GENEALOGICAL EARLY OCCUPATIONS

 

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GENEALOGICAL EARLY OCCUPATIONS

-A-

 

ACATER - supplied food provisions, e.g. a ships chandler

ACCIPITRARY - falconer

ACCOMPTANT - accountant

ACCOUCHEUR / ACCOUCHEUS - one who assisted women in childbirth

ACCOUTREMENT MAKER / ACCOUTRE - supplier of military accessories

ACKERMAN / ACREMAN - ploughman, an oxherder

ACTUARY - kept public accounts of business

ADMINISTRATOR - directed the affairs of another

ADVERTISEMENT CONVEYANCER - sandwich board man

ADVOCATE DEPUTE - Scottish law officer who could act a public prosecutor

ADVOWEE - normally a nobleman, who had the right to present a clergyman to a benefice

AERONAUT - balloonist or a trapeze artist in the circus or music halls

AFFEEROR - official in the manorial courts who assessed the monetary penalty and also collected taxes and dues and were also called Assessor

AGISTER - official of the Royal Forests or in the New Forest it is the title for the one in charge of the ponies

ALABASTERER - worked with alabaster

ALBLASTERE - crossbow man

ALCHEMIST - medieval chemist who claimed to be able to turn base metals into gold

ALDERMAN - senior councillor one position down from Mayor in the local council

ALE-CONNER / ALE FOUNDER - official who tested quality and measure of ale served in public houses

ALEDRAPER - seller of ale

ALE TASTER - tested ale and beer for quality first recored in 1377 in London. Appointed by the Manor and forerunner of the Inspector for Weights & Measures

ALE TUNNER - employed by the brewery to fill ale casks (tuns} with ale

ALEWIFE - woman tavern-keeper

ALL SPICE - name for a grocer

ALMANAC MAN - official appointed by the Court of Sewers who warned the inhabitants of the Trent River area of higher than normal tides

ALMONER - gave out alms or charity to the poor and needy

ALMSMAN - received alms

ALNAGER - official who examined the quality of woolen goods and stamped them with the town seal of approval

AMANUENSIS - secretary or stenographer

AMBER CUTTER - cut ambergris

AMBER & JET CUTTER - cut and polished amber for jewelry

AMBLER - officer of the Royal Stable who broke in horses

AMEN MAN - parish clerk

ANCHOR SMITH - made anchors

ANCHORESS - female hermit or religious recluse

ANCHORITE - male hermit or religious recluse

ANILEPMAN - smallholder (tenant of the manor)

ANGLE IRON SMITH - made angle iron ie. flat iron bars bent at right angles lengthways

ANKLE BEATER - young person who helped to drive the cattle to market

ANNATTO MAKER - worked in the manufacture of dyes for paint or printing

ANTIGROPELOS MAKER - made waterproof leggings

ANVIL SMITH - made anvils and hammers for blacksmiths

APIARIAN - beekeeper

APOTHECARY - prepared and sold medicines or drugs; pharmacist

APPARITOR - official who summoned witnesses in the ecclesiastical courts

APPRENTICE - was bound to a skilled worker for a specified time to learn a trade

APRONEER - term used in London for a shopkeeper

APRONMAN - mechanic

AQUARIUS (EWAR) - waterman

AQUAVITA SELLER - sold alcohol

ARCHIATOR - physician

ARCHIL MAKER - made a violet dye from lichens, used in the textile industry

ARKWRIGHT - skilled craftsman who produced "arks" (wooden chests or coffers)

ARMIGER - squire who carried the armour of a knight

ARMOURER - made suits of armour or plates of armour for buildings or ships etc.

ARTIFICER - highly respected skilled or artistic worker or craftsman or one that makes or contrives

ASHMAN - dustman

ASSAYER - determined the proportions of metal in ore

ASSAY MASTER - determined the amount of gold or silver to go in coins

AUGER MAKER - made the carpenters augers (used for boring holes in wood)

AULNAGER - see Alnager

AURIFABER - goldsmith

AVENATOR (PLANTIFENE) - hay and forage merchant

AVOWRY - term for the lord of the manor

AXEL TREE MAKER / AXEL TREE TURNER - made axels for coaches and wagons

 

-B-

 

BACKMAKER - made "backs", vats, tubs, a Cooper

BACKMANN / BACKSTER / BAXTER / BECK / BECKER - baker

BACK'US BOY - kitchen servant (from "back of the house")

BACK WASHER - employed to clean the wool in the worsted manufacturing industry

BADGER - licensed pauper who wore a badge with the letter P on it and could only work in a defined area (the term "Badgering comes from this"). A corn miller or dealer or an itinerant food trader

BADGY FIDDLER - boy trumpeter in the military

BAGMAN - travelling salesman

BAGNIOKEEPER - n charge of a bath house or brothel

BAILIFF / BAILIE / BAILLIE / BAILLEE - officer of the sheriff, a land steward acting on behalf of the Landowner or Landlord and in Scotland a magistrate of the burgh, also looked after the fishing rights on certain rivers

BAIRMAN / BAREMAN - pauper or beggar

BALER - bales hay and in the mills one who bailed wool or cotton goods

BALISTER - archer most commonly a crossbowman

BALLAST HEAVER - loaded ballast into the hold of empty ships

BALLARD MASTER - in charge of loading the ballast into the hold of empty ships

BALLER / BALLER UP - assisted the potter by measuring out the balls of clay

BAL MAIDEN - female mine worker who worked on the surface (also a Pit Brow Lass)

BAND FILER - metal worker in the gun making industry

BANDSTER - bound the wheat sheaves after harvest

BANG BEGGAR - officer of the parish who controlled the length of stay of any stranger to the parish

BANKER - dug trenches and ditches to allow drainage of the land, placing the surplus earth in banks around the edge

BANKSMAN - employed in the mining industry being in charge of the cages at the pit head (sometimes known as a bank manager)

BARBER / BARBER SURGEON - a barber also also a surgeon (an Act was passed that limited Barbers to hair-cutting, shaving, dentistry and blood letting in the 18th century)

BARD - poet or minstral

BAREMAN - beggar or pauper

BARGEE / BARGEMAN - worked on or owned and operated a barge

BARGE MATE - Naval officer

BARILLA MANUFACTURER - made barilla, a substance obtained from burning saltworts, the resulting mixture of sodium salts being used in the glass and Ceramics industry

BARKEEPER - another name for a tollkeeper

BARKER - tanner

BAUER - farmer

BAXTER - baker

BELHOSTE - tavern keeper.

BARTONER - in charge of the monastic farm, also known as a barton

BASIL WORKER - worked with sheep and goat skins

BASKETMAN - made baskets and furniture from wicker, and also employed to empty the basket of coal being offloaded from the colliers into the barges

BASS / BAST DRESSER - employed in dressing fibre or matting

BATHING MACHINE PROPRIETOR - owned and hired the changing huts used at the seaside in the by bathers

BATMAN - officers servant in the army

BATT MAKER - made the wadding used in quilt and mattress making

BATTLEDORE MAKER - made the beaters used on clothes carpets etc to remove the dust (later made the paddles used in washing machines)

BAYWEAVER - who wove bay (a fine woollen fabric also known as baize)

BEADLE / BEDEL / BEDELL - officer of the parish whose principle duty was to keep order, also was the town crier

BEADMAN / BEADSMAN / BEDESMAN - employed to pray for his employer, inhabitant of an almshouse / poorhouse / hospital or tenant employed by the manor for a specific service

BEAD PIERCER - employed to drill the holes in beads

BEAMER - winds the warp on the roller before putting it on the loom in the textile industry

BEARER - worked undergrpound carrying the coal to the bottom of the pit shaft and placed it in the containers for uplifting to the surface

BEATER - cleansed and thickened the cloth by treading it underwater with fullers earth (aka Fuller)

BEAVER - made felt used in hat making

BEDMAN - sexton

BEDRAL - in Scotland a minor church official

BEDWEVERE - made the webbing for bed frames and also a one who wove quilts

BEESKEPMAKER - made beehives

BEETLER - operated a beetling machine, used in the textile trade for embossing fabric

BELLEYETERE - bellfounder

BELLFOUNDER / BELTER / BILLITER - made bells

BELL HANGER - installed bells in churches

BELLMAN - employed as a watchman or town crier or who worked for the post office and collected letters for the mail coach by walking the streets and ringing a bell

BELLOWFARMER - responsible for the care and maintenance of the church organ

BELLOWS MAKER - made bellows used for organs or blacksmiths fires

BELLY BUILDER - built and fitted the interiors of pianos

BENDER - cut leather

BESSWARDEN - appointed by the parish to look after its animals

BESOM MAKER - made brooms

BEVER - beverage maker

BIDDY - female servant usually of Irish stock

BILLIER / BILLYMAN - operated a Billy Roller, a machine used in the cotton industry to prepare the cotton for spinning

BILL POSTER - put up notices, signs and advertisements

BINDER - bound items, e.g., books, hats etc .

