| Old Name |
New Name or Meaning |
| Acater |
Supplied food, provisions, e.g. Ship's Chandler. French - Achateur
(buyer) |
| Accipitary |
Falconer |
| Accomptant |
Accountant |
| Accoucheur |
Assisted women in childbirth (midwife) |
| Accoutrement Maker / Accoutre |
Supplier or maker of Military Clothing and Accessories |
| Ackerman/Acreman |
Ploughman or Oxherd |
| Actuary |
Accountant - public business account keeper |
| Administrator |
Court appointee who settled affairs of the estate of the
deceased |
| Advertisement Conveyancer |
Sandwich Board Man |
| Advocate Depute |
Scottish Law Officer - Public Prosecutor |
| Advowee |
Usually a Nobleman who had the right to present a clergyman to a
benefice |
| Aeronaut |
Balloonist or Trapeze Artist in circus or Music Hall |
| Affeeror / Assessor |
Also Assessor. Manorial Court Official - assessed monetary
penalties & collected taxes & dues |
| Agister |
Official of Royal Forests. In the New Forest, In charge of the
ponies |
| Alabasterer |
Worked with Alabaster! |
| Alblastere |
Crossbownam |
| Alchemist |
Medieval Chemist, claiming ability to make gold from base
metal |
| Alderman |
Senior Councillor immediately below Mayor in local Councils. (Still
extant today.) |
| Ale-Conner / Ale Founder |
Official who tested quality and measure served in Public Houses.
(Pubs) |
| Ale Draper |
Seller of Ale |
| Ale Tunner |
Filled the Ale casks (tuns) in Breweries |
| Alewife |
Woman who kept an Alehouse or Tavern |
| All Spice |
A Grocer |
| Almanac Man |
Official of the Court of Sewers – warned of abnormally high tides in the
Trent River area |
| Almoner |
1) In charge of an Almshouse. 2) Giver of charity to the needy 3)
Hospital employee who assists patients with personal matters arising from their stay in
hospital |
| Almsman |
Receiver of Alms |
| Alnager / Aulnager |
Official - examined quality of woolen goods & stamped them with the
town seal of approval |
| Amanuensis |
Secretary or stenographer |
| Amber Cutter |
Cut and polished Ambergris for jewellery |
| Ambler |
Officer of the Royal Stables who broke in the horses |
| Amen Man |
Parish Clerk |
| Anchor Smith |
Made Anchors |
| Anchoress |
Female hermit or religious recluse |
| Anchorite |
Male hermit or religious recluse |
| Anilepman |
Smallholder - tenant of the Manor |
| Ankle Beater |
Young person who helped to drive cattle to market |
| Annatto Maker |
Made dyes for paint or printing trades |
| Annuitant |
Receiver of an Annuity - An annuity is income paid to a beneficiary at
regular intervals, for a fixed period or ascertainable period (usually the lifetime of a nominee)
in return for a lump sum payment having been previously made into the scheme by a subscriber - i.e.
