DEFINITIONS: A-B



WORDDEFINITION
A .
ABACIST Accountant
ABBEY LUBBERPerson who relied on an abbey for his living without working, a lazy monk, or a pensioner
ABBOT COMMENDATORY A non-serving monk who acted as a guardian and executive of an abbey.
ABBOT REGULAR A serving monk.
ABBOT'S PROCTOR An abbot's representative at parliament and religious gatherings.
ABBROCATOR or ABBROCARIUS General broker.
ABBUTAL Boundary of lands.
ABBUTER Neighbour.
ABECEDARIAN A person taught, or learning, the alphabet.
ABIGAIL A lady's maid.
ABLASTER or ABBLASTRE Crossbow soldier.
ABLEPSY Blindness
ABOLITIONISTS Referred to several reforming groups, but particularly to the late 18th century movement led by William Wilberforce against the slave trade. Later referred to those in favour of abolishing transportation of convicts to Australia.
ABRA Maid servant.
ABRAHAM MEN or BEDLAM BEGGARS Demented beggars, from the first lunatic asylum in England, Bethlehem Hospital or `Bedlum.'
ABTHANE A Steward
ACATERA caterer, a purveyor of food or provisions.
ACCIPITRARY A falconer
ACCOMPTANT Accountant.
ACCOUCHEURMidwife.
ACCOUTRE or ACCOUTREMENT MAKERSupplier or maker of military clothing and equipment.
ACHATOUR Person, or purveyor, in charge of the acatry [a room or place alloted to the storage of provisions purchased for the king]
ACICULARIUS Comb-maker, or maker of decorative pins for holding clothes together.
ACKERMAN or ACREMAN Ploughman, oxherder or cowkeeper.
ACRE4840 square yards.
ACRE-DALELands in a common field, in which different people hold portions of varying quantities [North England]
ACREME Legal term for ten acres of land
ACROGRAPHER Engraver on metal [for printing purposes.]
ACTUARY Statistical expert or registrar. Accountant specialising in documentation, especially about insurance
ACUPICTOR Embroiderer.
ADDLEPLOT Someone who farmed his land so badly that he ruined it.
ADMINISTRATORAppointee of the court who settles estates of deceased who die intestate, or where an executor is unwilling or unable to serve.
ADMITE Member of a religious sect which went about naked.
ADRENCHEN Dripping wet [Midlands.]
ADULLAMITES Liberals who joined the Tories in 1866 in voting for a bill to extend parliamentary reform.
ADVENTURER A member of the merchant adventurers who dealt in wool. Also a shareholder in a tin mine.
ADVERTISEMENT CONVEYANCER Sandwich board man.
ADVOCATE Solicitor/Lawyer. Or a Prosecutor, in Scotland.
ADVOCATE DEPUTE Scottish law officer who could act as public prosecutor.
ADVOWEE Person, usually a nobleman, with the rights to appoint a clergyman [Advowson] to a parish.
AEDIFICATOR Builder or architect.
AEGYPTIANUS Gypsy or Roma.
AEROMANCER Ancient name for a weather forecaster.
AFFEEROR or ASSESSOR Official in the Manorial courtswho set fixed court penalties, and collected taxes and dues.
AFFINED Related.
AFRICAN BROCADE WEAVER Specialist weaver of floral or geometric patterns.
AFTERCHROMER A person who fixed colour in dyed cloth.
AGA A chief, officer or dignitary.
AGAMIST Matrimonal objector.
AGENFRIE The true lord or owner of a thing
AGENHINE A guest in a house who was counted part of the family after three nights' stay
AGGILLARIUS Haymaker.
AGISTER Official of the New Forest, in charge of the wild ponies. In general, person who looked after horses or cattle, of Royal Forest official who received payments for pig foraging.
AGMATOLOGIST Physician who specialised in broken bones.
AGNATE Persons related through the father.
AGNOMEN Added surname.
AGONIST An athlete or prize-fighter
AGRESTIC Common, rustic or rude person.
AGRICOLA Farmer.
AGRICULTURIST Farmer or land worker.
AGUE Malaria or other fevers.
AID CANVAS WEAVERWeaver of open woven material used in needlework or embroidery.
AIELS Forefathers [Anglo-Norman]
AKER-LOND Cultivated land
AKER-MAN Husbandman
ALABASTERERPerson who worked with alabaster.
