Here is a handy list of commonly used occupational names found in census records from this web site: http://rmhh.co.uk/occup/
List of Occupations
List of Occupations
- Accomptant Accountant
- Almoner Giver of charity to the needy
- Amanuensis Secretary or stenographer
- Annealing;
- Black annealing was part of the tinplate process where sheets were piled onto stands , covered by steel boxes or pots, sealed by sand to exclude air and heated in an annealing furnace to make them softer and more ductile. White annealing was similar but for shorter periods at lower temperatures.
- Annuitant; not an occupation as such but often seen on census returns. The term might refer to someone in receipt of an annual allowance, or someone with investment producing annual income.
- Artificer A soldier mechanic who does repairs
- Assorters; part of the tinplate process, they and packers packed 112 sheets to a box for labelling and dispatch.
- Bailie Bailiff
- Bailiff: Someone employed by a Court to seize the property of debtors
- Baller ; iron industry worker
- "When the metal begins to melt it is the business of the puddler to watch it from time to time until it is ready for what is technically called BALLING, i.e. dividing the metals into separate balls or quantities or puddle-rolls; which having been done, they are handed over to the shingler, who has the direction of a large and heavy hammer worked by steam or water power, and the rough hot metal is, by repeated blows brought to a more compact form for the rolling mill." From the Employment Commission reports 1842
- Bar Cutter; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Baxter Baker
- Behinder;
- a member of the Hot Mill crew in a Tin Plate Works, he caught the sheets behind the doublers and passed them back to the rollerman over the top roll, there would be several passes. This job may include taking the sheets back to the furnaces for reheating.
- Blocklayers; from "A Dictionary of Occupational Terms"
- blocklayer (cinder tip, blast furnace): locks wheels of cinder wagons before they are tipped, at cinder tip of blast furnace; sometimes done by shunter
- blocklayer (colliery): fixes small blocks or wooden keys for tightening rails on tramways in coal mine, using a hammer
- blocklayer (platelayer): lays surface tramways, and sometimes roadways, in mines and quarries
- blocklayer (wood): one of a gang who lay wood blocks to form roadway surface, chopping blocks with small hand choppers to finish-off gutter etc., and pouring tar over blocks, after laying, to allow percolation through cracks
- Bluestocking Female writer
- Boniface Keeper of an inn
- Boxer ; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Branding Boy ; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Branning Boys; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Brazier One who works with brass
- Brewster Beer manufacturer
- Brightsmith Metal Worker
- Bundlers; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Burgonmaster Mayor
- Caulker
- One who filled up cracks (in ships or windows or seems to make 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
- Cinder Filler ; iron industry worker
- 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 which clicked.
- Coast waiter
- officer in Customs service charging coastside duties
- Cohen Priest
- Collector
- Customs service controller of a collection (an administrative area)
- Cold Rolling ;
- part of the tinplate process where the sheets were introduced singly into three sets of rolls, rough, intermediate and finishing, this made them even and produced a polished surface.
- Collier Coal miner, usually cutting coal at face
- Colporteur Peddler of books
- Cooper One who makes or repairs vessels made of staves and hoops, such as casks, barrels, tubs, etc.
- Copperas worker; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Cordwainer Shoemaker, originally any leather worker using leather from Cordova/Cordoba in Spain
- Corvister ; involved in leather tanning/curing/processing /manufacturing trades
- Costermonger Peddler of fruits and vegetables
- Counter; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- 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
- Deputy: a management official in a coal mine
- Dipper; in Tin Plate Works, he dipped the thin steel sheets into the moulten tin to coat them.
- Docker Stevedore, dock worker who loads and unloads cargo
- Doubler; a member of the Hot Mill crew in a Tin Plate Works, he doubled the sheets holding them with large tongs as they cam off the rollers and placed them in the squeezer.
