Victorian Occupations

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.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Packer	packs goods such as tobacco, pickles or herring
Packing Case Maker	Someone who makes packing cases.
Packman	A peddler, someone who travelled around carrying goods for sale in a pack.
Pack Thread Spinner	The operator of the machine which made thread or twine.
Pad Maker	A person who made small baskets used for measuring things.
Painter	Someone who paints things.
Painter & Grainer	Someone who paints and applies a grain to imitate a different type of wood.
Painter (Sign)	Someone who paints signs.
Paintress	A woman employed in the pottery industry to hand paint the finished articles.
Paling Man	Someone who sells eels, or a fishmonger.
Palister	A Park Keeper, someone who ensured the parks were safe and well kept.
Palmer	A pilgrim, someone who had been, or pretended to have been, to the Holy Land
Paneler	A saddler.
Pannarius	A clothier or draper.
Pannebeter	A pan-hammerer, or a clothdriver.
Pannier Man	A fish monger
Pannifex	A person who worked in the cloth trade.
Pansmith	Someone who made pans; a metal worker.
Panter	Keeper of the pantry.
Pantler	A butler.
Papaya Man	Someone who was involved in trade with Papua New Guinea.
Paper Bag Maker	Made paper bags.
Paper Colorer	Coloured paper.
Paper Cutter	Someone who Cut paper.
Paper Dealer	Someone who dealt in paper.
Paper Embosser	Someone who embossed paper.
Paperer	Someone employed in the needlemaking industry to insert the needles into the paper ready for sale.
Paper Hanger	A decorator, one who hung wallpaper.
Paper Hanger, Plasterer	An interior decorator who hung paper and plastered.
Paper Maker	Someone who worked in the paper making industry. See Vatman, Coucher, Layer, Sizer.
Paper manufacture	The owner of a paper making factory.
Paper Presser	Someone who worked a paper pressing machine.
Paper Sorter	Someone who sorted paper.
Paper Stainer	A person who coloured paper by hand or machine.
Parcheminer	Someone who makes parchment.
Pardoner	Someone who is licensed to sell papal indulgences.
Pargeter	Someone who applied ornamental plaster to buildings.
Paritor	An officer who attended the magistrates and judges at court to execute their orders.
Parker	A park caretaker, or type of game warden in a hunting or game park.
Parochus	A pastor or rector.
Passage Keeper	kept passages and alleys clean.
Passover Cake Baker
Pasteler	A pastry chef.
Pastor	A shepherd.
Pastry Cook	A cook who bakes pastry.
Patler	A groom.
Patten or Patton Maker	A clog maker, one who made wooden soles or pattens, to fit under shoes to protect them from wet and muddy ground
Pattern Maker	A maker of a clog shod with an iron ring. A clog was a wooden pole with a pattern cut into the end
Paver	Someone who laid paving stones or paved roads. See Paviour
Paviour or Road Paver	Someone who laid paving stones or paved roads.
Pavyler	Someone who put up marquees, pavilions or tents etc.
Pawnbroker	Someone who lent money with interest against an item of value, and who would later sell the item to recoup their investment unless the lender expressed the wish to buy it back themselves when funds were available.
Pedascule	A school master.
Pedlar	A street seller who bought and sold goods for cash.
Peeler	A policeman, constable or bobby, named after Sir Robert Peel, the founder of the police force.
Peever	Someone who sold pepper.
Pelliparius or Peltarius	A skinner, one who worked with animal skins.
Pelterer	A skinner, one who worked with animal skins.
Perambulator	A surveyor.
Pensioner	Someone who draws a pension
Perchemear	Someone who made parchment.
Peregrinator	An itinerant worker or wanderer.
Perfumer	Someone who makes or sells perfume.
Periwig Maker	Someone who made wigs.
Peruke Maker	Someone who made wigs.
Peruker	Someone who made wigs.
Pessoner	A fishmonger.
Peter Man	A fisherman.
Pettifogger	A shyster lawyer.
Petty Chapman	A pedlar. or an itinerant dealer in small goods. See Chapman.
