This list was gotten from the internet. If you have any questions please contact this email address jlacombe@cpcug.org

The following is a list of occupations of which many are archaic. These are useful to genealogists since surnames usually originated from someone's occupation. They also are useful to historians in general. The list is by no means complete. I thank all of those who have contributed to the list. If you know of any not included in this list or have corrections, please let me know.

Occupations

A,B,C

ACATER - supplied food provisions, e.g. a ships chandler
ACCIPITRARY - falconer
ACCOMPTANT - accountant
ACCOUCHEUR / ACCOUCHEUS - assisted women in childbirth
ACCOUTREMENT MAKER / ACCOUTRE - supplier of military accessories
ACKERMAN / ACREMAN - ploughman, an oxherder
ACTUARY - kept public accounts of business
ADMINISTRATOR - directed the affairs of another
ADVERTISEMENT CONVEYANCER - sandwich board man
ADVOCATE DEPUTE - Scottish law officer who could act a public prosecutor
ADVOWEE - normally a nobleman, who had the right to present a clergyman to a benefice
AERONAUT - balloonist or a trapeze artist in the circus or music halls
AFFEEROR - official in the manorial courts who assessed the monetary penalty and also collected taxes and dues and were also called Assessor
AGISTER - official of the Royal Forests or in the New Forest it is the title for the one in charge of the ponies
ALABASTERER - worked with alabaster
ALBLASTERE - crossbow man
ALCHEMIST - medieval chemist who claimed to be able to turn base metals into gold
ALDERMAN - senior councillor one position down from Mayor in the local council
ALE-CONNER /ALE FOUNDER - official who tested quality and measure of ale served in public houses
ALE DRAPER - seller of ale
ALE TASTER - tested ale and beer for quality first recored in 1377 in London. Appointed by the Manor and forerunner of the Inspector for Weights & Measures
ALE TUNNER - employed by the brewery to fill ale casks (tuns} with ale
ALEWIFE - woman who keeps an alehouse or tavern
ALL SPICE - name for a grocer
ALMANAC MAN - official appointed by the Court of Sewers who warned the inhabitants of the Trent River area of higher than normal tides
ALMONER - gave out alms or charity to the poor on behalf of the parish -
ALMSMAN - received alms -
ALNAGER - official who examined the quality of woolen goods and stamped them with the town seal of approval -
AMANUENSIS - secretary or stenographer -
AMBER CUTTE - cut ambergris
AMBER & JET CUTTER - cut and polished amber for jewelry
AMBLER - officer of the Royal Stable who broke in 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)
ANGLE IRON SMITH - made angle iron ie. flat iron bars bent at right angles lengthways
ANKLE BEATER - young person who helped to drive the cattle to market
ANNATTO MAKER - worked in the manufacture of dyes for paint or printing
ANTIGROPELOS MAKER - made waterproof leggings
ANVIL SMITH - made anvils and hammers for blacksmiths
APIARIAN - beekeeper
APOTHECARY - prepared and sold medicines or drugs; pharmacist
APPARITOR - official who summoned witnesses in the ecclesiastical courts
APPRENTICE - was bound to a skilled worker for a specified time to learn a trade
APRONEER - term used in London for a shopkeeper
APRONMAN - mechanic
AQUARIUS (EWAR) - waterman
AQUAVITA SELLER - sold alcohol
ARCHIATOR - physician
ARCHIL MAKER - made a violet dye from lichens, used in the textile industry
ARKWRIGHT - skilled craftsman who produced "arks" (wooden chests or coffers)
ARMIGER - squire who carried the armour of a knight
ARMOURER - made suits of armour or plates of armour for buildings or ships etc.
