Old Name	New Name or Meaning
Daguerreotype Artist	Early photographer - derived from Daguerre's method
Damster	Dam builder - for logging
Danter	Female overseer in silk winding room
Dateler/Dataller/Day Man/ Daytaleman/Day Labourer	Casual worker, employed on a daily basis
Dauber/Dawber	Made Wattle & Daub walls using 'Lute', a tenacious clay.
Day-maid	Dairymaid
Deal Porter	A specialistworker in the docks - mainly London, handling baulks of softwood or "deal" between ship and shore.
Deathsman	Executioner - very popular!
Decimer / Dozener	Elected by householders in a street to represent them at the Court Leet
Decoyman	Decoyed wild fowl, animals, into a trap or within shooting range
Decretist	Knowledgeable in decrees (decretals)
Deemer/Deemster/ Dempster/Demster	Judge
Delaine Weaver	Made delaine, a light all-wool cloth of plain weave, usually printed. From the French laine, meaning wool. De laine - 'from wool'
Delfman	Sold "Delf", which is earthenware from Delft, Holland.
Delfsman / Delphman	Worker in quarries or open pits, usually quarrying stone
Delver	Ditch digger - also a worker in a stone quarry.
Dental Mechanic	Made false teeth - a very skilled job (Mechanic meant a craftsman or artisan)
Depater	Refined precious metals
Deputy	Pit workers' safety officer
Devil	Printer's errand boy
Deviller	Operated a "devil" - a machine that tore rags in the textile industry
Dexter	Dyer
Dey Wife	Female dairy worker
Die Sinker	When forging metals, lays out, machines, and finishes impression cavities in die blocks to produce forging dies, following blueprints and applying knowledge of die sinking
Digger	1) Coal face worker 2) Day labourer in slate of stone quarries
Dikeman / Dykeman	Ditch digger or hedger
Dipper	Glazed goods in the pottery
Disher / Dish Thrower	Made bowls and dishes from clay
Dish Turner	Made wooden bowls and dishes on a lathe
Distributor	Parish official who attended to the secular needs of inmates of the poorhouse / workhouse
Docker / Dock Walloper	Stevedore, dock worker who loads and unloads cargo
Dock Foyboatman	A shore-based seaman who worked a "foy" to give assistance to vessels entering port - running lines from the ship to shore, towing small vessels etc. Foy is a corruption of fee, which was what the boatman charged
Docket Room Hand	Employed in a print works, processing the dockets which contain all the details, copy and pictures for a print job
Dockmaster	In charge of a dockyard
Doffer	Worked in the spinning mills, replacing the full yarn bobbins with empties on the looms.  More Info.
Dog Breaker	Dog trainer
Dog Killer	Employed by the parish to round up and kill stray dogs
Dog Leech	Veterinarian
Dog-Whipper	Drove dogs away from the church. The dogs would be attracted by the custom of nailing fox tails to the church door as proof for collecting bounty on them
Domesman	Judge
Dominie	Cleric or schoolmaster
Donkey Man/Boy	Passenger carriage driver
Dorcas	Seamstress
Doubler	Operated a machine twisting yarn in cotton/woolen mills. The yarn on different bobbins is combined onto another bobbin
Dowser / Diviner	Finds water using a rod or witching stick
Dragman	Fisherman who dragged a net along the sea bed (trawling)
Dragoman	Interpreter for Turkish or Arabic
Dragoon	Cavalryman
Dragsman	Public transport/hire coach/carriage driver
Drainer	Dug drains
Draper	Dealer in fabrics and sewing goods - in use today. From the French "drap-de-Berry", a woollen cloth coming from Berry in France
Drapery Painter	Second-rate painters employed painting the clothes (drapery) onto a painter's subject
Drawboy	Weavers assistant - sat on the looms to lift the heavy warps
Drawer	1) Made wire by drawing the metal through a die 2) Raised the coal up the mineshaft
Drawer In	Draws the warp yarn through loom parts to arrange warp for weaving specified pattern More Info
Drayman	Drove a long strong cart without fixed sides for carrying heavy loads, such as beer kegs
Dredgerman	1) Collected flotsam from the Thames for sale 2) Oyster fisherman
Dresser	1) A surgeon's assistant in a hospital  2) Operator who assembled the yarns or threads prior to weaving of cloth 3) Assistant to a noble person, preparing clothes etc. 4) In an Iron Foundry,  the person who removed the flash and unwanted bits from castings
Dressing Machine Maker	Sewing machine maker
Drift Maker	Made fishermen's drift nets
Drillman	Agricultural worker who operated a seed drill
Dripping Man	Dealer in dripping - fat from cooking meat
Driver	Literally, a slave driver
Drover	Drove cattle, sheep, etc. to market; a dealer in cattle
Drowner	A Waterman who understood the secrets of irrigation See
Drugger	Pharmacist
Drum Battledore Maker	Made galvanized drums with battledores (bat-shaped paddles), used as washing machines
Drummer	Travelling salesman (drumming up business)
Dry Salter	1) Dealt in dried meat, sauces, pickles 2) Dealt in dyes for fabrics etc.
Dry Stone Waller / Dry Stane Dyker (Scottish)	Builds walls with stones from the fields. The art involves no mortar or cutting, but the ability to see where the stones should fit. Served the dual purpose of disposing of the stones from the fields and building the boundary walls
Dubber	Cloth dubber - raised the nap of cloth
Duffer	Peddler of cheap goods
Dunner	Debt collector
Dyer	Fabric dyer
Dykeman	Hedger or Ditcher
Dyker	(Scottish) Stonemason