A collection of the occupations or job descriptions of the people living in London in the 1890's. Most of the descriptions are fairly self explanatory, I'll elaborate on the ones that aren't in due course.
Cab Body Builder | Someone who built the bodywork for horse drawn cabs. |
Cab Driver | drove a cab. Also Cab Man, Cabman, Cabbie or Carman |
Cab Man, Cab Nasher, or Groom | drove a cab |
Cab Proprietor | Someone who owned a cab. |
Cabinet Hawker | Someone who sold cabinets. |
Cabinet Maker | a highly skilled maker of quality furniture |
Cabinet Maker Apprentice | apprentice to above |
Cabinet maker, upholsterer | one who specialised in seating |
Cabinet Maker's Labourer | assisted - obvious really |
Cabinet Polisher | often a french polisher |
Cable Jointer | joined cables |
Cabman | drove a cab. Also Cab Driver, Cab Man, Cabbie or Carman |
Cad | A person employed to feed and water horses at coach stops. |
Caddie | A boy who carried messages or who ran errands. |
Caddy Butcher | butcher that dealt in horse meat |
Cadger | A beggar |
Cafender | A carpenter |
Caffler | rag and bone collector |
Cainer | made walking sticks |
Caird | A tinker |
Calciner | burnt bones to make powdered lime |
Calender | One who listed documents |
Calender Worker, Calenderer or Calenderman | A person who operated a machine which pressed cloth and paper using two large rollers (calenders). |
Calico Printer | dyed and colored calico |
Caligraphic Sign Writer | Someone who created signs etc. |
Cambist | An expert in financial exchange, a dealer in bills of exchange. |
Cambric Maker | A person who made a fine linen or cotton fabric called cambric. |
Camerist | A lady's maid. |
Camister | A minister of the cloth |
Camlet Merchant | A seller of camlet, cloth used to make cloaks & petticoats. |
Campaner | Bell Maker |
Cancellarius | Chancellor. |
Candle Maker or Candler | One who made candles |
Candy Man | A travelling candy salesman, or a slang name for a bailiff. |
Caner or Chair Bottomer | made the seats for chairs out of woven cane |
Cannaller | canal boat worker |
Cannister Maker & Japanner | Someone who Made and Japanned Canisters. |
Canter | A religious speaker who uses cant, or a beggar or vagrant. |
Canting Caller | An auctioneer |
Canvaser or Canvasser | One who made canvas |
Cap Cutter | cut cloth to make caps |
Cap Machinist | machined caps |
Cap Maker | made caps |
Cap Makers Apprentice | apprentice to above |
Cap Manufacturer | owner of a cap making factory or establishment |
Cape Maker & Liner | Someone who made or lined Capes. |
Caper or Capper | cap maker |
Capillaire Maker | A person who made orange flavoured syrup. |
Capitalist | A person who provided private capital or wealth for the production and distribution of goods. |
Capstan, Harb | |
Capsule Maker | |
Captain | in charge of a ship or a group of soldiers and also a term for an overseer or boss |
Carbonic Paper Maker | Someone who made Carbonic, or Carbon Paper. |
Cardboard Box Maker | Someone who made Cardboard Boxes. |
Card Edge Gilder | Someone who added Gilt edging to greeting cards. |
Card Nailer | A person who maintained the teeth (nails) on the carding machine used for preparing wool and cotton for weaving. |
Carder | A person who operated a carding machine used to prepare wool and cotton for weaving by removing the knots and tangles. |
Cardmaker | A person who made the handheld implement used for carding wool and cotton, or a maker of playing cards. |
Cardroomer | A person who worked in the carding room of the cotton mills. |
Caretaker | takes care of another's property |
Carman, Carrier or Carter | drove a vehicle used to transport goods |
Carman Contractor | carman contracted to a company |
Carman with Mineral Waters | carman delivering water |
Carman, Railway | carman working for the railway |
