|
Name |
What they Did |
|
Accomptant |
Accountant |
|
Almoner |
Gave charity to the needy |
|
Amanuensis |
Secretary or stenographer |
|
Artificer |
A soldier mechanic who does repairs |
|
Bailie |
Bailiff |
|
Baxter |
Baker |
|
Bluestocking |
Female writer |
|
Bodger |
Chair Maker. Usually attributed to the High Wycombe
area. Thanks to Peter Lovett for this one. |
|
Boniface |
Inn Keeper |
|
Brazier |
One who works with brass |
|
Brewster |
Beer manufacturer |
|
Brightsmith |
Metal Worker |
|
Burgonmaster |
Mayor |
|
Button Maker |
Maker of buttons |
|
Caulker |
One who filled up cracks (in ships or windows) or seems to make
them watertight by using tar or oakum |
|
Chaisemaker |
Carriage maker |
|
Chandler |
Dealer or trader; one who makes or sells candles; retailer of
groceries |
|
Chiffonnier |
Wig maker |
|
Clark |
Clerk |
|
Clerk |
Clergyman, cleric |
|
Clicker |
The servant of a salesman who stood at the door to invite customers;
one who received the matter in the galley from the compositors
and arranged it in due form ready for printing; one who makes
eyelet holes in boots using a machine which clicked. |
|
Cohen |
Priest |
|
Collier |
Coal miner |
|
Colporteur |
Peddler of books |
|
Cooper |
One who makes or repairs vessels made of staves & hoops,
such as casks, barrels, tubs, etc. |
|
Cordwainer |
Shoemaker, originally any leather worker using leather from Cordova/Cordoba
in Spain |
|
Costermonger |
Peddler of fruits and vegetables |
|
Crocker |
Potter |
|
Crofter |
One who farmed another's land and receives part of the crop. Used
more in societies of immigrants. It differs little from the 'Tenant
Farmer' of America. And, though some land owners may have been benevolent, it was basically just legal slavery. |
|
Crowner |
Coroner |
|
Currier |
One who dresses the coat of a horse with a curry comb; one who
tanned leather by incorporating oil or grease |
|
Docker |
Stevedore, dock worker who loads and unloads cargo |
|
Dowser |
One who finds water using a rod or witching stick |
|
Draper |
A dealer in dry goods |
|
Drayman |
One who drives a long strong cart without fixed sides for carrying
heavy loads |
|
Dresser |
A surgeon's assistant in a hospital |
|
Drover |
One who drives cattle, sheep, etc. to market; a dealer in cattle |
|
Duffer |
Peddler |
|
Factor |
Agent, commission merchant; one who acts or transacts business
for another; Scottish steward or bailiff of an estate |
|
Farrier |
A blacksmith, one who shoes horses |
|
Faulkner |
Falconer |
|
Fell Monger |
One who removes hair or wool from hides in preparation for leather
making |
|
Fletcher |
One who made bows and arrows |
|
Fuller |
One who pulls cloth; one who shrinks and thickens woolen cloth
by moistening, heating, and pressing; one who cleans and finishes
cloth Gaoler |
|
Glazier |
Window glass man |
|
Hacker |
Maker of hoes |
|
Hatcheler |
One who combed out or carded flax |
|
Haymonger |
Dealer in hay |
|
Hayward |
Keeper of fences |
|
Higgler |
Itinerant peddler |
|
Hillier |
Roof tiler |
|
Hind |
A farm laborer |
|
Holster |
A groom who took care of horses, often at an inn |
|
Hooker |
Reaper |
|
Hooper |
One who made hoops for casks and barrels |
|
Huckster |
Sells small wares |
|
Husbandman |
A farmer who cultivated the land |
|
Jagger |
Fish peddler |
|
Journeyman |
One who had served his apprenticeship and mastered his craft,
not bound to serve a master, but hired by the day |
|
Joyner/Joiner |
A skilled carpenter |
|
Keeler |
Bargeman |
|
Kempster |
Wool comber |
|
Lardner |
Keeper of the cupboard |
|
Lavender |
Washer woman |
|
Lederer |
Leather maker |
|
Leech |
Physician |
|
Longshoreman |
Stevedore |
|
Lormer |
Maker of horse gear |
|
Lumper |
A laborer who is employed to load or
unload vessels when in harbor. (Contributed by Sussan Thomas)
|
|
Machinist |
A worker who fabricates, assembles, or repairs machinery or a craftsman
skilled in the use of machine tools, or one who operates a machine. |
|
Malender |
Farmer |
|
Maltster |
Brewer |
|
Manciple |
A steward |
|
Mason |
Bricklayer |
|
Miller |
A Miller owned and operated a mill, typically a gristmill or 'cornemill'.
The mill was built by a millwright who did not necessarily operate it.