ALADINIST English name for a free thinker, especially among foreigners.
ALARUM MAKER Specialist clock maker who constructed the clock almost entirely of wood, then attached the `alarm bell,' the forerunner of the modern alarm clock. Alarum clocks were plentiful in the early 1800s and considered cheap and inferior. Most makers of them were foreign.
ALASKA YARN SPINNER Spinner of mixed cotton and wool cloth.
ALBERT TWILL WEAVER Weaver of lining materials.
ALBIGENSEY 12th century protestants branded heretics by the Pope.
ALBLASTERE Crossbow man.
ALCHEMIST Medieval chemist who claimed to be able to turn metals into gold.
ALDERES Ancestors
ALDERMEN Senior councillors below a mayor, men of rank
ALDIS [LIGHT] SIGNALLER Signalman who used light flashes to pass messages.
ALE CONNER OR ALE FOUNDEROfficial who tested quality and measure of ale served in public houses.
ALE DRAPER Seller of ale, publican.
ALE SILVER A rent or tribute paid yearly to the Lord Mayor of London by those selling ale within the city
ALE TASTER Person who tested ale and beer for quality, appointed by the manor. First recorded in 1377.
ALE TUNNER Brewery worker who filled ale casks known as `tuns'
ALE WIFELandlady, proprietor of an alehouse or tavern.
ALECTOROMACHER Someone involved in alectomachy or cock-fighting.
ALESTAN-BEARER A pot-boy
ALGERINE Pirate.
ALGERINO Seaweed gatherer. Latin term used colloquially by residents of Whitby about their neighbours in Scarborough.
ALIEN In medieval times a foreigner who coudln't inherit land.
ALIEN MONK, PRIOR OR NUN Member of a British religious order which held allegiance to a foreign monastery. Many alien monasteries appeared after 1066.
ALIEN-PRIORY Priory which was subordinate to a foreign monastery
ALL SPICE Grocer [nickname]
ALLUS Always, [Mid-north England.]
ALMANAC MAN Official who warned inhabitants near the Trent River of higher than normal tides. Employer of the court of sewers.
ALMONER or ALMATOUR Giver of charity to the needy, or a person in charge of an almshouse. Also the title of hospital managers until the 1970s.
ALMSMAN Receiver of alms or charity.
ALNAGER Official who inspected quality of woollen goods and applied a town's stamp of approval.
ALPURTH A halfpenny worth
AMAISTER To teach [Shropshire]
AMANUENSIS Secretary or stenographer, copies or transcribes dictation of words or music.
AMBLER Officer of the Royal Stable who broke in horses.
AMEN MAN Parish Clerk.
ANCHOR SMITH Person who made anchors.
ANCHORESSFemale hermit or religious recluse.
ANCHORITE Male hermit or religious recluse.
ANENT Against or next to, [Midlands.]
ANGEL Old gold coin, varying in value from about six shillings and eightpence to ten shillings. It was introduced in the early part of the reign of Edward IV.
ANGLE IRON SMITHPerson who made angled iron bars.
ANILEPMAN Smallholder of a Manor.
ANKLE BEATER Youngster who assisted in driving cattle to market.
ANNATTO MAKER Person who manufactures dyes for printing or painting.
ANNUELLERE A priest employed to sing anniversary masses for the dead
ANNUITANT Person who receives annual income as a pension.
ANNUITY Yearly payment.
ANTIGROPELOS MAKER Person who made waterproof leggings.
ANVIL SMITHMaker of hammers and anvils.
APOTHECARY Chemist.
APOPLEXYA stroke.
APPARITOR Official who summoned witnesses in the ecclesiastical courts.
APPRENTICE Person who was bound to a skilled worker for a set time to learn a trade.
APPRENTICE-AT-LAW A counsellor, next in rank under a sergeant
APRON-MAN A waiter
APRONEER Shopkeeper [London, slang]
APRONMAN A mechanic
AQUAVITA SELLER Person who sold alcohol.
ARBITER Person who judged disputes.
ARCHIATOR Physician.
ARCHIL MAKER Person who made a violet dye from lichens for the textile industry.
ARE 120 square yards, [France.]
ARGIFY To argue, [Southwest England.]
ARGOLET A lighthorseman
ARSY Grumpy or moody, [Midlands.]
