|
Reference: Colonial Occupations
Some occupational names were self-explanatory such as a blacksmith, locksmith, and gunsmith. Others are still recognizable today - coroner, bookkeeper, barber, cabinetmaker, weaver, baker, bricklayer, accountant, printer and musician.
For those times when you are clueless about the occupation at hand, here's a handy reference list. If you come across or know of others, please let me know.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | JK | L|
|M | N | O | P | QR | S | T | UV | W | XYZ
- ACATER: supplied food provisions, such as a ships chandler
- ACCIPITRARY a falconer or keeper and tamer of hawks
- ACCOMPANT: an accountant
- ACCOUCHEUR / ACCOUCHEUS: one who assisted women in childbirth
- ACCOUTREMENT MAKER / ACCOUTRE: a supplier of military accessories
- ACRE-MAN / ACKERMAN: a man who ploughed or cultivated the land
- ACTUARY: a statistician who computes insurance risks and premiums
- AGENT: a person who acted on behalf of a company or another person
- AGRICULTURIST: a person involved with land cultivation or animal husbandry
- ALABASTERER: one who worked with alabaster
- ALCHEMIST: a medieval chemist who claimed to be able to turn base metals into gold
- ALE DRAPER: [obsolete] an ale-house keeper
- ALE TASTER: an English officer appointed in every court leet, and worn to inspect ale beer, and bread, and examine the quality and quantity within his precints
- ALE TUNNER: a person employed by the brewery to fill ale casks called "tuns" with ale
- ALEWIFE a woman who keeps an alehouse or tavern
- ALL SPICE: grocer
- ALMONER: an officer who distributes charity or alms; by ancient law every monastery was to disperse a tenth of its income in alms to the poor, and all bishops were obliged to keep an almoner
- ALMSMAN: a person supported by charity or one who lived on alms
- ALNAGER: official who examined the quality of woolen goods and stamped them with the town seal of approval
- AMANUENIS: one who is employed to take dictation or to copy manuscript
- AMBER CUTTER: a person who cut ambergris
- ANCHOR SMITH: one who made anchors
- ANCHORESS: a female hermit or religious recluse
- ANCHORITE: a person who has retired into seclusion for religious reasons
- ANKLE BEATER: a young person who helped to drive the cattle to market
- ANNATTO MAKER: a person who worked in the manufacture of dyes for paint or printing
- ANTIGROPELOS MAKER: a person who made waterproof leggings
- ANVIL SMITH: a person who made anvils and hammers for blacksmiths
- APIARIANA: beekeeper
- APOTHECARY: a druggist
- APPRENTICE: one who was bound to a skilled worker for a specified time to learn a trade
- APRONMAN: [obsolete] a laboring man; a mechanic
- AQUAVITA SELLER: liquor seller
- ARBITER: a witness or judge
- ARCHER: a person skilled in using a bow and arrow
- ARCHIATOR: a physician
- ARCHIVIST: one who keeps historical records
- ARGOLET: a mounted bowman
- ARKWRIGHT: a skilled craftsman who produced "arks" (wooden chests or coffers)
- ARMIGER: one entitled to bear arms, such as knight or esquire
- ARMOURER: one who made suits of armour or plates of armour for buildings or ships
- ARPENTEUR: a land-surveyor
- ARTIFICER: a blacksmith; one who makes fuses, grenades, shells, etc.
- ARTISAN: a skilled tradesman
- ASHMAN: a dustman
- ASSAY MASTER: a person who determined the amount of gold or silver to go in coins
- ASSAYER: one who examines characteristics (weight, measure or quality) to determine a value
- AUGER MAKER: one who made the carpenters augers for boring holes in wood
- AULNAGERr: See Alnager
- AURIFABER / AURIFEX: a goldsmith
- AVENATOR: a hay and forage merchant
- AVOWRY: term for the lord of the manor
- AXEL TREE MAKER / AXEL TREE TURNER: one who made axels for coaches and waggons
---- Return to index ------
- BACKMAKER: a person who made "backs", vats, tubs, a Cooper
- BACKSTER: [obsolete] originally, a female baker; later, a baker of either sex
- BACK'US BOY: kitchen servant
- BADGER: a licensed pauper who wore a badge with the letter "P" on it and could only work in a defined area; a corn miller or dealer; an itinerant food trader
- BADGY FIDDLER: a boy trumpeter in the military
- BAGMAN: a travelling salesman; one who shows samples and solicits order for a manufacturer
- BAGNIOKEEPER: a person in charge of a bath house or brothel
- BAILIFF: [1] a court attendant entrusted with duties such as the maintenance of order in a courtroom during a trial; [2] an official who assists a British sheriff and who has the power to execute writs, processes, and arrests; [3] (chiefly British) an overseer of an estate; a steward
- BALISTER: [obsolete] a cross-bowman
- BAIRMAN / BAREMAN: pauper, beggar
- BALANCER: a person employed in the coal mines to operate the "balance" which is a slope with a pulley at the top where empty coal tubs pulled full tubs up the slope
- BALER: one who bales of hay
- BALLAD MONGER: one who sold printed ballads on the street
- BALLAST HEAVER: a person who loaded ballast into the hold of empty ships
- BALLER UP: a person who assisted the potter by measuring out the balls of clay
- BAND FILER: a metal worker in the gun making industry
- BANDSTER: [obsolete] one who binds sheaves after reapers during a harvest
- BANG BEGGAR: [slang] a constable who carries a strong staff
- BANKER: a person who dug trenches and ditches to allow drainage of the land, placing the surplus earth in banks around the edge
- BANKS MAN: [1] an overseer at a coal mine; [2] a bank manager
- BANQUETER: a broker or banker
- BARBER-CHIRUGEON - a person who praticed surgery and was a barber; in the 18th century an Act was passed that limited Barbers to hair-cutting, shaving, dentistry and blood letting
- BARD: a poet or minstral
- BARGEMAN: one who worked on or owned and operated a barge
- BARKEEPER: a tollkeeper
- BARKER: [obsolete] a tanner
- BARKMAN: a bargeman
- BARM BREWER: a person who made yeast
- BARREL FILER: a person employed in the gun manufacturing industry
- BARTONER / BARTON: a person in charge of the monastic farm, also known as a barton
- BASIL WORKER: a person who worked with sheep and goat skins
- BASKETMAN: person who made baskets and furniture from wicker; one employed to empty the basket of coal being offloaded from the colliers into the barges
- BATHING MACHINE PROPRIETOR: one who owned and hired the changing huts used at the seaside in the 18th and 19th centuries by bathers
- BATMAN: an officer's servant in the army
- BATTLEDORE MAKER: a person who made the beaters used on clothes, carpets, etc. to remove the dust
- BAWD: a procurer or procuress for a house of prostitution
- BAXTER: [obsolete] a baker
- BAYWEAVER: one who wove bay, a fine woollen fabric also known as baize
- BEADLE: a town crier or warrant officer; a lowly parish officer appointed to keep order in church, punish petty offenders, and act as a servant or messenger of the parish
- BEAMSTER: the man who works at the beam in a tannery
- BEAVER: one who made felt used in hat making
- BEDMAN: a sexton
- BEDDER: [1] an upholsterer; [2] one who takes care of the breeding or birthing of cattle; [3] a bed-maker
- BEDWEAVER: a person who made the webbing for bed frames, also a person who wove quilts
- BEESKEPMAKER: beehive maker
- BEEKEEPER / BEEMASTER: a person who raised and kept bees for their honey