ARTIFICER - highly respected skilled or artistic worker or craftsman or one that makes or contrives
ASHMAN - dustman
ASSAYER - determined the proportions of metal in ore
ASSAY MASTER - determined the amount of gold or silver to go in coins
AUGER MAKER - made the carpenters augers (used for boring holes in wood)
AULNAGER - see Alnager
AURIFABER - goldsmith
AVENATOR (PLANTIFENE) - hay and forage merchant
AVOWRY - term for the lord of the manor
AXEL TREE MAKER / AXEL TREE TURNER - made axels for coaches and wagons

BACKMAKER - made "backs", vats, tubs, a Cooper
BACKMANN / BACKSTER / BAXTER / BECK / BECKER - baker
BACK'US BOY - kitchen servant (from "back of the house")
BACK WASHER - employed to clean the wool in the worsted manufacturing industry
BADGER - licensed pauper who wore a badge with the letter P on it and could only work in a defined area (the term "Badgering comes from this"). A corn miller or dealer or an itinerant food trader
BADGY FIDDLER - boy trumpeter in the military
BAGMAN - travelling salesman
BAGNIOKEEPER - n charge of a bath house or brothel
BAILIFF / BAILIE / BAILLIE / BAILLEE - officer of the sheriff, a land steward acting on behalf of the Landowner or Landlord and in Scotland a magistrate of the burgh, also looked after the fishing rights on certain rivers
BAIRMAN / BAREMAN - pauper or beggar
BALER - bales hay and in the mills one who bailed wool or cotton goods
BALISTER - archer most commonly a crossbowman
BALLAST HEAVER - loaded ballast into the hold of empty ships
BALLARD MASTER - in charge of loading the ballast into the hold of empty ships
BALLER / BALLER UP - assisted the potter by measuring out the balls of clay
BAL MAIDEN - female mine worker who worked on the surface (also a Pit Brow Lass)
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 to allow drainage of the land, placing the surplus earth in banks around the edge
BANKSMAN - employed in the mining industry being in charge of the cages at the pit head (sometimes known as a bank manager)
BARBER / BARBER SURGEON - a barber also also a surgeon (an Act was passed thatlimited Barbers to hair-cutting, shaving, dentistry and blood letting in the 18th century)
BARD - poet or minstral
BAREMAN - beggar or pauper
BARGEE / BARGEMAN - worked on or owned and operated a barge
BARGE MATE - Naval officer
BARILLA MANUFACTURER - made barilla, a substance obtained from burning saltworts, the resulting mixture of sodium salts being used in the glass and ceramics industry
BARKEEPER - another name for a tollkeeper
BARKER - tanner
BAUER - farmer
BAXTER - baker
BELHOSTE - tavern keeper.
BARTONER - in charge of the monastic farm, also known as a barton
BASIL WORKER - worked with sheep and goat skins
BASKETMAN - made baskets and furniture from wicker, and also employed to empty the basket of coal being offloaded from the colliers into the barges
BASS / BAST DRESSER - employed in dressing fibre 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
BATTER 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
BATTLEDORE MAKER - made the beaters used on clothes carpets etc to remove the dust (later made the paddles used in washing machines)
BAYWEAVER - who wove bay (a fine woollen fabric also known as baize)
BEADLE / BEDEL / BEDELL - officer of the parish whose principle duty was to keep order, also was the town crier
BEADMAN / BEADSMAN / BEDESMAN - employed to pray for his employer, inhabitant of an almshouse/poorhouse/hospital or tenant employed by the manor for a specific service
BEAD PIERCER - employed to drill the holes in beads
BEAMER - winds the warp on the roller before putting it on the loom in the textile industry
BEARER - worked undergrpound 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
BEDMAN - sexton
BEDRAL - in Scotland a minor church official
BEDWEVERE - made the webbing for bed frames and also a one who wove quilts
BEESKEPMAKER - made beehives
BEETLER - operated a beetling machine, used in the textile trade for embossing fabric
BELLEYETERE - bellfounder
BELLFOUNDER / BELTER / BILLITER - made bells
BELL HANGER - installed bells in churches
BELLMAN - employed as a watchman or town crier or who 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
BENDER - cut leather
BESSWARDEN - appointed by the parish to look after its animals
BESOM MAKER - made brooms
BEVER - beverage maker
BIDDY - female servant usually of Irish stock
BILLIER / BILLYMAN - operated a Billy Roller, a machine used in the cotton industry to prepare the cotton for spinning
BILL POSTER - put up notices, signs and advertisements
BINDER - bound items, e.g., books, hats etc .