a spouse, benefactor or employer |
| Antigropelos Maker |
Made waterproof leggings |
| Anvil Smith |
Maker of anvils and hammers for the smithy trade |
| Apiarian |
Beekeeper |
| Apothecary |
Prepared and sold medicines and drugs. Pharmacist |
| Apparitor |
Official who summoned witnesses to the ecclesiastical courts |
| Apprentice |
Trainee bound to a skilled (Master) worker or Company for a specified
time to learn the Trade More Info. More Info. |
| Aproneer |
Term used in London for a Shopkeeper |
| Apronman |
Engineer or mechanic |
| Aquarius Ewar |
Waterman |
| Aquavita Seller |
Seller of Alcohol |
| Arbiter |
Arbitrated in disputes |
| Archiator |
Physician |
| Archil Maker |
Made a purple dye from lichens - used in the textile
industry |
| Arkwright |
Skilled craftsman making "Arks" (wooden chests or coffers) |
| Armiger |
Squire who carried a Knight's armour. Entitled to bear heraldic
arms |
| Armourer |
Made armour for wear or for buildings, ships etc. and now used to
include armaments generally |
| Arrowsmith |
Forged arrowheads |
| Artificer |
A military mechanic who does repairs |
| Artisan |
One who is employed in any of the industrial arts; a mechanic,
handicraftsman, artificer. |
| Ashman |
Dustman - today called a "Cleansing Operative/Engineer" !! |
| Assayer |
Determined the proportions of minerals in ore |
| Assay Master |
Determined the amount of gold or silver in coins |
| Auger Maker |
Made carpenters' augers, used for boring holes in wood |
| Aulnager |
See Alnager |
| Aurifaber |
Goldsmith |
| Avenator (Plantifene) |
Hay and forage Merchant |
| Avowry |
Lord of the Manor |
| Axel Tree Maker / Turner |
Made axles for coaches and wagons |
| Backmaker |
Made "Backs" - vats, tubs - a Cooper |
| Backsmann / Backster / Beck / Becker |
Baker |
| Back-Boy |
Kitchen servant - from Back House Boy |
| Back Tenter |
Employed at the back of the weaving looms, clearing away debris. Tenting
was a term for watching items or a process. Small children were commonly employed in this dangerous
job as they were small enough to work underneath the working loom machinery. |
| Back Washer |
Cleaned wool in worsted manufacture |
| Badger |
1) Licensed pauper - wore a badge with "P" on it and was restricted to
working a defined area (origin of "Badgering") 2) Corn Miller or Dealer 3) Itinerant food
trader |
| Badgy Fiddler |
Military boy trumpeter |
| Bagman |
Travelling salesman |
| Bagniokeeper |
Keeper of a bathhouse or brothel. (From French, baigner, to
bathe) |
| Bailie / Bailie / Baillee / Bailiff |
Bailiff - Sheriff's Officer, land steward acting for the
landowner/landlord. In Scotland, a magistrate of the Burgh - also looked after fishing rights on
some rivers |
| Bairman / Bareman |
Pauper or beggar |
| Bal Maiden |
Female mine worker employed on the surface (Pit Brow Lass) |
| Balancer |
Employed in coal mines to operate a system of hauling coal tubs
(Balance) |
| Baler |
1) Baled hay 2) In the mills, one who baled wool or cotton
goods |
| Balister |
Archer. Most commonly, a crossbowman |
| Ballad Monger |
Street seller of printed ballad sheets |
| Ballard Master |
In charge of ballasting vessels |
| Ballast Heaver |
Loaded ballast in ships - commonly stone. Necessary when ships were not
carrying cargo |
| Baller / Baller Up |
Potter's assistant - measuring out the balls of clay. Also see Cotton
Baller |
| Balloon Blower (India) |
Made rubber balloons - (rubber was known as India rubber) |
| Band Filer |
Metalworker in gun making |
| Bandster |
Bound wheat sheaves after harvesting |
| Bang Beggar |
Parish Officer who controlled how long strangers could stay in the
Parish |
| Banker |
1) Dug drainage trenches/ditches, banking up the diggings along the
edges. 2) General surface worker in coal mining. More Info. |
| Banksman / Bank Manager / Browman |
In charge of the cages at mine pitheads - sometimes known as a Bank
Manager. More Info. |