BIRD BOY - employed to scare away birds from crops

BIRD CATCHER - caught birds for selling

BIRDS NEST SELLER - sold bird nests collected from the wild complete with eggs which were then hatched by domestic birds and sold as pets

BIRLYMAN - in Scotland a ground officer or parish arbiter

BLACK TRAY MAKER - made Japanned trays

BLACKING MAKER - made polish for shoes

BLACK BORDERER - made black edged stationery for funerals

BLADESMITH - swordmaker or knife maker

BLAXTER / BLEACHER - bleached cloth or paper pulp

BLEMMERE - plumber

BLENTONIST - water diviner

BLINDSMAN - employed by the Post Office to deal with incorrectly addressed letters and parcels

BLOCKCUTTER / BLOCKER - made wooden blocks used in the hat trade or laid down the blocks on which a ships keel was laid

BLOCK MAKER - engraved the blocks used in the printin

BLOCK PRINTER - printer who used wooden blocks for printing

BLOODMAN / BLOODLETTER - used leeches for letting blood, this was thought to be a cure for many ailments

BLOOMER - produced iron from ore, a bloom smithy

BLOWER - glass blower, one who operated a "blowing machine" used to clean and separate fibres in the textile trade, one who operated the bellows at a blacksmiths

BLOWFEEDER - fed the fibres into a "blowing machine"

BLUESTOCKING - female writer

BLUFFER - innkeeper or landlord of a pub

BOARDING OFFICER - inspected ships before entering port

BOARDMAN - truant officer who checked school attendance. a tenant of manorial land who paid rent by maintaining the manor's table

BOARDWRIGHT - made tables and chairs aka carpenter

BOATMAN - worked on a boat, predominately on rivers and canals also the name given to a boat repairer

BOATSWAIN - ship's officer in charge of riggings & sails

BOBBER - who polished metals one who helped to unload fishing boats

BOBBIN CARRIER - worked in spinning and weaving sections of the mills

BOBBIN TURNER - made the bobbins used in the spinning and weaving industry

BOBBY - policeman usually of constable rank

BODEYS / BODY MAKER - made bodices for womens garments

BODGER - craftsman who made wooden chair legs and the spars and usually worked in the actual woodland that they cut the timber in

BOILERMAKER - worked with metal in any industrial setting

BOILER PLATER - made rolled iron plate used to make boilers for steam engines etc

BOLL - looked after power looms in the weaving industry

BOLTER - sifted meal

BONDAGER - female worker on a farm who was bonded

BONDMAN - bonded to a master for the purpose of learning a skill or trade

BONDSMAN - stood bond or surety for another where a bond was required by law

BONE BUTTON TURNER - made buttons using a lathe

BONE LACE MAKER - made pillow lace

BONE MOULD TURNER - made the moulds for button manufacturers

BONE PICKER - collected rags and bones aka Rag and Bone Man

BONESETTER - set broken bones

BONIFACE - keeper of an inn

BOOK GILDER - decorated books with gold leaf

BOOKHOLDER - prompter in the theater

BOOK KEEPER - looked after the accounts for businesses

BOOKMAN - student

BOONMASTER - surveyor of roads with the responsibilities of maintaining and repairing the road

BOOTBINDER - employed to operate the machines which bound footware

BOOT CATCHER - servant at inn who pulled off traveler's boots

BOOT CLOSER - worked in the shoe trade stitching together all the parts of a shoe upper

BOOTHMAN - corn merchant

BORLER - who made cheap coarse clothing

BORSHOLDER - regional name (Kent) for a constable

BOTCHER - tailor or cobbler

BOTTILER / BOTTLER - made leather containers for holding liquids eg wine flasks or water bottles

BOTTLE BOY - pharmacists assistant

BOTTOM MAKER - moulded the bottoms for saggers in the pottery industry

BOTTOM KNOCKER - sagger makers assistant in the pottery industry

BOTTOMER - worked down the pits moving the ore etc to the bottom of the shaft for removal

BOWDLER - worked with iron ore

BOWKER - bleached yarn. A local term in some parts of Lancashire for a butcher

BOWLER - made bowls and dishes and also a term used for those who made the rounded part of spoons before casting

BOWLMAN / BOWLWOMAN - dealer in crockery

BOWLMINDER - in charge of the vats used for washing raw wool before processing

BOWYER / BOWER - made bows used in archery

BOZZLER - parish constable

BRABENER - weaver

BRACHYGRAPHER - shorthand writer

BRAIDER - made cord by twisting threads or strips of leather

BRAILLER - made girdles

BRAKEMAN / BRAKESMAN - operated the winch at the pit head or operated the braking mechanism on trains and trams

BRASILER - dyer

BRAZIER - worker with brass

BREWSTER - female brewer or brewer

BRIGHTSMITH - metal worker

BROOM-DASHER - dealer in brooms

BROOM SQUIRE - broom maker

BROTHERER / BROWDERER / BRODERER / BROIDERER - embroiderer

BROW GIRL - female employed at the pit head

BROWNSMITH - works with copper or brass

BUCKLER / BUCKLESMITH - made buckles

BUCKLE TONGUE MAKER - made the metal points that go in the holes of a belt

BUCKRAM MAKER - worked with buckram (used in stiffening materials) e.g. belts, lapels and collars

BUCK WASHER - laundress

BUDDLEBOY - employed to use and maintain the vats used in the lead and tin mines for washing the ore

BUDDLER - women and children who washed the ore at the copper mines in Allihies, Berehaven

BUFFALO SOLDIER - soldier serving in a black regiment in the US Army in the West

BULLWHACKER - oxen driver

BUMBOAT MAN - met ships at anchor with goods for passengers and crew to purchase

BUMMER - army deserter

BUMMAREE - middle man between the wholesaler and the retailer at the fish markets

BUNTER - female rag & bone collector

BURGESS - represented a borough at official levels

BURELER - made borel, a woollen cloth with a coarse feel

BURGOMASTER - mayor

BURLER - quality inspector for clothing

BURMAIDEN - chambermaid or lady-in-waiting

BURNEMAN - carrier of barm or water for brewers

BURYE MAN - grave digger

BUSHEL MAKER - cooper

BUSHELER - tailor's helper

BUSS MAKER - maker of guns

BUSKER - hair dresser

BUTNER - button maker

BUTTER CARVER - made imprints in butter pats

BUTTON BURNISHER - button polisher

BUTTY - negotiated mining contracts and supplied the labor

 

-C-

 

CADDY BUTCHER - butcher that dealt in horse meat

CADDIE - messenger or errand boy

CADGER - beggar

CAFENDER - carpenter

CAFFLER - rag and bone collector

CAINER - made walking sticks

CAIRD - another term for a tinker

CALCINER - burnt bones to make powdered lime

CALENDER - one who listed documents

CALENDERER / CALENDERMAN / CALENDER WORKER - operated a machine which pressed using two large rollers (calender) used to press and finish fabrics or paper

CALICO PRINTER - dyed and colored calico

CAMBRIC MAKER - made a fine linen or cotton fabric called cambric

CAMISTER - minister of the cloth

CANDLE MAKER / CANDLER - who made and sold candles

CAMBIST - banker

CAMERIST - lady's maid

CAMLET MERCHANT - seller of camlet, cloth used to make cloaks & petticoats

CANDY MAN - traveling candy salesman and also slang name for a baliff

CANCELLARIUS - chancellor

CANER / CHAIR BOTTOMER - one who made the seats for chairs out of woven cane

CANNALLER - canal boat worker

CANTER - religious speaker who uses cant

CANTING CALLER - auctioneer

CANVASER - one who made canvas

CAPER - cap maker

CAPILLAIRE MAKER - one who made orange flavored syrup

CAPITALIST - investor

CAPPER / CAP MAKER - made caps usually worn by the working class

CAPTAIN - in charge of a ship or a group of soldiers and also term for an overseer

CARDROOMER - term for anyone who worked in the carding room of the mills

CARDER - cards wool

CARDMAKER - maker of cards or instruments for combing wool

CARMAN / CHARMAN / CARTER / CARRIER - one who drove a vehicle used to transport goods

CARD NAILER / NAILORA - maintained the teeth (nails) on the carding machine used for preparing wool and cotton for weaving

CARNIFEX - butcher

CARPENTARIUS - carpenter

CARTER - one who carries or conveys in or as if in a cart

CART WHEELER - one who made cart wheels

CARTOGRAPHER - map maker

CARTOMANCER - fortune teller who used cards

CARTWRIGHT - maker of carts & wagons

CASHMARIE - one who sold fish usually at inland markets

CASTER / CASTORA - made small bottles used for sprinkling salt, pepper, sugar etc

CASTRATOR - who castrated farm animals aka gelder

CATAGMAN - cottager

CATCHPOLE / CATCHPOLLA - sheriff's assistance or bailiff

CATECHISTA - teacher of religion

CATTLE JOBBER - buys and sells cattle

CAULKER - filled up cracks (in ships or windows) or seams to make them watertight

CEILER - puts up the ceilings in buildings

CELLARMAN - looked after the beer, wines and spirits in public houses or the warehouse

CEMMER - hand combed the yarn before weaving

CHAFF CUTTER - made chaff by cutting straw

CHAFFERER - dealer in chaff

CHAIR BODGER - traveling chair repairman

CHAISE MAKER - made carts from wicker

CHALONER - dealer in shalloon, a material made in Chƒlons

CHAMBERLAIN - steward to either royalty or nobility, in charge of the household

CHAMBERMAID - female servant attending to bedrooms in houses or inns

CHAMBER MASTER - shoemaker that worked from home as an outworker or selling direct

CHAUNTER - street entertainer who sung ballads

CHEESE FACTOR / CHEESEMAN / CHEESE MONGER - dealer in cheeses

CHANDLER - candle seller, grocer, provisioner, usually associated with provisioning ships

CHANTY MAN - sailor that led the singing of shanties on board ship

CHAPELER - made and sold hats

CHAPMAN / COPEMAN / PETTY CHAPMAN / CEAPMAN - dealer or peddler of goods usually itinerant going from village to village.

