Archaic Occupations

Obsolete and historical occupational titles you may encounter in old census records, vital records, and directories.

A

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

B

BACKMAKER: made "backs", vats, tubs, a Cooper
BACKMANN / BACKSTER / BAXTER / BECK / BECKER: baker
BACK'US BOY: kitchen servant (from "back of the house")
BACK WASHER: employed to clean the wool in the worsted manufacturing industry
BADGER: licensed pauper who wore a badge with the letter P on it and could only work in a defined area (the term "Badgering comes from this"). A corn miller or dealer or an itinerant food trader
BADGY FIDDLER: boy trumpeter in the military
BAGMAN: travelling salesman
BAGNIOKEEPER: n charge of a bath house or brothel
BAILIFF / BAILIE / BAILLIE / BAILLEE: officer of the sheriff, a land steward acting on behalf of the Landowner or Landlord and in Scotland a magistrate of the burgh, also looked after the fishing rights on certain rivers
BAIRMAN / BAREMAN: pauper or beggar
BALER: bales hay and in the mills one who bailed wool or cotton goods
BALISTER: archer most commonly a crossbowman
BALLAST HEAVER: loaded ballast into the hold of empty ships
BALLARD MASTER: in charge of loading the ballast into the hold of empty ships
BALLER / BALLER UP: assisted the potter by measuring out the balls of clay
BAL MAIDEN: female mine worker who worked on the surface (also a Pit Brow Lass)
BAND FILER: metal worker in the gun making industry
BANDSTER: bound the wheat sheaves after harvest
BANG BEGGAR: officer of the parish who controlled the length of stay of any stranger to the parish
BANKER: dug trenches and ditches to allow drainage of the land, placing the surplus earth in banks around the edge
BANKSMAN: employed in the mining industry being in charge of the cages at the pit head (sometimes known as a bank manager)
BARBER / BARBER SURGEON: a barber also also a surgeon (an Act was passed that limited Barbers to hair-cutting, shaving, dentistry and blood letting in the 18th century)
BARD: poet or minstral
BAREMAN: beggar or pauper
BARGEE / BARGEMAN: worked on or owned and operated a barge
BARGE MATE: Naval officer
BARILLA MANUFACTURER: made barilla, a substance obtained from burning saltworts, the resulting mixture of sodium salts being used in the glass and ceramics industry
BARKEEPER: another name for a tollkeeper
BARKER: tanner
BAUER: farmer
BAXTER: baker
BELHOSTE: tavern keeper.
BARTONER: in charge of the monastic farm, also known as a barton
BASIL WORKER: worked with sheep and goat skins
BASKETMAN: made baskets and furniture from wicker, and also employed to empty the basket of coal being offloaded from the colliers into the barges
BASS / BAST DRESSER: employed in dressing fibre or matting
BATHING MACHINE PROPRIETOR: owned and hired the changing huts used at the seaside in the by bathers
BATMAN: officers servant in the army
BATT MAKER: made the wadding used in quilt and mattress making
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

C

CADDY BUTCHER: butcher that dealt in horse meat
CADDIE: messenger or errand boy
CADGER: beggar
CAFENDER: carpenter
CAFFLER: rag and bone collector
CAINER: made walking sticks
CAIRD: another term for a tinker
CALCINER: burnt bones to make powdered lime
CALENDER: 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 Chlons
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

D

DAGUERREOTYPE ARTIST: early name for a photographer (from the Daguerreotype method)
DAIRYMAN: worker or owner of a dairy farm or seller of dairy products
DAMSTER: builder of dams for logging purposes
DANTER: female overseer in the winding rooms of a silk mill
DATELER / DAY MAN / DAYTALEMAN: casual worker, usually employed by the day
DEATHSMAN: executioner
DECIMER / DOZENER: elected by the householders in a street to act as their representative at the borough's Court Leet
DECOYMAN: employed to decoy the wild fowl, animals etc into a trap or within shooting range
DECRETIST: knowledgeable in decrees, decretals
DEEMER / DEEMSTER / DEMSTER / DEMPSTER: judge, usually in the Channel Isles or Isle of Man
DELVER: dug ditches
DEPATER: precious metal refiner
DEPUTY: safety officer for the pit crew in the mining industry
DERRICKMAN: worked on an oil well handling the tubes and rods used in drilling
DEVIL: printer's errand boy
DEVILLER: operated the devil, a machine that tore rags used in the textile industry
DEXTER: dyer
DEY WIFE: female dairy worker
DEXTER: dyer
DIKEMAN / DYKEMAN: hedger or ditcher
DIPPER: who worked in the pottery trade and was responsible for the glazing of items
DISHER / DISH THROWER: who made bowls and dishes
DISH TURNER: who made wooden bowls or dishes
DISTILLER: maker of alcoholic beverages
DISTRIBUTOR: parish official attached to the workhouse / poorhouse who looked after the secular needs of the poor
DOCKER / DOCK WALLOPER: dock worker, longshoreman
DOCK MASTER: in charge of a dockyard
DOG LEECH: veterinarian
DOG-WHIPPER: 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