Carman's Assistant | assisted - obvious really |
Carner | A granary keeper |
Carnifex | A Butcher |
Carpentarius | A Carpenter |
Carpenter & Joiner | Skilled woodworker |
Carpenter's Labourer | assisted - obvious really |
Carpet and rug manufacture | made carpets and rugs |
Carpet Weaver | wove carpets |
Carriage Painter | painted carriages |
Carrier | A person who drove a vehicle used to transport goods. |
Cart Boy | junior version of a carman I'd guess |
Cart Minder in Market | a boy who looked after a stall in a market |
Cart Wheeler | made cart wheels |
Carter | A carman, carrier, drayman or wagoner. |
Cartographer | map maker |
Cartomancer | A fortune teller who used cards. |
Cartridge Maker | made cartridges for the firearms industry |
Cartwright | maker of carts & wagons |
Carver, Wood or Ivory | Someone who carved items out of wood or ivory. |
Case Maker | made cases (often packing cases) |
Cashier | Someone who looked after the cash and often kept the books for a business. |
Cashmarie | A person who sold fish usually at inland markets. |
Caster or Castor | A person who made small bottles used for sprinkling salt, pepper, sugar etc. |
Castrator | A person who castrated farm animals aka a Gelder. |
Catagman | A cottager |
Catchpole or Catchpoll | A bailiff or sheriffs officer. |
Catechist | A teacher of religion. |
Cat's Meat Man | Someone who supplied meat for feeding domestic cats; usually horse meat. |
Cattle Drover | drove cattle |
Cattle Jobber | A person who bought and sold cattle. |
Caulker | filled up cracks and seams in ships or barrels to make them watertight using tar or oakum-hemp fibre |
Causewayer | A person who was involved in road repairs. |
Cautioner | guarantor, one who acts as security for another. |
Ceapman | See Chapman |
Ceiler | puts up the ceilings in buildings |
Cellar Boy | boy who worked in a cellar |
Cellarette Maker or Liner | Someone who made, or lined Cellarettes. A Cellarette was a case or sideboard for holding bottles of wine or liquor. |
Cellarman |
looked after the beer, wines and spirits in public houses and warehouses |
Cellarman Winestores | looked after the beer, wines and spirits in wine stores |
Cemmer | A person who hand combed the yarn before weaving. |
Chaff Cutter | made chaff by cutting straw |
Chafferer | dealer in chaff |
Chain Maker | made chains |
Chair Bodger | traveling chair repairman |
Chair Maker | made chairs |
Chaise Driver | The driver of a two wheeled, one or two person, light open carriage with a hood that may be let down. |
Chaisemaker | Carriage maker |
Chaloner | A dealer in shalloon, a material made in Chalons, or a person who made blankets. |
Chamberlain | steward to either royalty or nobility, in charge of the household |
Chambermaid | female servant attending to bedrooms in houses or inns |
Chamber Master | A shoemaker that worked from home as an outworker or selling direct. |
Chandler | grocer, dealer or trader; one who makes or sells candles |
Chandler Shop Asst | assisted - obvious really |
Chanty Man or Shanty Man | sailor that led the singing of shanties on board ship |
Chapeler | made and sold hats |
Chapman or Copeman | itinerant dealer or peddler of goods, or a keeper of a booth or stall in a market |
Char, Charwoman, or Char Woman | cleaner |
Charcoal Burner | made charcoal usually in the woods where the trees were cut |
Charman | See Carrier |
Chartmaster | A middleman that negotiated mining contracts and supplied the labour. |
Charwoman / Char | cleaning woman |
Chaser | An engraver |
Chatelaine | The mistress of a castle or house. |
Chaunter | street entertainer who sung ballads |
Checker on Railway | Ticket Inspector, checked to make sure that passengers had valid tickets. |
Cheese Factor or Monger, or Cheeseman | dealer in cheeses |
Cheesemonger | Dealer in cheese and butter. |