CHARCOAL BURNER - made charcoal usually in the woods where the trees were cut

CHARTMASTER - middleman that negotiated mining contracts and suppiled the labour

CHARWOMAN - cleaning woman

CHATELAINE - mistress of a castle or house

CHIFFONIER - wig maker or ragpicker

CHILDBED LINEN WAREHOUSE KEEPER / DEALER - hired bedlinen for childbirth as most children were born at home

CHIMNEY SWEEP - chimney cleaner

CHINGLOR - rooftiler who used wooden shingles

CHIP - shipwright or carpenter

CHIPPERS LABOURER - assistant to a shipwright or ships carpenter

CHIROPODIST - treats diseases of the feet & hands

CHIRUGION or CHIRURGEON - apothecary or surgeon (usually learned by apprenticeship)

CHOWDER - fish monger

CHRONOLOGIST - recorded official events of historical importance

CINDER WENCH - female who collected the cinders from gas works and sold them door to door

CLAKER - magician/astrologer

CLAPMAN - town crier

CLARK - clerk

CLASSMAN - unemployed laborer

CLAVIGER - servant

CLAY CARRIER - assistant to the shot firer in the pits

CLAYMAN / CLEYMAN - worked in the clay pits usually preparing the clay for making bricks and also one who coated the outside of buildings with clay to make them water proof

CLERICUS - clerk

CLERK - clergyman or cleric

CLICKER - worked in the shoe trade cutting out the uppers made the shoelace holes and one in charge of the final stage of layout before printing in printing industry

CLIPPER / CLIPPER ON / CLIPPER OFF - attached the coal carts to the wire or rope which was used to drag the carts to and from the coal face

CLOD HOPPER - plowman

CLOGGER - maker of wooden shoes

CLOTH LAPPER - took the cloth from the carding machine readied it for the next process

CLOTH LINTER / CLOTH PICKER - removed unwanted threads and lint from the finished material

CLOTHIER / CLOTHESMAN / CLOTHMAN - who made or sold clothes

CLOUTER / CLOWER - made nails also another term for a shoemaker for the former term

COACHMAN / COACH DRIVER - drove any coach

COAL BACKER - carried the sacks of coal from the coal barge to the coal wagons

COAL BURNER - made charcoal

COAL DRAWER - worked in the mines pushing or dragging the coal carts the the bottom of the pit

COAL HEAVER - unloaded coal

COALMAN / COAL MERCHANT / COAL HIGGLER - sold coal usually from a horse and cart, house to house.

COALMETER - measured the coal

COAL RUNNER - attended the coal carts underground

COAL WHIPPER - unloaded coal from ships using baskets attached to a simple form of crane

COAST SURVEYOR / WAITER - customs officer who watched over the ofloading off goods on the coast

COBBLER - shoemaker

COBLEMAN - used a flat bottomed boat for fishing

COCUS - cook

COD PLACER - put fire proof containers which held the pottery for firing into the kiln

COHEN - a priest

COINER - worked at the mint stamping out coins

COLLAR MAKER - made horse collars and one who made shirt collars

COLLIER - coal miner, a coal merchant or one who worked on the coal barges

COLONUS - Latin for farmer or husbandman

COLPORTEUR - traveling Bible or religious book salesman

COLOURATOR / COLORATORA - worked with dyes

COLOUR MAN - mixed the dyes in the textile trade and also assistant to a house painter

COMBER or COMBERE - combs wool

COMB MAKER - made combs either for the textile industry for combing wool etc. or the maker of hair combs

COMPOSITOR - set the type ready for printing

CONDER / CONNER - gave steering instructions to the steersman and also gave directions to inshore fisherman of fish movements on shoals (usually from the top of cliffs or rocks)

CONEY CATCHER - rabbit catcher

CONFECTIONER - candy maker

CONNER - inspector or tester

COOPER or CUPER - maker of barrels

COPEMAN / COPER - dealer in goods and also dishonest dealer in horses in the latter case

COPPERBEATER / COPPERBETER - coppersmith

COPPERSMITH - worked with copper

CORACLE MAKER - made coracles, a small round boat used for fishing

CORDINER / CORDWAINER / CORVINER / CORVISOR - originally term used for one who worked with Cordovan (a special leather from Spain) but later term used for shoemaker

COSTERMONGER - fruit seller

COSTER WIFE - female fruit seller

COTILER - cutler

COUPER - one who buys & sells

COURANTEER - journalist

COWHERD - cow tender

COWKEEPER - one who kept one or more cows (a common source of livelihood in cities) when a cow was kept in the back yard of a house, providing milk which was sold at the front door or window, forerunner of the local dairy

COXWAIN - ship or boat helmsman

CRATCH MAKER - made cratches (mangers, cribs, or frames) for hay

CRIER - law court officer, auctioneer, town announcer

CRIMPER - member of navy press gang

CROFTER - tenant of a small piece of land

CROPPER - tenant who is paid with a share of the crop

CROWNER - coroner

CUHREUR (CUNREUR) - currier

CURER - cures tobacco

CURRETTER - broker

CURRIER - cures or tans hides

CUSTOMER - customs tax collector

CUTLER - knife seller or sharpener

-D-

 

DAGUERREOTYPE ARTIST - early name for a photographer (from the Daguerreotype method)

DAIRYMAN - worker or owner of a dairy farm or seller of dairy products

DAMSTER - builder of dams for logging purposes

DANTER - female overseer in the winding rooms of a silk mill

DATELER / DAY MAN / DAYTALEMAN - casual worker, usually employed by the day

DEATHSMAN - executioner

DECIMER / DOZENER - elected by the householders in a street to act as their representative at the borough's Court Leet

DECOYMAN - employed to decoy the wild fowl, animals etc into a trap or within shooting range

DECRETIST - knowledgeable in decrees, decretals

DEEMER / DEEMSTER / DEMSTER / DEMPSTER - judge, usually in the Channel Isles or Isle of Man

DELVER - dug ditches

DEPATER - precious metal refiner

DEPUTY - safety officer for the pit crew in the mining industry

DERRICKMAN - worked on an oil well handling the tubes and rods used in drilling

DEVIL - printer's errand boy

DEVILLER - operated the devil, a machine that tore rags used in the textile industry

DEXTER - dyer

DEY WIFE - female dairy worker

DEXTER - dyer

DIKEMAN / DYKEMAN - hedger or ditcher

DIPPER - who worked in the pottery trade and was responsible for the glazing of items

DISHER / DISH THROWER - who made bowls and dishes

DISH TURNER - who made wooden bowls or dishes

DISTILLER - maker of alcoholic beverages

DISTRIBUTOR - parish official attached to the workhouse / poorhouse who looked after the secular needs of the poor

DOCKER / DOCK WALLOPER - dock worker, longshoreman

DOCK MASTER - in charge of a dockyard

DOG LEECH - veterinarian

DOG-WHIPPER - one who drove dogs away in a village

DOMESMAN - judge

DOMESTIC - household servant

DONKEY BOY / DONKEY MAN - driver of a carriage for passengers

DOOR KEEPER - guard, janitor, or porter

DOUBLER - who operated a machine used to twist together strands of fibre (cotton, wool etc)

DOWSER / DIVINER - water finder

DRAGMAN - fisher man who fished by dragging a net along the bottom of the water

DRAGOMAN - who acted as interpreter or guide in Turkish or Arabic

DRAGSMAN - driver of a small stage coach or carriage used for public transport or private hire

DRAGOON - mounted infantryman

DRAINER - who made drains

DRAPER - dealer in fabrics and sewing needs

DRAWBOY - weavers assistant in the shawl making mills , they sat atop the looms and lifted the heavy warps.

DRAYMAN - cart driver

DREDGERMAN - one who in a boat to collect the bits and pieces that had fallen overboard from other vessels which then were sold (London occupation)

DRESSER - one who dresses another, surgeon's assistant and also one who operated a machine which prepared threads in the textile industry

DRESSING MACHINE MAKER - who made sewing machines

DRIFT MAKERA - who made drift nets, used in the fishing industry

DRIPPING MAN - dealer in dripping (the fat collected during the cooking of meats)

DRIVER - slave overseer

DROVER - sheep or cattle driver

DRUGGER - pharmacist

DRUMMER - traveling salesman

DRY SALTER - dealer in pickles, dried meats, and sauces or a dealer in dyes and colors used in the dying trade

DUBBERE - cloth dubber, i.e., one who raises the nap of cloth

DUFFER - peddler of cheap goods

DUSTMAN / DUSTBIN MAN - collected domestic refuse

DRY STONE WALLER (DRY STANE DYKER in Scottish) - built stone walls usually using the stones removed from the fields as building materials. The art was in not using any cement or mortar and generally not cutting the stone, but being able to see where variuos stones would fit together

DYER - employed in the textile mills to color fabric prior to weaving

DYKER - Scottish term for a stonemason

-E-

 

EALDORMAN - n official of the shire courts who acted as the King's deputy taking payment from the profits of the court

EBONITE TURNER - one who worked with ebonite or vulcanite, making combs or ornaments etc

EARER - plowwman

EARTH STOPPER - one who plugs up animal holes

EGG FACTOR / EGGLER - egg or poultry dealer

ELEPHANTS TEETH DEALER - who dealt in ivory ornaments etc

ELLERMAN / ELLIMAN - who sold oil used for lamps and known as an oilman

ELYMAKER - oilmaker

EMBOSSER - who moulded or carved designs that were raised above the surface of the material

EMPRESARIO - land broker, settlement scheme promoter, showman

ENGINEMAN - employed at a mine to be in charge of the machinery used to crush the ore

ENGINE TENTER - who operated the machine which stretched the cloth whilst drying in a woolllen mill

ENSIGN - commissioned officer in the navy

ENUMERATOR - who collected the information for the census from the householder and recorded it

EQUERRY - officer of the royal household usually responsible for the royal horses

EREMITE - hermit

ERITE - heretic

ESQUIRE - one who attended a knight, which later became a title for a man of standing in society

ESTAFETTE - mounted courier

EWE HERD - shepherd

EXCHEQUER - revenue collector

EXCISEMAN - excise tax collector

EXPRESSMAN - person employed in the express business

EYER - one who made eyes in needles used for sewing. Sometimes called a Holer

 

-F-

 

FABER - artisan or workman

FABRICATOR - maker

FACTOR - an agent employed by merchants to transact business of buying and selling and a Scottish term for the steward of an estate responsible for Collection of land rents

FAGETTER - made up faggots into bundles, seller of firewood

FAKER - photographic assistant who added color to photographs by hand before color film was available

FALCONER - breeds, trains, or hunts with hawks

FANCY-PEARL WORKER - worked in mother-of-pearl making buttons or fancy goods

FANCY MAN - pimp

FANCY WOMAN - prostitute

FANNER - grain winnower

FANWRIGHT - maker and repairer of fans or winnowing baskets

FARANDMAN - traveling merchant

FARMER - often descendant of the gentry and, ultimately, noble classes; usually having servants and farm workers, e.g., husbandmen, groomsmen, etc

FARRIER / FERROUR - horse shoer or blacksmith

FAWKNER - trainer of falcons

FEAR-NOTHING MAKER - weaver of special kind of thick woollen cloth known as fear-nought, used for protective clothing and lining portholes, walls, and doors of powder magazines on board ships.