Traditionally the miller was a master carpenter so he could repair/replace
the wooden gears, maintain the wooden waterwheel and structure of the
often wood building. Some structures were stone. The miller was
respected, wealthy and ethical in his dealings; often involved in export
trade. Contributed by Michele FitzGerald who does
research in this area. |
|
Millwright |
14th century
1) one whose occupation is planning and building mills or setting
up their machinery
2) one who maintains and cares for mechanical equipment (as of
a mill or factory) |
|
Mintmaster |
One who issued local currency |
|
Monger |
Seller of goods (ale, fish) |
|
Molder or Moulder |
Person who shaped things in a mold. For example, pouring hot metal
into sand molds.
Courtesy of Karen Van Etten
|
|
Muleskinner |
Teamster |
|
Neatherder |
Herds cows |
|
Ordinary Keeper |
Innkeeper with fixed prices |
|
Pattern Maker |
A maker of a clog shod with an iron ring. A clog was a wooden
pole with a pattern cut into the end.
also:
a more general definition courtesy of
Wallace
Huskonen:
One
who fashions a reusable replica (the pattern) of a
tool, implement, or other object in such a way that it
can be used by a molder/moulder to produce a mold for
casting said tool, implement, or other product of iron
or other metal.
|
|
Peregrinator |
Itinerant wanderer |
|
Peruker |
A wig maker |
|
Pettifogger |
A shyster lawyer |
|
Pigman |
Crockery dealer |
|
Plumber |
One who applied sheet lead for roofing and set lead frames for
plain or stained glass windows. |
|
Porter |
Door keeper |
|
Puddler |
Wrought iron worker. The skilled man who supervised the molten
mass, deciding when it was ready for shingling, hammering and
rolling. |
|
Quarrier |
Quarry worker |
|
Rigger |
Hoist tackle worker |
|
Ripper |
Seller of fish |
|
Roper |
Maker of rope or nets |
|
Saddler |
One who makes, repairs or sells saddles or other furnishings
for horses |
|
Sawbones |
Physician |
|
Sawyer |
One who saws; carpenter |
|
Schumacker |
Shoemaker |
|
Scribler |
A minor or worthless author |
|
Scrivener |
Professional or public copyist or writer; notary public |
|
Scrutiner |
Election judge |
|
Shoemaker |
Maker of footwear, belts, etc. |
|
Shrieve |
Sheriff |
|
Slater |
Roofer |
|
Slopseller |
Seller of ready |
|
Snobscat/Snob |
One who repaired shoes |
|
Sorter |
Tailor |
|
Spinster |
A woman who spins or an unmarried woman |
|
Spurrer |
Maker of spurs |
|
Squire |
Country gentleman; farm owner; justice of peace |
|
Street Sprinkler |
O.k. a street sprinkler would
be one who went along in a cart (presumably) sprinkling the street to
lay the dust thus preventing it blowing round.
Thanks to B. Clayton
|
|
Stripper |
A person who stripped the veins out of the tobacco leaf before
it was used to make a cigar.
submitted by Jill Davidson
|
|
Stuff Gown |
Junior barrister |
|
Stuff Gownsman |
Junior barrister |
|
Supercargo |
Officer on merchant ship who is in charge of cargo and the commercial
concerns of the ship |
|
Tanner |
One who tans (cures) animal hides into leather |
|
Tapley |
One who puts the tap in an ale cask |
|
Tasker |
Reaper |
|
Teamster |
One who drives a team for hauling |
|
Tenant Farmer |
One who leases or purchases a small plot of land from another
(usually at exorbitant rates) and then must make the payments
from his crops or other means of work. Southern States primarily
(but most to some extent) used this as a means to maintain a
cheap labor pool for their own larger land owners. It differed
little from actual slavery and any attempt to address the poverty
of these people was vigorously fought. |
|
Thatcher |
Roofer |
|
Tide waiter |
Customs inspector |
|
Tinker |
An itinerant tin pot and pan seller and repairman |
|
Tipstaff |
Policeman |
|
Travers |
Toll bridge collection |
|
Traymaker |
A maker of wooden household implements. |
|
Tucker |
Cleaner of cloth goods |
|
Turner |
A person who turns wood on a lathe into spindles |
|
Tuchmacher |
Drapery
Maker (in German) |
|
Victualer |
A tavern keeper, or one who provides an army, navy, or ship with
food supplies |
|
Vulcan |
Blacksmith |
|
Wagoner |
Teamster not for hire |
|
Wainwright |
Wagon maker |
|
Waiter |
Customs officer or tide waiter; one who waited on the tide to
collect duty on goods brought in |
|
Waterman |
Boatman who plies for hire |
|
Weaver |
Applied to those who weave cloth with a loom or spinning wheel
and also those who wove baskets. |
|
Webster |
Operator of looms |
|
Wharfinger |
Owner of a wharf |
|
Wheelwright |
One who made or repaired wheels; wheeled carriages, etc. |
|
Whitesmith |
Tinsmith; worker of iron who finishes or polishes the work |
|
Whitewing |
Street sweeper |
|
Whitster |
Bleacher of cloth |
|
Wright |
Workman, especially a construction worker |
|
Yeoman |
Farmer who owns his own land |