Desc. of Early Occupations

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