FEATHER BEATER / FEATHER DRIVER - cleanser of feathers

FEATHER-DRESSER - who cleaned and prepared feathers for sale

FEATHERMAN - dealer in feathers and plumes

FEATHER-WIFE - woman who prepared feathers for use

FEEDER - herdsman

FELLER - woodcutter

FELL MONGER - remover of hair or wool from hides in leather making

FELTER - worker in the hatting industry

FERONER - ironmonger

FERRETER - dealer in or manufacturer of ferret, ie. silk tape

FETTLER - cleaned the machinery in woollen mills, removing accumulated fibres, grease, etc., sharpened the fustian cutters knives or needlemaker who filed the needle to a point

FEVER - blacksmith

FEWSTER - maker of saddletrees

FEWTERER - keeper of hounds, for hunting or coursing

FILE CUTTER - a maker of files, involved the cutting of grooves on the file surface

FILIBUSTER - American mercenaries in South America, gun runners

FILLER - who filled bobbins in mills

FINE DRAWER - employed in tailoring to repair tears in the cloth (invisible mending)

FINISHER - operated machine giving final touches to a manufactured article in various trades

FIREBEATER - tended the boilers that powered the machinery in a cotton mill

FIREMAN - inspected for, and removed explosive gasses underground in mining or stoked the boilers on ships and locomotives

FIRST HAND - silk weaver who had his own loom (an outworker)

FISCERE - fisherman

FISHER (FISHDRYVER) - victualler

FISH FAG - female fish monger

FITTER - coal broker

FLAUNER - confectioner

FLASHER - specialist process worker in the glass industry

FLATMAN / FLOATMAN - navigated a flat, a broad flat-bottomed boat used for transport, especially in shallow waters

FLAXDRESSER - prepared flax prior to spinning

FLESHMONGER / FLESHER - butcher or one who worked in a tannery

FLESHEWER - butcher

FLETCHER - arrowsmith (from French fleche).

FLOATER - vagrant or one who regulated the year-round workings of the watermeadows in winter by adjusting the hatches on the channels to flood or float the meadows with a shallow covering of water to protect them from frost and encourage the early growth of new grass mainly for early feed for sheep and other animals. The sheep were pastured on the new grass by day and driven up on to the downs to be folded by night to provide the manure needed for the Coming season's grain crops

FLUSHERMAN - who cleaned out water mains

FLYCOACHMAN - driver of one-horse carriage hired by the day

FLYING STATIONER - street broadsheet seller

FLYMAN - driver of a light vehicle hired out for carriage of passenger or Theatre stage hand

FOGGER - peddler or low class lawyer

FOISTER / FOISTERER - joiner

FOOT MAIDEN - female servant

FOOT MAN - servant who ran errands

FOOT PAD - robber

FOOT-POST - letter carrier or messenger who travelled on foot

FOOT STRAIGHTENER - one who assembled watch and clock dials in watchmaking

FORESTER - game warden or forest ranger

FORGEMAN - blacksmith or assistant (coachsmith 18th century Derbyshire)

FORGER - blacksmith, worker at a forge

FOSSETMAKER - who made faucets for ale-casks, etc

FOWER - street cleaner, sweeper

FOWLER / FOGLER / FUGLER / VOWLER / VOGELER / VOGLER / VAGELER / VOGELAAR / VOGLER - keeper or catcher of birds

FRAME SPINNER - worker on a loom

FRAMER - one who frames houses

FRAMEWORKER KNITTER - operator of machine which made hosiery

FREEDMAN - one released from slavery

FREEMASON - stonecutter

FRESER - maker of frieze, a rough plaster

FRESHWATER MAN - sailed boat on fresh water only or in the coastal trade

FRIPPERER - buyer & seller of old clothes

FRISEUR - hair dresser

FROBISHER / FURBISHER - remover of rust, a polisher of metal, eg. armour

FRUITERER - fruit seller

FRUITESTERE - female fruit seller

FULKER - pawnbroker

FULLER - cloth worker who shrinks, beats and presses the cloth

FUNAMBULIST - tightrope walker

FURBISHER - armor polisher

FURNER - baker

FURRIER - seller or maker of furs

FUSTIAN WEAVER - maker of corduroy

 

-G-

 

GABELER - tax collector

GAFFER - foreman of a work crew

GAFFMAN - a bailiff

GAGER - tax collector of liquor taxes

GALVANISER - iron worker who handled process of coating metal with zinc, to inhibit formation of rust

GAMESTER - gambler or prostitute

GANGER - overseer or foreman from 1850 onwards

GANGSMAN - foreman

GANNEKER - tavern keeper

GAOLER - jailer

GARTHMAN - owner or worker of a fish trap

GAS MANAGER - forman position in charge of checking for poisonous gas in coal mine shafts

GATER - watchman

GATHERER - glassworker who inserted the blow iron into the molten glass ready for the blower

GATHERERS BOY - held a shovel to shield the gatherer's face from the heat

GATWARD - goat keeper

GAUGER - customs official who measured the capacity of imported barrels of liquor in order to calculate the customs duty

GAUNTER - glover

GAVELLER - userer and in the Forest of Dean, an officer fo the Crown who granted gales or the right to work a mine and in Suffolk a harvest worker, usually female

GELDER - castrator of animals, especially horses

GEOMETER - skilled in geometry

GERUND GRINDER - Latin instructor

GILDER - applies gold leaf

GIMLER - machinist involved in making a gimp, a kind of card

GINOUR - engineer

GIRDLER - leather worker who made girdles and belts, chiefly for the Army

GLASS COACHMAN - driver of two-horse carriage hired out for the day

GLAZIER - glass cutter or window classman

GLIMMER MAN - in Dublin, the man who would turn out (or down) the gas street-lights and also warn people turn out lights in their houses to ensure blackouts during bombing raids at War time

GLOVER - one that makes or sells gloves

GOAT CARRIAGE MAN - driver of small passenger carriage

GOLDSMITH - maker of gold articles, banker

GOOSE HERD - tends geese

GORZEMAN - seller of gorse or broom

GRACE WIFE - midwife

GRAFFER - notary or scrivener

GRAINER - painted wood to make it look like great and exotic woods

GRANGER - farmer

GRAVER - carver or sculptor, engraver of images or dockside worker who cleaned ship bottoms by burning and tarring

GRAZIER - pastures and raises cattle

GREAVE / GRIEVE - bailiff, foreman, sheriff

GREEN GROCER - fruit and vegetable seller

GREENSMITH - worker in copper or latten

GRIMBRIBBER - lawyer

GROOVER - miner

GROUNDSEL & CHICKWEED SELLER - streetseller of common weeds, used to feed pet songbirds

GUINEA PIG - an unattached, or roving person whose fee was usally a guinea

GUMMER - one who improved old saws by deepening the cuts

GYP - college servant especially one attending undergraduates

 

-H-

 

HABERDASHER - seller of men's clothing

HACKER - maker of hoes

HACKLER / HACKMAN / HECKLER - one who separated the coarse part of flax or hemp with a hackle, an instrument with teeth in linen industry

HACKNEY MAN - renter of horses & carriages

HAIR SEATING & CURLED HAIR MERCHANT - dealer in horse-hair stuffing used in upholstery

HAIRWEAVER / HAIRMAN - weaver of cloth composed wholly or partly of horsehair

HALBERT CARRIER - soldier or halberdier, armed with a halberd, a combination spear and battleaxe (a ceremonial officer)

HAMMERMAN - hammerer, a smith

HANDSELLER - street vendor

HANDWOMAN - midwife or female attendant

HARLOT - vagabond, beggar, rogue, 14th century male servant, attendant or menial, and 15th century, loose woman

HARMER BECK - constable

HARPER - performer on the harp

HATCHLER - combed out or carded flax

HATTER - maker of or dealer in hats

HAWKER / HUCKSTER - peddler

HAYMONGER - dealer in hay

HAYWARD - fence viewer

HEADSMAN - executioner

HEADSWOMAN - midwife

HEALD KNITTER - operator of a machine which produced a jersey type of fabric as opposed to woven fabric

HECK MAKER - maker of a part of a spinning machine by which the yarn is guided to the reels

HEDGE LOOKER - supervised good repair of fence and enclosures

HEDGER - hedge trimmer

HEELMAKER - made shoe heels

HELLIER / HILLIER - tiler or slater

HELPER-UP - young boy employed in Durham pits to help other workers

HEMPHECKLER - flax worker

HENCHMAN / HENSMAN - horseman or groom

HENTER - thief

HEWER - miner who cut coal, stone, etc., a face worker in a mine

HIGGLER - one who haggles or bargains or itinerant dealer, similar to a cadger

HIGHWAYMAN - robber who preys on public roads

HILLIER - roof tiler

HIND - farm laborer

HIRED MAN - gardener, farmhand, or stableman

HOBBLER - boat tower on a river or canal

HODSMAN - mason's assistant

HOGGARD - pig drover

HONEY DIPPER - extracted raw sewage from catch basins and out-houses

HOOFER - dancer

HOOKER - 16th century reaper, 19th century worker in textile industry who operated a machine which laid fabric flat in uniform folds of any required length