- 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 1 A surgeon's assistant in a hospital
- Dresser 2 : worked in slate quarry, cut slates to size
- Drover One who drives cattle, sheep, etc. to market; a dealer in cattle
- Duffer Peddler
- Dusters ; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Dyers ; see the Society of dyers and colourists http://www.sdc.org.uk/
- Engineman: worked the various steam engines used in coal mines
- Examining officer
- Customs service officer who examined imported goods ( known as Landing waiter until 1861)
- 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
- Felon: someone who commits a serious crime such as murder
- Filler ; iron industry worker
- Finer ; employed in Iron Works
- Finerman ; worked in the part of an ironworks or tinworks called a Finery. The job of the Finery was to reduce the carbon content of the pig iron. The pig iron had been produced using a coke smelting furnace. This produced pig iron with too high a carbon content and this made it brittle - not a problem when you were going to make cast iron which required no further working, but for the production of tinplate iron that was less brittle was required.The furnace in the finery was fired by charcoal, and this, along with the rest of the process which included heating, hammering and reheating, reduced the carbon content of the iron sufficiently to make it suitable for the production of tinplate.
- Fireman: a management official who carried out safety inspections in coal mines
- Fitter; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Fletcher One who made bows and arrows
- Founder ; iron industry worker
- Fuller
- One who fulls cloth; one who shrinks and thickens woollen cloth by moistening, heating, and pressing; one who cleans and finishes cloth.
- Fulling ; when just woven, woollen cloth tends to be loose and open. Fulling is a process of compacting the fibres to make the cloth more coherent and durable. It works on the fact that wool has tiny scales all along the fibres. When the woven wool is 'worked' by being beaten, the fibres 'ratchet' together and the cloth becomes more compact and solid. If continued for a long time, the end result is felt - eg. for billiard tables or hats. Woven cloth off the loom, say 4'-5' wide, is washed and, while still wet, is passed through an 'eye' at the top of the fulling machine. It is then sewn into a loop that may be 30' long. Rollers pull the cloth through the eye and it is 'thumped' by heavy wooden hammers 'tripped' by a rotating drum with pegs on it. The cloth is kept moist and soapy, and is repeatedly passes round this circuit, becoming more compact (and narrower in width) as it does so. The process, which may take as much as 26 hours, is carefully monitored until the desired degree of compaction is obtained. The cloth is then washed and cleaned with fuller's earth (diatomaceous earth) and finally dried while being 'tentered' or stretched back to its original width on a big frame with hooks all round set out on big frames in a field - ie. "it's on tenterhooks". In the early days, the thumping was achieved by men trampling the cloth in a half-barrel. Stale urine was used as the wetting agent, the process was not good for the feet........! With the advent of water power, fulling mills were soon developed, and productivity and quality rose sharply. There is a restored fulling mill and exhibition near Stroud.[Contributed by Howard Fuller].
- Furnaceman; a member of the Hot Mill crew in a Tin Plate Works, he heated the sheets.
- Gaoler A keeper of the goal, a jailer
- Girdler; involved in leather tanning/curing/processing /manufacturing trades
- Glazier Window glassman
- Glover ; involved in leather tanning/curing/processing /manufacturing trades
- Grease Boys; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Gyrrwr ; a subordinate to a cattle/sheep drover.
- Hacker Maker of hoes
- Hammerman; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Hatcheler One who combed out or carded flax
- Haulier; employed in coal mine, dragged a dram
- Haymonger Dealer in hay
- Hayward Keeper of fences
- Heater : employed in Iron Works
- Hewer: another name for a collier in a coal mine
- Higgler Itinerant peddler
- Hillier Roof tiler
- Hind A farm laborer
- Hitcher: a man in charge of the cage at the pit-bottom
- Hobbler On the Glamorgan canal, independent owner boatmen were known as hobblers
- In parts of Glamorgan a 'hobble' (=hobbler)is an odd job done for cash payment by someone either while they are in full-time employment for another employer, or in receipt of benefit.
- Holster A groom who took care of horses, often at an inn
- Hooker Reaper
- Hookers; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Hooper One who made hoops for casks and barrels
- Huckster Sells small wares
- Husbandman A farmer who cultivated the land
- Iron moulder
- A foundry worker who produced the sand moulds from wooden patterns into which the moulten iron was poured to produce a cast metal/iron object.
- Jagger Fish peddler
- Jerquer
- Clerk in a Customs House who checked reports of ships arriving against coastside cargo account (a Check officer from 1862)
- 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
- Ladle Liner
- In ore dressing, smelting, and refining, a person who repairs and relines pouring ladles used to transport molten metals, such as iron, steel, and copper. Also called ladle cleaner; ladle dauber; ladle houseman; ladle mender; ladle patcher; ladle repairman
- Landguard
- Group of Customs men stationed along a coast to prevent landing of smuggled goods
- Landing waiter (see Examining officer)
- Lardner Keeper of the cupboard
- Lath render
- 1; Possibly should be "renderer" , a plasterer who put the plaster on walls and ceilings after the laths (thin strips of wood) had been nailed to the timber framework. This was the traditional way of making ceilings until the invention of plaster board. Walls could also be constructed in the manner .
