| 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 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 |
| ALE-CONNER / ALE FOUNDER - official who tested quality and measure of ale
served in public houses |
| 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 & JET CUTTER - cut and polished amber for jewelry |
| AMBER CUTTER - cut ambergris |
| 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 |
| ANGLE IRON SMITH - made angle iron ie. flat iron bars bent at right angles
lengthways |
| ANILEPMAN - smallholder (tenant of the manor) |
| 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 |
| ASSAY MASTER - determined the amount of gold or silver to go in coins |
| ASSAYER - determined the proportions of metal in ore |
| 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 |
| BACK WASHER - employed to clean the wool in the worsted manufacturing
industry |
| BACKMAKER - made "backs", vats, tubs, a Cooper |
| BACKMANN / BACKSTER / BAXTER / BECK / BECKER - baker |
| BACK'US BOY - kitchen servant (from "back of the house") |
| 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 |
| BAL MAIDEN - female mine worker who worked on the surface (also a Pit Brow
Lass) |
| BALER - bales hay and in the mills one who bailed wool or cotton goods |
| BALISTER - archer most commonly a crossbowman |
| BALLARD MASTER - in charge of loading the ballast into the hold of empty
ships |
| BALLAST HEAVER - loaded ballast into the hold of empty ships |
| BALLER / BALLER UP - assisted the potter by measuring out the balls of clay |
| 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 |
| BARGE MATE - Naval officer |
| BARGEE / BARGEMAN - worked on or owned and operated a barge |
| 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 |
| 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) |
| BAUER - farmer |
| BAXTER - baker |
| BAYWEAVER - who wove bay (a fine woollen fabric also known as baize) |
| BEAD PIERCER - employed to drill the holes in beads |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| BELHOSTE - tavern keeper. |
| BELL HANGER - installed bells in churches |
| BELLEYETERE - bellfounder |
| BELLFOUNDER / BELTER / BILLITER - made bells |
| 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 |
| BESOM MAKER - made brooms |
| BESSWARDEN - appointed by the parish to look after its animals |
| BEVER - beverage maker |
| BIDDY - female servant usually of Irish stock |
| BILL POSTER - put up notices, signs and advertisements |
| BILLIER / BILLYMAN - operated a Billy Roller, a machine used in the cotton
industry to prepare the cotton for spinning |
| 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 BORDERER - made black edged stationery for funerals |
| BLACK TRAY MAKER - made Japanned trays |
| BLACKING MAKER - made polish for shoes |
| 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 |
| BLOCK MAKER - engraved the blocks used in the printin |
| BLOCK PRINTER - printer who used wooden blocks for printing |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| BOILER PLATER - made rolled iron plate used to make boilers for steam
engines etc |
| BOILERMAKER - worked with metal in any industrial setting |
| 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 |
| BOOK KEEPER - looked after the accounts for businesses |
| BOOKHOLDER - prompter in the theater |
| BOOKMAN - student |
| BOONMASTER - surveyor of roads with the responsibilities of maintaining and
repairing the road |
| 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 |
| BOOTBINDER - employed to operate the machines which bound footware |
| 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 KNOCKER - sagger makers assistant in the pottery industry |
| BOTTOM MAKER - moulded the bottoms for saggers 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 SQUIRE - broom maker |
| BROOM-DASHER - dealer in brooms |
| BROTHERER / BROWDERER / BRODERER / BROIDERER - embroiderer |
| BROW GIRL - female employed at the pit head |
| BROWNSMITH - works with copper or brass |
| BUCK WASHER - laundress |
| BUCKLE TONGUE MAKER - made the metal points that go in the holes of a belt |
| BUCKLER / BUCKLESMITH - made buckles |
| BUCKRAM MAKER - worked with buckram (used in stiffening materials) e.g.
belts, lapels and collars |
| 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 |
| BULLOCKY - attended to the daily needs of cattle and may also have lent a
hand with general farm duties, especially during busy periods |
| BULLWHACKER - oxen driver |
| BUMBOAT MAN - met ships at anchor with goods for passengers and crew to
purchase |
| BUMMAREE - middle man between the wholesaler and the retailer at the fish
markets |
| BUMMER - army deserter |
| 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 |
| BUSKER - hair dresser |
| BUSS MAKER - maker of guns |
| BUTNER - button maker |
| BUTTER CARVER - made imprints in butter pats |
| BUTTON BURNISHER - button polisher |
| BUTTY - negotiated mining contracts and supplied the labor |
| CADDIE - messenger or errand boy |
| CADDY BUTCHER - butcher that dealt in horse meat |
| 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 |
| CAMBIST - banker |
| CAMBRIC MAKER - made a fine linen or cotton fabric called cambric |
| CAMERIST - lady's maid |
| CAMISTER - minister of the cloth |
| CAMLET MERCHANT - seller of camlet, cloth used to make cloaks & petticoats |
| CAMPANER - bell maker |
| CANCELLARIUS - chancellor |
| CANDLE MAKER / CANDLER - who made and sold candles |
| CANDY MAN - traveling candy salesman and also slang name for a baliff |
| 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 |
| CARD NAILER / NAILORA - maintained the teeth (nails) on the carding machine
used for preparing wool and cotton for weaving |
| CARDER - cards wool |
| CARDMAKER - maker of cards or instruments for combing wool |
| CARDROOMER - term for anyone who worked in the carding room of the mills |
| CARETAKER - takes care of another's property |
| CARMAN / CHARMAN / CARTER / CARRIER - drove a vehicle used to transport
goods |
| CARNER - granary keeper |
| CARNIFEX - butcher |
| CARPENTARIUS - carpenter |
| CARRY-IN-BOY - took finished bottled (products) to the tempering oven |
| CART WHEELER - made cart wheels |
| CARTER - carries or conveys in or as if in a cart |
| CARTOGRAPHER - map maker |
| CARTOMANCER - fortune teller who used cards |
| CARTWRIGHT - maker of carts & wagons |
| CASHMARIE - sold fish usually at inland markets |
| CASTER / CASTORA - made small bottles used for sprinkling salt, pepper,
sugar etc |
| CASTRATOR - who castrated farm animals aka gelder |
| CATAGMAN - cottager |
| CATCHPOLE / CATCHPOLLA - sheriff's assistance or bailiff |
| CATECHISTA - teacher of religion |
| CATTLE JOBBER - buys and sells cattle |
| CAULKER - filled up cracks (in ships or windows) or seams to make them
watertight |
| CEILER - puts up the ceilings in buildings |
| CELLARMAN - looked after the beer, wines and spirits in public houses or the
warehouse |
| CEMMER - hand combed the yarn before weaving |
| CHAFF CUTTER - made chaff by cutting straw |
| CHAFFERER - dealer in chaff |
| CHAIR BODGER - traveling chair repairman |
| CHAISE MAKER - made carts from wicker |
| CHALONER - dealer in shalloon, a material made in Chƒlons |
| CHAMBER MASTER - shoemaker t |