Chef | Someone who cooks food, but more highly skilled and qualified than a Cook. |
Chemical Packer | Someone who packed chemicals for a Druggist os Chemist. |
Chemist | Someone who was qualified to dispense drugs on prescription from a Doctor; Pharmacist, Apothecary, Druggist, etc. |
Chesterman | A guard. |
Chest Maker | made chests |
Chiffonier or Chiffonnier | wig maker or ragpicker |
Childbed Linen Warehouse Keeper or Dealer | A person who hired bedlinen for use at child-birth as most children were born at home in the 19th century. |
Children's Boot Maker | made boots for children |
Children's Milliner | Someone who specialised in making hats for Children |
Chimney Sweep or Sweep | Swept the soot out of chimneys |
China & Glass Dealer | sold china and glassware |
Chinglor | A rooftiler who used wooden shingles. |
Chintz Glazer | A textile mill worker who applied sizing or starch to fabric to give it more body and a smooth surface. |
Chip or Chippy | shipwright or carpenter |
Chipper's Labourer | An assistant to a shipwright or ships carpenter. |
Chiropodist | A person who treats diseases of the feet & hands. |
Chirugion or Chirurgeon | An apothecary or surgeon. |
Chowder | fish monger |
Chronologist | A person who recorded official events of historical importance. |
Cigar Box Maker Cutter | cut and made cigar boxes |
Cigar Box Paperer | lined cigar boxes with paper |
Cigar Maker | made cigars |
Cigar Maker's Apprentice | apprentice to above |
Cigar Sorter & Bundler | sorted and bundled cigars |
Cigar Stripper | tobacco stripper, part of the cigar making process |
Cigarette Cutter | cut cigarettes |
Cigarette Maker | made cigarettes |
Cinder Wench | female who collected cinders from gas works and sold them door to door |
Circuit Rider | Traveling Preacher |
Cissor | A tailor. |
Civil Servant | Anyone who worked in a Government Department position. |
Claker | A magician or astrologer. |
Clapman | A man who took a person to prison. |
Clark, Clarke or Clericus | clerk |
Classman | An unemployed labourer. |
Claviger | A Servant |
Clay Carrier | An assistant to the shot firer in the pits. |
Clayman | One who worked in the clay pits, preparing the clay for making bricks, or a person who coated the outside of buildings with clay to make them water proof. |
Cleaner, Char | domestic cleaner |
Cleat Maker | Someone who made cleats. |
Clericus | See Clerk |
Clerk | general clerical work, also can mean clergyman, cleric |
Clerk (C.C.) | commercial clerk |
Clerk in Holy Orders | A Clergyman, cleric or priest. |
Clerk (Junior) | obvious really |
Clerk Secretary | secretarial clerk |
Cleyman | See Clayman |
Clicker | One who made eyelet holes or uppers in boots using a machine which clicked, or a person in charge of the final stage of layout before printing in the print industry, or the servant of a salesman who stood at the door to invite customers in. |
Clipper, Clipper on, or Clipper Off | One who attached the coal carts to the rope which was used to drag the carts to and from the coal face in the mines. |
Clock Maker | made clocks |
Clod Hopper | plowman or ploughman |
Clog Dancer | street entertainers - Actors |
Clogger | A clog maker (wooden shoes). |
Cloth Cutter | cut cloth |
Cloth Dyer | Someone who dyed cloth. |
Clothesman or Clothier | A person who made or sold clothes. |
Cloth Lapper | A person who took the cloth from the carding machine and made it ready for the next process. |
Cloth Linter or Picker | A person who removed unwanted threads and lint from the finished material. |
Clotnman | See Clothier |
Cloth Presser | pressed cloth |
Cloth Worster | Someone who operated a gilling machine that straightened the fibres in yarn to make worsted cloth. |
Clothes Cutter | cut clothes |
Clothier | who made or sold clothes |
Clothier's Cutter | cut clothes |
Clouter | A person who made nails. Also another term for a shoemaker. |