- 2 ; people who worked in timber yards and were also sawyers, some of them hurdlemakers, perhaps a more accurate definition would be a person who split withies or pieces of timber to make laths. Looks like a confused distinction between render with renderer, maybe a geographical difference ?
- Lavender Washer woman
- Lederer Leather maker
- Leech Physician
- Lengthman ;
- a lengthman was an employee of the Great Western Railway whose duty it was to walk his specified length of track daily (or as required) carrying out minor repairs, checking for defects that needed reporting to higher levels for major work to be carried out. Normally a senior man's job and a very responsible one.
- List Boys ; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Lister ; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Locker
- Customs officer who guarded a bonded warehouse
- Longshoreman Stevedore
- Lormer Maker of horse gear
- Malender Farmer
- Maltster Brewer
- Manciple A steward
- Marine
- is essentially a soldier serving on a ship [Eve McLaughlin]
- Mariner
- is a sailor, usually merchant navy but loosely any sailor including one in the Royal Navy [Eve McLaughlin]
- Mason Bricklayer
- Master Weaver: someone who employs a number of weavers to supply him with woven cloth
- Militia man: someone who belongs to a group who were on stand by to take up arms to support a government
- Millwright
- The millwright of the 17th and 18th Centuries was quite different from the millwright of today. He was a master craftsman who completely designed and constructed mills. Sir William Fairbairn, a millwright of the late 19th Century, wrote in his Treatise on Mills and Millwork, "...the millwright of the late centuries was an itinerant engineer and mechanic of high reputation. He could handle the axe, the hammer, and the plane with equal skill and precision...he could set out and cut in the furrows of a millstone with an accuracy equal of superior to that of the miller himself." In 1919, James F. Hobart wrote in his book, Millwrighting, "The ancient type of millwright has passed away. He has gone with the old time carpenter and obsolete shoemaker - the former with 500 pounds of molding planes and woodworking tools, the latter with nothing but pegging and sewing awls, hammer, and knife.
- Mintmaster One who issued local currency
- Monger Seller of goods (ale, fish)
- Muleskinner Teamster
- Navigator or navvie : labourer employed to dig out a canal bed.
- Navvie[Railway]: a labourer who built railway track, embankments, tunnels etc
- Neatherder Herds cows
- Openers ;
- a member of the Hot Mill crew in a Tin Plate Works, invariably women who seprated sheeets that became stuck together
- Ordinary Keeper Innkeeper with fixed prices
- Ostler: looked after the horses underground in a coal mine
- Outdoor officer
- Basic grade of Customs officer ( Assistant Examining Officer from 1891)
- Overman: Management official responsible for overseeing the work of miners
- Packers;
- part of the tinplate process, they and assorters packed 112 sheets to a box for labelling and dispatch.
- Patch workers
- Were mployed to dig for surface minerals or coal on the side of mountains - leaving marks on the sides of the mountains that at a distance looked like patches
- 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
- Pickling;
- black pickling is part of the tinplate processs where sheets were "pickled" by being dipped in dilute sulphuric acid on a rack. Then cleaned by dipping in water. White pickling used acid which was more dilute with a shorter immersion.
- Pigman Crockery dealer
- Plumber
- One who applied sheet lead for roofing and set lead frames for plain or stained glass windows.
- Pointmaker; involved in leather tanning/curing/processing /manufacturing trades
- Polishing;
- part of the tinplate process where bran and lambswool were used to burnish the steel.
- Porter Door keeper
- Porthmon; a drover of cattle/sheep
- Pouchmakers; involved in leather tanning/curing/processing /manufacturing trades
- Preventive officer
- Officer of the waterguard (Customs service)
- Puddler ;
- iron industry worker. A puddler is one who or that which puddles: specifically, a person who puddles clay or iron. Puddling in this case is the process of making wrought iron from pig iron by heating and stirring it in the presence of oxidizing agents, and a puddler is the person who does this process.See also baller.
- Pull-up boy; employed in Iron Works, raised the furnace door by tugging at a chain.