- BELL FOUNDER: one who makes bells
- BELL HANGER: the person who installed bells in churches
- BELLMAN: a town crier employed to make public announcements in the streets
- BELL RINGER: one in charge of ringing the town's church bells
- BELLOWFARMER: person responsible for the care and maintenance of the church organ
- BELLOWS MAKER: a person who made bellows used for organs or blacksmiths' fires
- BELLY BUILDER: a person who built and fitted the interiors of pianos
- BENDER: a person who cut leather
- BERNER: [obsolete] a man in charge of a pack of hounds
- BESOM MAKER: [obsolete] one who makes brooms
- BIBLIOTHECARY: a librarian
- BIDDY: female servant usually of Irish stock
- BID-STAND: [obsolete] one who bids travelers to "stand and deliver"; a highwayman or robber
- BILL POSTER: a person who put up notices, signs and advertisements
- BINDER: one who bound items such as books
- BIRD BOY: aperson employed to scare away birds from crops
- BIRD CATCHER; a person who caught birds for selling
- BIRDS NEST SELLER: a person who sold birds nest collected from the wild complete with eggs; these were then hatched by domestic birds and sold as pets
- BLACKING MAKER: a person who made polish for shoes
- BLACK BORDERER: a person who made black edged stationery for funerals
- BLADESMITH: swordmaker or knife maker
- BLEMMERE: a plumber
- BLOCKCUTTER / BLOCKER: a person who made wooden blocks used in the hat trade; a person who laid down the blocks on which a ships keel was laid
- BLOCK MAKER: a person who engraved the blocks used in the printing trade
- BLOCK PRINTER: a printer who used wooden blocks for printing
- BLOODLETTER / BLOODMAN: the person who used leeches for letting blood, thought to be a cure for many ailments
- BLOOMER: a person who produced iron from ore
- BLOWER: [1] a glass blower; [2] a person who operated a "blowing machine" used to clean and separate fibres in the textile trade; [3] a person who operated the bellows at a blacksmiths
- BLUESTOCKING female writer
- BLUFFER: a landlord
- BOARDING OFFICER: one who inspected ships before entering port
- BOARDWRIGHT: a carpenter
- BOATMAN: a person who worked on a boat, predominately on rivers and canals; boat repairer
- BOATSWAIN: an officer in charge of the sails and rigging
- BOBBER: [1] a person who polished metals; [2] person who helped to unload fishing boats
- BOCHER: [obsolete] butcher
- BODEYS MAKER / BODY MAKER: a person who made bodices for womens garments
- BODGER: a craftsman who made wooden chair legs and the spars
- BOILERMAKER: one who worked with metal in any industrial setting
- BOILER PALTER: a person who made rolled iron plate used to make boilers for steam engines
- BOLTER: a person who sifted meal
- BONDAGER: a female worker on a farm who was bonded
- BONDMAN: a person bonded to a master for the purpose of learning a skill or trade
- BONE BUTTON TURNER: a person who made buttons using a lathe
- BONE LACE MAKER: one who made pillow lace
- BONE PICKER: See Rag Picker
- BONESETTER: A person who set broken bones
- BONIFACE: an innkeeper
- BOOK GUILDER: one who decorated books with gold leaf
- BOONMASTER: a surveyor of roads with the responsibilities of maintaining and repairing the road
- BOOT-CATCHER: the person at an inn whose business was to pull off boots
- BOOTBINDER: one employed to operate the machines which bound footware
- BOOT CLOSER: an employee who worked in the shoe trade stitching together all the parts of a shoe upper
- BOOTHMAN: a corn merchant
- BORLERA: a person who made cheap coarse clothing
- BOTCHER: a cobbler; a tailor; an unkillful laborer
- BOTTILER / BOTTLER: a person who made leather containers for holding liquids such as wine flasks or water bottles
- BOTTLE BOY: a pharmacist's assistant
- BOWLER: [1] a person who made bowls and dishes; [2] one who made the rounded part of spoons before casting
- BOWLMAN: a dealer in crockery
- BOWYER: [archaic] a person in the bow trader; an archer
- BRABENER: a weaver
- BRACHYGRAPHER: a person who writes short hand
- BRAKEMAN / BRAKESMAN: a person who operated the winch at the pit head; a person who operated the braking mechanism on trains and trams
- BRASIATOR: a brewer of ale
- BRASS FINISHER: one who polished brass goods
- BRASS CUTTER: a person who made copperplate engravings
- BRASS FOUNDER: one who cast brass
- BRAYER: a person who ground things up in a mortar
- BRAZIER: one who works in brass
- BREACH MAKER: a person who made the breach for guns
- BREWSTER: a female brewer
- BRICKBURNER / BRICKMAKER: a person who used a kiln to make bricks
- BRICKMAN / BREAKMAN: a bricklayer
- BRIDEWELL KEEPER: the person in charge of a lock-up or jail
- BRIDGEMAN: toll keeper at bridges
- BRIGHTSMITH: tinsmith
- BROADCLOTH WEAVER: a person who operated a wide loom
- BROAD COOPER: a person employed as a go-between for the brewery and the innkeepers
- BROGGER: a wool merchant
- BROOM DASHER: a dealer in brooms
- BROOM SQUIRE: one who made brooms from birch
- BROWDERER / BROIDERER: an embroiderer
- BROWNSMITH: a person who works with copper or brass
- BUCK WASHER: a laundress
- BUCKLER / BUCKLESMITH: a person who made buckles
- BUCKLE TONGUE MAKER: a person who made the metal points that go in the holes of a belt
- BULLWHACKER: a bullock or oxen driver
- BUMBOAT MAN: one who met ships at anchor, with goods for passengers and crew to purchase
- BUNTER: a rag and bone woman
- BURLER: one who dresses or readies cloth for sale by removing flaws, knots, or imperfections
- BURMAIDEN: [also BOWERMAIDEN] - a chambermaid or lady in waiting
- BURYEMAN: a grave digger
- BUSHELER: a tailor's assistant
- BUSKER: [obsolete] a hair dresser
- BUSS MAKER: a maker of guns
- BUTNER: button maker
- BUTTON BURNISHER: one who polished buttons
---- Return to index ------
- CABBIE: driver of a small horse drawn passenger vehicle
- CAD: a person employed to feed and water horses at coach stops
- CADDY BUTCHER: horse meat butcher
- CADGER: a beggar
- CAINER: a person who made walking sticks
- CALCINER: a person who burnt bones to make powdered lime
- CALENDER: a person who listed documents
- CALKER: an astrologer or magician
- CAMBIST: a banker or one who deals in notes and bills
- CAMBRIC MAKER: a person who made a fine linen or cotton fabric called cambric
- CAMERIST: a lady's maid
- CANDLE MAKER / CANDLER: one who made and sold candles
- CANDY MAN: [1] an itinerant candy salesman; [1] {England} a bailiff or process server
- CANER: a person who made the seats for chairs out of woven cane
- CANTER: a beggar or vagrant
- CANTING CALLER: an auctioneer
- CANVASER: aperson who made canvas
- CAPE MERCHANT: the head merchant in a factory
- CAPER: a cap maker
- CAPTAIN: [1] a person in charge of a ship or a group of soldiers; [2] an overseer
- CARDER: one who cards wool
- CARDMAKER: [1] A person who made the handheld implement used for carding wool and cotton; [2] the maker of playing cards
- CARNIFEX: [obsolete] an executioner or butcher
- CARTER: a wagoner, stable headman, or charioteer
- CARTOGRAPHER: a map maker
- CARTOMANCER: a fortune teller who used cards
- CART WHEELER: one who made cart wheels
- CARTWRIGHT: one who made carts or wagons
- CASTER / CASTOR: maker of small bottles used for sprinkling salt, pepper, sugar, etc.