E

EALDORMAN: n official of the shire courts who acted as the King's deputy taking payment from the profits of the court
EBONITE TURNER: one who worked with ebonite or vulcanite, making combs or ornaments etc
EARER: plowwman
EARTH STOPPER: one who plugs up animal holes
EGG FACTOR / EGGLER: egg or poultry dealer
ELEPHANTS TEETH DEALER: who dealt in ivory ornaments etc
ELLERMAN / ELLIMAN: who sold oil used for lamps and known as an oilman
ELYMAKER: oilmaker
EMBOSSER: who moulded or carved designs that were raised above the surface of the material
EMPRESARIO: land broker, settlement scheme promoter, showman
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

F

FABER: artisan or workman
FABRICATOR: maker
FACTOR: an agent employed by merchants to transact business of buying and selling and a Scottish term for the steward of an estate responsible for collection of land rents
FAGETTER: made up faggots into bundles, seller of firewood
FAKER: photographic assistant who added color to photographs by hand before color film was available
FALCONER: breeds, trains, or hunts with hawks
FANCY-PEARL WORKER: worked in mother-of-pearl making buttons or fancy goods
FANCY MAN: pimp
FANCY WOMAN: prostitute
FANNER: grain winnower
FANWRIGHT: maker and repairer of fans or winnowing baskets
FARANDMAN: traveling merchant
FARMER: often descendant of the gentry and, ultimately, noble classes; usually having servants and farm workers, e.g., husbandmen, groomsmen, etc
FARRIER / FERROUR: horse shoer or blacksmith
FAWKNER: trainer of falcons
FEAR-NOTHING MAKER: weaver of special kind of thick woollen cloth known as fear-nought, used for protective clothing and lining portholes, walls, and doors of powder magazines on board ships.
FEATHER BEATER / FEATHER DRIVER: cleanser of feathers
FEATHER-DRESSER: who cleaned and prepared feathers for sale
FEATHERMAN: dealer in feathers and plumes
FEATHER-WIFE: woman who prepared feathers for use
FEEDER: herdsman
FELLER: woodcutter
FELL MONGER: remover of hair or wool from hides in leather making
FELTER: worker in the hatting industry
FERONER: ironmonger
FERRETER: dealer in or manufacturer of ferret, ie. silk tape
FETTLER: cleaned the machinery in woollen mills, removing accumulated fibres, grease, etc., sharpened the fustian cutters knives or needlemaker who filed the needle to a point
FEVER: blacksmith
FEWSTER: maker of saddletrees
FEWTERER: keeper of hounds, for hunting or coursing
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

G

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

H

HABERDASHER: seller of men's clothing
HACKER: maker of hoes
HACKLER / HACKMAN / HECKLER: one who separated the coarse part of flax or hemp with a hackle, an instrument with teeth in linen industry
HACKNEY MAN: renter of horses & carriages
HAIR SEATING & CURLED HAIR MERCHANT: dealer in horse-hair stuffing used in upholstery
HAIRWEAVER / HAIRMAN: weaver of cloth composed wholly or partly of horsehair
HALBERT CARRIER: soldier or halberdier, armed with a halberd, a combination spear and battleaxe (a ceremonial officer)
HAMMERMAN: hammerer, a smith
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
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)