- Quarrier Quarry worker
- Rail Stran'er ; iron industry worker
- Reckoner; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Refiners; worked in the tinplate manufacturing and iron industries
- A Relieving Officer
- Worked for the Poor Law Union/Workhouse and organised parish relief. "Evaluate the cases of all persons applying for medical or poor relief; to authorize emergency relief or entry to the workhouse." Also could have acted as a Registrar of Births Marriages and Deaths
- Riding officers
- Customs officers on horseback set up round the coast in 1688 to prevent smuggling
- Rigger Hoist tackle worker
- Ripper Seller of fish
- Ripper II: miners who 'ripped' away the roof and floor of a seam in a mine to allow sufficient height to bring horses up to the coal face
- Riser ; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Roadman; coal mine worker who maintained the condition of the main underground roadways
- Rockman : worked in slate quarry, handled the blocks of slate.
- Roller ; iron industry worker
- Rollerman;
- a member of the Hot Mill crew in a Tin Plate Works, he inserted the red hot sheets into the rolls, he was the team captain.
- Roper Maker of rope or nets
- Rougher - see ruffer
- Rubbers; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Ruffer - a variation of the term 'Rougher', an iron worker who was engaged in the early stages of roughing out or rolling iron sheets down to the required thickness. It can also mean someone who roughed out things in the early stages of production.
- Saddler One who makes, repairs or sells saddles or other furnishings for horses
- Sawbones Physician
- Sawyer One who saws; carpenter
- Schumacker Shoemaker
- Scourers; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Scribler A minor or worthless author
- Scrivener Professional or public copyist or writer; notary public
- Scrutiner Election judge
- Shearer ;
- a member of the Hot Mill crew in a Tin Plate Works, he trimmed the sheets to the required size.
- Shingler : employed in Iron Works
- Shrieve Sheriff
- Slater Roofer
- Slopseller Seller of ready-made clothes in a slop shop
- Snobscat / Snob One who repaired shoes
- Sorter Tailor
- Special constable: man chose by magistrates to help them keep law and order
- Spinster A woman who spins or an unmarried woman
- Splitter : worked in slate quarry, split slates into narrow sheets
- Spurrer Maker of spurs
- Squire Country gentleman; farm owner; justice of peace
- Stonedresser
- an itinerant worker who re-cut and sharpened millstones
- Striker; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Stuff gown Junior barrister
- Stuff gownsman Junior barrister
- Supercargo
- Officer on 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 surveyor
- Preventive officer in charge of boarding crew (Customs service)
- Tide waiter
- According to the book ' The Letter-Book of John Byrd , customs collector of South East Wales 1648-80' edited by S.K. Roberts, a waiter ( wayter) or tide-waiter was a customs officer who boarded ships to examine cargoes. A surveyor was a customs officer who identified ships and cargoes.
- Tidesman
- A Tide waiter (see above)
- Tinker An itinerant tin pot and pan seller and repairman
- Tinning;
- part of the tinplate process where sheets were passed through a layer of flux into molten tin in a tin pot. The flux cleaned the sheets so that the tin could adhere evenly, then passed through a wash pot and grease pot before being cleaned by a hot soda solution.
- Tipstaff Policeman
- Trammer : dragged trams laden with coal in coal mine
- Trapper ; a child door keeper in coal mine.
- Travers Toll bridge collection
- Tucker Cleaner of cloth goods
- Turner A person who turns wood on a lathe into spindles
- Under carter
- Just the chap who helped the carter - the man who drove the horses for a farmer or sometimes for a delivery firm in town. He would help load on and off, tie the tarpaulin down , light the cart lamps, and be ready to leap down and open/close gates, feed the horses, take them to their stable etc (the carter probably handled most of the horse work himself). And when the cart needed braking, it was his job to shove the hunk of wood into the wheel to stop it rolling. [Eve McLaughlin]
- 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
- Washer; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Washmen ; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry washing the plates between processes
- Waterman Boatman who plies for hire
- Webster Operator of looms
- Weigher
- Customs officer who weighed goods for duty purposes
- Wharfinger Owner of a wharf
- Wheeler to rolls ; worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry
- Wheelwright One who made or repaired wheels; wheeled carriages, etc.
- Whitamer; involved in leather tanning/curing/processing trades
- 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
I added this one that should have been included on the list: - Gengleman or Gentlewoman - person who is of financial means and social status, has servants or workers who supply all of the labor to run a farm or business.