OCCUPATIONS OF YESTERYEAR

Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Sheri Kennedy

The following is a list that periodically appears on one or more of the mailing lists for the purpose of sharing with other researchers. I, myself, cannot take credit for compiling this, but felt that posting it would help those people not active but thought that posting it here might just help a few more people not active on the lists.  

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-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 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, 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 load 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 maket; 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 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

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