DEFINITIONS: S-Z
| WORD | DEFINITION |
|---|---|
| S | . | SACK | Two Weys | SADDLE TREE MAKER | Person who made frames for saddles | SADDLER | Person who made saddles and other equestrian accessories | SAFT | Silly or daft, Midlands | SAGGER MAKER | Person who made fireclay containers which held stoneware prior to firing | SALAMANDER | A thick disc of iron with a long handle used in baking. It would be put in the fire until red-hot, then held over pastry, omeletters etc to give them a finished surface. | SALOONIST | Saloon keeper | SALT BOILER | Person who obtained salt by boiling water | SALTER | Maker or dealer in salt | SANDESMAN | Ambassador or messenger | SANDWICHMAN | Person who wears advertising on a sandwich board | SARCINET WEAVER | Silk weaver | SASINE/SEISIN | A method of investiture in lands, originally involving the giving of earth or other symbols, now by registration of a conveyance [Scotland] | SASSENACH/SASSUNACH | An English person, or English speaking Scot, Gaelic for Saxon, Scotland | SAUCER | Maker or dealer in salt | SAWBONES | Surgeon | SAWYER | Worker in a timber mill or pit who sawed wood into planks | SAY WEAVER | Maker of say, a material used for table cloths or bedding | SCAFF | Tramp, badly dressed person, Scotland | SCAGIOLA MAKER | Maker of imitation marble | SCALERAKER/SCAVENGER | Employee of a parish who cleaned the streets | SCAPPLER | Person who roughly shaped stone before it was finished by a stonemason | SCAVELMAN | Person who kept waterways and ditches clear of debris | SCHRIMPSCHONGER | Carver of bone, ivory or wood | SCHUMACKER | Shoemaker, or latterly, a racing driver | SCOTCH DRAPER | Salesman selling goods door to door, paid in installments | SCOUSE | Liverpool English, possibly derived from a stew called Lobscouse, NW England | SCREENER | Person who screened ore on a mine's surface | SCRIBBLER | Person in a scibbing mill where wool was roughly carded prior to spinning. Or an insignificant writer | SCRIBE | Clerk | SCRIBER | Dock worker who marked cotton bales with their weight before they were sold | SCRIMER | Fencing master | SCRIVENER | Person who wrote out legal documents, a clerk or notary | SCROFULA | Tuberculosis of lymph nodes, also called King's Evil | SCRUPLE | Twenty Grains | SCRUTINEER | Election judge | SCULLERY MAID | Female servant with the most menial of household tasks. A male equivalent was a scullion | SCUNNERED | Disgusted, repelled, Scotland | SCUTCHER | Person who beat flax to soften the straw in the bundles | SCUTTY | Scruffy, NE England | SEAL PRESSER | Person employed in the glass industry to seal the bath against air intake which could cause blemishes in the finished product | SEARCHER | Customs man | SEEDSMAN | Dealer in, or sower of seeds | SELF ACTING MINDER | Person in charge of an automatic spinning mule in a mill | SEMI LORER | Maker of leather thongs | SEMPSTER/SEMPSTRESS/SEWSTER | Seamstress | SENESCHAL | A senior steward in a manor | SERPLATH | Eighty stone, Scotland | SEWER HUNTER | Person who sought valuables in the sewers | SEWER RAT | Bricklayer who built and repaired sewers and tunnels | SEWING CLERK | Collector of clothing piecework | SHACKFORK | A fork with curved prongs used to gather swathes of barley into gavels ready for pitching on to wagons | SHAG | Sandwich, Cumberland | SHAGREEN CASE MAKER | Worker in Shagreen leather | SHAN | Bad or unkind, Scotland | SHANTY MAN | Lumberman | SHARECROPPER | Tenant farmer paid from the crop | SHEARGRINDER | Sharpener of shears or scissors | SHEARMAN | Person who sheared cloth or metal | SHEATH MAKER | Scabbard maker | SHEGGY-HANDED | Left-handed, Mid north England | SHEPSTER | Sheep shearer, or a dressmaker | SHEARMAN | Skilled worker who sheared the nap from cloth [also cropper] | SHILLING | Silver coin, 12 Pence | SHINGLER | Person who tiled roofs with wooden tiles or shingles | SHIP HUSBAND | Person who repaired ships in harbour | SHIP MASTER | Ship owner or captain | SHIPWRIGHT | Person who built or repaired ships | SHIRE | County | SHIVE | Slice of bread, NW England | SHOE FINDER | Seller of shoe-maker's tools | SHOE WIPER | Shoe polisher | SHOESMITH OR SHOEMAKER | Cobbler | SHOESMITH | Person who shoed horses | SHOMMOCK | To walk with a shuffling gait, Midlands | SHOOGLE | To shake, Scotland | SHOT FIRER | Person in charge of blasting in mines, quarries | SHRAGER | Person who trimmed and pruned trees | SHRAMMED | To be cold, SW England | SHRIEVE/SHRIEVER | Sheriff | SHUFFLER | Farm yardman | SHUG | Shy, SW England | SHUNTER | Person who moved rolling stock in railway yards | SHUTTLE MAKER | Person who made shuttles for weaving mills | SICKLEMAN | Reaper | SIDESMAN | Churchwarden's assistant | SILING DOWN | Raining heavily, mid North England | SILK DRESSER | Person who prepared silk for weaving | SILK ENGINE TURNER | Worker who turned the wheel on an automatic silk weaving loom | SILK MERCER | Seller of silk cloth and other silk items | SILK THROWER/THROWSTER | Person who twisted silk into thread or yarn | SILK TWISTER | Silk spinner | SILKER | Person who sewed ends of fabric to prevent fraying | SILVERSMITH | Silver worker | SIMPLE | Ill, Wales | SINKER | Skilled person who sunk new shafts for coal mining | SISSOR/CISSOR | Tailor | SISTER-BAIRN | Child of a sister or aunt, a cousin [Scotland] | SITHEE | See you, Goodbye, Mid North England | SIXPENCE | Silver coin | SIZER | Person who applied size to cloth, or sorted objects according to size, or worked in a paper mill | SKEN | To look, NW England | SKEPPER | Person who made or sold wicker or straw beehives | SKETCHY | Strange or odd, SW England | SKINKER | Tapster in an ale house | SKINNER | Dealer in hides, or a mule driver | SKINNY | Tight-fisted, mean, Mid North England | SKIPMAKER | Person who made mining/quarrying skips for moving men or materials to the surface | SKIPPER | Ship's master | SKRIKE | To cry, mid North England | SLAPER/SLAPPER | Worker in a pottery who prepared the clay for the potter | SLATER | Slate roof tiler | SLOP SELLER | Seller of baskets or ready made clothing | SLUBBER | Operator of a machine which prepared cotton for spinning | SLUBBER DOFFER | Person who removed bobbins from spindles in a mill | SMALLWARE MAKER | Person who made smallware such as tapes and braids | SMELTER | Smelt fisherman, or a worker in a metal smelter | SMIDDY | Smith | SMITH | Metal worker | SMUGSMITH | Smuggler | SNECK | Nose, NW England | SNOBSCAT | Shoe repairer | SNOTTER-HAULER | Pickpocket of gentlemen's silk pocket handkerchiefs | SNUFFER MAKER | Maker of candle snuffles | SOAP BOILER [SOPER] | Maker of soaps | SOCAGE | Feudal tenure of land by a tenant | SOCK ON | Fast asleep, mid North England | SOJOURNER | A person in a temporary position, moving on, or passing through | SOJOURNER CLOTHIER | Travelling clothes salesman | SORTER | Tailor | SOUTER | Shoemaker | SORTY | Proud, Wales | SOVEREIGN | Gold coin with nominal value of one pound | SPALLIER | Menial worker in a tin works | SPARROWGRASS | Asparagus | SPERVITER | Sparrow keeper | SPICER | Grocer, or spice dealer | SPINNER | Person who spins yarn or fabric | SPINSTER | Female spinner or unmarried woman | SPLITTER | Person who splitted stone, timber etc by hand or by machine | SPOONER | Spoonmaker | SPUN OUT | Angry, SW England | SPURRER/SPURRIER | Spur-maker | SQUIRE | Attendant to a knight, or a practitioner of a profession, or