|
Old Name |
New Name or Meaning |
| Cab Driver / Cabbie / Cabman |
Driver of a horse-drawn passenger vehicle for hire. The first two are still in current use for a taxi driver |
| Cad |
Fed and watered horses at coaching inns |
| Caddie |
Messenger or errand boy |
| Caddy Butcher |
Butcher dealing in horse meat |
| Cadger |
1) Beggar 2) Medieval hawk carrier. Attended hawking party, carrying hawks perched on a square frame around his waist and slung from his shoulders. Origin of 'cadge a lift' |
| Cafender |
Carpenter |
| Caffeler / Caffler |
Rag & Bone man |
| Cainer |
Walking stick maker |
| Caird |
Tinker |
| Calciner |
Made powdered lime from burning bones |
| Calculator |
18c term for a mathematician engaged in computing tables, such as the annual Nautical Alamanac used by navigators in the calculation of astronomical observations. An extremely laborious occupation! |
| Calender |
A person who listed documents (filing?) |
| Calenderer / Calenderman |
"Calender" operator. A machine used to press and finish fabrics or paper between rollers. More Info. More Info. |
| Calico Printer |
Dyed, coloured and printed calico |
| Caller Off / Caller Out |
Loads and unloads trucks in a goods depot; calls out particulars of incoming and outgoing consignments, from labels on goods, to goods checkers in preparation for their removal from platform or wagon by goods porters. |
| Cambist / Cambrist |
1) Dealer in bills of exchange - financial expert. 2) Banker |
| Cambric Maker |
Made cambric, a fine cotton or linen fabric |
| Camerist |
Lady's maid |
| Camister |
Minister of the cloth |
| Camlet Merchant |
Sold "camlet" - cloth used in making petticoats and cloaks |
| Canal Porter |
Loaded and unloaded canal barges |
| Canal Puddler |
During canal construction, 'puddled' layers of clay on the sides and bottom of the canal to waterproof it |
| Cannaller |
Canal boat worker |
| Cancellarius |
Chancellor - from Latin |
| Candler |
Candle maker |
| Caner / Chair Bottomer |
Made woven cane chair seats |
| Canter / Cantor |
1) Beggar 2) Religious speaker, chanter |
| Canting Caller |
Auctioneer |
| Canvaser |
Canvas maker |
| Caper / Capper |
Cap maker |
| Capillaire Maker |
Made orange flavoured syrup |
| Capitalist |
Investor, providing capital for commerce |
| Cardroomer |
Worker in the carding room of cotton/woollen mills |
| Carder |
Carded (combed - a skilled job) wool or cotton More Info. |
| Card Maker |
1) Made the combs and implements for carding (combing) wool
2) Made the loom-cards used by Jacquard looms in the weaving of figured fabrics |
| Card Master |
In charge of the carding room in a cotton/wollen mill |
| Card Sharp |
Someone who is skilful at playing or manipulating cards, an expert card gambler who takes advantage of less-skilled players. |
Carman/Charman/Carrier/
Carter/Cartman |
Driver of (horse-drawn) vehicles for transporting goods. Carmen were often employed by railway companies for local deliveries and collections of goods and parcels. Modern day van driver. A Carter typically drove a light two wheeled carriage. Also sometimes someone who drove horse-drawn trams was called a Carman. |
| Card Nailer / Nailorer |
Maintained the teeth (nails) on the carding machine used on wool & cotton before weaving |
| Carnifex |
Butcher |
| Carpentarius |
Carpenter - from Latin |
| Carter |
Carrier of goods by wagon |
| Cart Wheeler |
Cart wheel maker |
| Cartographer |
Mapmaker - as today |
| Cartomancer |
Fortune teller using cards |
| Cartwright |
Made carts and wagons |
| Case Hardener |
Heat treats steel to harden its surface |
| Cashmarie |
Fish seller - usually in inland markets |
| Caster / Castorer |
Made small bottles for sprinkling salt, pepper, sugar etc. |
| Castrator / Gelder |
Castrated farm animals |
| Catagman |
Cottager (phonetic) |