| Barber, Barber/Surgeon |
Cut hair and also a surgeon. In the 18th Century, an Act was passed,
limiting Barbers to hair cutting, shaving, dentistry and bloodletting |
| Bard |
Poet or Minstrel |
| Bareman |
Beggar or Pauper |
| Bargee / Bargeman |
Owned or worked on canal barges |
| Barilla Manufacturer |
Made Banilla, obtained from burning saltwort, the resulting sodium salt
used in glass & ceramics |
| Barkeeper |
Tollkeeper - on toll roads |
| Barker / Barkman |
1) Tanner of leather using tree bark 2) Fairground cryer |
| Barleyman / Bylawman |
Manorial Court official who enforced the court orders |
| Barm Brewer |
Made yeast |
| Barmaster |
Lead Mine arbiter. In charge of the standard measure for the lead
ore |
| Barrel Filer |
Employed in gun making |
| Barrow Man |
Pushed barrows of coal from pit face to the shaft |
| Bartoner / Barton |
In charge of a monastery farm or barton |
| Basil Worker |
Worked with skins of sheep and goats |
| Basketman |
1) Make wicker baskets & furniture 2) Emptied coal baskets into
barges |
| Bass / Bast Dresser |
Dressed fibre for matting |
| Bathing Machine Proprietor |
Owned and hired out changing huts used by bathers at the
seaside |
| Batman |
Army officers' servant - still current |
| Batt Maker |
Made the wadding (batts) used in quilt and mattress making |
| Battledore Maker |
Made the wicker beaters used on clothes & carpets to beat out the
dust. Later made the paddles used in early washing machines |
| Bauer |
A Farmer |
| Baven Maker |
Made bavens - split and curled wood pieces used for kindling |
| Baxter |
Baker |
| Bayweaver |
Wove "Bay"(baize) a fine woollen felt like fabric |
| Bead Piercer |
Made the holes in bead making |
| Beadle / Bedel / Bedell |
Town crier and parish officer who kept order |
| Beadman / Beadsman / Bedesman |
1) Manorial tenant employed for a specific purpose 2) Inhabitant of a
Poorhouse, Almshouse or Hospital 3) Employed to pray for his employer |
| Beamer |
Drew the warp yarn through and onto the long heavy beam of a loom for
weaving textiles |
| Bearer |
Carried coal to the pit shaft and placed it in containers for lifting to
the surface |
| Beater / Fuller |
Cleaned and thickened cloth by treading it in water with Fuller's
Earth |
| Beatster |
Made or mended drift nets used in fishing |
| Beaver |
Made felt for hat making |
| Bedman |
Sexton |
| Bedral |
Minor Scottish church official |
| Bedwevere |
Made webbing for bed frames and also wove quilts |
| Beer Seller |
Sold Beer and Cider in Beerhouses under the 1830 Beerhouse Act.
More |
| Beeskep Maker |
Made beehives |
| Beetler |
Operated the Beetling Machine, used for embossing textiles. The Beetling
Machine was also used to give a Shiny effect to cloth as the pressure of the wooden rollers during
the squeezing (mangling) of the Cotton Cloth added lustre |
| Belhoste |
Tavern keeper |
| Bell Hanger |
Hung bells in church towers |
| Belleyetere / Belter / Billiter |
Bellfounder - bell maker |
| Bellman |
1) Watchman or town crier 2) Worked for the Post Office, collecting mail
by walking the streets ringing a bell Coaches then transported the mail |
| Bellowfarmer |
Maintained the church organ (which was bellows operated) |
| Belly Builder |
Built and fitted piano bellies or interiors |
| Belly Roller |
Operated a machine which rolled and compacted fibres on the belly of
cattle hides |
| Benchman |
In chairmaking, cut out the seat portion |
| Bender |
1) Leather cutter 2) Bent wooden chair parts |
| Besom Maker |
Broom maker, usually of birch twigs |
| Besswarden |
Appointed by a parish to look after its animals |
| Biddy |
Female servant - usually Irish |
| Billier / Billyman |
Operated a Billy Roller, used to prepare cotton for spinning |
| Bill Poster |
As today, put up notices, signs and posters |
| Binder |
Bound books, hats etc. |
| Bird Boy |
Scared away birds from crops |
| Bird Catcher |
Caught birds for sale |
| Birlyman |