ARKWRIGHT Skilled craftsman who produced `arks.' [Wooden chests]
ARMIGER Someone entitled to bear heraldic arms. A squire who carried the armour of a knight.
ARMOURER Person who makes suits of armour, or person who makes plates of armour for ships.
ARTIFICER An army or navy mechanic who repairs military equipment.
ARTISAN Skilled tradesman.
ASCITES Dropsy. Accumulation of fluids in the body.
ASHMAN Rubbish collector. Also a maker of potash, used for household cleaning and washing.
ASSARDS Backwards [Southwest England.]
ASSAY MASTER Person who decides the amount of gold or silver to go into coins.
ASSAYER Person who determines the proportions of metal in ore.
ASSHEARD A keeper of asses
ATCHISON A billion coin [copper washed with silver] struck in the reign of James VI, to the value of eight pennies Scots, or two thirds of an English penny
ATRICK Usher of a hall, master porter
AUCTOUR An author
AUGER MAKER Person who made carpenters' augers [hole boring instruments.]
AUNCY Anxious, [Southwest England.]
AURIFABER Goldsmith.
AVENATOR or PLANTIFENE Hay or forage merchant.
AVER-SILVER A custom or rent originating from the cattle [avers] of tenants
AVOWRY Lord of the Manor.
AX-PEDLAR A person dealing in ashes, a hawker of woodashes
AXLE TOOTH A grinder [North England]
AXLE TREE MAKERPerson who made axles for coaches or wagons.
AYEL A forefather
B .
BABBaby, Love or Darling [Midlands]
BACH or BACHGENTerm of endearment, a child, [Wales.]
BACK WASHERPerson employed to clean wool in the worsted industry.
BACK'US BOY Kitchen servant [from back of the house.]
BACKEN Delay or keep back, [Midlands.]
BACKEND Autumn, [Northwest England.]
BACKMAKER Person who makes backs [vats or tubs]. A cooper.
BACKSTER or BAXTER Baker
BAD Ill, [Midlands and Wales.]
BADGER Licenced pauper who was restricted to work in a specified area, and wore a badge marked `P' to identify himself [Thus `Badgering']
BADGER Corn miller or dealer.
BADGER A person who buys farm produce to resell at market
BADGY FIDDLERBoy trumpeter in the military.
BAGATINE An Italian coin, worth about a third of a farthing
BAGMAN Pedlar or travelling salesman.
BAGNIOKEEPER Person in charge of a bathhouse or brothel.
BAILEY Backyard, gap between front door and gate, [Wales.]
BAILIE or BAILOR Alderman [Scotland]
BAILIFF or BAILYOfficer of the Sheriff, a land steward.
BAILIFF In Scotland, a Magistrate of the Burgh, also responsible for certain fishing rights.
BAIRMAN Pauper or beggar.
BAIRN'S PART OF
GEAR. 		The part of a parent's moveables to which children are entitled
on parent's death: one-third when the other parent survives; one-half otherwise [Scotland.]
BAJARDOUR A carter, bearer of a weight or burden
BAKESTER A female baker
BAL MAIDENFemale surface mine worker. Also `Pit Brow Lass.'
BALANCER Person who operated the `balance' in a coal mine, which was a pulley system used to pull coal tubs up to the surface to empty.
BALE Ten reams.
BALER Person who bailed hay, or in a mill, bailed wool or cotton.
BALISTER Archer, usually a crossbow man.
BALLAD MONGER Person who sold printed ballads in the street.
BALLARD MASTER Person who directed loading of ballast into hold of an empty ship.
BALLAST HEAVER Person who loaded ballast into ships.
BALLER Person who assisted the potter by measuring out of balls of clay.
BALLY-WART Stomach ache, [Northwest England.]
BAND FILER Metal worker in the gun-making industry.
BANDLE Two feet, Ireland.
BANDSTER Person who bound the wheat sheaves after harvest.
BANG BEGGAR Officer of a parish who controlled the length of stay of any stranger to the parish.
BANKER Person who dug trenches and ditches for land drainage.
BANKSMAN Person in charge of the cages at the head of a coal pit. Also referred to as a bank manager or browman.
BANNER A body of armed men, between twenty and eighty
BANNERET or BANRENT A knight made in the field with the ceremony of cutting off the point of his standard, making it a banner
BANNERING Annual custom of walking the bounds of a parish to maintain local jurisdiction and privileges [Shropshire]
BANNISTERS Travellers in distress
BANNSPublic notice of marriage.
