Summer 2001 and Revised 6 Apr 2001
We found the following partial list of medieval occupations on the internet. If you know of any not included in this list or have corrections, please let me know.
ACATER - supplied food provisions, e.g. a ships chandler
ACCIPITRARY - falconer
ACCOMPTANT - accountant
ACCOUCHEUR / ACCOUCHEUS - one who 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 CUTTER - 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 - soldier mechanic who does repairs
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 that limited 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
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
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
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 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
BUFFALO SOLDIER - soldier serving in a black regiment in the US Army
in the West
BULLWHACKER - oxen driver
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
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 - one who 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
CANDY MAN - traveling candy salesman and also slang name for a baliff
CANCELLARIUS - chancellor
CANER / CHAIR BOTTOMER - one who made the seats for chairs out of
woven cane
CANNALLER - canal boat worker
CANTER - religious speaker who uses cant
CANT`ING CALLER - auctioneer
CANVASER - one who made canvas
CAPER - cap maker
CAPILLAIRE MAKER - one who 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 - one who 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
CARNIFEX - butcher
CARPENTARIUS - carpenter
CART WHEELER - one who made cart wheels
CARTOGRAPHER - map maker
CARTOMANCER - fortune teller who used cards
CARTWRIGHT - maker of carts & wagons
CASHMARIE - one who 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
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
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 uppers made the
shoelace holes 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
the 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
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
COSTERMONGER - fruit seller
COSTER WIFE - female fruit seller
COTILER - cutler
COUPER - one who buys & sells
COURANTEER - journalist
COWHERD - cow tender
COXWAIN - ship or boat helmsman
CRIER - law court officer, auctioneer, town announcer
CRIMPER - member of navy press gang
CROFTER - tenant of a small piece of land
CROPPER - tenant who is paid with a share of the crop
CROWNER - coroner
CUHREUR (CUNREUR) - currier
CURER - cures tobacco
CURRETTER - broker
CURRIER - cures or tans hides
CUSTOMER - customs tax collector
CUTLER - knife seller or sharpener
DAGUERREOTYPE ARTIST - early name for a photographer (from the
Daguerreotype method)
DAIRYMAN - worker or owner of a dairy farm or seller of dairy products
DAMSTER - builder of dams for logging purposes
DANTER - female overseer in the winding rooms of a silk mill
DATELER / DAY MAN / DAYTALEMAN - casual worker, usually employed
by the day
DEATHSMAN - executioner
DECIMER / DOZENER - elected by the householders in a street to act
as their representative at the borough's Court Leet
DECOYMAN - employed to decoy the wild fowl, animals etc into a trap
or within shooting range
DECRETIST - knowledgeable in decrees, decretals
DEEMER / DEEMSTER / DEMSTER / DEMPSTER - judge, usually in the
Channel Isles or Isle of Man
DELVER - dug ditches
DEPATER - precious metal refiner
DEPUTY - safety officer for the pit crew in the mining industry
DERRICKMAN - worked on an oil well handling the tubes and rods used
in drilling
DEVIL - printer's errand boy
DEVILLER - operated the devil, a machine that tore rags used in the
textile industry
DEXTER - dyer
DEY WIFE - female dairy worker
DEXTER - dyer
DIKEMAN / DYKEMAN - hedger or ditcher
DIPPER - who worked in the pottery trade and was responsible for
the glazing of items
DISHER / DISH THROWER - who made bowls and dishes
DISH TURNER - who made wooden bowls or dishes
DISTILLER - maker of alcoholic beverages
DISTRIBUTOR - parish official attached to the workhouse / poorhouse
who looked after the secular needs
of the poor
DOCKER / DOCK WALLOPER - dock worker, longshoreman
DOCK MASTER - in charge of a dockyard
DOG LEECH - veterinarian
DOMESMAN - judge
DOMESTIC - household servant
DONKEY BOY / DONKEY MAN - driver of a carriage for passengers
DOOR KEEPER - guard, janitor, or porter
DOUBLER - who operated a machine used to twist together strands of
fibre (cotton, wool etc)
DOWSER / DIVINER - water finder
DRAGMAN - fisher man who fished by dragging a net along the bottom
of the water
DRAGOMAN - who acted as interpreter or guide in Turkish or Arabic
DRAGSMAN - driver of a small stage coach or carriage used for public
transport or private hire
DRAGOON - mounted infantryman
DRAINER - who made drains
DRAPER - dealer in fabrics and sewing needs
DRAWBOY - weavers assistant in the shawl making mills , they sat
atop the looms and lifted the heavy
warps.
DRAYMAN - cart driver
DREDGERMAN - one who in a boat to collect the bits and pieces that
had fallen overboard from other
vessels which then were sold (London occupation)
DRESSER - one who dresses another, surgeon's assistant and also one
who operated a machine which prepared threads in the textile
industry
DRESSING MACHINE MAKER - who made sewing machines
DRIFT MAKERA - who made drift nets, used in the fishing industry
DRIPPING
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