Olde Occupations
B
Olde Occupations
B
| A | B | C | D-E | F-G | H-L | M-P | Q-S | T-Z |
| Back Washer | employed to clean the wool in the worsted manufacturing industry |
| Backmaker | made "backs", vats, tubs, a Cooper |
| Backmann | baker |
| Backster | baker |
| Back'us Boy | kitchen servant |
| Badger | licensed pauper; corn miller or dealer; itinerant food trader |
| Badgy Fiddler | boy trumpeter in the military |
| Bagman | traveling salesman |
| Bagniokeeper | in charge of a bath house or brothel |
| Bailie | bailiff |
| Bailiff | officer of the sheriff; land steward acting on behalf of the Landowner or Landlord; (Scottish) a magistrate of the burgh; looked after the fishing rights on certain rivers |
| Bailiff | someone employed by a Court to seize the property of debtors |
| Baillee | officer of the sheriff; land steward acting on behalf of the Landowner or Landlord; (Scottish) a magistrate of the burgh; looked after the fishing rights on certain rivers |
| Baillie | officer of the sheriff; land steward acting on behalf of the Landowner or Landlord; (Scottish) a magistrate of the burgh; looked after the fishing rights on certain rivers |
| Bairman | pauper or beggar |
| Bal Maiden | female mine worker who worked on the surface |
| Baler | bales hay; in the mills bailed wool or cotton goods; archer most commonly a crossbowman |
| Ballard Master | in charge of loading the ballast into the hold of empty ships |
| Ballast Heaver | loaded ballast into the hold of empty ships |
| Baller or Baller Up | assisted the potter by measuring out the balls of clay; iron industry worker |
| 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 placing the surplus earth in banks around the edge |
| Banksman | mining industry - in charge of the cages at the pit head (aka bank manager); gives instruction or assistance to driver; overseer at a mine pit |
| Bar Cutter | worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry |
| Barber | barber/surgeon |
| Barber Surgeon | barber/surgeon |
| Bard | poet or minstrel |
| Bareman | pauper or beggar |
| Bareman | beggar or pauper |
| Barge Mate | naval officer |
| Bargee | worked on or owned and operated a barge |
| Bargeman | worked on or owned and operated a barge |
| Barilla Manufacturer | made barilla |
| Barkeeper | toll keeper |
| Barker | tanner |
| Bartoner | in charge of the monastic farm, aka barton |
| Basil Worker | worked with sheep and goat skins |
| Basketman | made baskets and furniture from wicker; person employed to empty the basket of coal being offloaded from the colliers into the barges |
| Bass | employed in dressing fiber or matting |
| Bast Dresser | employed in dressing fiber 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) |
| Battre Out | sliced a short cylinder of clay (a bat) from a "pug" and threw it onto a mold shaped for the face of a ceramic plate |
| Bauer | farmer |
| Baxter | baker |
| Baxter | baker |
| Bayweaver | wove bay (a fine woollen fabric also known as baize) |
| Bead Piercer | employed to drill the holes in beads |
| Beadle | officer of the parish whose principle duty was to keep order, also was the town crier |
| Beadman | employed to pray for his employer, inhabitant of an almshouse / poorhouse / hospital or tenant employed by the manor for a specific service |
| Beadsman | employed to pray for his employer, inhabitant of an almshouse / poorhouse / hospital or tenant employed by the manor for a specific service |
| Beamer | winds the warp on the roller before putting it on the loom in the textile industry |
| Bearer | worked underground 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 |
| Beck | baker |
| Becker | baker |
| Bedel | officer of the parish whose principle duty was to keep order, also was the town crier |
| Bedell | officer of the parish whose principle duty was to keep order, also was the town crier |
| Bedesman | employed to pray for his employer, inhabitant of an almshouse / poorhouse / hospital or tenant employed by the manor for a specific service |
| Bedman | sexton |
| Bedral | (Scottish) a minor church official |
| Bedwevere | made the webbing for bed frames; wove quilts |
| Beeskepmaker | made beehives |
| Beetler | operated a beetling machine, used in the textile trade for embossing fabric |
| Behinder | part of Tin Plate Works - caught the sheets behind the doublers and passed them back to the rollerman over the top roll |
| Belhoste | tavern keeper |
| Bell Hanger | installed bells in churches |
| Belleyetere | bellfounder |
| Bellfounder | made bells |
| Bellman | watchman or town crier; 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 |
| Belter | made bells |
| Bender | cut leather |
| Besom Maker | made brooms |
| Besswarden | appointed by the parish to look after its animals |
| Bever | beverage maker |
| Biddy | female servant usually of Irish stock |
| Bill Poster | put up notices, signs and advertisements |
| Billier | operated a Billy Roller, a machine used in the cotton industry to prepare the cotton for spinning |
| Billiter | made bells |
| Billyman | operated a Billy Roller, a machine used in the cotton industry to prepare the cotton for spinning |
| Binder | bound items, e.g., books, hats etc . |
| Bird Boy | scared 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 | (Scottish) a ground officer or parish arbiter |
| Black Borderer | made black edged stationery for funerals |
| Black Tray Maker | made Japanned trays |
| Blacking Maker | made polish for shoes |
| Blacksmith | shoes horses |
| Bladesmith | sword maker or knife maker |
| Blaxter | bleached cloth or paper pulp |
| 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 |
| Block Maker | engraved the blocks used in the printing |
