The craft of wheelwrighting has been passed down through three generations

Among the members of the Vachuška family, there were, among others, an innkeeper, a road worker, a railway guard, a railway worker, a baker, a gamekeeper, a merchant, a master weaver, and also several soldiers (a captain and first lieutenant of the territorial army during World War I, a provincial infantry defender), independent farmers, and master wheelwrights.

The craft that was passed down through several generations was wheelwrighting. According to parish records, the first wheelwright in the Vachuška family was Jakub, who lived from 1809 to 1858. He was referred to as a wheelwright only at the end of his life in 1858. Jakub passed on his craft to his two sons, Josef and František. The older Josef is mentioned as a wheelwright in 1862, when he was 22 years old, and the younger František in 1866, when he was 23 years old.

However, the wheelwright's craft was not only passed on to Jakub's sons, but also to his grandson and great-grandson. Josef's son Josef, born in 1864, was also a wheelwright, as he was described as one in 1892, when he was 27 years old. Josef's only son who lived to adulthood, Josef (the third in a row with that name), was also a wheelwright. This was written about him in 1920, when he was 24 years old.

The wheelwright's craft was passed down in the Vachuška family for at least four generations, from Jakub, who was a wheelwright in the mid-19th century, to his great-grandson Josef, who was described as a wheelwright in 1920. If someone in the Střelské Hoštice and Sedlo area needed a wheelwright services during this period, it was probably one of these four.

What craft did your ancestors pass down, and for how long?