a magistrate/lawyer or a country gentleman | STABLER | Ostler | STAINER | Person who coloured glass or wood | STALLMAN | Market stall keeper | STAMPER | Person who worked a stamping machine | STAMPMAN | Person who operated an ore crushing machine | STARVING | Cold, Midlands | STATIONARY ENGINE DRIVER | Person who operated a steam engine which pumped water or sewage, or drove machinery in a factory, mill or mine | STATIONARY ENGINEER | Person who maintained machinery such as pumping engines, lifts, hoists. Later a janitor, maintaining electrical and plumbing services in a building | STATIST | Politician | STAY MAKER | Corset maker | STEADING/STEDDING | Ground on which a house stands | STEERSMAN | Helmsman of a ship | STEMMA | Pedigree or family tree | STENTERER | Operator of a cloth finishing machine | STEP BOY | Person who helped passengers mount and dismount a coach | STEVEDORE | Dock worker or labourer who unloaded and loaded ship cargoes | STICHER | Person who does decorative stitching | STIRPS | Ancestor | STOCKINGER | Stocking maker or dealer, hosier | STOKER | Person who fed the engine boiler | STONE | Fourteen Pounds | STONE PICKER | Person who removed stones from farmers' fields prior to planting | STONEMAN/STONEWARDEN | Highway surveyor | STOOR | Dust, Scotland | STOORIE | Hurry away, Scotland | STOTTIE | Large, flat loaf of bread, oven-bottom cake, NE England | STOVER | Clover, trefoil and sainfon used as winter fodder for horses, along with corn | STOWYER | Person who stowed nets on fishing vessels | STRATH | Valley, Scotland | STRAVAIGER | Vagrant | STRAW JOINER | Roof thatcher | STRAW PLAITER | Person who made straw braids for the hat industry | STREAKER | Person who prepared a body for burial | STREET ORDERLY | Street cleaner | STRETCHER | Person who stretched fabric in a mill | STRIKER | Blacksmith's assistant, or a harpooner of whales | STRINGER | Person who made bow strings | STRIPPER | Person who removed rubbish from carding machines in the woollen trade. | STUFF GOWSMAN | Junior barrister | STUFF WEAVER | Person who wove stuff [Coarse part of flax] | SUCK | Sweets, Midlands | SUCKSMITH | Person who made ploughshares | SUENT | Smooth, SW England | SUGAR BAKER | Person who worked in a sugar factory where raw sugar was boiled, refined and moulded | SULKY | Light two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle | SUMNER | A summoner or apparitor | SUMPTER | Porter | SUN OR HEAT APOPLEXY | Sunstroke | SURFACE MAN | Mine worker employed on the surface | SUTLER | Merchant or peddler in an army camp | SWAILER | Miller or grain dealer, corn miller | SWAIN | Herdsman | SWALLY | Drink, Scotland | SWEEP | Chimney sweep | SWEEPER OUT | Person who swept up in a mill | SWELL MAKER | Person who made shallow baskets | SWINEYARD/SWINEHERDER | Pig keeper | SWORD CUTLER | Sword maker | T | . | TABLER | Operator of a boarding house [tables people] | TACK | Lease [Scotland] | TACKER | Person who dresses cloth | TACKLER | Person who oversaw power loom weavers | TACKSMAN | Leaseholder [Scotland] | TADCHU [TADKEY] | Grandfather, Wales | TAFF | To steal, Midlands | TAID [TIDE] | Grandfather, Wales | TAKER OFF OR TAKER IN | Child, usually, who unhitched the coal tubs from the rope winch system | TALLOW CHANDLER | Maker or seller of candles | TALLY CLERK | Person keeping count of goods arriving for departing a warehouse or dock | TALLYMAN OR TALLYFELLOW | Person who sold items paid for in installments | TAN BARK STRIPPER | Collector of bark used in the tanning of hides | TANNER | Sixpence | TANNER | Person who tanned hides and skins for leather | TAPER WEAVER | Candle wick maker | TAPICER or TAPITER | Person who wove worsted cloth | TAPISER | Tapestry maker | TAPLEY | Person who fitted taps in ale casks | TAPPER | Innkeeper [North England] | TAPSTER | Barman | TARA | Goodbye, NW England | TARARABIT | Goodbye, Midlands | TARRIER | Person in charge of hunting terriers | TASKER | Thresher or reaper | TASSELER | Maker of tassels for furnishings. Or a nobleman | TAVERNER | Innkeeper | TAVORT | Half a bushel [Sussex] | TAWER OR TAWYER | Maker or dresser of white leather | TEAMER OR TEAMSTER or TEAMERMAN | Person in charge of a team of horses, waggoner or driver | TEEMER | Person who unloaded grain from a cart, or who poured molten steel into moulds | TEIND | Tithe [Scotland] | TEMPT | To touch, SW England | TEN-GROATS | The customary fee to priests, lawyers and the like | TENDER | Waiter at an inn [East England] | TENTER | Person who stretched cloth on a machine as it was drying, or who tended the machine used | TENTER | Person who looked after something, such as a pony tenter in a coal mine | TERCIAN | 84 gallons of liquor | TERRIER | Person in charge of hunting terriers | TESTAMENT | Will | TESTER OR TESTRIL | Elizabethan sixpence | TESTONE | Henry VIII shilling | TETHER | To marry [Warwickshire] | TETSY | Elizabeth [Lincolnshire] | TEXTOR | Weaver | TEYELLEYER | Tailor [North England] | THACKER | Thatcher | THASER | Thatcher or builder | THATCHER | Person who made straw or reed roofs | THAYN | Nobleman | THE DAY | Today, Scotland | THE MORN | Tomorrow, Scotland | THE POTTERIES | Stoke-on-Trent area, Midlands | THEINES | Servants [Anglo-Saxon] | THEWE | Slave or bondsman | THIRDBOROUGH | Under-Constable | THIRDENDEALE | A measure containing three pints [West England]. In ancient times, this was 84 gallons. | THIRDFATHER | A Great Grandfather | THISTLE-CROWN | A gold coin worth about four shillings | THORP | Hamlet or village | THORPS-MEN | Villagers [Anglo-Saxon] | THREE FARTHINGS | A coin of silver current in Shakespeare's time | THREPS | Threepence | THRESHER | Person who separated grain from husks and straw | THROWSTER | Employee in the textile trade who throws or winds strands of silk or thread into a yarn | THRUNK-WIFE | A fussy busy women [Lancashire] | THWAITE | A cleared piece of land | TIBBY | Isabella [North England] | TICKNEY MAN | Itinerant seller of earthenware | TIDE SURVEYOR OR GAUGER | Person who monitored state of the tide | TIDESMAN OR TIDE WAITER | Customs officer who scrutinised unloading of ships to calculate duty | TIEMAKER | Maker of wooden railway ties | TIER-UP | Harvest worker who would follow the reaper and tie corn into sheaves | TIERCE | 42 Gallons | TIGER | A small groom or pageboy in livery | TILBURY | Sixpence | TILER | Person who lays roof or floor tiles | TILLER | Farmer | TILLMAN or TILMAN | Ploughman or farm labourer | TILTISH Apt to kick, as for a horse | TILTMAKER | Person who made canvas awnings and canopies | TIMBER-TASTER | Person in a dockyard who examines timber and passes it for use | TIMEKEEPER | Person who checked arrivals and departures of public transport | TIMES IRONER | Servant who ironed newspapers | TINCTOR | Dyer | TINES | Prongs | TINKER | Travelling salesman and repairman of pots and pans | TINNER | Tinsmith or worker in a tine mine | TINSMITH | Tin worker | TINTER OR TEINTER | Tinting artist | TIPPER | Person who put metal tips on arrows | TIPPLER | Keeper of an ale house | TIPSTAFF | Court official or policeman | TIREWOMAN | Milliner, or hairdresser, or a female dresser, particularly in the theatre | TIRING-BOY | Person who stirs the colour about in printing-cloth [Lancashire] | TITHE | A tenth, a tax | TIXTOR | Weaver | TIZZY | Sixpence | TOBACCO SPINNER | Cigar maker | TOD | Two Stone | TODHUNTER | Person employed