Genealogy Chat

Mechanist, on a Marriage Cert . I also saw it on an Army Record. Also was there a Mechanics Institute around 1850 ?Or is this something different ? Joan

Mechanist - a person skilled in making machinery and tools. Re Institute: try here http://www.infed.org/walking/wa-birb.htm

So please which do you think it is ? Thank you Joan

According to my copy of Collins' Millennium Dictionary, a mechanist is: 1. a person who accepts a mechanistic philosophy 2. another name for a mechanician - person skilled in making machinery and tools, a technician. Which one applies to your relative? Well, is he more likely to be a tool maker or a philosopher. If a philosopher, how would he make a living - probably by lecturing and writing. In which case he would probably be defined as a writer/lecturer. Helen

He was in the Army,or about to join, and then a Police Inspector Which would you go for ? Joan

Metaphysics - 1. the branch of philosophy that deals with first principles, esp of being and knowing; 2. the philosophical study of the nature of reality, concerned with such questions as the existence of God, the external world etc. Re Helen's definition of mechanist: I found the same, then looked up "mechanician".

Thank you Geoff, Jean, and Helen. I'm a lot wiser now Thank you so much Joan

Hi Joan In case the question about the Mechanics' Institute is still relevant, I should add that they were for working people who wanted to improve and educate themselves - evening classes and reading rooms for example, where they could study and learn anything from reading and writing upwards. Regards Stan