My pleasure Liz,

John, when he was young would have wanted to go to Sea - then maybe he decided he didn't like it,
or maybe Edith wanted him at home with her and the Children and not away at Sea for months at a time, or maybe his health suffered when he was at Sea.
so John would take a job on dry land - so he would have taken a job as a Labourer to start with, and then later on taken the job of Gardener at the Nunnery.
John may at sometime have been a Carter - maybe that was part of his Labouring job before he was a Gardener.

Good luck with the Consultant on Monday.

there is no hurry for the Museum, just when you are well enough to go.

Averil