by a parish to hunt foxes | TOE RAG | Corn porter on the docks | TOFT | A piece of land | TOILINET MAKER | Maker of toilinet, a kind of quilting | TOLKE | A man or knight | TOLLGATE KEEPER OR TOLLIE | Person who collected fees for road use | TOLLMAN OR TOLLER | Collector of tolls | TOLT | Old English writ | TOMS-OF-BEDLAM | Vagabonds, Abraham-men | TON | Twenty CWT | TONSOR | Barber [Latin] | TOOL HELVER | Maker of tool handles | TOP ROOM | Sitting room, Wales | TOP SAWYER | The upper sawyer in a pit | TOPENS | Twopenny piece | TOPMAN | Sailor working in a ship's rigging, or a merchant vessel | TOPS-MAN | Lead cattle drover, foreman or bailiff | TORY | An Irish robber | TOSH | Moustache, Midlands | TOSIER | Person who made baskets [South England] | TOUCH HOLER | Employee in gun making industry | TOW CARD MAKER | Maker of tow cards used in the textile industry | TOWN CHAMBERLAIN | Person in charge of a town's affairs | TOWN CRIER | Person who made public announcements | TOWN HUSBAND | Officer of a parish who collected fees from fathers of illegitimate children for their maintenance | TOWNSWAITER | Customs man | TOZER | Person in a woollen mill employed to tose or tease cloth | TRAFER | Searcher or hunter | TRAMMER | Young mineworker | TRAMPLER | Lawyer | TRANQUETER | Hoopmaker | TRANTER or TRAUNTER | Peddler | TRAPPER | Young mineworker who opened and shut doors for mines | TRAVE | A frame into which farriers put unruly horses. | TRAVERS | Toll bridge collector of tolls | TRAVERSE | Place adjoining a blacksmith's shop where horses are shod | TRAWE | The shoeing-place of a farrier | TREEN MAKER | Person who made domestic articles from wood | TREENAIL MAKER | Person who made long wooden pins used in shipbuilding | TRENCHERMAKER | Person who made wooden boards or platters for holding food | TRENCHERMAN | Cook | TREPANGER | Person who cut timber with a circular saw | TRESAIL | A Great Grandfather | TRIMMER | Person who trims a ship by re-arranging cargoes | TROACHER | Person who dealt in smuggled goods | TROLLEY CARTER | Person operating tubs in a mine | TRONER | Weighing official at a market | TROUCHMAN OR TRUCHMAN | Interpreter | TROVER | Smuggler | TRUGGER | Person who made long shallow baskets | TRUMPET or TRUMP or TROMPOUR | Trumpeter | TRUSSER | Hay baler, person who bundled and tied hay | TUBBER | Cooper, person who made tubs and barrels | TUBEDRAWER | Tubemaker | TUBMAN | Filler of tubs in a mine, or a court official, or a barrister, in England | TUCKER | Fuller, cleaner of cloth goods [West England] | TUCKER IN A | Chambermaid, bedroom maid who tucked in the bedclothes | TUMMUZ | Thomas [North England] | TUMP | Hill or mound, Wales | TUN | 252 Gallons | TUNIST | Person who tuned musical instruments | TUPMAN | Person who breeds tups or rams | TURFEGRAVER | Ploughman | TURNER | Lathe operator, or a gymnast | TURNEY | Attorney | TURNING BOY | Person who turned the bar on the loom to help the weaver | TURKNEY | Prison warder or jail keeper | TURNPIKE KEEPER | Tollgate keeper | TURNSPIT | Person who operated a spit handle | TWANGEY | tailor [North England] | TWEENIE OR TWEENY | A maid `between stairs' who assisted both the cooks and housemaids | TWIST HAND | Person operating a lace machine | TWISTER OR TWISTERER | Person who operated a machine which twisted yarns and threads together | TWP [TOOP] | Simple or slow-witted, Wales | U | . | UBIETY | Local relation | UFFLERS | Bargeman occasionally employed, assisted in towing [East England] | ULNAGER | Person who assessed quality of woollen goods | UMQUHILE | Former, late or deceased [Scotland] | UNGET | Disinherit | UNSON | Disinherit | UPHOLDER | Quilt or mattress maker, or a person who