BAP or BREADCAKE Bread roll, [mid north England.]
BARBER SURGEONBarber, prior to 18th century. Also a surgeon. Note that in the 18th century an act was passed limiting their activity to haircutting, shaving, dentistry and blood-letting.
BARD Poet or minstrel.
BAREMAN Beggar or pauper.
BARGE DAY Ascension Day [Newcastle]
BARGE MATE Naval officer.
BARGEE or BARGEMAN Person who owned or worked a barge.
BARILLA MANUFACTURER Person who made Barilla, a substance extracted from burning saltworts. Barilla, a mixture of sodium salts, was used in the glass and ceramics industry.
BARKEEPER Tollkeeper
BARKMAN A Boatman
BARKMAN or BARKER Person who tanned leather using tree bark. Later also referred to a person who shouted about attractions at a fairground.
BARLEYMAN Bylawman.
BARM, BATCH OR BAP Bread roll, [Northwest England.]
BARM BREWER Person who made yeast.
BARMASTER Mining officer who measured the lead ore, received the lot and cope, laid out and measured meers of ground to the miners, and adjudged disputes or set up barmote courts in the lead mining industry. [Derbyshire]
BARREL FILERPerson working in the gun manufacturing industry.
BARROWMAN Person employed in coal mines to push the barrow from pit-face to shaft.
BARRY Excellent [from Romany], Scotland.
BARTONER/BARTON Person in charge of a monastic farm.
BASCLES Robbers or highwaymen
BASEL A coin abolished by Henry II in 1158
BASIL WORKER Person working with sheep and goat skins.
BASKETMAN Person who made baskets and furniture from wicker.
BASKETMAN Person who emptied the basket of coal offloaded from colliers into barges.
BASS or BAST DRESSER Person who dressed fibre or matting.
BASTELER A person who bastes meat
BASTERLY-GULLION Bastard of a bastard [Lancashire]
BAT-SWAIN A Sailor
BATMAN Officer's servant in the army.
BATT MAKER Person who made wadding used in quilt and mattress making.
BATTLEDORE MAKER Person who made beaters used to remove dust from clothes or carpets. Later also made washing machine paddles.
BAUBEE or BAWBEE Halfpenny, Scotland. A copper coin of about the value of a halfpenny.
BAVEN MAKER Maker of kindling. A Bavin or Baven is a thin split of wood with a whittled end.
BAWER A person who made balls [Staffordshire]
BAXTER or BACKSTER Baker {North England]
BAXTERIANS Followers of Richard Baxter [1615-1691, Controversial clergyman who fought against dissenting sects, especially the quakers.
BAY-SPITTLE Honey [Bee-spit], [Southwest England.]
BAYWEAVER Person who wove bay, a fine woollen fabric also called baize.
BEADLE Crier or messenger of a court, keeper of a prison, or under-bailiff of a manor
BEADLE or BEADELL Parish officer responsible for keeping order.
BEADMAN or BEADSMAN or BEDESMAN Almsman, receiver of alms, inhabitant of an almshouse, poorhouse or hospital.
BEADSMAN Servant, although originally, someone who offered up prayers for the welfare of others
BEAMERPerson working in the textile trade to wind the warp on the roller before placing it on the loom.
BEAR-HERD Bearkeeper
BEARER Person working underground carrying coal to the bottom of the pit shaft and loading it in containers lifted to the surface.
BEARER Person who bear or carry a corpse to the grave
BEARWARD Bearkeeper
BEATER Person who cleansed and thickened cloth by treading it underwater with fullers earth
BEAU-PERE A friar or priest [Anglo-Norman]
BEAVER Person who made felt for hat-making.
BEAWNT Going to, [Northwest England.]
BECK A small stream, [mid North England.]
BEDESMAN Person who would pray for an employer.
BEDESMAN A tenant employed by a Manor for a specific purpose.
BEDMAN Sexton
BEDRAL A minor church official, Scotland.
BEDWEVERE Person who made webbing for bed frames, or wove quilt.
BEESKEP MAKER Beehive maker.
BEETLER Person who operated a beetling machine, used for embossing fabric and textiles.
BELDAME A Grandmother
BELHOSTE Tavernkeeper.
