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Old Occupations


Daguerreotype Artist

Dairyman

Damster

Danter

Dataller/ Dateler

Day Labourer

Day Man/ Daytaleman

Deathsman

Decimer


Decoyman


Decretist

Deem(st)er

Delver

Dem(p)ster

Departer

Deputy

Derrickman

Devil

Deviller

Dexter

Dey Wife

Digger


Dikeman

Dipper

Dish Thrower

Dish Turner

Disher

Distiller

Distributor


Diviner

Dock Master

Dock Walloper

Docker


Dog Breaker

Dog Killer

Dog Leech

Dog Whipper



Domesman

Domestic

Donkey Boy Or Man

Door Keeper

Dorcas

Doubler


Dowser


Dozener

Dragman

Dragoman

Dragoon

Dragsman

Drainer

Draper


Drapery Painter


Drawboy


Drawer



Drayman

Dredgerman




Dresser



Dressing Machine Maker

Dressmaker

Drift Maker

Dripping Man

Driver

Drover

Drugger

Drum Battledore Maker

Drummer

Dry Salter

Dry Stane Dyker

Dry Stone Waller



Drysalter

Dubbere

Dudder

Duffer

Dustbin Man/ Dustman

Dyer

Dykeman

Dyker

Dysshere


An early name for a photographer (from the Daguerreotype method).


A worker or owner of a dairy farm or seller of dairy products.

A builder of dams for logging purposes.

A female overseer in the winding rooms of a silk mill.

See DAY MAN.

A person who was hired and paid on a day-by-day basis.

A casual worker, usually employed by the day, the term was used in many different
industries and trades.

An executioner.

A person elected by the householders in a street to act as their representative at the
borough's Court Leet.

A person employed to decoy the wild fowl, animals, etc, into a trap or within shooting
range.

A person knowledgeable in decrees, decretals.

A judge, usually in the Channel Isles or Isle of Man.

A person who dug ditches.

See DEEMSTER.

A refiner of precious metals.

In the mining industry, the Deputy was the safety officer for the pit crew.

A person who worked on an oil well handling the tubes and rods used in drilling.

A printer's errand boy.

A person who operated the devil, a machine that tore rags used in the textile industry.

A dyer.

A female dairy worker.

[1] A person who worked at the coalface.
[2] A day labourer in a stone or slate quarry.

A hedger or ditcher.

A person who worked in the pottery trade and was responsible for the glazing of items.

A person who made bowls and dishes from clay.

A person who made wooden bowls or dishes.

See DISH THROWER.

A person who distilled spirits, aka Rectifier.

A parish official attached to the workhouse or poorhouse who looked after the secular
needs of the poor.

See DOWSER.

A person in charge of a dockyard.

A dockworker, longshoreman.

A person employed in a dockyard to load and unload cargo between ship and quayside,
aka stevedore, longshoreman.

A person who trained dogs.

A person employed by the parish to kill any dogs found wandering around loose.

A veterinarian.

When foxes were hunted for bounty the tail of the fox was nailed to the church door as
proof of capture. The Dog Whipper was employed to deal with the dogs that disrupted
the church service, attracted by the tails.

Nickname for a judge.

A household servant.

The driver of a carriage for passengers.


A guard, janitor, or porter.

A seamstress.

A person who operated a machine used to twist together strands of fibre (cotton, wool
etc).

A person who claimed to be able to find water using a forked stick of hazel held close to
the body in both hands and passed over the ground.

See DECIMER.

A fisherman who fished by dragging a net along the bottom of the water.

A person who acted as interpreter or guide in Turkish or Arabic.

A Cavalryman.

A driver of a small stagecoach or carriage used for public transport or private hire.

A person who made drains.

A dealer in fabrics, chiefly woollen and linen cloth, and sewing needs. Larger dealers
also sold ready-made clothes.

A person whose painting skills were not of the highest level, they usually finished
paintings for the artists by painting on the clothes of the subject, hence Drapery Painter.

A weavers assistant in the shawl making mills. They sat atop the looms and lifted the
heavy warps.

[1] A person in the metal industry who made wire by drawing the metal through a die.
[2] In the mining industry, it was a person who raised the coal up the shaft to the
surface.

A person who drove a dray (a heavy four wheeled cart used to transport beer kegs).

[1] A London occupation. A person who went on the River Thames in a boat to collect
the bits and pieces that had fallen overboard from other vessels that they would then
sell.
[2] Oyster Fishermen.

[1] A person who prepared things, e.g. clothing for a noble person, food, etc..
[2] A person who assisted in medical operations by dressing the wounds.
[3] A person who operated a machine that prepared threads in the textile industry.

A person who made sewing machines.


A person who made clothing.

A person who made drift nets, used in the fishing industry.

A dealer in dripping (the fat collected during the cooking of meats).

A slave overseer.

A person who drove animal stock to market.

A pharmacist.

A person who made galvanised metal drums fitted with paddles used as mechanical
agitators in washing machines (battledore is the name of the bat shaped paddles).

A travelling salesman.

