A List of
Occupations
- ACATER - supplied food
provisions, e.g. a ships chandler
- ACCIPITRARY - falconer
- ACCOMPTANT - accountant
- ACCOUCHEUR / ACCOUCHEUS -
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
- ALE DRAPER - 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 who keeps an
alehouse or tavern
- 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 on behalf of the parish
- 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
- 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
- BATTER OUT - sliced a short
cylinder of clay (a bat) from a "pug" and threw
it onto a mold shaped for the face of a ceramic plate
- 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; a blockcutter was
also a person who made and cut the patterns into wooden
blocks for textile printing
- 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
- BULLOCKY - attended to the
daily needs of cattle and may also have lent a hand with
general farm duties, especially during busy periods
- 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
- 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 - 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
- CAMPANER - bell maker
- CANDY MAN - traveling candy
salesman and also slang name for a baliff
- CANCELLARIUS - chancellor
- CANER / CHAIR BOTTOMER - made
the seats for chairs out of woven cane
- CANNALLER - canal boat worker
- CANTER - religious speaker who
uses cant
- CANTING CALLER - auctioneer
- CANVASER - made canvas
- CAPER - cap maker
- CAPILLAIRE MAKER - 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 - 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
- CARETAKER - takes care of
another's property
- CARNER - granary keeper
- CARNIFEX - butcher
- CARPENTARIUS - carpenter
- CARRY-IN-BOY - took finished
bottled (products) to the tempering oven
- CARTER - carries or conveys in
or as if in a cart
- CART WHEELER - made cart wheels
- CARTOGRAPHER - map maker
- CARTOMANCER - fortune teller
who used cards
- CARTWRIGHT - maker of carts
& wagons
- CASHMARIE - 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 to 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
- COTTIER - landless farmer in
the Irish midland estates that farmed at will, not year
to year
- COUPER - buys & sells
- COURANTEER - journalist
- COWHERD - cow tender
- COWKEEPER - 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
- CROCKER - potter
- CROFTER - tenant of a small
piece of land
- CROPPER - tenant who is paid
with a share of the crop
-
- CROSIER / CROZIER - bearer of
the pastoral staff of a bishop or the bearer of the cross
before the archbishop in the church
- CROWNER - coroner
- CUHREUR (CUNREUR) - currier
- CURER - cures tobacco
- CURRETTER - broker
- CURRIER - cures or tans hides
- CUSTOMER - customs tax
collector
- CUTLER - knife seller or
sharpener
- 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - made
sewing machines
- DRIFT MAKERA - 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
- 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
- ENDHOLDERNN - inn keeper
- 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
- 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
- FIDDLER - used a fiddle (small
knife) to remove the flashing from cast clay forms such
as bowl, creamers, cups or pitchers
- 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 / FURBER
/ FURBOUR - 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 (also see WALKER)
- FUNAMBULIST - tightrope walker
- FURBISHER - armor polisher
- FURNER - baker
- FURRIER - seller or maker of
furs
- FUSTIAN WEAVER - maker of
corduroy
- GABELER - tax collector
- GAFFER - foreman of a work crew
or in glass factory, one who smoothed, reheated the neck
of and formed lip on a bottle
- 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
- GARCIFER / GARCIO - groom;
attendant
- GARLEKMONGER - garlicmonger;
dealer in garlic
- 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
- GLASSEWRYGHT - glasswright;
maker and mender of glassware
- 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
- GUTTA-PERCHA MANUFACTURER -
makes a tough plastic substance derived from latex and
percha scrap used especially as insulation and in
dentistry
- GYNOUR - engineer
- GYP - college servant
especially one attending undergraduates
- 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
- HAND FLOWERER - ladies living
mainly in rural locations who embroidered flowers or
similar designs on muslin or cambric
- HANDLE STICKER - put handles on
cast ceramic cups, pitchers, etc
- HANDSELLER - street vendor
- HANDWOMAN - midwife or female
attendant
- HANKYMAN - a travelling
magician in Victorian/Edwardian England
- HANSARD - weapon maker or
seller
- 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
- HETHELEDER - provider of
heather for fuel
- 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
- HILLARD / HILLER / HILLIER -
covered houses with slate; 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
- HOLSTER - groom who took care
of horses
- 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)
- 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
- 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)
- JIGGERMAN - operated a spinning
wheel (Jigger) to form the foot (back side) of a ceramic
plate
- 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 / JORMAN - 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
- KEDGER - fisherman
- KEEKER - colliery official who
checked quantity and quality of coal output or weighman
- KEELER / KEELMAN - bargeman
(from keel, a flat bottomed boat)
- KEEPER - controlled the
quantities of ore and fuel, regulated the blast and
tapped the molten metal from the furnace
