Olde Occupations
M - P
Olde Occupations
M - P
| A | B | C | D-E | F-G | H-L | M-P | Q-S | T-Z |
| Macon | mason |
| Macun | mason |
| Maderer | gathered and sold garlic |
| Maid | female domestic servant |
| Mail Guard | armed guard, frequently an ex-soldier, employed on the mail coach service |
| Maise Maker | made measures for weighing herring catch |
| Malemaker | maker of 'Males' or traveling bags |
| Malender | farmer |
| Malster | brewer, maker or seller of malts |
| Maltster | brewer, maker or seller of malts |
| Manciple | steward |
| Mangle Keeper | woman who offered use of the mangle for a fee |
| Mangler | works a mangle |
| Mango | slave dealer |
| Mantuamaker | dressmaker |
| Marbler | stained paper or other material, veined in imitation of marble |
| Marescallus | marshal |
| Marine | soldier serving on a ship |
| Mariner | sailor |
| Marshall | horse doctor or shoe smith |
| Marshman | paid by various landowners to look after marshlands and tend the animals put to graze there for the season |
| Marson | mason |
| Mashmaker | maker of the mash-vats or mashels used for mixing malt |
| Mason | bricklayer; stone carver/cutter |
| Master | one of three grades of skill recognized by the Guild of Crafts |
| Master Lumper | contractor of laborers at cheap rate of pay |
| Master Mariner | ship's captain |
| Master Shifter | in charge on repair shift |
| Master Weaver | someone who employs a number of weavers to supply him with woven cloth |
| Matchet Forger | knife maker |
| Mawer | mower |
| Mayer | physician |
| Mealman | dealer in meal or flour |
| Medicus | leech; doctor |
| Melder | corn miller |
| Melitia Man | someone who belongs to a group who were on stand by to take up arms to support a government |
| Mercator | merchant |
| Mercer | cloth seller |
| Meterer | poet |
| Midwife | experienced woman who assists in child birth |
| Milesman | railway worker who had a length of railway track to keep in good order |
| Miller | corn miller, cloth miller, saw miller |
| Milleress | miller's wife |
| Millers Carman | drove carrier to deliver the flour or seed to the customers |
| Millner | maker of women's' hats |
| Millow | miller |
| Millpeck | sharpener of mill stones |
| Millwright | designer & builder of mills or mill machinery |
| Milstone Inspector | vagrant, a gentleman of the road |
| Mintmaker | issuer of local currency |
| Mintmaster | issuer of local currency |
| Mixer | bartender |
| Mocado Weaver | weaver of woolen cloth used for making clothes 16-17th century |
| Mold Boy | closed and held mold for glassblower, also weighed the bottles |
| Molendinarius | miller |
| Molitor | miller |
| Mondayman | worked for landowner on Mondays in lieu of rent |
| Monger | seller of goods (ale, fish) |
| Montebank | seller of ineffectual patent medicines |
| Monthly Nurse | assisted women during the first month after giving birth |
| Moulder | maker of molds or castings, brick maker |
| Mudlark | sewer cleaner, riverbank scavenger |
| Muffin Maker | made muffins |
| Muffin Man | itinerant seller of muffins |
| Muggler | pigman |
| Mugseller | seller of cups, mugs |
| Mule Minder | minded the spinning mules in the cotton mills |
| Muleskinner | teamster |
| Muleteer | mule driver |
| Multurer | miller |
| Muner | miller |
| Musicker | musician |
| Muslin Flowerer | tambouring muslin cloth for household use which would be called embroidery today |
| Muslin Sewer | tambouring muslin cloth for household use which would be called embroidery today |
| Mustarder | made and dealt in mustard |
| Mustardman | made and dealt in mustard |
| Nagelschiedmeister | master nailsmith |
| Nagsman | schools horses, usually for an employer |
| Nailor | nail maker |
| Nailora | maintained the teeth (nails) on the carding machine used for preparing wool and cotton for weaving |
| Naperer | royal servant in charge of table linen |
| Napier | naperer |
| Narrow Weaver | weaver of ribbons, tapes, etc |
| Navigator | laborer employed to dig out a canal bed; (Railway) a laborer who built railway track, embankments, tunnels etc |
| Navvie | laborer employed to dig out a canal bed; (Railway) a laborer who built railway track, embankments, tunnels etc |
| Neatherder | cowherder |
| Necessary Woman | servant responsible for emptying and cleaning chamber pots |
| Necker | worker responsible for the feeding of cardboard into the machine the makes boxes |
| Nedder | needle-maker |
| Nedeller | needle maker |
| Netter | net maker |
| Nettir | knitter |
| Night Soilman | emptied cesspits, ash pits and backyard toilets |
| Nightman | emptied cesspits, ash pits and backyard toilets |
| Nightwalker | watchman or bellman |