A dealer in pickles, dried meats, and sauces.

A Scottish term for a Dry Stone Waller.

A person who built stone walls, usually using the stones removed from the fields as
building materials. The art was in not using any cement or mortar and generally not
cutting the stone, but being able to see where various stones would fit together.

A dealer in salt or salted meats. A dealer in dyes and colours used in the dying trade.

A cloth dubber, i.e., one who raises the nap of cloth.

Probably a maker of coarse cloaks.

A Pedlar (of cheap goods).

A person who collected domestic refuse, aka janitor or garbage collector.


A person employed in the textile mills to colour fabric prior to weaving.

A hedger or ditcher.

A Scottish term for a stonemason.

Probably a ditcher, or in some cases a disher.


Ealdorman


Earer

Earth Stopper

East India Man

Ebonite Turner

Edge Tool Maker

Egg Dealer Or Factor/ Eggler

Elephants Teeth Dealer

Ellerman/ Elliman

Elymaker

Embosser


Empresario

Engine Tenter


Engine Turner



Engineer


Engineman


Engraver

Ensign

Enumerator


Equerry

Eremite

Erite

Esquire


Estafette

Etcher


Ewe Herd

Exchequer

Exciseman

Eyer


An official of the shire courts who acted as the King's deputy taking payment from the
profits of the court.

A ploughman.

A person employed to close up the entrances of a fox's earth before the hunt began.

A person employed by the East India Company, on a commercial or military basis.

A person who worked with ebonite or vulcanite, making combs or ornaments etc.

Blacksmith who made knives and agricultural implements such as scythes.

An egg or poultry dealer.


A person who dealt in ivory ornaments etc.


A person who sold oil used for lamps. Also known as an oilman.

An oilmaker.

A person who moulded or carved designs that were raised above the surface of the
material.

A land broker, settlement scheme promoter, showman.

A person who operated the machine that stretched the cloth whilst drying in a woollen
mill.

A craftsman or engraver who produced overlapping geometric patterns similar to those
produced by 'Spirograph' toys. Engine turning was commonly seen on ladies powder
compacts, and has often been used under transparent enamels.

A person who designed roads, bridges, or machinery. Also a person who drove or
serviced any machinery e.g. engine drivers.

A person employed at a mine to be in charge of the engine house which operated the
winding engine and was usually instructed by the BANKMAN.

A person who cuts or carves designs or lettering in metal or stone etc.

A commissioned officer in the navy.

A person who collected the information for the census from the householder and recorded
it.

An officer of the Royal household usually responsible for the royal horses.

A hermit.

An heretic.

The person who attended a knight, a shield-bearer. Later it became a title for a
gentleman of standing in society, by birth, position, or education.

A mounted courier.

A person who cuts or carves designs or lettering in metal or stone etc. A person who
made the plates for printing patterns on cloth or printing paper money.

A shepherd.

A revenue collector.

An excise tax collector.

A person who made eyes in needles used for sewing. Sometimes called a Holer.


Faber

Fabricator 

Factor 



Fagetter 

Faker 


Fancy Man 

Fancy Woman 

Fancy-Pearl Worker 

Fanner 

Fanwright 

Farandman 

Farrier 



Fawkner 

Fear-Nothing Maker 


Feather-Beater 

Feather-Dresser 

Feather-Wife 

Featherman 

Feeder 

Fell Monger 


Feller 


Felter 

Feroner 

Ferreter 

Ferur (Ferator) 

Festitian 

Fettler 



Fever 

Fewster 

Fewterer 

Feydur Beater 

Field Master 

Filibuster 

Filler 

Fine Drawer 

Finisher 


Firebeater 

First Hand 

Fiscere 

Fish Fag 

Fisher (Fishdryver) 

Fitter 



Flasher 

Flatman 


Flauner 

Flaxdresser 

Flesher 


Fleshewer 

Fleshmonger 

Fletcher 

Floater 

Floatman 

Flower 

Flusherman 

Flycoachman 

Flying Stationer 

Flyman 


Fogger 




Foister(er) 

Foot Maiden 

Foot Man 

Foot Pad 

Foot
Straightener 

Foot-Boy Or
Man 

Foot-Post 

Forestarius/ Forester.

Forgeman 

Forger 

Forkner 

Fossetmaker 

Fower 

Frame Spinner 

Framer 

Frameworker Knitter 

Freedman 

Freeholder 


Freeman 








Freemason 

Frereman

Freser 

Freshwater Man 

Fringemaker 

Fripperer 

Friseur 

Frobisher 

Fruiterer

Fruitestere 

Fulker 

Fuller 


Funambulist 

Furber/ Furbour

Furbisher 

Furner 

Furrier 

Fustian Weaver 

Fuyster


An artisan or workman. 

A maker. 

[1] An agent employed by merchants to transact business of buying and selling. 
[2] A Scottish term for the steward of an estate responsible for collection of land rents. 
[3] A person selling goods on commission. 

A person who made up faggots into bundles, seller of firewood. 

Photographic assistant who added colour to photographs by hand before colour film was
available. 