BELLEYETERE Bellfounder or bellmaker.
BELLHANGER Person who installed bells in churches.
BELLMAN Watchman or Town Crier, or person employed by the Post Office who collected letters for the mail coach by walking the streets and ringing a bell.
BELLOWFARMER Person responsible for the care and maintenance of the church organ.
BELLOWS MAKER Maker of bellows used for organs or blacksmiths' fires.
BELLY BUILDER A person who built and fitted interiors of pianos.
BELSIRE A Grandfather, ancestor
BELTER Bellfounder or bellmaker
BEN Hill or mountain, Scotland
BENCHA widow's bench, a share of the husband's estate which a woman enjoys besides her jointure [Sussex]
BENDER Person who cut leather
BERREL 36 gallon cask.
BERRINER Person attending a funeral [Berrin, a burial or funeral]
BESANTA golden coin first coined at Byzantium, valued at various amounts between ten and twenty sols
BESAYLE Great grandfather
BESOGNIO A beggar
BESOM MAKER Person who made brooms of bundles of birch twigs bound on a birch handle.
BESOMER Person who uses or maybe makes a besom or birch broom.
BESSWARDEN Person appointed by a parish to care for its animals.
BEVIN BOYS Draftees to the coal mines in World War Two instead of military service, under Minister of Labour and National Service, Ernest Bevin.
BIDDY Female servant, usually Irish.
BID-STAND A highwayman
BILL POSTER Person who put up notices, signs and adverts.
BILLIARD-MARKER Person who attends on players at billiards and records the progress of the game.
BILLITER Bellfounder or bellmaker.
BILLYMAN or BILILER Person who operated a billy roller, a machine used in the cotton industry to prepare cotton for spinning.
BIND DAYS Days on which tenants were obliged to reap their lord's corn at harvest time
BINDER Person who bounds items such as books, hats etc.
BINDPULLER or BANDPULLER Boys and girls employed in the harvest to assist the tier-up to tie corn into sheaves.
BIRD OR BURD Term of endearment between either sex, [Southwest England.]
BIRD BOY Person employed to scare birds away from crops.
BIRD NEST SELLER Person who collected nests from the wild, with eggs, for sale. The eggs were then hatched by domestic birds and sold as pets.
BIRLYMAN A ground officer or parish arbiter, Scotland.
BLACK BORDERER Person who made black-edged stationery for funerals.
BLACK COUNTRY Dudley, Walsall and Wolverhampton. [Midlands]
BLACK TRAY MAKER Maker of Japanned trays.
BLACKCOAT A clergyman
BLACKING MAKER Person who made shoe polish.
BLACKSTOCKAn open-barred fire grate used for warmth or cooking.
BLADESMITH Sword or knife maker.
BLANCH-FARM An annual rent paid to the Lord of the Manor [Yorkshire]
BLANKETEERS Lancashire handloom weavers, spinners and other cotton/wool workers, reduced to poverty by industrialisation, who protested in Manchester in 1817.
BLAXTER or BLEACHER Person who bleached cloth or paper pulp.
BLEMMERE Plumber
BLETHER Drivel, waffle [Scotland.]
BLETONIST Water diviner.
BLINDSMAN Person employed by the Post Office to deal with incorrectly addressed letters and parcels.
BLOCK MAKER Person who engraved blocks used in the printing trade.
BLOCK PRINTER Printer who used wooden blocks for printing.
BLOCKCUTTER or BLOCKER Person who made wooden blocks used in the hat trade.
BLOCKER Person who laid down blocks on which a ship's keel was laid.
BLOGGIN, BOWFIN, CLINGIN, MINGIN Disgusting, ugly, [Scotland.]
BLOMAN Trumpeter
BLOODLETTER or BLOODMAN Person who used leeches for letting or letting blood, a presumed cure for many ailments.
BLOOM SMITHY or BLOOMER Person who produced iron from ore.
BLOWER Glass blower, or a person who operated a `blowing machine' used to clean and separate fibres in the textile trade, or a person who operated a blacksmith's bellows.
BLOWFEEDER Person who fed the fibres into a `blowing machine.'
BLUE DYER OR MAKER Person who worked with blue dye, used by calico printers and laundries, to stop the white materials from discolouring.
BLUEJACKETS British sailors from the 19th century.