- CASTRATOR: [also GELDER] one who castrated farm animals
- CATTLE JOBBER: a person who bought and sold cattle
- CAULKER: a person who made boats watertight by caulking the seams
- CELLARMAN: one who look after the beer, wines and spirits in public houses or the warehouse
- CHAFFERER: a dealer in chaff
- CHAISE MAKER: wicker cart maker
- CHALONER: blanket maker
- CHAMBERLAIN: a steward to either royalty or nobility, in charge of the household
- CHAMBERMAID: a female servant who attends to the bedrooms in a house or inn
- CHAMBERMASTER: a shoemaker who works in his own home
- CHANDLER: originally, one who made or sold candles; a retail dealer in provisions, groceries, etc.
- CHANTY MAN: the sailor who led the singing on board ship
- CHAPELER: a person who made and sold hats
- CHAPMAN: an itinerant peddler or one who keeps a booth in a marketplace
- CHARCOAL BURNER: a person who made charcoal usually in the woods where the trees were cut
- CHARWOMAN: a cleaning woman hired by the day
- CHASER: engraver
- CHEESEMAN / CHEESE MONGER: cheese dealer
- CHRONOLOGIST: one who records official events of historical importance
- CLICKER: a merchant's servant who would stand at the door and invite customers into the store; a foreman in a shoemaker's shop
- CLOD-HOPPER: a ploughman or agriculture laborer
- CLOGGER: one who made wooden shoes for sale
- CLOTHIER / CLOTHESMAN: a person who made or sold clothes
- CLOWER: a person who made nails
- COACHMAN: a person who drove any coach
- COAL HEAVER: one who unloaded coal from ships
- COALMAN: a person who sold coal usually from a horse and cart, house to house
- COALY: a coal heaver
- COBBLER: a shoemaker
- COCKFEEDER: a person who looked after fighting cocks
- CODMAN: a fish seller
- COGMEN: men who bought and sold a coars cloth called cogware
- COILLOR: [obsolete] a collector
- COISTSELL: a groom in charge of the are of a knight's horse
- COLLAR MAKER: a person who made collars
- COLLIER: a coal miner or coal merchant
- COLPORTEUR: an itinerant book salesman, most often one employed by a society to travel about and sell or distribute Bibles and religious writings
- CONEY CATCHER: a rabbit catcher
- CONFECTIONERY: a maker of sweets; sometimes, one who makes medicines or poisons
- CONNOR: one who tests, examines, or inspects
- COOPER: one who makes or repairs wooden casks, kegs or tubs
- COPEMAN - [1] a dishonest merchant, especially in horses; [2] a receiver of stolen goods
- COPER: a horse dealer
- COPPERSMITH: one who worked with copper
- CORDER: a colonial official whose duty was to verify cords of wood before sale
- CORDWAINER: a shoemaker or worker of leather
- CORK CUTTER: one who worked with cork
- CORN CUTTER: a podiatrist
- COSTERMONGER: originally, a seller of apples; a fruiterer, especially in the open street
- COTELER / COTYLER: one who made and repaired knives
- COUPER: one who barters, deals, or buys and sells
- COURANTEER: a journalist, reporter, or newspaper publisher
- COURTIER: the owner and driver of a horse and cart known as a court
- COWHERD: a cow keeper; one who tends cows
- COWPER: one who made wooden items
- CRACKER BOY - a boy employed to clean and sort slate and other impurities from the coal crushed by the crackers (machines that crush anthracite coal)
- CRAFTIMAN: a craftsman
- CRAMER: a peddlar who sold books in the marketplace; a hawker
- CRATE MAN: a person who sold eathenware door to door
- CRIMPET MAKER: a person who baked crumpets
- CROCKER: one who made crockery; potter
- CROFTER: a tenant who works a small piece of ground, having another vocation, such as fishing
- CROOKMAKER: a person who made shepherd's crooks and walking sticks
- CROPPER: a tenant who works a piece of ground and gets a portion of the crop in payment
- CROWNER: a coroner
- CURER: one who cures tobacco
- CURRIER: a craftsman who treats animal skins with oil or grease
- CUTLER: one who makes, deals, and sharpens knives, scissors, and other cutting instruments
---- Return to index ------
- DAIRYMAN: a man who rented, owned, or managed a dairy and made his living by selling dairy products
- DAMSTER: in logging operations, one who supervised the building of a dam
- DAY LABORER: a man who worked ona hire-by-the-day basis
- DECOYMAN: a person employed to decoy the wild fowl, animals, etc. into a trap or within shooting range
- DELVER: ditch digger
- DIKER: one who builds dikes or digs ditches or trenches
- DISHER / DISH THROWER: a person who made bowls and dishes
- DISH TURNER: one who made wooden bowls or dishes
- DOCK MASTER: a person in charge of a dockyard
- DOG BREAKER: dog trainer
- DOG LEECH: a veterinarian
- DOMESMAN: a judge
- DOOR-KEEPER: a janitor, porter, or guard
- DOWSER: a person who claimed to be able to find water using a forked stick or dowsing stick
- DRAINER: a person who made drains
- DRAPER: originally, a maker of woolen cloth, later a dealer in cloths of all kinds
- DRAWER: one who drew and served liquor for tavern customers
- DRAYMAN: one who drives a cart carrying heavy loads, often used in connection with a brewery
- DRESSER: [1] one who dresses another (a tirewoman); [2] surgeon's assistant in a hospital
- DRESSMAKER: clothing maker
- DRIVER: the overseer of a group of slaves
- DROVER: a driver of sheep and cattle
- DRYSALTER - one who deals in salted or dried meats, pickles, sauces, chemical, and dyes
- DUFFER: a peddler or hawker who sells cheap or trashy goods
- DUSTMAN: a janitor or garbageman
- DYER: one who dyes material
---- Return to index ------
- EARER: a ploughman
- EGGLER: an egg or poultry dealer
- ELYMAKER: oilmaker
- EMBOSSER: a person who moulded or carved designs that were raised above the surface of the material
- EMPRESARIO: land broker, settlement scheme promoter, showman
- EMPTOR: a buyer
- ENGRAVER / ETCHER: one who cuts or carves designs or lettering in metal or stone
- ENUMERATOR: census taker
- EREMITE: hermit
- ESSENCE PEDDLER: one who sold medicines, flavorings, elixirs, etc.