Clower | A person who made nails. |
Club Proprietor | manager of a club |
Coach Maker | made coaches |
Coach Painter | painted coaches |
Coachman | drove a coach, or acted as a guard, or looked after the horses |
Coal Backer | A person employed to carry the sacks of coal from the coal barge to the coal wagons. |
Coal Burner | A person who made charcoal. |
Coal Dealer & Greengrocer | sold fruit and vegetables as well as coal |
Coal Drawer | worked in the mines pushing or dragging the coal carts to the bottom of the pit |
Coal Heaver | A person employed to move coal e.g. from boat to shore or from shore to boat. |
Coal Higgler or Coalman | A person who sold coal usually from a horse and cart, house to house. |
Coal merchant/dealer | sold coal |
Coalmeter | A person who measured the coal. |
Coal mine service | worked in a coal mine |
Coal Miner | worked in a coal mine |
Coal Porter or Coal Bearer | carried and delivered coal |
Coalheaver, Coal labourer | Similar |
Coal Runner | A person who attended the coal carts underground. |
Coal Whipper | One employed to unload coal from ships using baskets attached to a simple form of crane. |
Coast Surveyor or Waiter | A customs officer who watched over the off-loading of goods on the coast. |
Cobbler | One who mended shoes and boots. |
Cobleman | A person who used a flat bottomed boat for fishing. |
Cockfeeder | A person who looked after fighting cocks. |
Cocoa Nut Opener | opened cocoa nuts |
Cocus | A cook |
Cod Placer | A person who put the fire proof containers which held the pottery for firing into the kiln. |
Coffee House Manager | managed a coffee house |
Coffee House/Shop Keeper | kept a coffee house or coffee shop |
Coffin Maker | made coffins |
Coffin Maker, Undertaker | made coffins and took care of funeral arrangements |
Cohen | a priest |
Coiner | A person who worked at the Mint stamping out coins. |
Collar Cutter, Shirt | cut collars for shirts |
Collar Dresser Shirt | fitted collars onto shirts |
Collar Ironer | ironed collars on shirts |
Collar Maker | made horse collars or shirt collars |
Collier | coal miner, a coal merchant or one who worked on the coal barges |
Colour Man | mixed the dyes in the textile trade and also assistant to a house painter |
Colourator or Colorator | A person who worked with dyes. |
Colporteur | Peddler of books, sometimes religious books. |
Colt | A name for unskilled workers. Used to describe women and children working in the framework knitting trade. |
Colver or Culver | Someone who kept Doves. |
Comb Maker (Bone, Ivory) | A person who made combs either for the textile industry for combing wool etc. or the maker of hair combs, often out of Bone or Ivory. |
Comber | One who operated a combing machine in the mills. |
Combere | A person who combs wool. |
Commercial Agent | another name for an agent |
Commercial Clerk | another name for a clerk |
Commercial Traveller | another name for a travelling salesman |
Commission Agent | Another name for an Agent. |
Commission Traveller | Another name for a Travelling Salesman. |
Commissionaire | Someone employed as an Attendant, Doorman, Messenger or Light Porter employed in Hotels or Railway Stations. |
Compositor, Printer | set the type ready for printing |
Conder | A person on shore who gave directions to fisherman as to the movements of the shoals of fish (usually from the top of cliffs). |
Coney Catcher | rabbit catcher |
Confectioner | maker of sweets |
Conner | An inspector or tester. |
Contriver | An inventor, or a schemer or plotter. |
Conveyor | A grantor or seller. |
Cook | someone who cooks food |
Cook, Domestic | someone who cooks food domestically |
Cooper or Cuper | makes or repairs barrels or other vessels made of staves & hoops, such as casks, tubs, vats, etc (See also Tea Cooper, someone who made tea chests) |