Pew Opener	Someone who was paid to open the doors to private pews in a church.
Philosophical Instrument Maker	A skilled craftsman who made scientific instruments.
Phrenologist	Someone who claimed to be able to assess a person's character based on the bumps on their head.
Pianist	Someone who played the piano.
Pianoforte Maker	Someone who made piano's (pianoforte's).
Picker	Someone who cast the shuttle on a loom.
Pickler	Someone who pickled things, eggs, onions beetroot etc.
Pictor	A painter.
Picture Dealer	Someone who buys and sells pictures
Picture Frame Gilder	Someone who gilds picture frames.
Picture Frame Maker	Someone who makes picture frames.
Piece Broker	A person who sold material off-cuts or remnants.
Piece Worker	Someone who was paid for the number of pieces produced rather than by the hour. This applied to many industries. People who worked from home were usually pieceworkers.
Piece Master	Someone who acted as a middleman between employer and employee, and who passed out the piecework.
Piecener	See Piecer.
Piecer	Someone who worked in a spinning mill, piecing together any threads which broke. Often a child.
Pigmaker	Someone who made pig or cast iron, also a pottery worker.
Pigman	A crockery dealer, or someone who bred or looked after pigs on the farm.
Pikelet Maker	A baker who specialised in making pikelets; small pancakes or crumpets.
Pikeman	A millers assistant, or someone who worked at the turnpike.
Piker	A vagrant or tramp, someone with no fixed abode.
Pilcher	Someone who made pilches.
Pill Box Bottomer	Someone who made the bottoms of pill boxes in the pottery industry.
Pill Box Lidder	Someone who made the lids of pill boxes in the pottery industry.
Piller	A thief, or robber.
Pilot	A ship steersman or navigator.
Pinder	A dog catcher and pound keeper, or someone in charge of the pinfold.
Piner	A labourer.
Pinner	A pin maker.
Pinner Up	A dressmakers assistant, or someone who sold broadsheets or ballads in the streets.
Pipe Case Maker	Someone who made pipe cases.
Piper	An innkeeper.
Pipe Maker	Someone who made pipes.
Piscarius	A fishmonger.
Piscator	A fisherman.
Pistor	A baker or miller.
Pit Brow Lass	A female worker who worked at the pit head of a mine.
Pitman	A coal miner
Plaicher	A hedge layer.
Plain Worker	Someone who performed plain sewing or needlework as opposed to an embroiderer.
Plaisterer	A plasterer.
Plaiter	Someone who made straw plaits used in making hats etc.
Planker	Someone who planks, or kneads the body of the hat during felting.
Plantifene	A hay and forage merchant. See Avernator.
Plasher	A hedge layer.
Plasterer	Someone who plasters walls and ceilings, or someone who worked with roman cement used in stuccoing.
Plaster Ship Maker
Platcher	A hedge layer.
Platelayer	laid and maintained railway tracks.
Playderer	Someone who made plaid.
Pleacher	A hedge layer.
Plomer	A plumber.
Plowman	farmer
Plowwright or Ploughwright	maker or repairer of plows
Plumassier	Someone who made or sold plumes, or ornamental feathers.
Plumber	Someone who worked with lead, for gas and water pipes etc. One who applied sheet lead for roofing and set lead frames for plain or stained glass windows
Plumber & Gas Fitter	one who worked with lead piping for gas fittings
Plumbum Worker	plumber; literally, worker in lead
Plumer	See Plumassier.
Pocket Book Maker	Someone who made pocket books.
Podiatrist	Another name for a chiropodist.
Pointer	Someone who sharpened needles or pins, etc.
Pointmaker	Someone who made the tips of laces.
Pointman	Someone who made the tips of laces.
Pointsman	A person who operated the points to change the railway track on which a train was travelling.
Poldave Worker	Someone who made poldave, a coarse fabric.
Pole Lathe Turner	A skilled craftsman in wood.
Poleman	A surveyor's assistant.
Polentier	A poulterer.
Police Sergeant	A police officer who had achieved the rank of Sergeant.
Policeman, Railway	A person employed by the railway as a policeman to guard the railway assets.