- EXCISEMAN: a government official who collects excises (taxes)
- EYER: a person who made eyes in needles used for sewing; also called a Holer
---- Return to index ------
- FACTOR: a commissioned agent; one who sells goods for another in his own name and receives a commission
- FAGETTER: a person who made up faggots into bundles; seller of firewood
- FANNER: one who winnows (separates the chaff from the grain by means of air movement) grain with a fan
- FARRIER: a blacksmith or horse-shoer
- FASHIONER: one who fashions or forms anything, especially clothing
- FEATHER-BEATER: one who cleaned feathers
- FEATHER-DRESSER: a person who cleaned and prepared feathers for sale
- FEATHERMAN: a dealer in feathers and plumes
- FELLER: a woodcutter
- FELLMONGER: one who removes hair or wool from hides in preparation for leather making; a dealer in animal skins and hides, especially sheepskin
- FELTER: a worker in the hatting industry
- FERRER: a smith who works in iron
- FISH FAG: a woman who sells fish
- FLAX DRESSER: one who prepared flax prior to spinning
- FLESHER: [1] a butcher; [2] one who works in a tannery
- FLESHMONGER: one who deals in flesh; a pimp
- FLETCHER: a maker of and dealer in bows and arrows
- FLOATER: a vagrant
- FLUSHERMAN: a person who cleaned out water mains
- FLYING STATIONER: a street broadsheet seller
- FOGGER: [1] a peddlar who carries small wares from village to village; [2] a low-class lawyer; [3] a middleman in the nail and chain trade; [4] an agricultural laborer who feeds cattle
- FOOT-BOY: a servant or attendent in livery
- FOOT-MAIDEN: a female attendant
- FOOTMAN: a servant who would run errands among his other duties
- FORGER: blacksmith
- FORESTALLER: one who buys goods before they come to market with the intention of raising the price
- FOSSETMAKER: a person who made faucets for ale-casks
- FRAME SPINNER: a worker on a loom
- FRINGEMAKER: one who made fringes or ornamental borders of cloth
- FRIPPERER: one who buys and sells old clothes
- FRISEU: a hair dresser
- FRUITERER: a person who buys and sells fruit
- FRUITESTERE: a female fruit seller
- FULKER: a pawnbroker or money lender
- FULLER: a person who fulls cloth by increasing the weight and bulk of fabric by shrinking, beating, or pressing it
- FURBISHER: a person who polishes armor
- FURNER: a baker; one in charge of the ovens
- FURRIER: one who buys, sells, and/or makes furs
- FUSTIAN WEAVER: a maker of corduroy
---- Return to index ------
- GAFFER: a headman or foreman of a work gang
- GANGREL: a vagrant or roving beggar
- GANNEKER: an alehouse keeper
- GAOLER: [obsolete] a jailer
- GARCION: a servingman or groom, usually a young man or boy
- GATER: a watchman
- GATWARD: a goat keeper
- GAUNTER: a glover
- GELDER: castrator of animals, especially horses
- GILDER: one whose occupation is to overlay an item with gold leaf
- GINOUR: an engineer
- GIRDLER: one who makes girdles
- GLAZIER: a glass cutter; a person who glazes pottery, paper, etc.
- GOLDSMITH: a banker; one who deals in articles made of gold; a craftsman who makes vessels and ornaments of gold
- GOOSE HERD: one who herds geese
- GOOSE HERDER: an itinerant tailor
- GRACE WIFE: a midwife
- GRAFFER: a notary or scrivener
- GRAINER: one who produced artifical grain in wood
- GRANGER: a farmer, bailiff, or steward of a farm
- GRAVER: one who carves or engraves letters or figures in stone
- GRAZIER: one who pastures and raises cattle for market
- GREEN GROCER: a retailer of greens
- GREENSMITH: worker in copper or latten
- GRINDER: one who operates a ginding machine in any of several trades
- GUMMER: a person who improved old saws by deepening the cuts
---- Return to index ------
- HABERDASHER: a person who sells men's furnishings such as hats, shirts, neckties, handkerchiefs, gloves, etc.
- HACKNER: one who makes or uses hoes, mattocks, etc.
- HACKNEY MAN: one who rents horses and carriages
- HAIRWEAVER: weaver of cloth composed wholly or partly of horsehair
- HAND WOMAN: a midwife; a female attendant
- HARLOT: [1] loose woman; [2] vagabond, beggar, rogue; [3] male servant, attendant or menial
- HARPER: a performer on the harp
- HATCHELER: one who cleans or dresses flax
- HAWKER: an itinerant peddler or huckster
- HAYMONGER: a dealer in hay
- HEDGER: one who plants or trims hedgers
- HEELMAKER: one who made shoe heels
- HENCHMAN: a horseman or groom
- HEWER: a miner who cut coal, stone; a face worker in a mine
- HIGGER: a person who peddles merchandise
- HIGHWAYMAN: a robber who works the public roads
- HIND a farm laborer, household or domestic servant
- HOBBLER: [1] a solider on horseback; [2] one who tows a boat with a rope along a river bank
- HOD: a bricklayer's laborer
- HODMAN: a mason's helper
- HOGGARD: a pig drover
- HOOPER: a cooper; one who puts the hoops on casks or tubs
- HORNER: a worker in horn making spoons, combs, or musical horns
- HORSE-CAPPER: a dealer in worthless horses
- HIRSE COPER: a horse dealer or breeder
- HORSE COURSER: a man who keeps race horses
- HORSE LEECH: veterinarian
- HOSIER: a retailer of stockings, socks, gloves, nightcaps, etc.