Copeman | dealer in goods, or a dishonest dealer in horses. |
Coper | A horse dealer. Sometimes a dishonest horse dealer. |
Copperbeater or Copperbeter | A coppersmith, someone who worked with copper or brass. |
Copper miner | mined copper ore |
Coppersmith | Someone who made items out of copper |
Coppersmith's Labourer | assisted - obvious really |
Coppice Keeper | A person who looks after a small wood. |
Coracle Maker | A person who made coracles, small round boats used for inland water fishing. |
Cordiner, Cordwainer, or Cordovan | A shoemaker; someone who made shoes and other articles from fine soft leather. Also a person who worked with Cordovan, a special soft leather from Cordoba, Spain. (As opposed to a Cobbler, who simply repaired shoes) |
Cord Twister, Rope | Someone who twisted fibres to make cord or rope. |
Cork Cutter | A person who worked with cork. |
Cork Porter | one who carried cork |
Corn Chandler | sold corn |
Corn Cutter | A podiatrist. |
Cornet | The lowest commissioned rank in a cavalry regiment. |
Corn Factor | A middleman in corn deals. |
Corn Meter | An official who measured and weighed the corn at market. |
Corn Porter | carried corn |
Correspondent | journalist or writer |
Corsage Maker | Someone who made Corsages, or small flower arrangements to be worn on the shoulder or wrist. |
Corset Maker, Bone | made corsets |
Corver | A person who made baskets used in coal mining known as corves. |
Corveysera, Corviner or Corviser | See Cordiner |
Coster | peddlar, hawker, seller of goods on the street, sometimes fruit, but not always |
Coster Monger or Costermonger | fruit seller, or peddler, hawker, seller of goods on the street |
Coster Wife | female fruit seller |
Coteler or Cotyler | A person who made and repaired knives. |
Cotiler | A cutler |
Cottager, Cottar, Cotter or cottier | An agricultural labourer who lived in a cottage on the landowners farm. |
Cotton Feeder | A person employed in the cotton mills to feed the cotton into the loom. |
Cotton Winder | wound cotton |
Coucher | A person employed in the paper making trade. |
Countour | A person who collected rates. |
Couper | A dealer, Buys and sells, usually cattle and horses. |
Couple Beggar | An itinerant priest who performed marriages without licence or banns. |
Coupler | A person employed in the coal mines coupling the coal tubs together. |
Couranteer | A journalist. |
Court Factor | A person who bought and sold courts (small carts). |
Court Roller | A person in charge of the court rolls and records. |
Court Toolmaker | A manufacturer of tools used to produce carts known as courts. |
Courtier | The owner and driver of a horse and cart known as a court. |
Cow Boy, Milk | milked cows |
Cowherd | A person who looked after cows. |
Cowkeeper, Cowman or milkseller | kept one or more cows and sold the milk from the front door, or from door to door |
Cow Leech | An animal doctor. |
Coxwain | ship or boat helmsman, or a member of the crew that gave the steering instructions to the helmsman |
Crayman | driver of a cart carrying heavy loads. |
Creaque Hand | |
Crier | law court officer, auctioneer, town announcer |
Crimper | A member of navy press gang. |
Crocker | Potter |
Crofter | tenant of a small piece of land |
Cropper | tenant who is paid with a share of the crop, or a skilled worker in the Yorkshire weaving trade who sheared the nap from cloth. |
Crowner | A Coroner |
Cuhreur or Cunreur | A currier. |
Culler | A gelder of male animals. |
Curate - Clergy | |
Curer | cures tobacco or pork |
Curretter | A Broker. |
Currier | One who dresses the coat of a horse with a curry comb, or one who cures or tans hides |
Customer or Customs Officer | A customs tax collector. |
Cutler | knife seller or sharpener |
Cutter | One who cuts things |
Cycle Maker | Someone who made Bicycles. |
©2003 phphosted.com