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 and also a street entertainer; 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; CHECKWEIGHMAN - employed by a group of miners paid piecework (by the ton mined) to check coal weight recorded by the mine management; 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 lowers 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; CORPORAL (or Doggy) - man in charge of underground haulage hands; 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; GETTER - produced coal at the coal face; 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; HANGER-ON / HOOKER-ON / ONSETTER -- hung corves (originally baskets) on rope at the pit-bottom; later used for man who pushed tubs of coal into the mine-shaft cage; 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; HELLO GIRL - telephone employee in the early 1900s; 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; HOGHEAD / HOGGER - railroad engineer or train driver; 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; More Occupations