- HOSTLER: [1] a stableman or groom; [2] one who services railroad engines
- HOSTELER: one who receives and lodges guests
- HOUSE JOINER: one who builds house frames
- HOUSEWRIGHT: a carpenter or house builder
- HOYMAN: a person who engaged in the carriage of goods and passengers by water
- HUCKSTER: a peddler or salesman
---- Return to index ------
- ICEMAN: an ice dealer; one who delivers ice to customers
- INFIRMARIAN: a person in charge of an infirmary
- INNHOLDER: an innkeeper
- INTELLIGENCER: a spy
- INTENDENT: adirector of a public or government business
- INTERFACTOR: a murderer
- IRONMASTER: the owner or manager of an iron foundry
- IRONMONGER: a dealer in iron and hardware
- IRON SMITH: blacksmith; worker in iron
- IVORY WORKER: one who made such things as piano keys, combs, billard balls, and buttons
---- Return to index ------
- JACK: a young male assistant, sailor, or lumberjack
- JACKSMITH: a maker of lifting machinery
- JAGGER: a carrier, carter, peddler or hawker; in mining, a man who carries ore on a pack-horse from a mine to the smelter; a boy who has charge of the jags or train or trucks in a coal mine
- JAKES-FARMER: one who emptied cesspools
- JOBBER: [1] a person who buys in quantity and sells to individual dealers; [2] one who works by the job or does piecework; [3] a person who works in an official capacity and is dishonest, using the office for his own gain
- JOBMASTER: Supplied carriages, horses and drivers for hire
- JOINER / JOYNER: a carpenter who does interior finish work by joining pieces of wood
- JONGLEUR: an itinerant minstrel
- JOURNEYMAN: one who served an apprenticeship and was no longer bound to
- serve a master
- JOUSTER: hawker or peddler of fish
- KEDGER: a fisherman, or one who peddles fish
- KEELMAN: a bargeman
- KEMPSTER: a wool comber
- KIDDIER: [1] skinner; [2] dealer in young goats
- KNACKER: [1] one who makes harnesses; [2] one who buys old horses and sells the flesh for dog meat, etc.; [3] one who buys and wrecks old houses and sells the various parts
- KNELLER: a chimmney sweep who solicited customers by knocking on doors
- KNOCKKNOBBLER: a person whose duty it was to chase dogs out of church if they became a nuisance
- KNOLLER: bell toller
---- Return to index ------
- LACEMAN: a dealer in lace
- LACEWOMAN: a lady's maid
- LAGGER: a sailor
- LANDS JOBBER: one who buys land on speculation and sells it to others
- LANDSMAN: an inexperienced sailor
- LAND WAITER: a customs official who examined, weighed, and took account of goods that had just been landed (off a ship)
- LASTER: one who works or shapes shoes on a last [the mold of the human foot made of wood and used to shape shoes]
- LATTENER: a maker of or worker in latten, a mixed metal of yellow color, either identical with or closely resembling brass
- LAUNDER: a person who washes linen
- LAVENDAR: a washerwoman
- LEECH or SAWBONES: physician
- LEGERDEMAINIST: magician
- LEIGHTONWARD: a gardener
- LIGHTERMAN: one who owns or is employed on a lighter, a large flat-bottomed barge used to unload and load ships where the water is too shallow for the ships to dock
- LIMNER: one who illuminated books or parchments; one who paints or draws
- LINENER: a linen draper; shirtmaker
- LINKERMAN: a person who carried a link or torch to guide people through city streets at night for a small fee
- LISTER: one who kept a list of persons being taxed and their property
- LITSTER: a dyer; one who dyes fabrics
- LOADSMAN / LODESMAN: a pilot of a ship or boat
- LOBLOLLY BOY: a ship's doctor assistant
- LOCK KEEPER: overseer of canal locks
- LONGSHOREMAN: one who works on the waterfront loading and unloading ships
- LORESMAN: a teacher
- LORIMER: a maker of bits and metal mounting for horse bridles, generally a maker of small ironware and a worker in wrought iron
- LUNGS: a servant whose duty was to blow the fire of an alchemist
---- Return to index ------
- MADERER: one who gathered and sold garlic
- MALEMAKER: a maker of 'Males' or travelling bags
- MALENDER: a farmer
- MALSTER: one who makes or deals in malt
- MANGLE KEEPER: a woman who offered use of the mangle to others for a fee
- MANTUAMAKER: a dressmaker
- MASON: a stonecutter; one who works with stone or brick
- MASTER: a skilled workman or one in business on his own
- MASTER MARINER: the commander of a ship
- MASTER OF THE ROLLS: an equity judge
- MATCHET FORGER: knifemaker, or machete maker
- MEADER: a mower
- MEALMAN: dealer in meal or flour
- MECHANIC: [1] Manual laborer; [2] Operator of a machine
- MEDICINE PEDDLER: an itinerant salesman who dealt in herbs, elixers, pills, etc. which were bought in large batches and sold under his own label
- MELDER: a corn miller
- MENAGE-MAN: an itinerant vendor who sells goods to be paid for in installments
- MERCATOR: a merchant
- MERCER: a person who deals in costly fabrics, especially silks
- MERCHANT: an occupation that might mean anything involving the buying and selling of a variety of products
- MESSENGER: [1] (Plymouth Colony) a constable; [2] (England) one who is appointed by a court to handle certain duties in a bankruptcy case
- METALMAN: a worker in metals
- METERER: a poet
- MIDSHIPMAN: usually, a wealthy second or third son who could not inherit
- MIDWIFE: a woman experienced in the birthing process who helps other women in the birth of a child
- MILLER: one who owns or operates a flour mill
- MILLERESS: miller's wife
- MILLINER: [1] a seller of fancy wares and articles of apparel; [2] a maker of ladies hats and bonnets
- MILLWRIGHT: one who plans and builds mills or mill machinery
- MINER: a worker in a mine, such as coal, iron, etc.
