|
Old Name |
New Name or Meaning |
| Clay Puddler |
Made the waterproof clay lining used on canals and dams. Mixing water with clay, they worked it with their feet until it became smooth and waterproof. |
| Clayman / Cleyman |
1) Prepared clay for brick making 2) Rendered buildings with clay to waterproof them |
| Clericus |
Clerk - from Latin |
| Clerk |
Medieval clergyman or cleric |
| Clergyman without cure of Souls |
A clergyman without his own parish (without cure - care - of souls). Getting a Parish with sufficient income when there were more Clergy than Parishes wasn't always possible |
| Clicker |
1) Foreman printer who looked after the typography and layout; 2) Shoe-maker who cut out the leather for making the uppers. 3) The servant of a salesman who stood at the door to invite in customers More Info. |
| Clipper/ on/off |
Attached coal carts to the line hauling them from the coal face to the lifts |
| Clod Hopper |
Ploughman |
| Clogger |
1) Made wooden shoes "clogs" - in England they were usually leather with thick wooden soles More Info 2) In the Cheshire salt mines, inserted ribs in the base of a salt tub which supported the raised
perforated base plate, thereby facilitating drainage |
| Cloth Dresser / Cropper |
Worked in the woollen industry, cutting the cloth surface after it had left the fulling mill More Info |
| Cloth Lapper |
Moved the yarn from the carding machine to the next process in weaving |
| Cloth Layer |
In garment manufacturing, laid out cloth in layers on a long table, checking for evenness and for defects. |
| Cloth Linter or Picker |
Removed surplus thread and lint from the finished woven cloth |
| Cloth Looker |
An inspector of finished woven cloth. Also remedied slight defects and applied 'padding' to remove oil spots |
| Clothier / Clothesman / Clothman |
Made or sold clothing |
| Clouter / Clower |
1) Nail maker 2) Shoe maker |
| Club Collector |
The "Club Man" called door to door on a weekly basis to collect payments for clothing, burial or Christmas Clubs |
| Coachstand Waterman |
Watered horses at a coach or cab stand and looked after them in the absence of the drivers |
| Coach Trimmer |
Finished of the building of a coach with painting, upholstery etc. |
| Coal Backer |
Carried coal from barges to the coal wagons - on their backs. |
| Coal Burner |
Charcoal maker |
| Coal Dealer / Merchant |
Dealer and seller of coal - mainly to domestic customers. Still used today |
| Coal Drawer |
Moved coal carts in the mine |
| Coal Heaver |
Unloaded coalmine carts on the surface |
| Coalman / Coal Higgler |
Sold coal to householders, usually by horse & cart |
| Coalmeter |
Measured the coal |
| Coal Runner |
Attended coal carts in the mines |
| Coal Whipper |
Unloaded coal from ships using baskets |
| Coast Waiter/Surveyor |
Customs Official attending unloading of ships |
| Cobbler |
Shoemaker/repairer - as today |
| Cobbleman |
Fisherman using a cobble - flat bottom boat |
| Cockfeeder |
Looked after fighting cocks |
| Cocus |
Cook - from Latin |
| Cod Placer |
Placed fireproof containers, holding pottery being fired, into the kiln |
| Cohen |
Priest |
| Coiner |
Mint employee making coins |
| Coke Drawer |
Drew the finshed coke from the retort in which coal was heated to produce coke. |
| Collegeman |
Works on 'colleges' - flat bottomed barges |
| Collier |
Coal mine worker or coal barge worker. Term still used today |
| Colliery Doorkeeper |
Doorkeepers or "trappers", opened and closed the ventilation doors to let coal pass. Often young boys were employed in this position. |
| Colonus |
Farmer or husbandman - from Latin |
| Colour Man |
1) Mixed textile dyes 2) House painter's assistant |
| Colourator / Colorator |
Worked with dyes |
| Colporteur |
Peddler of religious books |
| Colt |
Worker who has not served an apprenticeship. Particularly applied to women and children in the knitting trade during the 1811-1812 Luddite troubles |
| Comber / Combere |
Combed wool or cotton |
| Comb Maker |
Comb maker for 1) textile industry 2) hair |
| Commissionaire |
Uniformed doorman at an hotel, theatre, etc. Member of the Corps of Commissionaires, a 3,500 strong team of professionals including many drawn from the military, police and emergency services - still in use (in 2002) |
| Commission Agent |
Salesman who derives his income solely from commission on sales |
| Compositor |
Set type for printing - as today, but now giving way to the computer |
| Computor |
A person employed in computation of accounts, data etc. |
| Conder / Conner |
1) Gave steering instructions to helmsman 2) Directed inshore fisherman towards fish shoals from ashore 3) Conner - Inspector or tester |
| Coney Catcher |
Rabbit catcher |
| Confinement Nurse |
An attending woman during the first month after childbirth. Also known as 'Monthly Nurse'. May also have the initials S.M.S. (Subsidiary Medical Services. i.e. not a doctor, but trained in some
way ) |
| Cooper / Cuper |
Made or repaired vessels made of wooden staves & hoops, such as casks, barrels, tubs, etc. |
| Cop Fitter |
