Old Occupations You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

I was familiar with only twelve of them. How about you?

• 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 fills up cracks (in ships or windows or seems to 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 that clicked.
• Cohen — Priest (descendant of Levi)
• 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 in 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, a dock worker who loads 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 market; 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
• Hostler — 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 ironworker
• 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 a 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