BIRD BOY - employed to scare 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 - in Scotland a ground officer or parish arbiter
BLACK TRAY MAKER - made Japanned trays
BLACKING MAKER - made polish for shoes
BLACK BORDERER - made black edged stationery for funerals
BLADESMITH - swordmaker or knife maker
BLAXTER / 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
BLOCKCUTTER / BLOCKER - made wooden blocks used in the hat trade or laid down the blocks on which a ships keel was laid; a blockcutter was also a person who made and cut the patterns into wooden blocks for textile printing
BLOCK MAKER - engraved the blocks used in the printin
BLOCK PRINTER - printer who used wooden blocks for printing
BLOODMAN / BLOODLETTER - used leeches for letting blood, this was thought to be a cure for many ailments
BLOOMER - produced iron from ore, a bloom smithy
BLOWER - glass blower, one who operated a "blowing machine" used to clean and separate fibres in the textile trade, one who operated the bellows at a blacksmiths
BLOWFEEDER - fed the fibres into a "blowing machine"
BLUESTOCKING - female writer
BLUFFER - innkeeper or landlord of a pub
BOARDING OFFICER - inspected ships before entering port
BOARDMAN - truant officer who checked school attendance. a 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 also the name given to a boat repairer
BOATSWAIN - ship's officer in charge of riggings & sails
BOBBER - who polished metals one who 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 / BODY MAKER - made bodices for womens garments
BODGER - craftsman who made wooden chair legs and the spars and usually worked in the actual woodland that they cut the timber in
BOILERMAKER - worked with metal in any industrial setting
BOILER PLATER - made rolled iron plate used to make boilers for steam engines etc
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 moulds for button manufacturers
BONE PICKER - collected rags and bones aka Rag and Bone Man
BONESETTER - set broken bones
BONIFACE - keeper of an inn
BOOK GILDER - decorated books with gold leaf
BOOKHOLDER - prompter in the theater
BOOK KEEPER - looked after the accounts for businesses
BOOKMAN - student
BOONMASTER - surveyor of roads with the responsibilities of maintaining and repairing the road
BOOTBINDER - employed to operate the machines which bound footware
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
BOOTHMAN - corn merchant
BORLER - who made cheap coarse clothing
BORSHOLDER - regional name (Kent) for a constable
BOTCHER - tailor or cobbler
BOTTILER / BOTTLER - made leather containers for holding liquids eg wine flasks or water bottles
BOTTLE BOY - pharmacists assistant
BOTTOM MAKER - moulded the bottoms for saggers in the pottery industry
BOTTOM KNOCKER - sagger makers assistant 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
BOWKER - bleached yarn. A local term in some parts of Lancashire for a butcher
BOWLER - made bowls and dishes and also a term used for those who made the rounded part of spoons before casting
BOWLMAN / BOWLWOMAN - dealer in crockery
BOWLMINDER - in charge of the vats used for washing raw wool before processing
BOWYER / BOWER - made bows used in archery
BOZZLER - parish constable
BRABENER - weaver
BRACHYGRAPHER - shorthand writer
BRAIDER - made cord by twisting threads or strips of leather
BRAILLER - made girdles
BRAKEMAN / BRAKESMAN - operated the winch at the pit head or operated the braking mechanism on trains and trams
BRASILER - dyer
BRAZIER - worker with brass
BREWSTER - female brewer or brewer
BRIGHTSMITH - metal worker
BROOM-DASHER - dealer in brooms
BROOM SQUIRE - broom maker
BROTHERER / BROWDERER / BRODERER / BROIDERER - embroiderer
BROW GIRL - female employed at the pit head
BROWNSMITH - works with copper or brass
BUCKLER / BUCKLESMITH - made buckles
BUCKLE TONGUE MAKER - made the metal points that go in the holes of a belt
BUCKRAM MAKER - worked with buckram (used in stiffening materials) e.g. belts, lapels and collars
BUCK WASHER - laundress
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 in Allihies, Berehaven
BUFFALO SOLDIER - soldier serving in a black regiment in the US Army in the West
BULLWHACKER - oxen driver
BULLOCKY - attended to the daily needs of cattle and may also have lent a hand with general farm duties, especially during busy periods
