Olde Occupations
B
A | B | C | D-E | F-G | H-L | M-P | Q-S | T-Z |
Back Washer | employed to clean the wool in the worsted manufacturing industry |
Backmaker | made "backs", vats, tubs, a Cooper |
Backmann | baker |
Backster | baker |
Back'us Boy | kitchen servant |
Badger | licensed pauper; corn miller or dealer; itinerant food trader |
Badgy Fiddler | boy trumpeter in the military |
Bagman | traveling salesman |
Bagniokeeper | in charge of a bath house or brothel |
Bailie | bailiff |
Bailiff | officer of the sheriff; land steward acting on behalf of the Landowner or Landlord; (Scottish) a magistrate of the burgh; looked after the fishing rights on certain rivers |
Bailiff | someone employed by a Court to seize the property of debtors |
Baillee | officer of the sheriff; land steward acting on behalf of the Landowner or Landlord; (Scottish) a magistrate of the burgh; looked after the fishing rights on certain rivers |
Baillie | officer of the sheriff; land steward acting on behalf of the Landowner or Landlord; (Scottish) a magistrate of the burgh; looked after the fishing rights on certain rivers |
Bairman | pauper or beggar |
Bal Maiden | female mine worker who worked on the surface |
Baler | bales hay; in the mills bailed wool or cotton goods; archer most commonly a crossbowman |
Ballard Master | in charge of loading the ballast into the hold of empty ships |
Ballast Heaver | loaded ballast into the hold of empty ships |
Baller or Baller Up | assisted the potter by measuring out the balls of clay; iron industry worker |
Band Filer | metal worker in the gun making industry |
Bandster | bound the wheat sheaves after harvest |
Bang Beggar | officer of the parish who controlled the length of stay of any stranger to the parish |
Banker | dug trenches and ditches placing the surplus earth in banks around the edge |
Banksman | mining industry - in charge of the cages at the pit head (aka bank manager); gives instruction or assistance to driver; overseer at a mine pit |
Bar Cutter | worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry |
Barber | barber/surgeon |
Barber Surgeon | barber/surgeon |
Bard | poet or minstrel |
Bareman | pauper or beggar |
Bareman | beggar or pauper |
Barge Mate | naval officer |
Bargee | worked on or owned and operated a barge |
Bargeman | worked on or owned and operated a barge |
Barilla Manufacturer | made barilla |
Barkeeper | toll keeper |
Barker | tanner |
Bartoner | in charge of the monastic farm, aka barton |
Basil Worker | worked with sheep and goat skins |
Basketman | made baskets and furniture from wicker; person employed to empty the basket of coal being offloaded from the colliers into the barges |
Bass | employed in dressing fiber or matting |
Bast Dresser | employed in dressing fiber or matting |
Bathing Machine Proprietor | owned and hired the changing huts used at the seaside in the by bathers |
Batman | officers servant in the army |
Batt Maker | made the wadding used in quilt and mattress making |
Battledore Maker | made the beaters used on clothes carpets etc to remove the dust (later made the paddles used in washing machines) |
Battre Out | sliced a short cylinder of clay (a bat) from a "pug" and threw it onto a mold shaped for the face of a ceramic plate |
Bauer | farmer |
Baxter | baker |
Baxter | baker |
Bayweaver | wove bay (a fine woollen fabric also known as baize) |
Bead Piercer | employed to drill the holes in beads |
Beadle | officer of the parish whose principle duty was to keep order, also was the town crier |
Beadman | employed to pray for his employer, inhabitant of an almshouse / poorhouse / hospital or tenant employed by the manor for a specific service |
Beadsman | employed to pray for his employer, inhabitant of an almshouse / poorhouse / hospital or tenant employed by the manor for a specific service |
Beamer | winds the warp on the roller before putting it on the loom in the textile industry |
Bearer | worked underground carrying the coal to the bottom of the pit shaft and placed it in the containers for uplifting to the surface |
Beater | cleansed and thickened the cloth by treading it underwater with fullers earth (aka Fuller) |
Beaver | made felt used in hat making |
Beck | baker |
Becker | baker |
Bedel | officer of the parish whose principle duty was to keep order, also was the town crier |