- 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
- 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)
- LARDNER - keeper of the
cupboard
- 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
- LEHRER - teacher
- 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
- 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
- MILESMAN / LENGTHSMAN - railway
worker who had a length of railway track to keep in good
order
- 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
- MOLD BOY -closed and held mold
for glassblower, also weighed the bottles
- MOLITOR - miller
- MONDAYMAN - one who worked for
landowner on Mondays in lieu of rent
- MONGER - (i.e., fish) - dealer
- MONTHLY NURSE - someone who
assisted women during the first month after giving birth
- 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
- NAGELSCHMIEDMEISTER - master
nailsmith
- NAGSMAN - a person who schools
horses, usually for his employer
- 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
- 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
- OSTLER - originally applied to
an innkeeper/taverner or one who received guests
especially in an monastery (13th century) but later on it
came to mean stableboy or a person who looked after
horses, coming from the old French 'hostelier'
- 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
- 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
- PEWTERER - made pewter utensils
(using any of various alloys having tin as chief
component especially a dull alloy with lead)
- 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
- PIRN WINDER - wound the yarn
onto large wheel like bobbins which were then ready to
feed the looms in a cotton mill
- 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
- PLATELAYER - men who laid and
maintained the railway tracks in Britain and the word
actually predates railways being derived from the very
old "plateways" which existed hundireds of
years ago, mainly for moving coal
- PLEACHER / PLAICHER / PLATCHER
/ PLASHER - hedge layer
- PLOWMAN - farmer
- PLOWWRIGHT - maker or repairer
of plows
- PLUMASSIER / PLUMER - made or
sold plumes, ornamental feathers
- PLUMBUM WORKER - plumber
- 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
- PREDIGER - preacher
- PRICKER - witch hunter, pattern
maker or a horseman
- PRICK LOUISE - tailor
- PRICKER - used a type of wire
brush to make small holes inside ceramic sewer pipe to
prevent spalling during firing
- 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
- PUG MILL OPERATOR - operated a
machine for mixing clay and water, which then exuded a
"pug" (a cylinder of clay of any diameter and
indefinate length)
- 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
- 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
- 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
- SADDLER - one who made saddles,
harnesses, horse collars, bridles
- SADDLE TREE MAKER - one who
made the frames for saddles that the saddler used
- SAGGAR (also SAGGER) MAKER -
one who made the fireclay containers in which the
stoneware was placed ready for firing
- SAGGAR (also SAGGER) MAKER'S
BOTTOM KNOCKER- was the saggar maker's assistant who
tapped the bottom of the pots
- 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
- SAW DOCTOR - made, repaired,
maintained and sharpened a wide range of cutting tools
and saw blades and also maintained and aligned mechanical
parts of a range of production machines
- 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 (also see TOSHHR)
- 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
- SHUSTER - shoe maker
- 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
- SKEINER MAKER - made wheels
used in spinning industry upon which yarn was wound
- 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
- SLAYMAKER - apparently an Old
English name meaning maker of slay's--wooden pegs used in
weaving
- 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
- SNAPPER - worker in glass
factory who placed molded bottle (by neck) into furnace
hole
- 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
- SUPERCARGO - officer on
merchant ship in charge of cargo
- SUTLER - followed soldiers to
encampments, set up tents to sell supplies, foodstuffs
and dry goods
- 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
- TABLER - boarding house
operator
- TACKLER - an overlooker of
power loom weavers
- TACKSMAN - middleman who leased
a large piece of land from the owner and sublet it in
small lots
- TAILOR - one who made or
repaired clothes
- TALLOW CHANDLER - 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
- TAPPIOLOGIST - someone who taps
the wheels of trains to check for cracks and flaws
- 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
- TEASER - one who opens up
matted wool for carding
- 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
- TINMAN - a tinsmith or tinker
- 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
- TOSHER (also see SEWER HUNTER)
- sewer hunters were formerly, and indeed still are,
called by the name of toshers, the articles which they
pick up in the course of their wanderings along the shore
being known among themselves by the general term tosh
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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 (see also FULLER)
- WALKING-STICK FILER - one who
made walking sticks
- 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
- XYLOGRAPHER - one who used and
made wooden blocks used in printing illustrations
- YARDMAN - rail road yard worker
- YATMAN - gate keeper
- YEARMAN - one contracted to
work for a year
- YEOMAN - farmer who owns his
own land
- 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