HOOPER - makes hoops for casks (not a cooper)

HORNER - worker in horn making spoons, combs, or musical horns

HORSE COURSER - owner of race horses

HORSE KNAVE - groom

HORSE LEECH - veterinarian, farrier

HORSE MARINE - man-handled barges on canals when horses could not be used

HORSE-CAPPER - dealer in worthless horses

HORSE-HAIR CURLER - dressed horse hair which was used extensively in the upholstery trade

HOSIER - retailer of stockings, socks, gloves, nightcaps

HOSTELLER - innkeeper

HOSTLER / OSTLER - cares for horses, stableman, groom, repairer or railway engines

HOUSE JOINER - house framer

HOUSE WRIGHT - house builder

HOTPRESSER - worker in paper or textile industries where product was pressed between glazed boards and hot metal plates to obtain a smooth and shiny surface

HOYMAN - one who carries goods and passengers by water (Hoy - small coastal vessel or sloop)

HOWDY WIFE - midwife

HUCKSTER - sells small wares

HUISSHER - usher or door attendant

HURDLEMAN / HURDLER - hedge-maker, of wattled framework fencing

HURRIERS - term applied to the girls aged 5-18 who were employed as coal-drawers in the coal industry

HUSBANDMAN - tenant farmer

HUSH SHOP KEEPER - brewed and sold beer without a license (usually as a side line)

 

-I-

 

ICEMAN - seller or deliverer of ice

IDLEMAN - gentleman of leisure

INFIRMARIAN - in charge of an infirmary

INTELLIGENCER - spy

INTENDENT - director of a public or government business

INTERFACTOR - murderer

IRON FOUNDER - one who founds or iron

IRON MONGER - dealer in hardware made of iron (also known as a feroner)

IRON MASTER - owner or manager of a foundry

IVORY WORKERS - included makers of combs, boxes, billard balls, buttons, and keys for pianofortes

 

-J-

 

JACK - young male assistant, sailor, or lumberjack

JACK-FRAME TENTER - cotton industry worker who operated a jack-frame, used for giving a twist to the thread

JACK-SMITH - maker of lifting machinery and contrivances

JAGGER - carrier, carter, pedlar or hawker of fish; 19th century, young boy in charge of 'jags'or train of trucks in coal mine; man in charge of pack horse carrying iron ore to be smelted

JAKES-FARMER - one who emptied cesspools

JAPANNER - one who covers with a hard brilliant coat of any of several varnishes

JERQUER - custom house officer who searched ships

JERSEY COMBER - worker in woollen manufacture (Jersey - wool which has been combed but not spun into yarn)

JOBBER - a buyer in quantity to sell to others, a pieceworker

JOBLING GARDENER - one employed on a casual basis

JOBMASTER - supplied carriages, horses and drivers for hire

JOYNER or JOINER - skilled carpenter

JONGLEUR - traveling minstrel

JOURNEYMAN - one who served his apprenticeship and mastered his craft; properly, one who no longer is bound to serve for years but is hired day to day

JOUSTER - fish monger

 

-K-

 

KEDGER - fisherman

KEEKER - colliery official who checked quantity and quality of coal output or weighman

KEELER / KEELMAN - bargeman (from keel, a flat bottomed boat)

KEMPSTER - wool comber

KIDDIER - skinner or dealer in young goats

KILNER - limeburner, in charge of a kiln

KISSER - made cuishes and high armour

KNACKER - harness maker, buyer of old horses and dead animals

KNAPPERS - dressed and shaped flints into required shape and size

KNELLER / KNULLER - chimmney sweep who solicited custom by knocking on doors

KNOCKER-UP - man paid to wake up northern mill and factory workers on early shifts

KNOCKKNOBBLER - dog catcher

KNOLLER - toller of bells

 

-L-

 

LACE-DRAWER - child employed in lace work, drawing out threads

LACEMAN - dealer in lace, who collected it from the makers, usually only those who had bought his thread, and sold it in the lace markets

LACE-MASTER / MISTRESS - employed workers in factories or in their homes for the production of lace

LACE-RUNNER - young worker who embroidered patterns on lace

LACEWOMAN - lady's maid

LAGGER - sailor

LAGRAETMAN - local constable (Law-Rightman)

LASTER - shoe maker

LATTENER - brass worker

LANDWAITER - customs officer whose duty was to wait or attend on landed goods

LAUNDERER - washer

LAVENDER - washer woman

LAYER - worker in paper mill responsible for a particular stage in paper-making process

LEAVELOOKER - examined food on sale at market

LEECH or SAWBONES - physician

LEGERDEMAINIST - magician

LEGGER - canal boatman

LEIGHTONWARD - gardener (leighton - a garden)

LIGHTERMAN - worker on a flat-bottomed boat

LIMNER - illuminator of books, painter or drawer

LINENER - linen draper, shirtmaker

LINER / LYNER - flax dresser

LINKERBOY / MAN - one who carried a link or torch to guide people through city streets at night for a small fee (had to be licensed to trade in early 19th century had and term later sometimes applied to general manservant )

LISTER / LITSTER - dyer

LITTERMAN - groom (of horses)

LOADSMAN - ship's pilot

LOBLOLLY BOY - ship's doctor's assistant or errand boy

LOCK KEEPER - overseer of canal locks

LONGSHOREMAN - stevedore

LONG SONG SELLER - street seller who sold popular songsheets printed on paper

LORIMER - maker of horse gear

LOTSELLER - street seller

LOTTER - one who bought odd lots of wool and consolidated them for sale

LUMPER - dock laborer who discharged cargo of timber employed by a master lumper (not the Dock Company) or fine-grain saltmaker, from practice of moulding salt into lumps

LUM SWOOPER - chimney sweep

LUNGS - alchemist's servant whose duty was to fan the fire

LUTHIER - maker and repairer of stringed musical instruments

 

-M-

 

MADERER - gathered and sold garlic

MAID - female domestic servant

MAIL GUARD - armed guard, frequently an ex-soldier, employed on the mail coach service

MAISE MAKER - one who made measures for weighing herring catch

MALEMAKER - maker of 'Males' or travelling bags

MALENDER - farmer

MALSTER - brewer, maker or seller of malts

MANCIPLE - steward

MANGLER - works a mangle

MANGLE KEEPER - woman who offered use of the mangle for a fee

MANGO - slave dealer

MANTUAMAKER - dressmaker

MARBLER - one who stained paper or other material, veined in imitation of marble

MARSHALL - horse doctor of shoesmith

MARSHMAN - paid by various landowners to look after marshlands and tend the animals put to graze there for the season

MASHMAKER - maker of the mash-vats or mashels used for mixing malt

MASON - stonecutter

MASTER - one of three grades of skill recognised by the Guild of Crafts

MASTER LUMPER - contractor of laborers at cheap rate of pay

MASTER MARINER - ship's captain

MATCHET FORGER - knifemaker

MAWER - mower

MEALMAN - dealer in meal or flour

MELDER - corn miller

MERCATOR - merchant

MERCER - cloth seller

METERER - poet

MIDWIFE - experience woman who assists in child birth

MILLER - corn miller, cloth miller, saw miller

MILLERESS - miller's wife

MILLERS CARMAN - drove carrier to deliver the flour or seed to the customers

MILLPECK - sharpener of mill stones

MILLNER - maker of womens' hats

MILLWRIGHT - designer & builder of mills or mill machinery

MILSTONE INSPECTOR - vagrant, a gentleman of the road

MINTMAKER or MINTMASTER - issuer of local currency

MIXER - bartender

MOCADO WEAVER - weaver of woollen cloth used for making clothes 16-17th century.

MOLITOR - miller

MONDAYMAN - one who worked for landowner on Mondays in lieu of rent

MONGER - (i.e., fish) - dealer

MOULDER - maker of molds or castings, brickmaker

MOUNTEBANK - seller if ineffectual patent medicines

MUDLARK - sewer cleaner, riverbank scavenger

MUFFIN MAKER - maker who made muffins

MUFFIN MAN - itinerant seller of muffins

MUGGLER - pigman

MUGSELLER - seller of cups, mugs

MULE MINDER - minded the spinning mules in the cotton mills

MULESKINNER - teamster

MULETEER - mule driver

MULTURER - miller

MUSICKER - musician

MUSTARDER / MUSTARDMAN - made and dealt in mustard

GABELER - tax collector

GAFFER - foreman of a work crew

GAFFMAN - a bailiff

GAGER - tax collector of liquor taxes

GALVANISER - iron worker who handled process of coating metal with zinc, to inhibit formation of rust

GAMESTER - gambler or prostitute

GANGER - overseer or foreman from 1850 onwards

GANGSMAN - foreman

GANNEKER - tavern keeper

GAOLER - jailer

GARTHMAN - owner or worker of a fish trap

GAS MANAGER - forman position in charge of checking for poisonous gas in coal mine shafts

GATER - watchman

GATHERER - glassworker who inserted the blow iron into the molten glass ready for the blower

GATHERERS BOY - held a shovel to shield the gatherer's face from the heat

GATWARD - goat keeper

GAUGER - customs official who measured the capacity of imported barrels of liquor in order to calculate the customs duty

GAUNTER - glover

GAVELLER - userer and in the Forest of Dean, an officer fo the Crown who granted gales or the right to work a mine and in Suffolk a harvest worker, usually female

GELDER - castrator of animals, especially horses

GEOMETER - skilled in geometry

GERUND GRINDER - Latin instructor

GILDER - applies gold leaf

GIMLER - machinist involved in making a gimp, a kind of card

GINOUR - engineer

GIRDLER - leather worker who made girdles and belts, chiefly for the Army

GLASS COACHMAN - driver of two-horse carriage hired out for the day

GLAZIER - glass cutter or window classman

GLIMMER MAN - in Dublin, the man who would turn out (or down) the gas street-lights and also warn people turn out lights in their houses to ensure blackouts during bombing raids at War time

