Old Occupations Explained

• Accomptant -- Accountant
• Almoner -- Giver of charity to the needy
• Amanuensis -- Secretary or stenographer
• Artificer -- 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
• Burgonmaster -- Mayor
• Caulker -- One who filled up cracks (in ships or windows or seems to them watertight by using tar or oakum-hemp fiber 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 (descendant of Levi)
• 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 leather 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 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 fulls cloth;one who shrinks and thickens woolen 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
• 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
• Hostler -- 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
• 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 glass 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 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
• Thatcher -- Roofer
• Tide waiter -- Customs inspector
• Tinker -- An itinerant tin pot and pan seller and repairman
• Tipstaff -- Policeman
• Travers -- Toll bridge collection
• 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 waiter; 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 own land

From: Dan Burrows

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