Scottish ground officer or parish arbiter |
| Black Borderer |
Made black edged funerary stationery |
| Black Tray Maker |
Made black (Japanned) trays |
| Blacksmith |
Worked (still does) iron with forge and hammer. |
| Blackworker |
Embroidered "blackwork" using black silks on, commonly, white
fabric |
| Blacking Maker |
Made boot polish (usually using soot) |
| Bladesmith |
Made swords, knives etc. |
| Blaxter / Bleacher /Bleacherer |
Bleached cloth or wood pulp for paper in a "Bleachery" |
| Blemmere |
Plumber |
| Blentonist |
Water diviner |
| Blindsman |
Dealt with incorrectly addressed mail for the Post Office |
| Block Cutter / Blocker |
1)Made wooden blocks for hat making 2)Laid the blocks for laying of a
ship's keel in shipbuilding 3)Cut designs into wooden blocks for printing fabrics 4)Quarryman,
whose job was to cut stone into useable blocks |
| Block Maker |
1) Engraved or set up the blocks used in block printing 2)Made pulley
blocks |
| Block Printer |
Printed paper or fabrics by the use of inked and carved or engraved
wooden blocks. (Block Printing) |
| Bloodman / Bloodletter |
Used leeches to let blood, thought to be the cure for many ailments. Now
being looked at again! |
| Bloomer / Bloom Smith |
Produced iron from iron ore |
| Blower |
1) Glass blower; 2) Operated a "blowing machine" to clean and separate
textile fibres 3) Operated the blacksmith's bellows |
| Blowfeeder |
Fed the fibres into a blowing machine |
| Blue Dyer/Maker |
Used/made blue dye for whitening fabrics in manufacture or
washing |
| Bluestocking |
Female writer. From the Blue Stocking Society, formed in the 1750s and
who wore blue stockings |
| Bluffer |
Innkeeper or pub landlord |
| Boarder |
Term used for a Lodger - usually dined with the family, whilst a Lodger
did not |
| Boarding Officer |
Port official who inspects ship's papers on port entry - still
exists |
| Boardman |
1) Truant officer for checking school attendance 2) Manorial tenant who
paid rent by maintaining the manor house table |
| Boardwright |
Carpenter. Made tables and chairs |
| Boatman |
1) Worked on river and canal boats 2) Boat repairer |
| Boatswain |
Petty officer in charge of the ship's crew, also the ship's rigging and
deck maintenance, responsible to the Chief Officer. Still in use today |
| Bobber |
1) Metal polisher 2) Unloaded fishing boats |
| Bobbin Carrier |
Supplied the looms with bobbins in spinning and weaving |
| Bobbin Ligger |
Placed the spools for spinning |
| Bobbin Turner |
Made (lathe turned) the wooden bobbins used in the textile
mills |
| Bobby |
Police constable - still used today. (Colloquial) |
| Bodeys / Body Maker |
Made the bodices for women's garments |
| Bodger |
A skilled craftsman who made wooden chair legs and spars using a lathe
set up in home made workshops in deep woodlands. His work was often produced for chair
factories |
| Boilermaker |
Industrial metalworker. More Info. |
| Boiler Plater |
Made rolled steel/iron plate for steam engine boilers etc. |
| Boll |
Power loom attendant |
| Bolter |
Sifted meal |
| Bondager |
Bonded female farm worker |
| Bondman |
As for Apprentice - bonded to his Master to learn a skill or
trade |
| Bondsman |
Stood the bond or surety for a bonded person |
| Bone Lace Maker |
Made pillow lace |
| Bone Mould Turner |
Made the moulds for button making |
| Bone Picker |
Rag & Bone Man. Collected rags and bones (originally) later any
discarded articles / metals |
| Bonesetter |
Set broken bones |
| Boniface |
Innkeeper |
| Book Gilder |
Gilded book bindings with gold leaf |
| Bookholder |
Theatre prompter |
| Book Keeper |
As today, looked after business accounts |
| Bookman |
Student |
| Boonmaster |
Surveyed, maintained and repaired roads |
| Bootbinder |
Operated machines in shoemaking, binding uppers to soles |
| Boot Catcher |
Servant at an Inn who pulled off travellers' boots |
| Boot Closer |
Stitched the shoe uppers to the soles |