| Nimgimmer | doctor |
| Nipper | lorry boy, assisted with the collection and delivery of goods |
| Noon Tender | guarded the goods on the quay while the officers were at lunch |
| Not Thatcher | wig maker |
| Noterer | notary |
| Occupier | tradesman |
| Oilman | sold the oil for lamps |
| Olitor | kitchen gardener (from Olitory-a kitchen garden) |
| Onsetter | hung corves (baskets) on rope at the pit-bottom; later - pushed tubs of coal into the mine-shaft cage |
| Openers | worked in tin plate works, invariably women, separated sheets that became stuck together |
| Orderly | soldier who functioned as a servant for an officer |
| Ordinary | innkeeper with fixed prices |
| Ordinary Keeper | innkeeper with fixed prices |
| Orrery Maker | made a mechanical apparatus for showing the movements of the planets |
| Orrice Weaver | designer of lace patterns to be woven with silk thread and silk |
| Osier Peeler | removed bark from willow rods or osiers which were used in basket weaving |
| Osler | bird-catcher |
| Osnard | herder of oxen |
| Ostiary | monastery door keeper |
| Ostler | groom who cared for horses |
| Ostler | (13th century) innkeeper/taverner; received guests especially in an monastery; stable boy; looked after the horses underground in a coal mine |
| Out Crier | auctioneer |
| Outdoor officer | basic grade of Customs officer |
| Outrider | mounted attendant riding before or behind a carriage |
| Outworker | worker who carried on their occupation at home |
| Overlooker | superintendent or overseer, especially in the textile mills |
| Overman | official below Undermanager but above Deputy in mining |
| Owler | sheep or wool smuggler |
| Oyster Dredger | member of the crew on board an oyster fishing boat |
| Pack Thread Spinner | operator of the machine which made thread or twine |
| Packer | packs goods such as pickles or herring; part of the tinplate process packed in a box for labeling and dispatch |
| Packman | itinerant peddler |
| Pad Maker | made small baskets used for measuring |
| Page | youth being trained for the medieval rank of knight and in the personal service of a knight or attendant upon someone of rank in the medieval period |
| Paintress | woman employed in the pottery industry to hand paint the finished articles |
| Paling Man | seller of eels |
| Palister | ensured the parks were safe and well kept |
| Palmer | a pilgrim; had been, or pretended to have been, to the Holy Land |
| Paneler | saddler |
| Pannarius | clothier and draper |
| Pannebeter | pan-hammerer, or perhaps clothdriver |
| Pannier Man | fish monger |
| Pannifex | worked in the cloth trade |
| Panter | keeper of the pantry |
| Pantler | butler |
| Paper Ruler | set up several inking pens in a machine designed to draw or ink lines on paper |
| Paper Stainer | made wallpaper |
| Paperer | inserted the needles into the paper ready for sale in the needle making trade |
| Parcheminer | parchment maker |
| Pardoner | licensed to sell Papal Indulgences |
| Parfumier | manufacturer and purveyor of scents such as perfumes, colognes and even incense |
| Pargeter | applied ornamental plaster to buildings |
| Paritor | church officer who attended the magistrates and justices at court for the purpose of executing their orders |
| Parker | park caretaker |
| Parochus | rector, pastor |
| Passage Keeper | kept passages and alleys clean |
| Pasteler | pastry chef |
| Pastor | shepherd |
| Patten Maker | clog maker; made wooden soles (patens) to fit under normal shoes |
| Patton Maker | clog maker; made wooden soles (patens) to fit under normal shoes |
| Paver | laid paving stones |
| Paviour | laid paving stones |
| Pavyler | put up pavilions or tents etc |
| Pedascule | schoolmaster |
| Peeler | policeman, constable, bobby; pepper-seller |
| Pelliparius | skinner |
| Peltarius | skinner |
| Pelterer | worked with animal skins |
| Perambulator | surveyor |
| Perchemear | made parchment |
| Peregrinator | itinerant wanderer |
| Perfumer | manufacturer and purveyor of scents such as perfumes, colognes and even incense |
| Peruker | wig maker |
| Perukmaker | wig maker |
| Pessoner | fish monger |
| Peterman | fisherman |
| Pettifogger | shyster lawyer |
| Petty Chapman | merchant, often itinerant |
| Petty Chapman | itinerant dealer in small goods, a peddler |
| Pewterer | made pewter utensils |
| Philosophical Instrument Maker | made scientific instruments |
| Phrenologist | diviner of a person's character based on the bumps on a person's head |
| Picker | cast the shuttle on a loom |
| Pictor | painter |
| Piecener | worked in a spinning mill, employed to piece together any threads which broke |