GLOVER - one that makes or sells gloves

GOAT CARRIAGE MAN - driver of small passenger carriage

GOLDSMITH - maker of gold articles, banker

GOOSE HERD - tends geese

GORZEMAN - seller of gorse or broom

GRACE WIFE - midwife

GRAFFER - notary or scrivener

GRAINER - painted wood to make it look like great and exotic woods

GRANGER - farmer

GRAVER - carver or sculptor, engraver of images or dockside worker who cleaned ship bottoms by burning and tarring

GRAZIER - pastures and raises cattle

GREAVE / GRIEVE - bailiff, foreman, sheriff

GREEN GROCER - fruit and vegetable seller

GREENSMITH - worker in copper or latten

GRIMBRIBBER - lawyer

GROOVER - miner

GROUNDSEL & CHICKWEED SELLER - streetseller of common weeds, used to feed pet songbirds

GUINEA PIG - an unattached, or roving person whose fee was usally a guinea

GUMMER - one who improved old saws by deepening the cuts

GYP - college servant especially one attending undergraduates

 

-N-

 

NAPERER - royal servant in charge of table linen

NAPIER - naperer

NARROW WEAVER - weaver of ribbons, tapes, etc

NAVIGATOR - laborer building canals or railways

NEATHERD - cowherder

NECKER - worker responsible for the feeding of cardboard into the machine the makes boxes

NEDELLER - needle maker

NECESSARY WOMAN - servant responsible for emptying and cleaning chamber pots

NETTER - net maker

NIGHT SOILMAN / NIGHTMAN - one who emptied cesspits, ashpits and backyard toilets

NIGHTWALKER - watchman or bellman

NIMGIMMER - doctor

NIPPER - lorry boy, a young person employed by the carter or wagoner to assist with the collection and delivery of goods

NOB THATCHER - wig maker

NOON TENDER - guarded the goods on the quay while the officers were a lunch

NOTERER - notary

 

-O-

 

OCCUPIER - tradesman

OILMAN - sold the oil for lamps

OLITOR - kitchen gardener (from Olitory-a kitchen garden)

ORDERLY - soldier who functioned as a servant for an officer

ORDINARY KEEPER - innkeeper

ORRERY MAKER - made a mechanical apparatus for showing the movements of the planets (named after the Earl of Orrery the inventor)

ORRICE WEAVER - designer of lace patterns to be woven with silk thread and silk

OSIER PEELER - removed bark from willow rods or osiers which were used in basket weaving, usually women and children (also known as withy peelers)

OSTIARY - monastery door keeper

OUT CRIER - auctioneer

OUTWORKER - worker who carried on their occupation at home, e.g., cotton or woollen weavers but it applies to many occupations

OVERLOOKER - superintendent or overseer, especially in the textile mills

OVERMAN - supervisor in a colliery who checked the miners work and the quality of the mined coal

OWLER - sheep or wool smuggler

OYSTER DREDGER - member of the crew on board an oyster fishing boat

 

-P-

 

PACKER - packs goods such as pickles or herring

PACKMAN - travelled around carrying goods for sale in a pack

PACK THREAD SPINNER - operator of the machine which made thread or twine

PAD MAKER - made small baskets used for measuring

PAGE - youth being trained for the medieval rank of knight and in the personal service of a knight or attendant upon someone of rank in the medieval period

PAINTRESS - woman employed in the pottery industry to hand paint the finished articles

PAPER-STAINER - one who made wallpaper

PALING MAN - seller of eels

PALISTER - one who ensured the parks were safe and well kept

PALMER - one who had been, or pretended to have been, to the Holy Land

PANNIER MAN - fish monger

PANNIFEX - somebody who worked in the cloth trade

PANTER - keeper of the pantry

PANTLER - butler

PAPERER - inserted the needles into the paper ready for sale in the needlemaking trade

PARDONER - seller of indulgences

PARFUMIER / PERFUMER - manufacturer and purveyor of scents such as perfumes, colognes and even incense

PARGETER - applied ornamental plaster to buildings

PARITOR - church officer who attended the magistrates and justices at court for the pupose of executing their orders

PARKER - park caretaker

PASSAGE KEEPER - kept passages and alleys clean

PASTELER - pastry chef

PASTOR - shepherd

PATTEN MAKER - clog maker or the person who made wooden soles (pattens) to fit under normal shoes to protect from wet and muddy ground

PAVER / PAVIOUR - laid paving stones

PAVYLER - put up pavilions or tents etc

PEDASCULE - schoolmaster

PEELER - policeman, constable, bobby (from Sir Robert Peel founder of the police force)

PELTERER - one who worked with animal skins

PERAMBULATOR - surveyor

PERCHEMEAR - one who made parchment

PEREGRINATOR - itinerant wanderer

PERUKER - wigmaker

PESSONER - fish monger

PETERMAN - fisherman

PETTIFOGGER - shyster lawyer

PETTY CHAPMAN - itinerant dealer in small goods, a pedlar

PHILOSOPHICAL INSTRUMENT MAKER - one who made scientific instruments

PHRENOLOGIST - diviner of a person's character based on the bumps on a person's head

PICKER - one who cast the shuttle on a loom

PIECENER / PIECER - one who worked in a spinning mill, employed to piece together any threads which broke (usually a child or woman)

PIGMAN - one who sold crockery or bred or looked after pigs on the farm

PIKELET MAKER - baker who specialised in making pikelets (a small pancake or crumpet)

PIKEMAN - miller's assistant

PIKER - tramp or vagrant

PILLER - robber

PILOT - ship steersman

PINDER - dog catcher

PINER - laborer

PINNER - pin make

PINNER UP - dressmakers assistant or one who sold broadsheets or ballards in the streets

PINSETTER - one who manually set up bowling pins before the advent of automated pinsetting machines

PIPER - innkeeper

PISTOR - baker

PIT BROW LASS - female worker who worked on the surface of the mines

PITMAN - coal miner

PLAITER - maker of straw plaits used in making hats etc

PLAYDERER - one who made plaid

PLAIN WORKER - performed plain sewing or needlework as opposed to an embroiderer

PLANKER - one who planks or kneads the body of the hat during felting

PLEACHER / PLAICHER / PLATCHER / PLASHER - hedge layer

PLOWMAN - farmer

PLOWWRIGHT - maker or repairer of plows

PLUMASSIER / PLUMER - made or sold plumes, ornamental feathers

POINTER - sharpened needles or pins or lace maker

POINTMAKER / POINTMAN - made the tips of laces

POINTSMAN - railway worker who operated the points, used to change the line on which the train was travelling

POLDAVE WORKER - made poldave, a coarse fabric

POLEMAN - surveyor's assistant

POLENTIER - poulterer

POLLER / POWLER - barber

PONDERATOR - inspector of weights and measures

PORTABLE SOUP MAKER - converted soup into a dry form for transporting from place to place

PORTER - door or gatekeeper

POSTILLION - attacher of extra horses to wagons & coaches to help them up hills

POST BOY - carried mail from town to town, guard who travelled on the mail coach or outrider who travelled with the stagecoach as a postillion

POSTER - one who worked in the quarries breaking rocks

POTATO BADGER - seller of potatoes

POT BOY / MAN - one who worked in public houses washing and removing dirty pots also did other menial tasks

POTTER - maker or seller of pottery

POTTER CARRIER - chemist or pharmacist

POTTER THROWER - potter who used a wheel and therefore had to throw the clay

POULTER - seller of poultry

POWER LOOM TUNER - one who maintained the loom in mills

PRENTIS - apprentice

PRECEPTRESS - school mistress

PRICKER - witch hunter, pattern maker or a horseman

PRICK LOUISE - tailor

PRIG NAPPER - horse thief

PROCTOR - official of a university

PROP BOBBY - worked in mines checking the pit props

PROTHONARY - law clerk

PUBLICAN - innkeeper

PUDDLER - worked clay into puddle, worked with puddle to make things water tight eg canal walls or worked in puddling iron

PUGGARD - thief

PUGGER - produce clay paste by treading like grapes, usually women and children in brick manufacturing

PLUMBUM WORKER - plumber

PUNKY - chimney sweep

PUREFINDER - old women and young girls who went about the streets gathering dog droppings which were used for tanning leather

PURSER - ship's officer in charge of provisions & accounts

PUTTER IN - put things in to some form of mechanised process

 

-Q-

 

QUARREL PICKER - glazier

QUARRIER / QUARRYMAN - quarry worker

QUILLER - one who operated a machine that wound yarn onto spools

QUILTER / QUILTRESS - one who quilted material

QUISTER - one who bleached things

QWYLWRYGHTE - wheelwright

 

-R-

 

RACK MAIDEN - girl employed in the tin mines of Cornwall to dress the ore

RAFFMAN - one who dealt in raff (saleable rubbish)

RAFF MERCHANT - seller of fibre used to make raffia bags etc

RAG CUTTER - one who cut up rags into small pieces to be used for making paper etc

RAG GATHERERS - employed to clear the rags from the machinery in the mills (usually children)

RAG MAN - one who went from street to street collecting and selling old clothes and rags

RAG AND BONE MAN - one who went from street to street with a cart and collected any old rubbish, usually in exchange for a small item, e.g. a block of soapstone

RAG PICKER - sorted through the left over rags to find re usable ones

RAKER - street sanitation worker

RATONER - rat catcher

RATTLEWATCH - town watchman

RECTIFIER - one who distilled alcoholic spirits

REDAR - interpreter of dreams

REDSMITH - goldsmith

REEDER - worked with reeds for hedging or thatching

REEDMAKER - made the pipe for a musical instrument or made a weavers implement (a reed) or reed cloth or the comb used in tapestry