I

ICEMAN: seller or deliverer of ice
IDLEMAN: gentleman of leisure
INFIRMARIAN: in charge of an infirmary
INTELLIGENCER: spy
INTENDENT: director of a public or government business
INTERFACTOR: murderer
IRON FOUNDER: one who founds or iron
IRON MONGER: dealer in hardware made of iron (also known as a feroner)
IRON MASTER: owner or manager of a foundry
IVORY WORKERS: included makers of combs, boxes, billard balls, buttons, and keys for pianofortes

J

JACK: young male assistant, sailor, or lumberjack
JACK-FRAME TENTER: cotton industry worker who operated a jack-frame, used for giving a twist to the thread
JACK-SMITH: maker of lifting machinery and contrivances
JAGGER: carrier, carter, pedlar or hawker of fish; 19th century, young boy in charge of 'jags'or train of trucks in coal mine; man in charge of pack horse carrying iron ore to be smelted
JAKES-FARMER: one who emptied cesspools
JAPANNER: one who covers with a hard brilliant coat of any of several varnishes
JERQUER: custom house officer who searched ships
JERSEY COMBER: worker in woollen manufacture (Jersey - wool which has been combed but not spun into yarn)
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

K

KEDGER: fisherman
KEEKER: colliery official who checked quantity and quality of coal output or weighman
KEELER / KEELMAN: bargeman (from keel, a flat bottomed boat)
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

L

LACE-DRAWER: child employed in lace work, drawing out threads
LACEMAN: dealer in lace, who collected it from the makers, usually only those who had bought his thread, and sold it in the lace markets
LACE-MASTER / MISTRESS: employed workers in factories or in their homes for the production of lace
LACE-RUNNER: young worker who embroidered patterns on lace
LACEWOMAN: lady's maid
LAGGER: sailor
LAGRAETMAN: local constable (Law-Rightman)
LAMPA / LAMPE: Swedish and German for glass blower, i.e. oil lamp maker
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

M

MADERER: gathered and sold garlic
MAID: female domestic servant
MAIL GUARD: armed guard, frequently an ex-soldier, employed on the mail coach service
MAISE MAKER: one who made measures for weighing herring catch
MALEMAKER: maker of 'Males' or travelling bags
MALENDER: farmer
MALSTER: brewer, maker or seller of malts
MANCIPLE: steward
MANGLER: works a mangle
MANGLE KEEPER: woman who offered use of the mangle for a fee
MANGO: slave dealer
MANTUAMAKER: dressmaker
MARBLER: one who stained paper or other material, veined in imitation of marble
MARSHALL: horse doctor of shoesmith
MARSHMAN: paid by various landowners to look after marshlands and tend the animals put to graze there for the season
MASHMAKER: maker of the mash-vats or mashels used for mixing malt
MASON: stonecutter
MASTER: one of three grades of skill recognised by the Guild of Crafts
MASTER LUMPER: contractor of laborers at cheap rate of pay
MASTER MARINER: ship's captain
MASTER-SHIFTER: in charge on repair shift
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
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
MUSLIN SEWER / MUSLIN FLOWERER: tambouring muslin cloth for household use which would be called embroidery today
MUSTARDER / MUSTARDMAN: made and dealt in mustard

N

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

O

OCCUPIER: tradesman
OILMAN: sold the oil for lamps
OLITOR: kitchen gardener (from Olitory-a kitchen garden)
ORDERLY: soldier who functioned as a servant for an officer
ORDINARY KEEPER: innkeeper
ORRERY MAKER: made a mechanical apparatus for showing the movements of the planets (named after the Earl of Orrery the inventor)
ORRICE WEAVER: designer of lace patterns to be woven with silk thread and silk
OSIER PEELER: removed bark from willow rods or osiers which were used in basket weaving, usually women and children (also known as withy peelers)
OSTIARY: monastery door keeper
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: official below Undermanager but above Deputy in mining
OVERMAN: supervisor in a colliery who checked the miners work and the quality of the mined coal
OWLER: sheep or wool smuggler
OYSTER DREDGER: member of the crew on board an oyster fishing boat