| Piecer | worked in a spinning mill, employed to piece together any threads which broke |
| Pigman | crockery dealer |
| Pikelet Maker | baker who specialized in making pikelets (a small pancake or crumpet) |
| Pikeman | miller's assistant |
| Piker | tramp or vagrant |
| Pilcher | maker of pilches |
| Piller | robber |
| Pilot | ship steersman |
| Pinder | dog catcher; keeper of the pound or pinfold |
| Piner | laborer |
| Pinner | pin maker |
| Pinner Up | dressmakers assistant; sold broadsheets or ballads in the streets |
| Pinsetter | manually set up bowling pins before the advent of automated pin setting machines |
| Piper | innkeeper |
| Pirn Winder | wound the yarn onto large wheel-like bobbins which were then ready to feed the looms in a cotton mill |
| Piscarius | fishmonger |
| Piscator | fisherman |
| Pistor | baker |
| Pit Brow Lass | female worker who worked on the surface of the mines |
| Pitman | coal miner |
| Plaicher | hedge layer |
| Plain Worker | performed plain sewing or needlework as opposed to an embroiderer |
| Plaiter | maker of straw plaits used in making hats etc |
| Planker | planks or kneads the body of the hat during felting |
| Plantifene | see avernator |
| Plasher | hedge layer |
| Plasterer | worked with roman cement used in stuccoing |
| Platcher | hedge layer |
| Platelayer | men who laid and maintained the railway tracks in Britain |
| Playderer | made plaid |
| Pleacher | hedge layer |
| Plomer | plumber |
| Ploughwright | makes or repairs ploughs/plows |
| Plowman | farmer |
| Plowwright | maker or repairer of plows |
| Plumassier | made or sold plumes, ornamental feathers |
| Plumber | applied sheet lead for roofing and set lead frames for plain or stained glass windows. |
| Plumbin Worker | plumber |
| Plumbum Worker | plumber |
| Plumer | made or sold plumes, ornamental feathers |
| Pointer | sharpened needles or pins or lace maker |
| Pointmaker | made the tips of laces; involved in leather tanning, curing, processing or manufacturing trades |
| Pointman | made the tips of laces; involved in leather tanning, curing, processing or manufacturing trades |
| Pointsman | railway worker who operated the points, used to change the line on which the train was traveling |
| Poldave Worker | made poldave, a coarse fabric |
| Poleman | surveyor's assistant |
| Polentier | poulterer |
| Poller | barber |
| Ponderator | inspector of weights and measures |
| Porcher | pig-keeper |
| Portable Soup Maker | converted soup into a dry form for transporting from place to place |
| Porter | door keeper |
| Porthmon | a drover of cattle/sheep |
| Post Boy | carried mail from town to town; guard who traveled on the mail coach; outrider who traveled with the stagecoach as a postillion |
| Poster | worked in the quarries breaking rocks |
| Postillion | attacher of extra horses to wagons & coaches to help them up hills |
| Pot Boy/Man | worked in public houses washing and removing dirty pots also did other menial tasks |
| Potato Badger | seller of potatoes |
| Potter | maker or seller of pottery |
| Potter Carrier | chemist or pharmacist |
| Potter Thrower | potter who used a wheel and therefore had to throw the clay |
| Pouchmakers | involved in leather tanning, curing, processing or manufacturing trades |
| Poulter | seller of poultry |
| Power Loom Tuner | maintained the loom in mills |
| Powler | barber |
| Preceptress | school mistress |
| Prediger | preacher |
| Prentis | apprentice |
| Preventive officer | officer of the water guard (Customs service) |
| Prick Louise | tailor |
| Pricker | used a type of wire brush to make small holes inside ceramic sewer pipe to prevent spalling during firing; witch hunter; pattern maker; horseman |
| Prig Napper | horse thief |
| Proctor | official of a university |
| Prop Bobby | worked in mines checking the pit props |
| Prothonary | law clerk |
| Publican | innkeeper |
| Puddler | wrought iron worker - worked clay into puddle then used to make things water tight |
| Pug Mill Operator | operated a machine for mixing clay and water, which then exuded a "pug" (a cylinder of clay of any diameter and indefinite length) |
| Puggaer | produce clay paste by treading |
| Puggard | thief |
| Pull-up Boy | employed in iron works - raised the furnace door by tugging at a chain |
| Pumpmaker | maker of canal locks |
| Punky | chimney sweep |
| Purefinder | old women and young girls who went about the streets gathering dog droppings which were used for tanning leather |
| Purser | ship's officer in charge of provisions & accounts |
| Putter In | put things into some form of mechanized process |
| Pynner | pin-maker |
| 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 |