REELER - operated the machine that wound the yarn onto the bobbin

REEVE - church warden

REEVER - shriever

REGISTRAR - official who registers events such as land purchases or births

RENOVATOR - one who repaired clothing

REVENUER - taxman who enforces tax laws on liquor

RICKMASTER - Captain of Horse

RIDDLER - wool stapler

RIFTERE - reaper

RIGGER - hoist tackle worker; works on a ship's rigging

RIPPER / RIPPIER - one who sold fresh water fish at the markets or maker and seller of baskets

RIVERMAN - worker on a river boat

ROCKMAN - worked in a quarry usually placing the charges on the rockface

ROCKGETTER - rocksalt miner

ROLLER COVERER - one who covered the rollers for the spinning process

ROLLEYWAY MAN - maintained the underground road in the mines

ROLL TURNER - carder of wool, cotton etc into rolls prior to spinning

ROMAN CEMENTER / PLASTERER - one who worked with roman cement used in stuccoing

ROPER - maker of rope or nets

ROVER - archer or operator of a machine used in cotton mills which prepared the carded fibre into rolls

RODMAN - surveyor's assistant

RUBBISHER / RUBBLER - sorted the small stones in the quarries

RUGMAN - dealer in rugs

RUNNER - smuggler, messenger and ironically one who worked for the magistrate best remembered as Bow Street Runners

RUSTLER - cattle thief

 

-S-

 

SADDLER - one who made saddles, harnesses, horse collars, bridles

SADDLE TREE MAKER - one who made the frames for saddles that the saddler used

SAGGER MAKER - one who made the fireclay containers in which the stoneware was placed ready for firing

SALT BOILER - one who obtained salt by boiling water

SALTER / DRYSALTER / SAUCER - one who made or dealt in salt

SARCINET WEAVER - silk weaver

SALOONIST - saloon keeper

SANDESMAN - ambassador or messenger

SAND HOG - those who dug the tunnel under the river

SANDWICHMAN - wears a sandwich billboard for advertising

SAWYER - saws timber to boards

SAY WEAVER - one who made Say, material used for table cloths or bedding

SCAGIOLA MAKER - one who made imitation marble

SCALERAKER / SCAVENGER - employed by the parish to clean the streets

SCAPPLER - one who roughly shaped the stone prior to being finished by the stonemason

SCAVELMAN - employed to keep the waterways and ditches clear

SCHRIMPSCHONGER - artisan who carves in bone, ivory, or wood

SCHUMACKER - shoemaker

SCOTCH DRAPER / SCOTCHMAN - sold goods door to door with payment to be made by installments

SCREENER - screened the ore at the mines surface

SCRIBE - clerk

SCRIBLER - a minor or worthless author

SCRIMER - fencing master

SCRIVENER - clerk, notary

SCRIBBLER - employed in a scibbling mill where the wool was roughly carded before spinning

SCRIBER - employed at the docks to mark the cotton bales with the approximate weight ready for selling by the brokers

SCRIPTURE READER - employed by the local clergy to go from house to house reading parts of the bible to try and encourage people to attend church, also read scriptures during some services

SCRIVENER - wrote out legal documents etc

SCRUTINEER - election judge

SCUTCHER - beat the flax to soften the straw in the bundles

SCULLERY MAID - female servant who performed all the menial tasks

SCULLION - male servant who performed all the menial tasks

SEAL PRESSER - employed in the glass industry to seal the bath against air intake which could spoil the finished surface

SEARCHER - customs man

SECRET SPRINGER - one made watch springs

SEEDSMAN - sower of seeds

SEDGEMAN - skilled workman who applied sedge (type of grass) which was used as an early roofing material

SELF ACTING MINDER - one in charge of the automatic spinning mule in the mills

SEMI LORER - maker of leather thongs

SEMPSTER - seamstress

SENESCHAL - A senior steward at the Manor

SEWER HUNTER - scavenger who concentrated on the sewers trying to find valuable objects

SEWER RAT - bricklayer who specialised in making and repairing sewers and tunnels

SEWING CLERK - collector of clothing piecework

SEWSTER - seamstress

SEXTON - employee or officer of a church who cared and upkept church property and sometimes rang bells and dug graves

SHAGREEN CASE MAKER - one who worked with shagreen leather

SHANTY MAN - lumberman

SHARECROPPER - tenant farmer who would be paid with part of the crop

SHEARER - removed the fleece from sheep

SHEARGRINDER - sharpened shears, scissors

SHEARMAN or SHERMAN - shearer of cloth, metal

SHEATH MAKER - one who made scabbards for swords

SHEEPMAN - sheep herder

SHEPSTER - dressmaker

SHINGLER - A roof tiler who used wooden tiles (shingles)

SHIP HUSBAND - repairer of ships while in harbor

SHIP MASTER - owner or captain of a ship

SHIPWRIGHT - constructor or repairer or ships

SHOE FINDER - seller of shoe maker's tools

SHOESMITH - cobbler, one who shoed horses

SHOE WIPER - servant who polished shoes

SHOT FIRER - one in charge of blasting in mines or quarries

SHRAGER - one who trimmed and pruned trees

SHRIEVE - sheriff

SHUFFLER - yardman on the farms

SHUNTER - one who moved rolling stock around the railway yards

SHUTTLE MAKER - made the shuttles for the weaving mills

SICKLEMAN - reaper

SIDESMAN - one who assisted the churchwarden

SILK ENGINE TURNER - turned the wheel on automatic silk weaving looms

SILK THROWER - worker in the silk industry

SILKER - sewed the ends of the fabric to prvent the layers from separating

SILK DRESSER - prepared the silk for weaving

SILK MERCER - sold silk cloth and items made from silk

SILK TWISTER - silk spinner

SIMPLER - agriculturist that we would call herbalist today

SILVERSMITH - worked with silver

SISSOR or CISSOR - tailor

SIZER - applied the size to cloth or worked in a paper mill

SKEPPER / SKELPER - one who made and sold beehives

SKINKER - tapster in an ale house

SKINNER - dealer in hides, mule driver

SKIPMAKER - one who made the skips used in mining and quarrying for moving men or materials to the surface

SKIPPER - master of a ship

SLAPPER / SLAPER - one who worked in a pottery preparing the clay for the potter

SLATER - roofer

SLOPSELLER - seller of readymade clothes in a slop shop

SLUBBER - operated the machine used to prepare cotton for spinning

SLUBBER DOFFER - removed the bobbins from the spindles in the mills

SMACKMAN - worked on a sailing ship (as a sloop or cutter) used chiefly in coasting and fishing

SMALLWARE MAKER - who made smallware, e.g. tapes, braids etc

SMELTER - worker in a metal smelter, smelt fisherman

SMIDDY - smith

SMITH - metal worker

SMUGSMITH - smuggler

SNOBSCAT - one who repair shoes

SNUFFER MAKER - made the candle snuffer

SOAP BOILER (SOPER) - soap maker

SOJOURNER CLOTHIER - travelling clothes salesman

SOLICITOR - lawyer

SORTOR - tailor

SOUTER - shoe maker

SPALLIER - tin worker who performs chiefly menial tasks

SPERVITER - keeper of sparrows

SPICER - grocer or dealer in spices

SPINNER - spins yarn

SPLITTER - operated a splitting machine or one who split things by hand, e.g. stone, timber etc

SPOONER - made spoons

SPURRER or SPURRIER - maker of spurs

SQUIRE - (esquire) practitioner of a profession, a gentleman

STABLER - ostler

STALLMAN - keeper of a market stall

STAMPMAN - worker of an ore crushing machine

STATIONER - bookseller, seller of paper & writing implements

STATIST - politician

STAY MAKER - corset maker

STEEPLE JACKER - painted flag poles etc.

STEERSMAN - ship's helmsman

STENTERER - operated the cloth finishing machine

STEP BOY - employed to help passengers to enter or leave the coach

STEVEDORE - laborer who unloads and loads ships' cargoes

STEWARD - manager of property, purveyor of supplies or someone who attended passengers on conveyance

STICHER - one who does decorative stitching

STOCKINGER - knitter, weaver, or dealer in stockings

STOKER - tends the fire of an engine boiler

STONEMAN / STONEWARDEN - a surveyor of highways

STONE PICKER - employed to remove the stones from the farmers fields before planting

STONE WORKERS - worked with stone eg masons, quarriers etc

STOREMAN - one responsible for stored goods

STOWYER - one who stowed the nets away on fishing boats

STRAVAIGER - vagrant

STRAW JOINER - one who thatched roofs

STRAW PLAITER - one who made straw braids for the hat industry

STREAKER - one who prepared the body for burial

STREET ORDERLY / BOY - street cleaner

STRIKER - blacksmiths helper or harpooned the whale

STRIPPER - employed in the woollen trade to remove the rubbish from the carding machines

STRINGER - made the strings for bows

STUFF GOWSMAN - junior barrister

STUFF WEAVER - wove stuff (the coarse part of flax)

SUCKSMITH - one who made ploughshares

SUMNER - summoner or apparitor

SUMPTER - porter

SUTLER - merchant or peddler in an army camp

SWAILER - miller or dealer in grain

SWAIN - herdsman

SWEEP - chimneysweep

SWELL MAKER - one who made shallow baskets

SWINEYARD / SWINEHERDER - pig keeper

SWINGLER - one who beats flax to remove woody parts

SWORD CUTLER - sword maker

 

-T-

TABLER - boarding house operator

TACKLER - an overlooker of power loom weavers

TAILOR - one who made or repaired clothes

TALLOWCHANDLER - made or sold candles

TALLY CLERK - kept count of goods arriving or departing from warehouses, docks etc

TALLYMAN / TALLYFELLOW - one who sold goods that were paid for in installments

TAN BARK STRIPPER - collected the bark that was used in the tanning process

TANNER - leather maker

TAPER WEAVER - one who made the wicks for candles

TAPITER / TAPICER - one who wove worsted cloth

TAPLEY - One who puts the tap in an ale cask

TAPSTER - bartender or barmaid

TAR BOY - applied tar (as antiseptic) to sheep when they were nicked by shearers

TASKER - reaper

TASSELER - one who made tassels used in furnishings or nobleman

TAVERNER - innkeeper

TAWER / TAWYER - white leather maker

TEAMER / TEAMER MAN / TEAMSTER - person in charge of a team of horses

TEEMER - person who emptied grain from the cart or who poured the molten steel into the moulds

