Genealogy Chat

How common would it have been in the early 1700s for someone to move hundreds of miles to a totally different county?

I wouldn't have thought it was common.......but certainly not unheard-of. People were quite adventurous in those days........

Reg

Some of my family branches stayed in the same area or even village for hundreds of years.

Others wandered about all over the place!

I think in the early 1700s the poorer folks tended to stay put because they had nowhere else to go. If they ended up as paupers in another parish they would often be sent back where they had come from.
Some adventurous ones got to the bigger towns and cities (especially London) to seek their fortunes.

People who had money and land often moved around as they would buy new properties elsewhere......though they often stayed in a general area.

The very rich were only tied to an area if they were the eldest who inherited the estates. If the younger ones had money they could go off and buy their own land somewhere else.

Sue
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Thanks for the information :).