Bedell | officer of the parish whose principle duty was to keep order, also was the town crier |
Bedesman | employed to pray for his employer, inhabitant of an almshouse / poorhouse / hospital or tenant employed by the manor for a specific service |
Bedman | sexton |
Bedral | (Scottish) a minor church official |
Bedwevere | made the webbing for bed frames; wove quilts |
Beeskepmaker | made beehives |
Beetler | operated a beetling machine, used in the textile trade for embossing fabric |
Behinder | part of Tin Plate Works - caught the sheets behind the doublers and passed them back to the rollerman over the top roll |
Belhoste | tavern keeper |
Bell Hanger | installed bells in churches |
Belleyetere | bellfounder |
Bellfounder | made bells |
Bellman | watchman or town crier; worked for the post office and collected letters for the mail coach by walking the streets and ringing a bell |
Bellowfarmer | responsible for the care and maintenance of the church organ |
Bellows Maker | made bellows used for organs or blacksmiths fires |
Belly Builder | built and fitted the interiors of pianos |
Belter | made bells |
Bender | cut leather |
Besom Maker | made brooms |
Besswarden | appointed by the parish to look after its animals |
Bever | beverage maker |
Biddy | female servant usually of Irish stock |
Bill Poster | put up notices, signs and advertisements |
Billier | operated a Billy Roller, a machine used in the cotton industry to prepare the cotton for spinning |
Billiter | made bells |
Billyman | operated a Billy Roller, a machine used in the cotton industry to prepare the cotton for spinning |
Binder | bound items, e.g., books, hats etc . |
Bird Boy | scared away birds from crops |
Bird Catcher | caught birds for selling |
Birds Nest Seller | sold bird nests collected from the wild complete with eggs which were then hatched by domestic birds and sold as pets |
Birlyman | (Scottish) a ground officer or parish arbiter |
Black Borderer | made black edged stationery for funerals |
Black Tray Maker | made Japanned trays |
Blacking Maker | made polish for shoes |
Blacksmith | shoes horses |
Bladesmith | sword maker or knife maker |
Blaxter | bleached cloth or paper pulp |
Bleacher | bleached cloth or paper pulp |
Blemmere | plumber |
Blentonist | water diviner |
Blindsman | employed by the Post Office to deal with incorrectly addressed letters and parcels |
Block Maker | engraved the blocks used in the printing |
Block Printer | printer who used wooden blocks for printing |
Blockcutter | made wooden blocks used in the hat trade; laid down the blocks on which a ships keel was laid; made and cut the patterns into wooden blocks for textile printing |
Blocker | made wooden blocks used in the hat trade; laid down the blocks on which a ships keel was laid; made and cut the patterns into wooden blocks for textile printing |
Blocklayer | locks wheels of cinder wagons before they are tipped at cinder tip of blast furnace; fixes small blocks or wooden keys for tightening rails on tramways in coal mine;: lays surface tramways and roadways |
Blockmaker | crafted pulleys |
Bloodletter | used leeches for letting blood |
Bloodman | used leeches for letting blood |
Bloomer | produced iron from ore, a bloom smithy |
Blower | glass blower; operated a "blowing machine" used to clean and separate fibers in the textile trade; operated the bellows at a blacksmiths |
Blowfeeder | fed the fibers into a "blowing machine" |
Bluestocking | female writer |
Bluffer | innkeeper or landlord of a pub |
Boarding Officer | inspected ships before entering port |
Boardman | truant officer; tenant of manorial land who paid rent by maintaining the manor's table |
Boardwright | made tables and chairs; aka carpenter |
Boatman | worked on a boat, predominately on rivers and canals; boat repairer |
Boatswain | ship's officer in charge of riggings & sails |
Bobber | polished metals; helped to unload fishing boats |
Bobbin Carrier | worked in spinning and weaving sections of the mills |
Bobbin Turner | made the bobbins used in the spinning and weaving industry |
Bobby | policeman usually of constable rank |
Bodeys | made bodices for women's garments |
Bodger | made wooden chair legs and spars |
Body Maker | made bodices for women's garments |
Boiler Plater | made rolled iron plate used to make boilers for steam engines etc |
Boilermaker | worked with metal in any industrial setting |
