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