Rack Maiden |
Girl employed dressing ore in the Cornwall tin mines |
Raff Merchant |
Sold fibre used to make raffia bags etc. |
Raffman |
Dealer in "raff" - saleable rubbish |
Rag Cutter |
Cut rags into small pieces for papermaking |
Rag Gatherers |
Cleared rags from mill machinery - usually children |
Rag Man / Rag and Bone Man |
Toured the streets in his cart collecting rags and any old useable discarded items |
Rag Picker |
Sorted useable items from rag collection |
Rag-stabber |
Tailor (slang) mid 19c - also Stab-rag (military slang) |
Raker |
Street cleaner |
Ratoner |
Rat Catcher |
Rattlewatch |
Town watchman |
Reacher for Drawing |
Specific occupation in the cotton/silk weaving mills. Each thread has to be Drawn through the Eye on a Heald, ready for the loom and then separately picked out from the Beam of warp threads by the Reacher |
Rectifier |
Distilled alcohol |
Redar |
Interpreted dreams |
Redman / Redeman |
Responsible for maintaining the haulageways and passages in a coal mine |
Reddleman |
Sold the dye used by farmers to mark their sheep |
Redsmith |
Goldsmith |
Reeder |
Used reeds for thatching and hedging |
Reedmaker |
1) Made weaving reeds - a reed is a comb-like device for 'beating' the weft thread into place as it is passed by the shuttle, the warp threads passing between the teeth of the reed 2) Made reeds or pipes for musical instruments 3) Made reed cloth 4) Made tapestry combs |
Reed & Heald Maker |
Also Reed Maker (above). Made equipment for the separation of the weft thread on cloth-weaving looms. More Info. |
Reeler |
1) Received yarn on bobbins or paper tubes and arranged them on a shelf above the machine; guided and attached the end of the yarns to swifts (skeleton reels), which revolved and wound the yarn upon themselves in skein form; controlled the power drive on the machine; mended broken threads; removed the hanks or skeins of yarn from the machine when completed.
2) Puts woven cloth on to a reel for dyeing (more recent)
|
Reeve |
1) Churchwarden 2) Royal or Manorial elected or appointed official |
Reever |
Shriever; Sherriff |
Regarder |
Surveyed woodland, hedges and fences |
Registrar |
As today - registered events; land purchases, births, deaths etc. |
Relieving Officer |
Official of the Poor Law Union to whom the poor or retarded persons in the parish could apply for poor relief |
Renovator |
Repaired clothing |
Resurrection Man |
Apart from using the bodies of hanged criminals, dissection was illegal, so 17c. British doctors took to breaking the law. 'Resurrection men' would look for recent burials, dig up the corpse and sell it to a doctor. At £3 a body, you could make a decent living out of the practice. Resurrection men became so unpopular that they ran the risk of being torn to pieces if caught by a mob. |
Revenuer / Renenue Man |
Tax collector |
Rice Dressser |
Removed the chaff, straw, small grains etc. to clean up rice grains for human consumption. Rice skins are polished off to give the white grain we normally use |
Rickmaster |
Captain of Horse |
Riddler |
Wool stapler |
Riding Officer |
Employed by the Revenue to patrol 4-10 miles of coastline to detect smugglers. Paid no more than a farmer's labourer and hated, so dangerous. 18th century. |
Riftere |
Reaper |
Rigger |
Hoist tackle worker - esp. running and dismantling rigging of ships |
Ring Spinner |
Operated a Ring Spinning Machine - Ring spinning was/is a method for the continuous spinning of cotton. More Info. |
Ripper / Rippier |
Seller of fish |
Riverman |
Worked riverboats |
Roadman |
1) Worked on building and or maintaining roads - often had a stretch of road which he was responsible for filling in potholes etc. - usually a mile 2) A tramp or vagrant was also often referred to as a Roadman |
Rockgetter |
Rock salt miner |
Rockman |
Worked in the quarries, usually placing charges |
Rodman / Poleman |
Surveyor's assistant - held the rod for the surveyor's theodolite observation |
Roll Turner |
Carded yarn into rolls prior to spinning |
Roller Coverer |
Covered the rollers in spinning |
Rolley Man |
Delivery man |
Rolleyway Man |
Maintained the mine's underground roadways |
Roman Cementer / Plasterer |
Used "Roman Cement" - used in stuccoing |
Rope Runner |
Accompanied sets of drams or tubs on the rope haulage system in a Colliery for the purpose of changing over the rope or ropes at the end of the run |
Roper |
1) Made rope or nets 2) Cotton spinning operative |
Rover |
1) Archer 2) Loaded cotton yarn onto bobbins, giving the yarn a twist, (Roving) after the Carding and Combing processes. |
Rubbisher / Rubbler |
Sorted small stones in the quarries |
Rugman |
Dealer in rugs |
Rule Maker |
Made and calibrated rulers (for measurement) |
Rully Man |
A Cart man - equivalent to today's lorry or truck driver |
Runner |
1) Runner or messenger for the magistrates -Bow Street Runner 2) Smuggler |