Boll | looked after power looms in the weaving industry |
Bolter | sifted meal |
Bondager | female worker on a farm who was bonded |
Bondman | bonded to a master for the purpose of learning a skill or trade |
Bondsman | stood bond or surety for another where a bond was required by law |
Bone Button Turner | made buttons using a lathe |
Bone Lace Maker | made pillow lace |
Bone Mould Turner | made the molds for button manufacturers |
Bone Picker | collected rags and bones aka Rag and Bone Man |
Bonesetter | set broken bones |
Boniface | Innkeeper |
Book Gilder | decorated books with gold leaf |
Book Keeper | looked after the accounts for businesses |
Bookholder | prompter in the theater |
Bookman | student |
Boonmaster | surveyor of roads with the responsibilities of maintaining and repairing the road |
Boot Catcher | servant at inn who pulled off traveler's boots |
Boot Closer | worked in the shoe trade stitching together all the parts of a shoe upper |
Bootbinder | employed to operate the machines which bound footware |
Boothman | corn merchant |
Borler | made cheap coarse clothing |
Borsholder | officer appointed by the manor or parish, constable. Bowyer - bowmaker |
Botcher | tailor or cobbler |
Bottiler | made leather containers for holding liquids |
Bottle Boy | pharmacists assistant |
Bottler | made leather containers for holding liquids |
Bottom Knocker | sagger makers assistant in the pottery industry |
Bottom Maker | molded the bottoms for saggers in the pottery industry |
Bottomer | worked down the pits moving the ore etc to the bottom of the shaft for removal |
Bowdler | worked with iron ore |
Bower | made bows used in archery |
Bowker | bleached yarn |
Bowler | made bowls and dishes; made the rounded part of spoons before casting |
Bowlman | dealer in crockery |
Bowlminder | in charge of the vats used for washing raw wool before processing |
Bowlwoman | dealer in crockery |
Bowyer | made bows used in archery |
Boxer | worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry |
Bozzler | parish constable |
Brabener | weaver |
Brachygrapher | shorthand writer |
Braider | made cord by twisting threads or strips of leather |
Brailler | made girdles |
Brake(s)man | operated the winch at the pit head; operated the braking mechanism on trains and trams |
Branding Boy | worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry |
Brasiler | dyer |
Brazier | brass worker |
Brewster | beer manufacturer |
Brightsmith | metal Worker |
Broderer | embroiderer |
Broiderer | embroiderer |
Broom Squire | broom maker |
Broom-Dasher | dealer in brooms |
Brotherer | embroiderer |
Brow Girl | female employed at the pit head |
Browderer | embroiderer |
Brownsmith | copper or brass smith |
Buck Washer | laundress |
Buckle Tongue Maker | made the metal points that go in the holes of a belt |
Buckler | made buckles |
Bucklesmith | made buckles |
Buckram Maker | worked with buckram (used in stiffening materials) |
Buddleboy | employed to use and maintain the vats used in the lead and tin mines for washing the ore |
Buddler | women and children who washed the ore at the copper mines |
Buffalo Soldier | soldier serving in a black regiment in the US Army in the West |
Bullocky | attended to the daily needs of cattle; lent a hand with general farm duties |
Bullwhacker | oxen driver |
Bumboat Man | met ships at anchor with goods for passengers and crew to purchase |
Bummaree | middle man between the wholesaler and the retailer at the fish markets |
Bummer | army deserter |
Bundlers | worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry |
Bunter | female rag & bone collector |
Bureler | made borel, a woollen cloth with a coarse feel |
Burgess | represented a borough at official levels |
Burgonmaster | mayor |
Burl | cup-bearer |
Burler | quality inspector for clothing |
Burmaiden | chambermaid or lady-in-waiting |
Burneman | carrier of barm or water for brewers |
Burnisher | metal polisher |
Burye Man | grave digger |
Bushel Maker | cooper |
Busheler | tailor's helper |
Busker | hair dresser and also a street entertainer |
Buss Maker | maker of guns |
Butner | button maker |
Butter Carver | made imprints in butter pats |
Button Burnisher | button polisher |
Butty | negotiated mining contracts and supplied the labor |
A | B | C | D-E | F-G | H-L | M-P | Q-S | T-Z |
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