia Smith 69
John Boddington 59
Catherine Janes 35
Rebecca Smith 28
Joseph Auslin 25
Thomas Manning 23
Ellen Stanton 16

Thank you so much.

I think that his occupation in the 1851 must be a first, or very nearly. Wonderful, isn't it.

Does this bring us any closer to his occupation in 1841?

Off to bed but best wishes for 2022 to you.

:-D

"Independent clerk" sounds reasonable.

His obituary says "In 1837 he resigned the High Mastership of the school andsthe rectory of St Anne's, and except the vicarage of Great Wilbraham in Cambridgeshire (of which his relatives were patrons), which he held until 1847, he lived the rest of his life in retirement."

https://tinyurl.com/4yzf8zrw

Not quite sure how he managed to be vicar of Great Wilbraham, when he's living in Brewood in 1841, about 125 miles away - but maybe it was mostly a nominal post.

????

Marriage entry While we have made all efforts to correctly record the information in the original document there may be different interpretations of the written words. If you have access to the original document and believe we have made a mistake you are encouraged to report this to us. Report an Error in this Data Field
(only fields with a value are shown) Value
County Worcestershire
Place (Links to more information) King's Norton
Church name (Links to more information) St Nicolas
Register type (Links to more information) Parish Register
Marriage date 27 Jul 1811
Groom forename Jeremiah
Groom surname SMITH
Groom parish Manchester, County Lancashire
Groom occupation Clerk of the parish of Manchester, County Lancashire
Bride forename Felicia
Bride surname ANDERTON
Bride parish King's Norton
Witness1 Wm. HICKS
Witness2 Sarah ANDERTON
Notes Witness 3 - Elizth. Simpson, witness 4 - Edwd. SIMPSON, witness 5 - Anne ANDERTON, witness 6 - Rebecca ANDERTON. Marriage by license
Transcribed by Brenda Harrison
File line number 921

I think you are right to assume that his occupation in 1841 was Independent Clerk (or Cleric)

Kath. x

Yes, I think that Independent Cleric is probably as close as we're going to get! In his obituary it lists many 'venues' to which he was associated in his professional capacity which might explain the "independent". Odd, though. :-S
Thank you again.

Freelancing ?!

Love that. :-D

another version of 'clerk in holy orders' is minister. If this was a Methodist minister he could belong to a 'circuit' preaching etc in a wide area.
I have one relative in 1841 as a minister in the midlands but the rest of hi life was in Todmorden where he was born and brought up and where he became a mill owner instead. The whole family were 'Primitive Methodists'

Thank you LAnn. He wasn't a Methodist minister, he was Highmaster of Manchester Grammar School [Cheetham's] where many of my ancestors were scholars.

The very helpful tip at the head of my tip came via an entry in the Register - an absolutely fascinating book and available online - for one of my more prominent ancestors!!

Doncha just love family history. :-D

"vicarage of Great Wilbraham in Cambridgeshire (of which his relatives were patrons)"

Did you know that being a patron of a church does not mean that they lived there. It usually means they have the 'gift of the living' by which an incumbent is appointed. The patron of our local church in Lancashire is Christ church Oxford.

"Smith was ordained in 1794 to the curacy of Edgbaston, Birmingham" so the interpretation of 'cleric' is very possible

I don't know if you have this but for general interest -

"he was from 1824 one of the four "king's preachers" for Lancashire, a sinecure office which was abolished in 1845."

King's Preacher definition:-
(During the reign of a king) any of four clergymen appointed as itinerant preachers to promote Protestant doctrine in areas of Lancashire where Roman Catholicism persisted after the Reformation.

"Church of England clergy often described themselves as a clerk in holy orders, or simply, clerk. Formerly a commercial clerk was called a scrivener or writer."

https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/England_Religious_Occupations_(National_Institute)

Thank you all.
:-D