BUMBOAT MAN - met ships at anchor with goods for passengers and crew to purchase
BUMMER - army deserter
BUMMAREE - middle man between the wholesaler and the retailer at the fish markets
BUNTER - female rag & bone collector
BURGESS - represented a borough at official levels BURELER - made borel, a woollen cloth with a coarse feel
BURGOMASTER - mayor
BURLER - quality inspector for clothing
BURMAIDEN - chambermaid or lady-in-waiting
BURNEMAN - carrier of barm or water for brewers
BURYE MAN - grave digger
BUSHEL MAKER - cooper
BUSHELER - tailor's helper
BUSS MAKER - maker of guns
BUSKER - hair dresser and also a street entertainer
BUTNER - button maker
BUTTER CARVER - made imprints in butter pats
BUTTON BURNISHER - button polisher
BUTTY - negotiated mining contracts and supplied the labor

CADDY BUTCHER - butcher that dealt in horse meat
CADDIE - messenger or errand boy
CADGER - beggar
CAFENDER - carpenter
CAFFLER - rag and bone collector
CAINER - made walking sticks
CAIRD - another term for a tinker
CALCINER - burnt bones to make powdered lime
CALENDER - listed documents
CALENDERER / CALENDERMAN / CALENDER WORKER - operated a machine which pressed using two large rollers (calender) used to press and finish fabrics or paper
CALICO PRINTER - dyed and colored calico
CAMBRIC MAKER - made a fine linen or cotton fabric called cambric
CAMISTER - minister of the cloth
CANDLE MAKER / CANDLER - who made and sold candles
CAMBIST - banker
CAMERIST - lady's maid
CAMLET MERCHANT - seller of camlet, cloth used to make cloaks & petticoats
CAMPANER - bell maker
CANDY MAN - traveling candy salesman and also slang name for a baliff
CANCELLARIUS - chancellor
CANER / CHAIR BOTTOMER - made the seats for chairs out of woven cane
CANNALLER - canal boat worker
CANTER - religious speaker who uses cant
CANTING CALLER - auctioneer
CANVASER - made canvas
CAPER - cap maker
CAPILLAIRE MAKER - made orange flavored syrup
CAPITALIST - investor
CAPPER / CAP MAKER - made caps usually worn by the working class
CAPTAIN - in charge of a ship or a group of soldiers and also term for an overseer
CARDROOMER - term for anyone who worked in the carding room of the mills
CARDER - cards wool
CARDMAKER - maker of cards or instruments for combing wool
CARMAN / CHARMAN / CARTER / CARRIER - drove a vehicle used to transport goods
CARD NAILER / NAILORA - maintained the teeth (nails) on the carding machine used for preparing wool and cotton for weaving
CARETAKER - takes care of another's property
CARNER - granary keeper
CARNIFEX - butcher
CARPENTARIUS - carpenter
CARRY-IN-BOY - took finished bottled (products) to the tempering oven
CARTER - carries or conveys in or as if in a cart
CART WHEELER - made cart wheels
CARTOGRAPHER - map maker
CARTOMANCER - fortune teller who used cards
CARTWRIGHT - maker of carts & wagons
CASHMARIE - sold fish usually at inland markets
CASTER / CASTORA - made small bottles used for sprinkling salt, pepper, sugar etc
CASTRATOR - who castrated farm animals aka gelder
CATAGMAN - cottager
CATCHPOLE / CATCHPOLLA - sheriff's assistance or bailiff
CATECHISTA - teacher of religion
CATTLE JOBBER - buys and sells cattle
CAULKER - filled up cracks (in ships or windows) or seams to make them watertight
CEILER - puts up the ceilings in buildings
CELLARMAN - looked after the beer, wines and spirits in public houses or the warehouse
CEMMER - hand combed the yarn before weaving
CHAFF CUTTER - made chaff by cutting straw
CHAFFERER - dealer in chaff
CHAIR BODGER - traveling chair repairman
CHAISE MAKER - made carts from wicker
CHALONER - dealer in shalloon, a material made in Chlons
CHAMBERLAIN - steward to either royalty or nobility, in charge of the household
CHAMBERMAID - female servant attending to bedrooms in houses or inns
CHAMBER MASTER - shoemaker that worked from home as an outworker or selling direct
CHAUNTER - street entertainer who sung ballads
CHEESE FACTOR / CHEESEMAN / CHEESE MONGER - dealer in cheeses
CHANDLER - candle seller, grocer, provisioner, usually associated with provisioning ships
CHANTY MAN - sailor that led the singing of shanties on board ship
CHAPELER - made and sold hats
CHAPMAN / COPEMAN / PETTY CHAPMAN / CEAPMAN - dealer or peddler of goods usually itinerant going from village to village.
