Description of Early Occupations

 

 

Accomptant - Accountant  

Almoner - Giver of charity to the needy

Amanuensis - Secretary or stenographer

Artificer - A soldier mechanic who does repair

Bailie - Bailiff

Baxter - Baker

Bluestocking - Female writer

Boniface - Keeper of an inn

Brazier - One who works with brass

Brewster - Beer manufacturer

Brightsmith - Metal worker

Burgonmster - Mayor

Caulker - One who filled up cracks in ships and windows or seems to make them watertight by using tar or oakum-hem fiber produced by taking old ropes apart.

Chaisemaker - Carriage maker

Chandler - Dealer or trader; one who makes or sells candles; retailer of groceries, ship supplier

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 caks, 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 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 removed 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

Hatcher - One who combed out or carded flax

Haymonger - Dealer in Hay

Hayward - Keeper of fences

Higgler - Itinerant peddler

Hillier - Roof tiler

Hing - 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

Malender - Farmer

Malster - Brewer

Manciple - A steward

Mason - Bricklayer

Mintmaster - One who issued local currency

Monger - 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 and 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 gentle; farm owner; justice of the peace

Stuff Gown / 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

Wharfinger - Owner of a wharf

Wheelwright - One who made or repaired wheels; wheeled carriages, etc.

Whitsmith - Tinsmith; worked or iron who finished or polishes the work

Whitewing - Street Sweeper

Whitster - Bleach of cloth

Wright - Workman, especially a construction worker

Yeoman - Farmer who owns his own land