| Catchpole / Catchpoller |
Bailiff or Sheriff's assistant |
| Catechist |
Religious teacher - from catechism |
| Cats Meat Man |
Sold meat from a barrow for cats and dogs |
| Cattle Jobber |
Bought and sold cattle |
| Caulker |
Filled up cracks in ships, casks, windows or seams to make them watertight by using tar or oakum hemp fibre produced by taking old ropes apart |
| Causey Dresser |
"Dressed" or shaped cobbles used in cobbled streets |
| Ceiler |
Installed ceilings |
| Cellarman |
As today, looked after beer & spirits & its dispensing equipment in pubs or warehouses |
| Cemmer |
Hand combed yarn prior to weaving |
| Ceramist |
A craftsman who shapes pottery on a potter's wheel and bakes it in a kiln |
| Chaff Cutter |
Cut straw to make chaff |
| Chafferer |
Dealer in chaff |
| Chairman |
One of two persons who carried a sedan chair See |
| Chair bodger |
Travelling chair repairer |
| Chair Turner |
Turned the legs and spindles used in chair making
often turned on rough "bodgers" - lathes - as a cottage industry- common in Buckinghamshire |
| Chaise Driver |
Drove a chaise - a two-wheeled open horse-drawn carriage for one or two persons |
| Chaisemaker |
Carriage or cart maker |
| Chaloner |
1) Dealer in Shalloon – a fabric from Chalons in France 2) Blanket maker. Chalon or Shalloon - a woollen blanket or coverlet for a bed (from its original place of manufacture, Chalons-sur-Marne, in France) |
| Chamberlain |
Steward in charge of administration of the household of royalty or nobility. One of the four main officers of the court, he controlled access to the King |
| Chamber Master |
Shoemaker working from home or selling to the public |
| Chandler |
1) Dealer or trader 2) Maker or seller of candles 3) Retailer of groceries - esp. to ships |
| Chanty Man |
The leader in singing sea shanties aboard ship |
| Chapeler |
Hat maker and seller - from French "chapeau" |
| Chapman / Copeman / Ceapman |
1) 13c - 16c Itinerate Trader/Peddler. 2) Merchant - in the 17/18c, before the advent of factories, a Chapman would invest in the raw materials of the cotton, woolen or silk trade, put out the work to spinners and weavers at home on piece-rates, and sell the product for profit - the term later became used for an itinerant peddler of goods in the 19c |
| Charcoal Burner |
Made charcoal from burning, usually on the site of felling the trees |
| Chartmaster |
Negotiated mining contracts and supplied the labour |
| Charwoman |
A woman hired by the day to do odd jobs, usually cleaning, in a house - as still used today and in use as early as 1596. The word "chare" or "char" was used to describe an odd job |
| Chaser |
An engraver |
| Chatelaine |
Mistress of the house |
| Chaunter |
Street entertainer (singer) |
| Cheese Factor / Monger Cheeseman |
Cheese dealer |
| Check Weaver |
A weaver who used a loom that used more than one shuttle, each of which had a different coloured bobbin in order to produce checked cloth. |
| Chevener |
Embroidered fine silk stockings, popular with the Victorians. |
| Chiffonnier |
Wig maker |
| Chimney Sweep |
Chimney cleaner |
| Chinglor |
Tiled roofs with wooden shingles (shingler) |
| Chippy |
Carpenter - esp. Ship's carpenter or shipwright |
| Chirugeon / Chirurgeon |
Apothecary or surgeon |
| Chowder |
Fishmonger |
| Chronologist |
Recorder of important historical events |
| Cinder Wench |
Female who collected cinders from factories for sale door to door |
| City Meter |
Weights and Measures inspector's assistant, checking both the weights of goods as sold and the accuracy of the metal weights used. Some specialised - such as in Coal Meters, etc. |
| Claker |
Magician / Astrologer |
| Clapman |
Town Crier |
| Classman |
Unemployed labourer |
| Claviger |
Servant |
| Clay carrier |
Assistant to the shot firer in the pits |