Nickname for a pimp. 

A prostitute. 

A worker using mother-of-pearl making buttons or fancy goods. 


A grain winnower. 

A maker and repairer of fans or winnowing baskets. 

A stranger or traveller, especially a travelling merchant. 

[1] Shoeing smith,    [2] Horse doctor, 
[3] Non-commissioned officer responsible for the shoeing of horses and a cavalry
regiment. 

A trainer of falcons. 

A weaver of special kind of thick woollen cloth known as fear-nought, used for
protective clothing and lining portholes, walls, and doors of powder magazines on board
ships. 

A cleanser of feathers. Also feather driver. 

A person who cleaned and prepared feathers for sale. 

Woman who prepared feathers for use. 

A dealer in feathers and plumes. 

A herdsman. 

[1] A remover of hair or wool from hides in leather making. 
[2] Dealer in hides and skins esp. sheep. 

[1] Textile worker who laid or felled seams in material. 
[2] Tree or wood cutter. 

Generally referred to a worker in the hating industry. 

Ironmonger. 

Dealer in or manufacturer of ferret, i.e. silk tape. 

A farrier or blacksmith. 

Misspelling for physician. 

[1] Cleaned the machinery in woollen mills, removing accumulated fibres, grease, etc. 
[2] fettlers sharpened the fustian cutters knives. 
[3] Needlemaker who filed the needle to a point. 

A blacksmith. 

A maker of saddletrees. 

The keeper of hounds, for hunting or coursing. The tender of greyhounds. 

Feather beater. 

see HAYWARD. 

American mercenaries in South America, gun runners. 

A person who filled bobbins in mills. 

A person employed in tailoring to repair tears in the cloth. Invisible mending. 

A person who operated machines giving final touches to a manufactured article in
various trades. Cloth finisher. 

A person who tended the boilers that powered the machinery in a cotton mill. 

Silk weaver who had his own loom. An outworker. 

A fisherman (Anglo-Saxon). 

A female fish monger. 

A victualler.


[1] Originally applied to a joiner. In 19c a common term for a person who assembled
several portions of machinery together. 
[2] A coal broker. 

A specialist process worker in the glass industry. 

Navigated a broad flat-bottomed boat used for transport, especially in shallow waters.
Common in the salt trade. 

A confectioner.

Prepared flax prior to spinning.

[1] A butcher or a person who worked in a tannery. 
[2] Nickname for a pimp. 

A butcher. 

See FLESHER. 

Made bows and arrows, an arrowsmith. (from Fr. fleche). 

A vagrant. 

See FLATMAN. 

An archer (Flo-arrow). 

A person who cleaned out water mains. 

A driver of a one-horse carriage hired by the day. See also JOBMASTER. 

A street broadsheet seller. 

[1] Driver of a light vehicle hired out for carriage of passengers. 
[2] Theatre stage hand. 

[1] Petty chapman, carrying wares from village to village. 
[2] Middleman in nail and chain trade. 
[3] Agricultural worker responsible for feeding the cattle. 
[4] Low class lawyer (Pettifogger). 

A Joiner. 

A female servant. 

A servant who ran errands. 

A robber. 

In watchmaking, a person who assembled watch and clock dials. 


A servant or attendant in livery. 


A letter carrier or messenger who travelled on foot.

A game warden or forest ranger.


[1] Blacksmith or assistant,      [2] Coachsmith (18c. Derbyshire). 

A Blacksmith, worker at a forge. 

A Falconer, (misspelling). 

A person who made faucets for ale-casks, etc. 

A street cleaner, sweeper. 

A worker on a loom. 

A person who made frames for houses. 

An operator of a machine which made hosiery. Originally a hand loom was used. Often
abbreviated to FWK. 

A person released from slavery. 

One who holds land by fee simple. In colonial times, a free-holder had the right to vote
and hold public office. 

One who held the full rights of citizenship, such as voting and engaging in business (as
opposed to an indentured servant). a man who was free of trade taxes and who shared in
the profits of the borough in which he lived and traded, a tenant who was free of feudal
service and a man who had served his apprenticeship and who could then work at his
trade in his own right. In the city of London nearly all freemen became so by virtue of
being freemen of a City Guild. On attaining company freedom, a man would
automatically apply for the freedom of the City. He was entitled to call himself
‘Citizen’. 

A stonecutter.

Servant of the Friars. 

A maker of frieze, a rough plaster. 

A sailor who sailed boat on fresh water only or in the coastal trade. 

A person who made fringes, ornamental borders of cloth. 

A buyer & seller of old clothes. 

A hair dresser. 

See FURBISHER. 

A fruit seller. 

A female fruit seller. 

A pawnbroker. 

See also Tucker and Walker. Term found mainly in S. and E. England. Originally a
person who used fuller's earth to thicken and cleanse cloth, by treading it under water.  

A tightrope walker.

Furbisher of armour. 

A worker who removed rust, a polisher of metal, e.g. armour. 

A baker. 

A dealer, maker or dresser of furs. 

A maker of corduroy. 

See FOISTER.


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