Fitted "cops" to the looms. A cop is a cone onto which the yarn is wound after spinning, ready for weaving on the loom |
| Copeman |
1) Dealer in stolen goods 2) Dishonest horse dealer |
| Coppice Dealer |
Woodsman supplying coppice wood to local craftsmen. More Info. |
| Coprolite Digger |
Coprolite is fossilised animal dung and was found in Cambridgeshire, between Soham and Royston, and mined out between 1850 and 1890. Ground down and treated with acid, it made an excellent fertiliser. |
| Coracle Maker |
Made small round wicker and fabric inshore boats called Coracles |
| Core Maker |
Formed sand moulds and cores for the production of metal castings |
| Cordwainer / Cordiner / Corviner / Corvisor |
Shoemaker. Originally, a leather worker using high quality Cordovan leather from Spain for such things as harness, gloves and riding boots. By the 19c it had reduced to a shoemaker - as distinct from a cobbler, who repaired shoes More Info. More Info. |
| Cork Cutter |
Worked with cork; mainly stoppers for bottles - in England from the 17th to 19th Century. |
| Corn Chandler |
Corn Merchant |
| Corn Factor |
Middleman in corn dealing |
| Core Maker |
Used 'greensand', a mix of clay and wet sand, to form basic moulds for brass casting. |
| Corn Meter |
Official who weighed and weighed the corn at market |
| Cornet |
The lowest commissioned rank in a cavalry regiment, who carried the colours |
| Corporation Sworn Weigher |
Checked and counted sacks of grain on the docks |
| Corver |
Made baskets ,known as Corves, used in coal mining |
| Costermonger / Coster Wife |
1) Peddler of fruits and vegetables 2) Ditto, female |
| Cotiler / Coteler / Cotyler |
Cutler - maker or dealer in cutlery |
| Cottager / Cottar / Cotter / Cottier |
Agricultural labourer, living in a landowner's farm cottage |
| Cotton Baller |
Wound cotton thread into balls on a special balling machine. These were used in 'Ball Warping', the oldest system of warping, not much used today. |
| Cotton Dresser |
Operator who assembled the yarns or threads prior to weaving of cloth |
| Cotton Feeder |
Was employed feeding the cotton into a carding machine, which roughly straightened the fibres prior to spinning More Info. |
| Cotton Piecer |
Re-connected the yarns which broke on the spinning mule. |
| Cotton Rover |
Loaded cotton yarn onto bobbins, giving the yarn a twist, (Roving) after the Carding and Combing processes. |
| Cotton Singer |
(Meaning singe-er) Tends a machine that singes the nap or lint from cloth More Info. |
| Cotton Yarn Gasser |
1) A person who worked in the "gas-room" where raw cotton was de-fumigated 2) A person who applied gas to finished cotton threads to smooth them |
| Coucher |
Worker in the paper mills |
| Countour |
Collected rates |
| Couper |
Buyer and seller, usually of livestock |
| Couranteer |
Journalist - from French |
| Court Factor |
Dealer in Courts - small carts |
| Court Roller |
In charge of the rolls and records of the court |
| Court Toolmaker |
Made the tools for making Courts - small carts |
| Courtier |
Owner/driver of Courts - small carts |
| Cow Leech |
Animal Doctor |
| Coxwain |
Helmsman of a ship or boat - still in use |
| Crate Maker |
In the S Derbyshire potteries - wove crates from hazel and willow saplings for the transport of pottery More Info. |
| Crepe Weaver |
Wove a cloth called Crepea light, thin fabric with a wrinkled surface - in the Victorian era, crepe was worn by ladies in mourning and there was a big demand for it |
| Crier |
1) Town Crier 2) Auctioneer 3) Law court officer |
| Crimper |
Member of a Navy press gang |
| Crocker |
Potter |
| Crofter |
1) Tenant farmer of a croft - small piece of land - still in use 2) Also connected with bleaching of textiles - see Crofters |
| Croft Bleacher |
Worked bleaching cloth prior to dyeing and spreading it out in enclosed fields, or "crofts" See Crofters |
| Cropper |
1) Tenant farmer who was paid with a share of the crop 2) Also known as a shearman, a skilled textile worker who sheared the nap from the cloth |
| Crossing Sweeper |
Swept ahead of people crossing dirty urban streets in exchange for a gratuity, creating a path that was referred to as a "broom walk". This was an informal 19th century occupation amongst the urban poor.
The predominance of horse-drawn vehicles—and the general uncleanliness of urban streets entailed certain difficulties in crossing intersections. For example, the long dresses of many elite women might easily be soiled by horse droppings, amongst other forms of refuse. |
| Crowner |
Coroner |
| Cuhreur |
Courier - French |
| Cupper |
Worked in the potteries, making cups |
| Curer |
Tobacco Curer |
| Curretter |
Broker |
| Currier |
1) Dressed the coat of a horse with a curry comb 2) Tanned leather by incorporating oil or grease |
| Customer |
Customs tax collector |
| Cutterman |
Operated coal face cutting machinery |
| Cutler |
Knife maker/seller/sharpener |
| Cutlooker/Clothlooker |
One who inspects the weaver's cut or piece of cloth as it comes from the loom. |
| Cycle .... |
Various occcupations in the Bicycle Making Trade - See |