TENTER / TENTERER - one who stretched the cloth on a machine while it was drying or looked after and maintained the machine used in the process

TEXTOR - weaver

THACKER - thatcher

THATCHER - one who covered roofs with straw or reeds

THIRDBOROUGH - an underconstable

THRESHER - one who separated the grain from the husks and straw

THROWSTER - one in the textile trade who twisted the strands of fibre together into yarn

TICKET WRITER - person (usually female) who hand wrote or painted the price tickets on goods displayed for sale and painted the signs that go up to make a window display

TICKNEY MAN / WOMAN - sold earthenware from town to town

TIDE GAUGER / SURVEYOR - monitored the state of the tide

TIDESMAN / TIDE WAITER - customs official

TIEMAKER - one who made wooden railway ties

TIGER - small groom or pageboy in livery

TILER - one who put tiles in place either on the roof or floor

TILLER - farmer

TILLMAN - plowman

TIMES IRONER - servant responsible for ironing the daily newspaper

TINCTOR - dyer

TINKER - traveling repairman

TINNER - tin miner, tinsmith

TINTER OR TEINTER - artists who performs tinting

TIPPER - one who put the metal tips on arrows etc

TIPPLER - kept an ale house

TIPSTAFF - policeman

TIREWOMAN - female dresser, especially in the theater

TIXTOR - weaver

TOBACCO SPINNER - maker of cigars

TODHUNTER - employed by the parish to hunt foxes

TOE RAG - who worked at the docks as a corn porter

TOILINET MANUFACTURER - made toilinet (a kind of quilting)

TOLLER / TOLLGATE KEEPER / TOLLIE / TOLMAN / TURNPIKE KEEPER - worked at the toll gate to collect fees for use of the road

TONSOR - Latin for barber

TOOL HELVER - made tool handles

TOPMAN - sailor who works in the ship's rigging

TOP SAWYER - upper man in a saw pit

TOPSMAN - head cattle drover

TOUCH HOLER - one who worked in the gun manufacturing industry

TOW CARD MAKER - one who made tow cards, used in the textile industry

TOWN CHABERLAIN - one who looked after the towns affairs

TOWN CRIER - one who made public announcments in the streets

TOWN HUSBAND - employed by the parish to collect the money from the fathers of illegitimate children for their upkeep

TOWNSWAITER - customs man

TOZER - worked in the wool mills employed to tose or tease the cloth

TRAMMER - young person who worked in the mines

TRAMPLER - lawyer

TRANQUETER - person who made hoops

TRANTER - peddler

TRAPPER - employed in the mines to open and shut the doors for the miners

TRAVERS - toll bridge collection

TREEN MAKER - made domestic articles from wood

TREENAIL MAKER - one who made the long wooden pins used in shipbuilding

TRENCHERMAKER - made wooden boards or platters for serving food from or cutting and slicing food on

TRENCHERMAN - cook

TREPANGER - one who used a circular saw to cut timber

TRIMMER - trims a ship by re-arranging its cargo

TROACHER - pedlar

TRONER - weighing official at the markets

TROTTER / TROTMAN / TROTT - messenger

TROUCHMAN / TRUCHMAN - interpreter

TROVER - smuggler

TRUGGER - one who made long shallow baskets

TUBBER - one who made tubs and barrels ie a cooper

TUBMAN - English barrister

TUCKER - cleaner of cloth goods

TUCKER IN - maid who attended the bedroom and "tucked in the bedclothes"

TURNER - gymnast, lathe worker

TURNKEY - prison warder or jail keeper

TURNSPIT - one who operated the spit handle

TWEENIE / TWEENY - maid who worked "between the stairs" she assisted the cooks and the housemaids

TWISTER / TWISTERER - one who operated the machine used for twisting yarns and threads together

TWIST HAND - one who operated a lace machine

 

-U-

 

ULNAGER - one appointed to examine the quality of woollen goods to be sold

UPHOLDER - upholsterer and also a seller of secondhand goods

UPRIGHT WORKER - chimney sweep

 

-V-

 

VALET - male servant that attended a nobleman or gentleman

VALUATOR - who valued objects

VENATOR (VENUR) - huntsman

VASSAL - servant of the lowest order

VATMAN - one who put the paper pulp into the moulds in paper-making industry or worked with vats e.g. in beer and wine making

VERDERER - official in charge of the royal forest

VERGER - one who worked with the priest in the running the church

VERGE MAKER - one who made the spindles used in clocks and watches

VERRIER - glazier

VESTMENTMAKER - one who made the gowns worn by priests

VICTUALER - seller of food/drink

VIEWER - one who worked at the mines in a managerial capacity

VILLEIN - one who paid dues to the lord of the manor in return for use of the land

VINTAGER / VINEROON - grape farmer, wine maker

VINTNER / VINTER - wine merchant

VIRGINAL PLAYER - player of a musical instrument similar to a harpsichord

VULCAN - blacksmith

 

-W-

 

WABSTER - weaver

WADSETTER - under Scottish law a creditor to whom a wadset is made; a wadset is a right, by which lands, or other heritable subjects, are impignorated by the proprietor to his creditor in security of his debt

WAGONER - wagon or cart driver

WAILER - one employed in the mines to remove the impurities from the coal

WAINWRIGHT - builder or repairer of wagons

WAIT / WAKEMAN - night watchman

WALKER / WAULKMILLER - cloth worker

WALLER - one who built walls either brick or dry stone, also a person who worked making coarse salt

WANTER / WANTCATCHER - mole catcher

WARDER -in charge of prisoners

WAREHOUSEMAN - in charge of or employee in a warehouse

WARPER - set the warp thread on the looms or employed to move boats by hauling on the warps (the ropes attached to the boats)

WARRENER - in charge of a portion of land used for breeding rabbits and other small game

WASHMAN - tin coater

WASTEMAN - checked the old workings for gas and maintaining them in the mines or employed to remove waste

WATCH FINISHER - assembled watches and clocks

WATCHMAN - town official who guarded the streets at night

WATER BAILIFF - official in charge of the fishing rights on a stretch of water

WATER CARRIER - carted and sold fresh water

WATER GILDER - trapped water fowl

WATER LEADER / LEDER / LODER - transported and sold fresh drinking water

WATERMAN - worked with or on boats usually on rivers

WATTLE HURDLE MAKER - made a type of fence from wattle to keep the sheep in

WAY-MAKER - employed to make roads

WAY MAN - surveyor of roads

WEATHERSPY - astrologer

WEBSTER / WEBBER - weaver (originally a female weaver)

WEIGHER - worked on the docks to weigh the cargo as it was unloaded

WELLMASTER - one in charge of the local well with the responsibility of ensuring clean water for the village

WELL SINKER - dug wells

WELL WRIGHT - made the winding equipment used to raise the bucket in the well

WET GLOVER - made leather gloves

WET NURSE - woman employed to suckle tthe child of another (common practice with the rich)

WETTER - dampened paper during the printing process or in the glass industry who detached the glass by wetting

WHARFINGER - owner of a wharf

WHEEL TAPPER - railway worker who checked for cracked wheels by striking them with a long handled hammer and listening for a clear ring

WHEELER - wheel maker, attended to the spinning wheel in the textile industry and one who led the pit ponies that pulled the tubs underground in the mines

WHACKER - horse or oxen team driver

WHEELWRIGHT / WRIGHT - maker or repairer of wagon wheels

WHEERYMAN - in charge of a wheery (a small light rowing boat)

WHIG - horse driver (Scottish term)

WHIPCORD MAKER / WHIPMAKER - made whips

WHIPPERIN - managed the hounds in a hunt

WHITEAR - hide cleaner

WHITE LIMER - plastered walls using lime and water plaster

WHITE SMITH - tin smith

WHITENING ROLL MAKER - made the whitening used in whitening walls of cottages

WHITTAWER - one who made saddles and harness

WHITENER / WHITESTER / WHITSTER - one who bleached cloth

WHITEWING - streetsweeper

WHITSTER - bleacher of cloth

WHITTAWER - preparer of white leather

WILLOW PLAITER / WEAVER - one who made baskets etc

WINDSTER - silk winder

WOODBREAKER - one who made wooden water casks

WOODRANGER / WOOD REEVE / WOODWARD - in charge of the forest or woods

WOOLCOMBER - operated machines that separate the fibres ready for spinning in woolen industry

WOOL DRIVER - one who brought the wool to market

WOOL FACTOR - wool merchants agent

WOOLEN BILLY PIECER - worked in the woolen mills to piece together the broken yarns

WOOL MAN /WOOL SORTER / STAPLER - one who sorted the wool into different grades

WOOLSTED MAN - a seller of woollen cloth (from worsted man)

WOOL WINDER - one who made up balls of wool for selling

WORSTED MANUFACTURER / SHEARMAN - one who made worsted

WRIGHT - builder or repairer

WYRTH - laborer

 

-X-

 

XYLOGRAPHER - one who used and made wooden blocks used in printing illustrations

 

-Y-

 

YARDMAN - rail road yard worker

YATMAN - gate keeper

YEARMAN - one contracted to work for a year

YEOMAN - farmer who owns his own land

 

-Z-

 

ZINCOGRAPHER - designer who etched in relief a pattern on zinc plates used for printing

ZITHERIST - player of a simple, flat many-stringed instrument

ZOETROPE MAKER - craftsman who made zoetropes, an optical toy in the form of a cylinder with a series of pictures painted on the inner surface which gave the impression of continuous motion when viewed through slits in the rotating cylinder

ZOOGRAPHER - described and classified