Old Occupation Names and their Meanings
- 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 seams to make them watertight by using tar or oakum-hem fibre 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 & 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, dockworker 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 with fixed sides for carrying heavy loads
- Dresser – A surgeon’s assistant in 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
- Fellmonger – One who removes hair or wool from hides in preparation for leather making
- Felloebender- This is essentially a wheelwright – the full definition is:
- Felloe – the exterior rim or a part of the rim of a wheel supported by the spokes. In particular, the curved pieces of wood which joined together form the circular rim of a wheel
- Bender – he who or that which bends
- Fletcher – One who made bows and arrows
- Fuller – One who fulls cloth; one who shrinks and thickens woollen cloth by moistening, heating, and pressing; one who cleans and finishes cloth
- Gaoler – A keeper of the gaol, 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 labourer
- 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
- Keller – 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 – Inn keeper 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
- Schumaker – 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
- Snobcat/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
- Victualler – 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