| Boothman |
Corn Merchant |
| Borler / Boreler |
Maker of borel - cheap coarse woollen cloth |
| Borsholder |
Kent regional name for a police constable |
| Botcher |
Tailor or cobbler |
| Bottiler / Bottler |
A person who made leather containers for holding liquids eg wine flasks
or water bottles. From the turn of the 17c it would more likely refer to a worker in a bottling
factory for beer, soft drinks, water etc. |
| Bottle Boy |
Pharmacist's assistant |
| Bottomer |
Adzed out the finished seat from the rough shape in wooden chair
making |
| Bottom Knocker |
Sagger Maker's assistant - See Saggar Maker's Bottom
Knocker. |
| Bottom Maker |
Moulded the bottoms for Saggers in the pottery industry |
| Boundary Setters / Layers |
Employed by the Board of Ordnance (Ordnance Survey) for setting out and
plotting important boundaries used in map-making. |
| Bowdler |
Worked with iron ore |
| Bowker |
Bleached yarn. Also in parts of Lancashire, a butcher |
| Bowler |
1) Maker of bowls and dishes 2) Made the bowls of spoons before
casting |
| Bowlman/woman |
Crockery dealer |
| Bowlminder |
In charge of vats in which raw wool were washed before
processing |
| Bowyer / Bower |
Made archery bows |
| Bozzler |
Parish constable |
| Brabener |
Weaver |
| Brachygrapher |
Shorthand writer |
| Braider |
Made cord by twisting cords or leather |
| Brailler |
Made girdles |
| Brakeman / Brakesman |
1) Operated pithead winding gear 2) Operated brakes on trains or
trams |
| Brasiater |
Brewed Ale |
| Brasiler |
Dyer |
| Bratman |
Made rough garments |
| Brazier |
Worked with brass |
| Breakman / Brickman |
Bricklayer |
| Breech Maker |
Made the breeches for guns |
| Brewster |
Brewer |
| Bridewell Keeper |
In charge of a lock-up or jail |
| Bridgeman / Bridger |
Toll bridge keeper |
| Brightsmith |
Metal worker |
| Brimstone Refiner |
Refined sulphur, one of the components of gunpowder |
| Broadcloth Weaver |
Wide(broad)loom operator |
| Broad Cooper |
Go-between for breweries and innkeepers |
| Brogger |
Wool merchant |
| Broker |
Essentially a salesman or middleman to a supplier for arranging
sales. |
| Broom Dasher |
Broom dealer |
| Broom Squire |
Broom Maker |
| Brotherer/Broiderer/ |
Embroiderer |
| Broderer/Browderer |
|
| Brow Girl |
Female employed at the pithead |
| Brownsmith |
Worked with copper or brass |
| Brush Drawer |
Fixed the bristles into the stock or handle of a brush. More
Info. |
| Brush Stock / Stale Maker |
Made the handles for brushes |
| Buckler / Bucklesmith |
Made belt buckles |
| Buckle Tongue Maker |
Made the pointed part of a belt buckle |
| Buckram Maker |
Made buckram - used for stiffening lapels, collars, cloth belts
etc. |
| Buck Washer |
Laundress |
| Buddleboy |
Used and maintained ore-washing vats in lead and tin mining |
| Buddler |
Women and children employed washing ore |
| Bullwhacker |
Oxen driver |
| Bum Bailiff |
An officer of the court who went to a convicted person's home or
business premises and siezed goods in lieu of payment of a fine, in default |
| Bumboat Man |
Seller of goods and foodstuffs from boats to ships at anchor (Typically
Suez Canal) |
| Bummaree |
Fish market middlemen - between wholesalers and retailers |
| Bummer |
Army deserter |
| Bunter |
Female rag & bone collector |
| Bureler |
Maker of Borel, a rough woolen cloth |
| Burgess |
Represented a borough official at functions |
| Burgonmaster / Burgomaster |
Mayor |
| Burler |
Clothing quality inspector |
| Burleyman / Byelawman |
Manorial court official who enforced the court orders |
| Burmaiden |
Chambermaid or lady in waiting |
| Burneman |
Carrier of barm or water for brewers |
| Burye Man |
Grave digger - (bury man) |
| Bushel Maker |
Cooper |
| Busheler |
Tailor's helper |
| Busker |
Hair Dresser |
| Buss Maker |
Gunsmith |
| Butner |
Button maker |
| Butter Carver |
Prepared butter for sale |
| Butty |
Supplied labour to mines and negotiated contracts |