Poller	A barber, or men's hairdresser.
Ponderator	An inspector of weights and measures.
Pony Driver	Someone, often a child, in charge of the pit pony which pulled the coal tubs underground.
Porcher	A pig keeper.
Pork Butcher	A butcher who specialised in Pork meat.
Portable Soup Maker	Someone who converted soup into a dry form for transporting from place to place.
Porter	door or gatekeeper, or one who carried things
Porter on Railway	A porter who worked for the railways.
Portmanteau Maker	Someone who made leather trunks for clothes, etc., which opened into two equal parts.
Post Boy	Someone who carried mail from town to town. A guard who travelled on the mail coach. An outrider who travelled with the stagecoach as a postillion.
Poster	Someone who worked in the quarries breaking rocks.
Postillion	Someone who attached extra horses to wagons & coaches to help pull them up hills, or one who worked on long distance coaches and who's duty it was to change the horses at the stops.
Postman	someone who carried letters for the Post Office.
Pot Boy or Man	worked in public houses collecting and washing dirty pots and glasses
Pot Burner	Someone who placed pots in a furnace to be fired.
Potato Badger	Someone who sold potatoes.
Potato Salesman	Someone who sold potatoes.
Potter	Someone who made or sold pottery.
Potter Carrier	A pharmacist or chemist.
Potter Presser	A potter who used a mould.
Potter Thrower	A potter who used a wheel had to "throw" the clay onto the spinning wheel.
Potman & Barman	worked in public houses collecting and washing dirty pots and glasses and serving drinks
Pouch Maker	Someone who made pouches or purses.
Poulter or Poulterer	A buyer and seller of poultry.
Power Loom Tuner	Someone who maintained the loom in a weaving mill.
Powler	A barber, or men's hairdresser.
Poynter	Someone who makes lace.
Practical Brewer	Someone who brews ale or beer.
Preceptress	A school mistress.
Prentis	Another name for an apprentice
Presser	Someone who presses, clothes for example.
Pressmaker	Someone who makes presses.
Prick Louise	A tailor.
Pricker	A pattern maker, or a horseman, or a witch hunter.
Prig Napper	A horse thief.
Printer	Someone who works at or owns a printing press
Printer's Apprentice	Someone who is training to be a printer.
Printer's Boy	An assistant to a printer.
Printer's Compositor	Someone who sets print type.
Printer's Cutter	Someone who cuts paper that has been printed.
Printer's Devil	A printer's assistant.
Printer's Factory Lad	An assistant to a printer.
Printer's Foreman	Someone in charge in a printing shop.
Printer's Labourer	Someone who labours for a printer
Printer's Machine Boy	An assistant to a printer.
Printing Mark Maker
Proctor	An official of a university.
Proffensor of Swing
Prop Bobby	Someone who worked in mines checking the pit props.
Protestant Dissenting minister
Prothonary	A law clerk.
Provision Curer	Someone who cures meat.
Provision Dealer	Someone who supplies provisions.
Provision Warehouseman	Someone who works in a provisions warehouse.
Publican	innkeeper, one who runs a public house, usually licensed
Puddler	Someone who worked clay into puddle, or one who worked with puddle to make things watertight e.g. canal walls, or one who worked with puddling iron or wrought iron.
Puggard	A thief or robber.
Pugger	Someone employed by brick manufacturers to produce clay paste by treading like grapes, often women and children.
Pugilist	A prize fighter.
Puller Down
Pulley Maker	Someone who made pulleys.
Pump Maker	Someone who made mechanical pumps.
Punky	A chimney sweep.
Pupil Teacher	A schoolteacher.
Pure Gatherer or Picker	Someone who roamed the streets, especially in London, gathering dog faeces, often an old woman or child. These were used in the tanning industry for processing hides.
Purser	A ship's officer in charge of provisions & accounts
Purveyor of Horse Flesh	Someone who sold horse meat.
Putter	Someone who worked in the coal mine hauling the mine tubs.
Putter In	Someone who was employed to put things in to some type of mechanised process.
Pynner	A pin maker.

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