- MINT MASTER: the person in charge of a mint
- MIXER: bartender
- MONEY-SCHRIVENER: a person who raises money for others
- MOULDER: one who makes moulds for casting or one who moulds clay into bricks
- MUDLARK: sewer cleaner, riverbank scavenger
- MUFFIN MAN: itinerant seller of muffins
- MULESKINNER: a mule driver
- MULETEER: one who drives a team of mules
- MULTURER: a miller
- MUSIKER: a musician
- MUSTARDER: one who made and dealt in mustard
---- Return to index ------
- NAVIGATOR: a laborer digging canals and later, railways
- NECESSARY WOMAN: servant responsible for emptying and cleaning chamber pots
- NECKER: a worker responsible for the feeding of cardboard into the machine that makes boxes
- NEDELLER: one who makes needles
- NETTER: a net maker
- NIGHT SOILMAN: one employed to empty cesspits, ashpits and backyard toilets
- NIGHT MAGISTRATE: a constable
- NIGHTWALKER: a watchman or bellman
- NIMGIMMER: doctor, surgeon, or apothecary
- NOB-THATCHER: one who makes wigs
---- Return to index ------
- OCCUPIER: a tradesman
- OILMAN: a person who sold the oil for lamps
- OLITOR: a kitchen gardener
- ORDERLY: a non-commissioned officer or private in the miitary service assigned to look after the needs of superior officers or to carry orders or messages
- ORDINARY KEEPER: innkeeper
- ORFEVER: a goldsmith
- OSTREGER: a keeper of goshawks
- OSTLER: See Hostler
- OUT-CRIER: an auctioneer
- OWLER: a sheep or wool smuggler
---- Return to index ------
- PACKMAN: a peddler, or person who travelled around carrying goods for sale in a pack
- PACKER: one who packs goods for preservation, such as pickles or herring
- PAINTRESS: a woman employed in the pottery industry to hand-paint the finished articles
- PALING MAN: one who deals in eels; fishmonger
- PAN SMITH: one who makes pans; metalworker
- PANTER: keeper of the pantry
- PARKER: one who keeps a park; a caretaker
- PASSAGE KEEPER: a person who kept passages and alleys clean
- PASTELER: a pastry maker
- PASTOR: a shepherd or herdsman
- PAVER: one who maintained pavements; a person who laid paving stones
- PAVYLER: one who put up pavilions or tents
- PAWNBROKER: one who loaned money with interest against items of value left for security
- PEAGER: a toll-keeper
- PEDAILE: a footman; a foot soldier
- PEDDLER: a person who travels from place to place selling small goods
- PELTERER: a person who worked with animal skins
- PERFUMER: a maker or seller of perfumes
- PERCHEMEAR: one who made parchment
- PERIWIG MAKER: a wigmaker
- PESSONER: a fishmonger
- PETERMAN: a fisherman
- PETTIFOGGER: a small time lawyer retained by a small or mean business
- PETTY CHAPMAN: an itinerant dealer in small goods, a peddler
- PEW OPENER: a person hired to open the doors to private pews in church
- PHARMAOPOEIST: a person who sells medicines; an apothecary
- PHILOSOPHICAL INSTRUMENT MAKER: a maker of scientific instruments
- PICAROON: a pirate, or a pirate's ship; a thief, adventurer, or rogue
- PIECE BROKER: one who sold material remnants
- PIGMAKER: a person who made pig or cast iron; pottery worker
- PIGMAN: [also MUGGER] a seller of crockery
- PIKELET MAKER: baker who specialised in making small pancakes or crumpets
- PIKEMAN: a miller's assistant
- PIKER: tramp or vagrant
- PILL BOX LIDDER: one responsible for making the lids of pill boxes in the pottery trade
- PILLER: a robber
- PILOT: one licensed to steer ships through difficult waters
- PINDER: a person whose duty is to catch and confine stray animals
- PINER: [1] a pioneer; [2] a laborer
- PINNER: a pin maker
- PINNER UP: [1] a dressmakers assistant; [2] person who sold broadsheets or ballads in the streets
- PIPER: an innkeeper
- PITMAN: a coal miner; one who works in a pit
- PLAIN WORKER: one who performed plain sewing or needlework as opposed to an embroiderer
- PLAITER: one who makes straw plaits used in making hats
- PLANKER: one who planks or kneads the body of the hat during felting
- PLOUGH JOGGER: a plowman
- PLOWMAN: a farm worker; a husbandman
- PLOWRIGHT: one who makes or repairs plows
- PLUMASSIER / PLUMER: a person who made or sold plumes, ornamental feathers
- PLUMBUM MAN: a plumber; one who works with lead pipes
- POINTER: someone who sharpened needles or pins
- POLEMAN: a surveyor's assistant
- PONDERATOR: an inspector of weights and measures
- PORTABLE SOUP MAKER: a person who converted soup into a dry form for transporting from place to place
- PORTER: [1] a pallbearer; [2] a doorman
- POSTILLION: one who worked on long distance coaches and whose duty it was to change the horses at stops
- POST RIDER: one who carriers mail over a post road
- POTATO BADGER: a potato seller
- POT BOY: person who worked in public houses washing and removing dirty pots and other menial jobs
- POTTER: one who makes or peddles pottery or earthenware vessels
- POTTER CARRIER: a chemist or pharmacist
- POUCH MAKER: a person who made pouches or purses
- POULTER: one who deals in poultry
- POYNTER: lace maker
- PRESTIDIGITATOR: a magician; a juggler; one who juggles words
- PRICKER: witch hunter
- PUBLICAN: [1] an inkeeper or tavern keeper; [2] a person who collects fees of any kind such as tithes, tolls, tributes, customs, etc.
- PUGGER: usually a woman or child employed by brick manufacturers to produce clay paste by treading
- PULLEYMAKER: one who made pulleys for hoists
- PUMPMAKER: a person who made pumps
---- Return to index ------
- QUARRIER: a quarry worker
- QUARRYMAN: quarry worker
- QUILLER: a person who operated a machine that wound yarn onto spools
- QUILTER: a person who quilted material
- QUISTER: one who bleached things
- RAG CUTTER: someone who cut up rags into small pieces to be used for making paper
- RAG GATHERER: usually children, employed to clear the rags from the machinery in the mills
- RAG MAN: a person 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
- RAG PICKER: a person who sorted through the leftover rags to find reusable ones
- RATONER: a rat catcher
- REDSMITH: goldsmith
- REVENUER: taxman who enforces tax laws on liquor
- RIGGER: one who worked with the rigging of a ship
- RIPPER: a person who brings fish inland to the market
- RIVERMAN - unlicensed employee of a river boat, such as agent, barker, bartender, clerk, cook, deck hand, etc.; usually does not refer to the owner, master, mate, or pilot, however, it is not always the case
- RODMAN: a surveryor's assistant who carries a leveling rod
- ROPER: a rope or net maker
- ROVER: an archer
- RUGMAN: rug dealer
- RUNNER: [1] a smuggler; [2] a messenger, collector, or agent
- RUSTLER: a cattle thief
---- Return to index ------
- SADDLER: one who made saddles, harnesses, horse collars, bridles, etc.