BLUE-RIBBONITES People who protested against alcohol in the 19th century, identified by a piece of blue ribbon worn on their lapels. Spread to the UK from America, and in 1883 became the Gospel Temperance Union.
BLUESHIRTS Irishmen who volunteered for General Franco in the Spanish Civil War.
BLUESTOCKINGS Literary or studious women, from about 1750.
BLUFFER Innkeeper or landlord of a tavern or public house.
BOARDING OFFICER Person who inspects ships before they enter port.
BOARD LINER Worker who covers cardboard with plain or ornamental paper by hand, or uses a pasting machine.
BOARDMAN Truant officer who checked school attendance.
BOARDMAN Tenant of Manorial land who paid rent by maintaining the Manor's table.
BOARDWRIGHT Person who made tables and chairs, carpenter.
BOATMAN Person who worked or repaired boats, especially river or canal boats.
BOATSWAIN Ship's officer. From 17th century responsible for rigging and ground tackle, and the ship's stores of cordage, sails, and other gear. In earlier [Anglo-Saxon] times was in full command of ships.
BOBBER Person who polished metals, or a person who helped to unload fishing boats.
BOBBIN CARRIER Person who worked in spinning and weaving in a mill.
BOBBIN TURNER Person who made bobbins used in spinning and weaving mills.
BOBBY Policeman, usually of constable rank, [nickname.]
BOBBYDAZZLER Smart, attractive. [Northeast England.]
BOCLAND Feudal freehold.
BODEY'S MAKER or BODY MAKER Person who made bodices for womens' garments.
BODGER Craftsman who made wooden chair legs and the spars from local timbers.
BODGER/BOTCHER Pedlar/Duffer
BOGTROTTER An Irish robber
BOILER MAKER Metal worker in an industrial setting.
BOILER PLATER Person who made rolled iron plate used to make boilers for steam engines.
BOKELER A Buckler
BOLL Person who maintained power looms in the weaving industry.
BOLL Six bushels [Measure of grain.]
BOLTER Person who sifted meal.
BONDAGER Bonded female worker on a farm.
BONDMAN Person bonded to a master for the purpose of learning a skill or trade.
BONDSMAN Person who stood bond or surety for another when law required a bond.
BONE BUTTON TURNER Person who made buttons using a lathe.
BONE CLEANER Servant [Isle of Wight]
BONE LACE MAKER Maker of pillow lace.
BONE MOULD TURNER Person who made moulds for button manufacturers.
BONE PICKER Collector of rags and bones.
BONESETTER Person who set broken bones.
BONIFACE Innkeeper.
BONK Small hill, [Midlands.]
BONNY Fat, plump, [mid North England.]
BONNY Pretty, attractive. [Northeast England/Scotland.]
BOOK GILDER Person who decorated books with gold leaf.
BOOKHOLDER A prompter in a theatre.
BOOKMAN Student
BOOKSMAN Clerk or secretary
BOON DAYS Days on which tenants are bound to work for their lord for free
BOONMASTER Surveypr of roads, responsible for maintainence and repairs of roads.
BOOT CLOSER Person in the shoe trade who stitched all parts of a shoe upper together.
BOOTBINDER Person employed to operate the machines which bound footwear.
BOOTCATCHER A person at an inn who helps passengers remove their boots
BOOTHMAN Corn merchant.
BORLER Person who made cheap coarse clothing.
BORSHOLDER Police constable, [Kent.]
BOSON or BOTESCARL A boatswain
BOSTIN Great, or super, [Midlands.]
BOTCHER Tailor or cobbler.
BOTTLE BOY Pharmacist's assistant.
BOTTLER Person who made leather containers for holding liquids such as wine flasks and water bottles.
BOTTOM KNOCKER A sagger-maker's assistant in the pottery industry.
BOTTOM MAKER Person who moulded bottoms for saggers in the pottery industry.
BOTTOMER Person who worked down the pits moving ore to the bottom of the shaft for removal.
BOUT-HAMMER Heavy two-handed hammer used by blacksmiths
BOWDLER Person who worked with iron ore.
BOWKER Person who bleached yarn, or a butcher, in parts of Lancashire.
BOWLER Person who made bowls or dishes. Or the rounded parts of spoons before casting.
BOWLMAN/BOWLWOMAN Dealer in crockery.
BOWLMINDER Person in charge of the vats used for washing raw wool prior to processing.