P

PACKER: packs goods such as pickles or herring
PACKMAN: travelled around carrying goods for sale in a pack
PACK THREAD SPINNER: operator of the machine which made thread or twine
PAD MAKER: made small baskets used for measuring
PAGE: youth being trained for the medieval rank of knight and in the personal service of a knight or attendant upon someone of rank in the medieval period
PAINTRESS: woman employed in the pottery industry to hand paint the finished articles
PAPER-STAINER: one who made wallpaper
PALING MAN: seller of eels
PALISTER: one who ensured the parks were safe and well kept
PALMER: one who had been, or pretended to have been, to the Holy Land
PANNIER MAN: fish monger
PANNIFEX: somebody who worked in the cloth trade
PANTER: keeper of the pantry
PANTLER: butler
PAPERER: inserted the needles into the paper ready for sale in the needlemaking trade
PAPER RULER: operated a machine in the 19th century printing industry who was a skilled worker/operator who set up several inking pens in a machine,by the same name, designed to draw or ink lines on paper
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
PUMPMAKER: around the turn of the 19th century as canals were becomeing important the word pumpmaker denoted a maker of canal locks
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

Q

QUARREL PICKER: glazier
QUARRIER / QUARRYMAN: quarry worker
QUILLER: one who operated a machine that wound yarn onto spools
QUILTER / QUILTRESS: one who quilted material
QUISTER: one who bleached things
QWYLWRYGHTE: wheelwright

R

RACK MAIDEN: girl employed in the tin mines of Cornwall to dress the ore
RAFFMAN: one who dealt in raff (saleable rubbish)
RAFF MERCHANT: seller of fibre used to make raffia bags etc
RAG CUTTER: one who cut up rags into small pieces to be used for making paper etc
RAG GATHERERS: employed to clear the rags from the machinery in the mills (usually children)
RAG MAN: one who went from street to street collecting and selling old clothes and rags
RAG AND BONE MAN: one who went from street to street with a cart and collected any old rubbish, usually in exchange for a small item, e.g. a block of soapstone
RAG PICKER: sorted through the left over rags to find re usable ones
RAKER: street sanitation worker
RATONER: rat catcher
RATTLEWATCH: town watchman
RECTIFIER: one who distilled alcoholic spirits
REDAR: interpreter of dreams
REDSMAN / REDDSMAN / REDESMAN: was employed in maintaining mine haulage ways
REDSMITH: goldsmith
REEDER: worked with reeds for hedging or thatching
REEDMAKER: made the pipe for a musical instrument or made a weavers implement (a reed) or reed cloth or the comb used in tapestry
REELER: operated the machine that wound the yarn onto the bobbin
REEVE: church warden
REEVER: shriever
REGISTRAR: official who registers events such as land purchases or births
RENOVATOR: one who repaired clothing
REVENUER: taxman who enforces tax laws on liquor
RICKMASTER: Captain of Horse
RIDDLER: wool stapler
RIFTERE: reaper
RIGGER: hoist tackle worker; works on a ship's rigging
RIPPER / RIPPIER: one who sold fresh water fish at the markets or maker and seller of baskets
RIVERMAN: worker on a river boat
ROCKMAN: worked in a quarry usually placing the charges on the rockface
ROCKGETTER: rocksalt miner
ROLLER COVERER: one who covered the rollers for the spinning process
ROLLEYWAY MAN: maintained the underground road in the mines
ROLL TURNER: carder of wool, cotton etc into rolls prior to spinning
ROMAN CEMENTER / PLASTERER: one who worked with roman cement used in stuccoing
ROPER: maker of rope or nets
ROVER: archer or operator of a machine used in cotton mills which prepared the carded fibre into rolls
RODMAN: surveyor's assistant
RUBBISHER / RUBBLER: sorted the small stones in the quarries
RUGMAN: dealer in rugs
RUNNER: smuggler, messenger and ironically one who worked for the magistrate best remembered as Bow Street Runners
RUSTLER: cattle thief

S

SADDLER: one who made saddles, harnesses, horse collars, bridles
SADDLE TREE MAKER: one who made the frames for saddles that the saddler used
SAGGAR (also SAGGER) MAKER: one who made the fireclay containers in which the stoneware was placed ready for firing
SALT BOILER: one who obtained salt by boiling water
SALTER / DRYSALTER / SAUCER: one who made or dealt in salt
SARCINET WEAVER: silk weaver
SALOONIST: saloon keeper
SANDESMAN: ambassador or messenger
SAND HOG: those who dug the tunnel under the river
SANDWICHMAN: wears a sandwich billboard for advertising
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
SHIFTER: miner paid day rate per shift, usually on repair work
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
SHOPJOINER / SHOP JOYNER: housewright
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