- SADDLE TREE MAKER: one who made the frames for saddles that the saddler used
- SALOONIST: a saloon keeper; one who promoted the idea of having saloons for drinking
- SALTER: a maker of and ealer in salt; a drysalter
- SANDESMAN: a messenger, envoy, or ambassador
- SAPPERS AND MINERS - soldiers who belonged to the engineer corps whose duty was to make trenches or saps
- SARTOR: a tailor
- SAWYER: one who cuts timber into logs or boards
- SAY WEAVER - a weaver of say, a cloth of fine texture resembling serge
- SAYER: a poet
- SCAVELMAN: one who kept the waterways and ditches clear
- SCHOOLMASTER: teacher
- SSCHRIMPSCHONGER: one who carves bone, ivory, etc. into pieces of art
- SCRIBE - an official clerk transcriber; one who copied manuscripts before printing was developed
- SCRIMER: a fencing master
- SCRIPTURE READER: A person 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
- SCRIVNER: a clerk or notary; formerly, a moneylender; a broker
- SCULLERY MAID: a female servant who performed all the menial tasks
- SCULLION: a male servant who performed all the menial tasks
- SEALER: an inspector who was elected by the town to put his "seal" or stamp of approval on items he inspected, tested and certified
- SEARCHER: one who is employed at a custom-house station to inspect incoming goods; a customs-man
- SEEDSMAN: one who deals in seeds; a sower
- SEMI LORER: a person who made leather thongs
- SEMPSTRESS: seamstress
- SEWSTER: a seamstress
- SHANTY-MAN: a lumberman
- SHARECROPPER: a person who would farm ground owned by another, and divide the crops or the profits with the owner
- SHEARER: one who removed the fleece from sheep
- SHEARGRINDER: one who sharpened shears, scissors
- SHEARMAN: one who shears cloth, metal, etc.
- SHEATH MAKER: a person who made scabbards for swords
- SHEEPMAN: a person whose business is raising sheep; a sheepherder
- SHEPSTER: a female pattern cutter; a dressmaker
- SHINGLER: a roof tiler who used wooden tiles or shingles
- SHOESMITH: a cobbler; one who shoed horses
- SHIP MASTER: the owner or commander of a ship
- SHIPWRIGHT: a carpenter skilled in building and repairing ships
- SHOE-FINDER: a person who sells shoemakers' tools and appliances
- SHOE-WIPER: a servant whose duty it is to clean shoes
- SHORESMAN: a person who makes his living on the shore in the fishery business; a shore-gunner
- SHRAGER: a person who trimmed and pruned trees
- SILK THROWSTER: a person who winds, twists, spins, or throws silk fibers in preparation for weaving
- SILVER SMITH: a person who worked with silver
- SKEPPER: a person who made and sold beehives
- SKINKER: a tapster; one who draws ale
- SKINNER: one who deals in animal skins; a mule driver
- SLATER: one who slates roofs
- SLOP SELLER: a person who sold cheap, ready-made garments
- SMELTER: [1] one who works in a smelter melting down ores; [2] a fisherman who fishes for smelts
- SMITH: one who makes or repairs metal items
- SNOBBER: a shoemaker or cobbler
- SNOW WARDEN: a person whose duty was to make sure the snow was evenly dispersed on the streets so the sleigh runners could move easily
- SNUFFER MAKER: one who made the candle snuffer for putting out or "snuffing" candlelight
- SOAPBOILER: a soap-maker
- SOJOURNER CLOTHIER: a traveling clothes salesman
- SOUTER: a shoemaker
- SPALLIER: a tin works laborer
- SPERVITER: a keeper of sparrow hawks
- SPICER: a grover or one who deals in spices
- SPINNER: one who spins yarn
- SPLITTER: one who operated a splitting machine or who split things by hand
- SPOONER: a person who made spoons
- SPURRIER: a person who made spurs
- STAMPMAN: a person who works with an ore-crushing stamp mill
- STAPLER: a dealer in various goods
- STATIONER: a bookseller; one who sells paper, quills, ink stands, pencils, and other writing items
- STAY MAKER: a corset maker
- STEERSMAN: the helmsman of a ship
- STEP BOY: one employed to help passengers to enter or leave a coach
- STEVEDORE: a workman employed either as overseer or laborer in loading and unloading the cargoes of merchant vessels
- STEWARD: a person entrusted with the care and management of another's estae or household
- STITCHER: one who sews, decorates with stitching, etc.
- STOCKINGER: one who kints, weaves, or deals in stockings
- STONE CUTTER: one who cuts and dresses stones
- STONER: a person who cuts stones
- STONEMAN / STONEWARDEN: a surveyor of highways
- STONE PICKER: one hired to remove the stones from the farmers' fields before planting
- STONE WORKER: one who worked with stone such as masons or quarriers
- STRAW JOINER: a person who thatched roofs
- STREAKER: one who prepared the body for burial
- STREET CLEANER: a street sweeper
- STRINGER: a person who made the strings for bows
- SUCKSMITH: a person who made ploughshares
- SURVEYOR: one who determines the boundaries, area, or elevations of land or structures on the earth's surface by means of measuring angles and distances, using the techniques of geometry and trigonometry
- SUTLER: a person who followed an army camp peddling provisions and supplies
- SWAIN: [1] a herdsman; [2] a servant; a young man who was a knight's attendant
- SWAMPER: [1] a laborer who clears roads in a swamp or forest; [2] a person who does odd jobs in a saloon
- SWEEP: chimneysweep
- SWINEHERDER: a pig keeper
- SWORD CUTLER: one who makes and mounts swords
---- Return to index ------
- TABLER: one who boards others or is a boarder himself
- TAILOR: one who made or repaired clothes
- TABLER: boarding house operator
- TALLOW CHANDLER: a person who makes and sells tallow candles
- TALLY-CLERK: a person who counts votes; one who keeps track of cargo or merchandise
- TALLYMAN: a person who sells goods on credit and is paid by installments
- TANKARD BEARER: a person employed in the drawing and carrying water from public pumps and conduits
- TANNER: one who tans or converts hides into leather
- TAPER WEAVER: a person who made candlewicks
- TAPISER: one who makes tapestry; an upholsterer
- TAPSTER: a barmaid or bartender
- TAPPER: a tavern-keeper
- TAVERNER: an innkeeper
- TAWER: one who make white leather
- TEAMSTER: one who drives a team for hauling cargo
- TENTER: one who looks after machinery in a factory, such as a loom tenter
- THACKER: a thatcher
- THATCHER: one who covered roofs with straw or reeds
- THRESHER: a person who separated the grain from the husks and straw
- THROWSTER: one who throws (winds or twists) silk into thread
- TICKNEY MAN: a person who sold earthenware from town to town
- TIDE GAUGER: a person who monitored the tide
- TIDE WAITER: a custom house officer
- TIEMAKER: one who made wooden railway ties
- TILER: a person who put tiles in place either on the roof or floor
- TILLER: a farmer; a cultivator
- TILLMAN: a farmer; a ploughman
- TINKER: an itinerant repairman who mended pots and pans; a jack-of-all trades
- TINNER: a worker in a tin mine; a tinsmith; one who makes tinware
- TINTER: an artist skilled in tinting
- TILTMAKER: a person who made canvas awnings or canopies
- TIMEKEEPER: a person responsible for making sure things happened on time such as workers arriving or departing, trains, coaches, etc.