CHARCOAL BURNER - made charcoal usually in the woods where the trees were cut
CHARTMASTER - middleman that negotiated mining contracts and suppiled the labour
CHARWOMAN - cleaning woman
CHATELAINE - mistress of a castle or house
CHECKWEIGHMAN - employed by a group of miners paid piecework (by the ton mined) to check coal weight recorded by the mine management
CHIFFONIER - wig maker or ragpicker
CHILDBED LINEN WAREHOUSE KEEPER / DEALER - hired bedlinen for childbirth as most children were born at home
CHIMNEY SWEEP - chimney cleaner
CHINGLOR - rooftiler who used wooden shingles
CHIP - shipwright or carpenter
CHIPPERS LABOURER - assistant to a shipwright or ships carpenter
CHIROPODIST - treats diseases of the feet & hands
CHIRUGION or CHIRURGEON - apothecary or surgeon (usually learned by apprenticeship)
CHOWDER - fish monger
CHRONOLOGIST - recorded official events of historical importance
CINDER WENCH - female who collected the cinders from gas works and sold them door to door
CLAKER - magician/astrologer
CLAPMAN - town crier
CLARK - clerk
CLASSMAN - unemployed laborer
CLAVIGER - servant
CLAY CARRIER - assistant to the shot firer in the pits
CLAYMAN / CLEYMAN - worked in the clay pits usually preparing the clay for making bricks and also one who coated the outside of buildings with clay to make them water proof
CLERICUS - clerk
CLERK - clergyman or cleric
CLICKER - worked in the shoe trade cutting out the lowers and one in charge of the final stage of layout before printing in printing industry
CLIPPER / CLIPPER ON / CLIPPER OFF - attached the coal carts to the wire or rope which was used to drag the carts to and from the coal face
CLOD HOPPER - plowman
CLOGGER - maker of wooden shoes
CLOTH LAPPER - took the cloth from the carding machine readied it for the next process
CLOTH LINTER / CLOTH PICKER - removed unwanted threads and lint from the finished material
CLOTHIER / CLOTHESMAN / CLOTHMAN - who made or sold clothes
CLOUTER / CLOWER - made nails also another term for a shoemaker for the former term
COACHMAN / COACH DRIVER - drove any coach
COAL BACKER - carried the sacks of coal from the coal barge to the coal wagons
COAL BURNER - made charcoal
COAL DRAWER - worked in the mines pushing or dragging the coal carts to the bottom of the pit
COAL HEAVER - unloaded coal COALMAN / COAL MERCHANT / COAL HIGGLER - sold coal usually from a horse and cart, house to house.
COALMETER - measured the coal
COAL RUNNER - attended the coal carts underground
COAL WHIPPER - unloaded coal from ships using baskets attached to a simple form of crane
COAST SURVEYOR / WAITER - customs officer who watched over the ofloading off goods on the coast
COBBLER - shoemaker
COBLEMAN - used a flat bottomed boat for fishing
COCUS - cook
COD PLACER - put fire proof containers which held the pottery for firing into the kiln
COHEN - a priest
COINER - worked at the mint stamping out coins
COLLAR MAKER - made horse collars and one who made shirt collars
COLLIER - coal miner, a coal merchant or one who worked on the coal barges
COLONUS - Latin for farmer or husbandman
COLPORTEUR - traveling Bible or religious book salesman
COLOURATOR / COLORATORA - worked with dyes
COLOUR MAN - mixed the dyes in the textile trade and also assistant to a house painter
COMBER or COMBERE - combs wool
COMB MAKER - made combs either for the textile industry for combing wool etc. or the maker of hair combs
COMPOSITOR - set the type ready for printing
CONDER / CONNER - gave steering instructions to the steersman and also gave directions to inshore fisherman of fish movements on shoals (usually from the top of cliffs or rocks)
CONEY CATCHER - rabbit catcher
CONFECTIONER - candy maker
CONNER - inspector or tester
COOPER or CUPER - maker of barrels
COPEMAN / COPER - dealer in goods and also dishonest dealer in horses in the latter case
COPPERBEATER / COPPERBETER - coppersmith
COPPERSMITH - worked with copper
CORACLE MAKER - made coracles, a small round boat used for fishing
CORDINER / CORDWAINER / CORVINER / CORVISOR - originally term used for one who worked with Cordovan (a special leather from Spain) but later term used for shoemaker
CORPORAL (or Doggy) - man in charge of underground haulage hands
COSTERMONGER - fruit seller
COSTER WIFE - female fruit seller
COTILER - cutler
COTTIER - landless farmer in the Irish midland estates that farmed at will, not year to year
COUPER - buys & sells
COURANTEER - journalist
COWHERD - cow tender
COWKEEPER - kept one or more cows (a common source of livelihood in cities) when a cow was kept in the back yard of a house, providing milk which was sold at the front door or window, forerunner of the local dairy
COXWAIN - ship or boat helmsman
CRATCH MAKER - made cratches (mangers, cribs, or frames) for hay
CRIER - law court officer, auctioneer, town announcer
CRIMPER - member of navy press gang
CROCKER - potter
CROFTER - tenant of a small piece of land
CROPPER - tenant who is paid with a share of the crop
CROSIER / CROZIER - bearer of the pastoral staff of a bishop or the bearer of the cross beforethe archbishop in the church
CROWNER - coroner
CUHREUR (CUNREUR) - currier
CURER - cures tobacco
CURRETTER - broker
CURRIER - cures or tans hides
CUSTOMER - customs tax collector
CUTLER - knife seller or sharpener