T

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

U

ULNAGER: one appointed to examine the quality of woollen goods to be sold
UNDERVIEWER: junior official in charge of mine in Viewer's absence
UPHOLDER: upholsterer and also a seller of secondhand goods
UPRIGHT WORKER: chimney sweep

V

VALET: male servant that attended a nobleman or gentleman
VALUATOR: who valued objects
VENATOR (VENUR): huntsman
VASSAL: servant of the lowest order
VATMAN: one who put the paper pulp into the moulds in paper-making industry or worked with vats e.g. in beer and wine making
VERDERER: official in charge of the royal forest
VERGER: one who worked with the priest in the running the church
VERGE MAKER: one who made the spindles used in clocks and watches
VERRIER: glazier
VESTMENTMAKER: one who made the gowns worn by priests
VICTUALER: seller of food/drink
VIEWER: one who worked at the mines in a managerial capacity
VILLEIN: one who paid dues to the lord of the manor in return for use of the land
VINTAGER / VINEROON: grape farmer, wine maker
VINTNER / VINTER: wine merchant
VIRGINAL PLAYER: player of a musical instrument similar to a harpsichord
VULCAN: blacksmith

W

WABSTER: weaver
WADSETTER: under Scottish law a creditor to whom a wadset is made; a wadset is a right, by which lands, or other heritable subjects, are impignorated by the proprietor to his creditor in security of his debt
WAGONER: wagon or cart driver
WAILER: one employed in the mines to remove the impurities from the coal
WAINWRIGHT: builder or repairer of wagons
WAIT / WAKEMAN: night watchman
WALKER / WAULKMILLER: cloth worker (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
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 the 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 clearring
WHEELER: wheel maker, attended to the spinning wheel in the textile industry and one who led the pit ponies that pulled the tubs underground in the mines
WHACKER: horse or oxen team driver
WHEELWRIGHT / WRIGHT: maker or repairer of wagon wheels
WHEERYMAN: in charge of a wheery (a small light rowing boat)
WHIG: horse driver (Scottish term)
WHIPCORD MAKER / WHIPMAKER: made whips
WHIPPERIN: managed the hounds in a hunt
WHITEAR: hide cleaner
WHITE LIMER: plastered walls using lime and water plaster
WHITE SMITH: tin smith
WHITENING ROLL MAKER: made the whitening used in whitening walls of cottages
WHITTAWER: one who made saddles and harness
WHITENER / WHITESTER / WHITSTER: one who bleached cloth
WHITEWING: streetsweeper
WHITSTER: bleacher of cloth
WHITTAWER: preparer of white leather
WILLOW PLAITER / WEAVER: one who made baskets etc
WINDSTER: silk winder
WOODBREAKER: one who made wooden water casks
WOODRANGER / WOOD REEVE / WOODWARD: in charge of the forest or woods
WOOLCOMBER: operated machines that separate the fibres ready for spinning in woolen industry
WOOL DRIVER: one who brought the wool to market
WOOL FACTOR: wool merchants agent
WOOLEN BILLY PIECER: worked in the woolen mills to piece together the broken yarns
WOOL MAN /WOOL SORTER / STAPLER: one who sorted the wool into different grades
WOOLSTED MAN: a seller of woollen cloth (from worsted man)
WOOL WINDER: one who made up balls of wool for selling
WORSTED MANUFACTURER / SHEARMAN: one who made worsted
WRIGHT: builder or repairer
WYRTH: laborer

X

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

Y

YARDMAN: rail road yard worker
YATMAN: gate keeper
YEARMAN: one contracted to work for a year
YEOMAN: farmer who owns his own land

Z

ZINCOGRAPHER: designer who etched in relief a pattern on zinc plates used for printing
ZITHERIST: player of a simple, flat many-stringed instrument
ZOETROPE MAKER: craftsman who made zoetropes, an optical toy in the form of a cylinder with a series of pictures painted on the inner surface which gave the impression of continuous motion when viewed through slits in the rotating cylinder
ZOOGRAPHER: described and classified