- TIMES IRONER: a servant responsible for ironing the daily newspaper
- TINCTOR: a dyer
- TINKER: a travelling repairer of pots and pans
- TINSMITH: a person who worked with tin
- TIPPER: person who put the metal tips on arrows
- TIPPLER: a person who kept an ale house
- TIREWOMAN: a woman who assisted in the dressing room, especially in the theater; a dressmaker; a costumier
- TOBACCO SPINNER: cigar maker
- TOLLER: a person who collected tolls
- TOLLGATE KEEPER: one who worked at the toll gate to collect fees for use of the road
- TONSORA: a barber
- TOOL HELVER: a person who made tool handles
- TOPMAN: a sailor who serves in the top mast station; the man who stands at the topmost point when sawing lumber
- TOPSMAN: the foreman or head cattle drover
- TOWN CRIER: a person who made public announcments in the streets
- TRADESMAN: a shopkeeper or skilled craftsman
- TRAMPER: [1] a vagabond; a tramp; [2] a person who tramples or walks on clothing in the wash to clean them
- TRAMPLER: an attorney
- TRANQUETER: a person who made hoops
- TRANTER / TRAUNTER: a peddler with a horse and cart
- TREEN MAKER: a person who made domestic articles from wood
- TREENAIL MAKER: one who made the long wooden pins used in shipbuilding
- TRENCHERMAKER: a person who made wooden boards or platters for serving food from or cutting and slicing food on
- TRENCHERMAN: a cook
- TRUCHMAN: an interpreter
- TRUGGER: a person who made long shallow baskets
- TUBBER: a person who made tubs and barrels
- TUBEDRAWER: a person who made tubes
- TUNIST: one who tuned musical instruments
- TURNER: a person who works with a lathe
- TURNKEY: a prison warden or jail keeper
---- Return to index ------
- UPHOLDER: upholsterer and also a seller of secondhand goods
- UPHOLSTERER: one who finished furniture by putting on the padding and cloth
- UPRIGHT WORKER: a chimney sweep
- VALET: amale servant who attended a nobleman or gentleman
- VATMAN: [1] a person employed in the paper making industry to put the paper pulp into the moulds; [2] a person who worked with vats in beer and wine making
- VERGE MAKER: a person who made the spindles used in clocks and watches
- VERRIER: a glazier
- VERSER: a versifier; a poet
- VICTUALLER: a grocer
- VINTAGER: grape farmer, wine maker
- VINTNER: a wine merchant
- VIRGINAL PLAYER: one who played a musical instrument similar to a harpsichord
- VULCAN: blacksmith
---- Return to index ------
- WAFERER: one who made and sold wafers or thin unleavened cakes
- WAGONER: a driver of a wagon; a carter
- WAINWRIGHT: one who built or repaired wagons
- WAITMAN / WAKEMAN: night watchman
- WALKER: a cloth-worker
- WALLER: [1] a person who built walls either brick or dry stone; [2] one who worked making coarse salt
- WANTCATCHER: a person employed to catch moles
- WARDER / WARDEN: a person in charge of prisoners
- WARPER: [1] one who set the warp thread on the looms; [2] one employed to move boats by hauling on the warps (the ropes attached to the boats)
- WARRENER: a person in charge of a portion of land used for breeding rabbits and other small game
- WASHMAN: a person who applies the wash (or coating) of tin when making tinplate
- WATCH FINISHER: a person employed to assemble watches and clocks
- WATCHMAN: one whose job it was to guard the streets at night
- WATER BAILIFF: an official in charge of the fishing rights on a stretch of water; a river policeman or in coastal towns a customs official
- WATER CARRIER: a person who carted and sold fresh water
- WATER GILDER: a person who trapped water fowl
- WATER LEADER: a person who carts water for sale
- WATERMAN: person who worked with or on boats usually on rivers
- WATTLE HURDLE MAKER: a person who made a type of fence from wattle to keep the sheep, i.e. construction of poles intertwined with twigs, reeds, or branches
- WAY-MAKER: a person employed to make roads
- WAY MAN: surveyor of roads
- WEATHERSPY: an astrologer
- WEBBER: a weaver
- WEEDER: a person employed to remove the weeds from the gardens of the rich
- WEIGHER: a person employed 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: a person who dug wells
- WELLWRIGHT: a person who made the winding equipment used to raise the bucket in a well
- WET GLOVER: a person who made leather gloves
- WET NURSE: a woman employed to suckle the child of another
- WETTER: [1] a person employed to dampen paper during the printing process; [2] a person in the glass industry who detached the glass by wetting
- WHACKER: one who drives a team of oxen, horses, etc.
- WHARFINGER: the person who owned or managed a wharf
- WHEELER: [1] a wheel maker; [2] a person in the textile industry that attended to the spinning wheel; [3] a person who led the pit ponies that pulled the tubs underground in the mines
- WHEELWRIGHT: a person who repairs and makes wheels and wheeled vehichles
- WHEERYMAN: a person in charge of a wheery (a small, light rowing boat)
- WHIPCORD MAKER: a person who makes whips
- WHIPPERIN: one who handled the hounds in a hunt
- WHITEAR: a cleanser of hides
- WHIT COOPER: one who made barrels from tin
- WHITE LIMER: a person who plastered walls using lime and water plaster
- WHITENING ROLL MAKER: a person who made the whitening used in whitening walls of cottages
- WHITENER: a person who bleached cloth
- WHITE SMITH: a maker of utensils in tin, especially dairy utensils
- WHITE TAWER / WHITTAWER: a saddler, harness-maker
- WHITEWING: a street sweeper
- WILLOW PLAITER: one who made baskets
- WINDER: in the textile industry, a person who transferred the yarn from bobbins onto cheeses or into balls ready for weaving; in the mines a person who operated the pulley or winch
- WINDSTER: a silk winder
- WIRE DRAWER: one who made wire from metal by drawing the metal through various size holes in a template
- WOODBREAKER: one who made wooden water casks
- WOODRANGER / WOOD REEVE: a person in charge of the forest or woods
- WOOLCOMBER: one who operates the machines that separate the fibers ready for spinning
- WOOL DRIVER: one who brought the wool to market
- WOOL GROWER: sheep farmer
- WOOL SORTER: a person who sorted the wool into different grades
- WOOLSTED MAN: a seller of woollen cloth
- WOOL WINDER: one who made up balls of wool for selling
- WORSTED MANUFACTURER: a person who made worsted
- WRIGHT: a skilled worker in various trades, i.e., shipwright, wheelwright, cartwright, etc.
---- Return to index ------
- YARDMAN: rail road yard worker
- YATMAN: a gate keeper
- YEARMAN: a person contracted to work for a year
- YEOMAN: farmer who owns his own land
|
|
