Old
Occupations
Acater | Supplied food provisions, e.g. a ships chandler |
Accipitrary | Falconer |
Accomptant | Accountant |
Accoucheur/ Accoucheus |
One who assisted in childbirth |
Accoutrement maker |
Supplier of military accessories |
Ackerman | 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 as public prosecutor |
Advowee | Normally a nobleman, who had the right to present a clergyman to a benefice |
Aeronaut | Balloonist or trapeze artist in the circus or music halls |
Affeeror | Official in the manorial courts who assessed the monetary penality 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 tittle for the one in charge of the ponies |
Alabasterer | Worked with alabaster |
Alblastere | A 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 taster | Tested ale and beer for quality first recorded 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 cask (tuns) with ale |
Alewife | Woman who keeps the alehouse or tavern |
All spice | A name for a grocer |
Almanac man | Official appointed to warn the inhabitants of the Trent river of higher than normal tides |
Almoner | Giver of charity to the needy |
Almsman | Received alms |
Alnager | An official who examined the quality of woolen goods and stamped them with a town's seal of approval |
Amanuensis | Secretary or stenographer |
Amber cutter | A person who cut ambergris |
Amber & jet cutter |
A person who cut and polished amber for jewelry |
Ambler | An officer of the Royal Stable who broke in horses |
Amen clerk | A perish clerk |
Anchor smith | A person who made anchors |
Artifier | A soldier mechanic who does repairs |
Bailie | Bailiff |
Baxter | Baker |
Bluestocking | Female writer |
Boniface | Keeper of an inn |
Brazier | One who works with brass |
Brewster | Beer Manufacturer |
Brightsmith | Metal Worker |
Burgomaster | Mayor |
Caulker | One who filled racks in ships or windows or seams to make them watertight by using tar or oakum-hemp produced by taking old ropes apart |
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 and hoops, such as casks, barrels, tubs, etc. |
Cordwainer | Shoemaker, originally any leathr worker using leather from Cordova/Cordoba in Spain |
Costermonger | Peddler of fruits and vegetables |
Crocker | Potter |
Crowner | Coroner |
Currier | One who dresses the coat of a horse with a currycomb; one who tanned leather by incorpating 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 mae bows and arrows |
Fuller | One who fulls cloth; one who shrinks and thickens wooen cloth by moistening, heating, and pressing; one who cleans and finishes cloth |
Gaoler | A keeper of the goal, a jailer |
Glazier | Window glassman |
Hacker | Maker of hoes |
Hacheler | 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 |
Hostler | A groom who took care of horses, often at an inn |
Hooker | Reaper |
Hooper | One who mae hoops for casks and barrels |
Huckster | Sells small wares |
Husbandman | A farmer who cultivated the land |
Jagger | Fish pedler |
Journeyman | One who served his apprenticeship and mastered his craft, not bound to serve a amster, 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 horde gear |
Malender | Farmer |
Maltster | Brewer |
Manciple | A steward |
Mason | Bricklayer |
Mintmaster | One who issued local currency |
Monger | Seller of goods (ale, fish) |
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 |
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 windows |
Porter | Door keeper |
Puddler | Wrought iron worker |
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 |
Shrieve | Sheriff |
Slater | Roofer |
Slopseller | Seller of ready-made clothes in a slop shop |
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 |
Stuff gown | Junior barrister |
Stuff gownsman | Junior barrister |
Supercargo | Officer on merchant ship who is in charge of cargo and the commericial concers 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 |
Thatcher | Roofer |
Tide waiter | Customs inspector |
Tinker | An itinerant tin pot and pan seller and repairman |
Tipstaff | Policeman |
Travers | Toll bridge colletion |
Tucker | Cleaner of cloth goods |
Turner | A person who turns wood on a lathe into spindles |
Victualer | A tavern keeper, or one who provides an army, navy, or ship with food |
Vulcan | Blacksmith |
Wagoner | Teamster not for hire |
Wainwright | Wagon maker |
Waiter | Customs officer or tide water; one who waited on the tide to collect duty on goods brought in |
Waterman | Boatman who plies for hire |
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 | Bleach of cloth |
Wright | Workman, especially a construction worker |
Yeoman | Farmer who owns his land |
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