BOWYER/BOWER Person who made bows used in archery, or a bowman.
BOZZLER Parish constable
BRABENER Weaver
BRACHYGRAPHER Shorthand writer
BRAIDER Person who made cord by twisting threads or strips of leather
BRAILLER Person who made girdles
BRAKEMAN or BRAKESMAN Person who operated the winch at the pit head. Or a person who operated the braking mechanism on trains or trams.
BRASIATOR Ale brewer
BRASILER Dyer
BRASS CUTTER Person who made copperplate engravings
BRASS FINISHER Person who polished brass goods
BRASS FOUNDER Person who cast brass
BRATMAN Rough garment maker
BRAW Great, good [Scotland]
BRAWTHERER An embroiderer
BRAXIS Breakfast [southwest England]
BRAYER Person who ground things in a mortar
BRAZIER Person who made or repaired brass household items
BREACH MAKER Person who made the breach for guns
BREAKMAN Bricklayer
BREECHMAN A sailor
BREHON Judge [Ireland]
BREWSTER Female brewer
BRICKBURNER Brickmaker who made bricks in a kiln
BRICKMAN Bricklayer
BRID A child [northwest England]
BRIDEWELL KEEPER Person in charge of a lock-up or jail.
BRIDGEMAN Bridge toll keeper
BRIGHTSMITH Person who worked with tin
BRIGHT'S DISEASE Kidney disease
BRITAIN-CROWN A gold coin worth about five shillings
BROAD CLOTH WEAVER Person who operated a wide loom
BROAD COOPER Go between for the brewery and innkeepers
BRODERER, BROIDERER, BROTHERER or BROWDERER Embroiderer
BROGGER Wool merchant
BROOM DASHER Dealer in brooms
BROOM SQUIRE Maker of birch brooms
BROTHER-IN-LAW Half brother [East England]
BROTHER-LAW Brother-in-law [West England]
BROUGE MAKER Shoemaker
BROW GIRL Female employed at the pit head
BROWNSMITH Person who works with copper or brass
BRUSTING-SATURDAY The Saturday before Shrove-Tuesday, on which people eat frying-pan puddings, like pancakes but stirred up, thick, and broken into pieces. [Lincolnshire]
BUCK WASHER Laundress
BUCKLE TONGUE MAKER Person who made metal points that pierce a belt
BUCKLER or BUCKLESMITH Person who made buckles
BUCKRAM MAKER Person who worked with buckram, which was used in stiffening materials such as belts, collars etc
BUCKWASHER A Laundress
BUDDLEBOY Person who used and maintained vats used in lead and tin mines for washing the ore
BULLWHACKER Oxen driver
BUMBOAT MAN Person who met ships at anchor, with goods to deliver, and crew
BUMMAREE Middleman between wholesaler and retailer at fish markets
BUMMER Army deserter
BUNDLE Two reams
BUNTER Person who collected rags and bones
BURELER Person who made borel, a woollen cloth with a coarse feel
BURGESS Person who represented a borough at official levels
BURGHAL Of a borough
BURLER Quality inspector of clothing
BURLER MENDER Skilled finisher of woven fabrics
BURLEYMAN Bylawman, an officer chosen in courtleets to assist a constable
BURMAIDEN or BURMAYDENEChambermaid or lady-in-waiting
BURN Stream or brook [Scotland
BURN A man or knight
BURNEMAN Carrier of barm or water for brewers
BURNWIN A Blacksmith [North England]
BURYE MAN Grave digger
BUSHEL Eight gallons or four pecks
BUSHEL MAKER Cooper
BUSHELER Tailor's helper
BUSKER Hairdresser
BUSKINS Canvas leggings which reached to the knees
BUSS MAKER Maker of guns
BUTNER Person who made buttons
BUTT 108 Gallons
BUTTER CARVER Person who made imprints in butter pats
BUTTON BURNISHER Person who polished buttons
BUTTRICE A farrier's tool used in shoeing horses to pare the hoofs
BUTTY Person who negotiated mining contracts, supplies labour
BUTTY Sandwich, [mid north England]
BY-BLOW Illegitimate child
BYLAWMAN Official of the manorial courts who enforced court orders




Definitions Index:

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Definitions: C-E

Definitions: F-K

Definitions: L-R

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Updated February 12th 2004