| Block Printer | printer who used wooden blocks for printing |
| Blockcutter | made wooden blocks used in the hat trade; laid down the blocks on which a ships keel was laid; made and cut the patterns into wooden blocks for textile printing |
| Blocker | made wooden blocks used in the hat trade; laid down the blocks on which a ships keel was laid; made and cut the patterns into wooden blocks for textile printing |
| Blocklayer | locks wheels of cinder wagons before they are tipped at cinder tip of blast furnace; fixes small blocks or wooden keys for tightening rails on tramways in coal mine;: lays surface tramways and roadways |
| Blockmaker | crafted pulleys |
| Bloodletter | used leeches for letting blood |
| Bloodman | used leeches for letting blood |
| Bloomer | produced iron from ore, a bloom smithy |
| Blower | glass blower; operated a "blowing machine" used to clean and separate fibers in the textile trade; operated the bellows at a blacksmiths |
| Blowfeeder | fed the fibers into a "blowing machine" |
| Bluestocking | female writer |
| Bluffer | innkeeper or landlord of a pub |
| Boarding Officer | inspected ships before entering port |
| Boardman | truant officer; 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; boat repairer |
| Boatswain | ship's officer in charge of riggings & sails |
| Bobber | polished metals; 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 | made bodices for women's garments |
| Bodger | made wooden chair legs and spars |
| Body Maker | made bodices for women's garments |
| Boiler Plater | made rolled iron plate used to make boilers for steam engines etc |
| Boilermaker | worked with metal in any industrial setting |
| 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 molds for button manufacturers |
| Bone Picker | collected rags and bones aka Rag and Bone Man |
| Bonesetter | set broken bones |
| Boniface | Innkeeper |
| Book Gilder | decorated books with gold leaf |
| Book Keeper | looked after the accounts for businesses |
| Bookholder | prompter in the theater |
| Bookman | student |
| Boonmaster | surveyor of roads with the responsibilities of maintaining and repairing the road |
| 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 |
| Bootbinder | employed to operate the machines which bound footware |
| Boothman | corn merchant |
| Borler | made cheap coarse clothing |
| Borsholder | officer appointed by the manor or parish, constable. Bowyer - bowmaker |
| Botcher | tailor or cobbler |
| Bottiler | made leather containers for holding liquids |
| Bottle Boy | pharmacists assistant |
| Bottler | made leather containers for holding liquids |
| Bottom Knocker | sagger makers assistant in the pottery industry |
| Bottom Maker | molded the bottoms for saggers 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 |
| Bower | made bows used in archery |
| Bowker | bleached yarn |
| Bowler | made bowls and dishes; made the rounded part of spoons before casting |
| Bowlman | dealer in crockery |
| Bowlminder | in charge of the vats used for washing raw wool before processing |
| Bowlwoman | dealer in crockery |
| Bowyer | made bows used in archery |
| Boxer | worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry |
| Bozzler | parish constable |
| Brabener | weaver |
| Brachygrapher | shorthand writer |
| Braider | made cord by twisting threads or strips of leather |
| Brailler | made girdles |
| Brake(s)man | operated the winch at the pit head; operated the braking mechanism on trains and trams |
| Branding Boy | worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry |
| Brasiler | dyer |
| Brazier | brass worker |
| Brewster | beer manufacturer |
| Brightsmith | metal Worker |
| Broderer | embroiderer |
| Broiderer | embroiderer |
| Broom Squire | broom maker |
| Broom-Dasher | dealer in brooms |
| Brotherer | embroiderer |
| Brow Girl | female employed at the pit head |
| Browderer | embroiderer |
| Brownsmith | copper or brass smith |
| Buck Washer | laundress |
| Buckle Tongue Maker | made the metal points that go in the holes of a belt |
| Buckler | made buckles |
| Bucklesmith | made buckles |
| Buckram Maker | worked with buckram (used in stiffening materials) |
| Buddleboy | employed to use and maintain the vats used in the lead and tin mines for washing the ore |
| Buddler | women and children who washed the ore at the copper mines |
| Buffalo Soldier | soldier serving in a black regiment in the US Army in the West |
| Bullocky | attended to the daily needs of cattle; lent a hand with general farm duties |
| Bullwhacker | oxen driver |
| Bumboat Man | met ships at anchor with goods for passengers and crew to purchase |
| Bummaree | middle man between the wholesaler and the retailer at the fish markets |
| Bummer | army deserter |
| Bundlers | worked in the tinplate manufacturing industry |
| Bunter | female rag & bone collector |
| Bureler | made borel, a woollen cloth with a coarse feel |
| Burgess | represented a borough at official levels |
| Burgonmaster | mayor |
| Burl | cup-bearer |
| Burler | quality inspector for clothing |
| Burmaiden | chambermaid or lady-in-waiting |
| Burneman | carrier of barm or water for brewers |
| Burnisher | metal polisher |
| Burye Man | grave digger |
| Bushel Maker | cooper |
| Busheler | tailor's helper |
| Busker | hair dresser and also a street entertainer |
| Buss Maker | maker of guns |
| Butner | button maker |
| Butter Carver | made imprints in butter pats |
| Button Burnisher | button polisher |
| Butty | negotiated mining contracts and supplied the labor |
| A | B | C | D-E | F-G | H-L | M-P | Q-S | T-Z |
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2000-2008, Pike County Genealogical Society |