assisted an auctioneer | UPRIGHT MAN | Chief man in a gang of beggars | UPRIGHT WORKER | Chimney sweep | URLING | A dwarf [North England] | UTCH | To move, NW England | UTERINE | Children born of the same mother but different fathers | V | . | VAGAUNT | Vagrant or wanderer | VALET | Male servant who attended a gentleman or nobleman | VALUATOR | Valuer of objects | VARLET | A servant, or the sergeant-at-mace to the city counters | VASSAL | Servant of the lowest order | VATMAN | Employee in the papermaking industry who put pulp into moulds, or a person working with beer or wine vats | VAUTER | Dancer | VECKE | An old woman | VEILLE | An old woman | VELYARDE | An old man | VENATOR [VENUR] | Huntsman | VER | A man, or knight | VERDERER | Official in charge of a royal forest | VERDUGO | Hangman | VERN | Partner in a mine | VERGE MAKER | Maker of spindles used in watches and clocks | VERGER | Assistant to the priest in running a church | VERRIER | Glazier | VESTMENT MAKER | Maker of garments for priests | VEWTER | Person who kept hounds | VICTUALLER | Tavern keeper | VIEWER | Manager of a mine | VILARDE | An old man | VILLEIN | Person who paid dues to a lord of a manor for use of the land | VINTAGER | Grape farmer or wine maker | VINTNER | Wine merchant | VIRGATE | Quarter of a hide | VITLER | Tavern keeper | VOWESS or VOTARESS | A Nun | VUDDICKS | A coarse fat woman [West England] | VUDDLES | A spoilt child [Wiltshire] | VULCAN | Blacksmith | W | . | WABSTER | Weaver | WADLER-WIFE | The keeper of a register office for servants [Newcastle] | WAFERER | Person who sold wafers, a kind of cake | WAFYS | Vagabonds | WAGTAIL | A profligate woman | WAILER | Mineworker who removed impurities from coal | WAINMAN | A waggoner | WAINWRIGHT | Builder or repairer of wagons | WAISTCOATEERS | Low prostitutes | WAITE | A watchman | WAITMAN OR WAKEMAN | Night watchman | WAITS | Musicians | WAKE | A parish festival [literally a watch or vigil]. Originally fell on anniversary of a church's dedication | WAKMEN | Watchmen | WALK | Uninclosed land [East England] | WALKER | A Fuller [North England] | WALKER OR WAULKMILLER | Cloth worker who cleaned and thickened cloth by wetting it then walking over it | WALLER | Person who built walls with bricks or dry stone, or a woman who raked coarse salt from the leads at Nantwich salt-works | WAMBAIS | A body-garment twilled or quilted with wool, cotton or tow | WANG-TOOTH | A grinder [North England] | WANTCATCHER | Mole catcher | WANTER | A Molecatcher | WANTERS | Unmarried people `wanting' a mate [North England] | WARDECORPS | Body-guard [Anglo-Norman] | WARDEIN | A Warden, Guard or Watchman, or a Keeper of a gate | WARDER | Person in charge of prisoners | WARPER | Person who set the warp thread on the looms, or a person who moved boats by hauling on the warps [ropes] | WARRENER or WARRINER | Person who kept a warren, bred rabbit and other small game | WASHMAN | Tin coater, or a beggar who solicited charity with false sores or other injuries | WASSET-MAN | Scarecrow [Wiltshire] | WASTEMAN | Mineworker who checked old workings for gas leaks, or someone who removed waste | WATCH FINISHER | Person who assembled watches and clocks | WATER BAILIFF | Official in charge of fishing rights on a stretch of water, a river policeman or coastal official | WATER CARRIER | Carter and seller of fresh water | WATER-CASTER | Person who judged diseases by inspecting urine | WATER GILDER | Person who trapped water fowl | WATER LEADER OR LEDER OR LODER | Person who carried and sold fresh drinking water | WATER WORKER | Person who made meadow-drains and wet ditches [Norfolk] | WATERMAN | Person who worked with boats on a river | WATLYNGE-STRETE | The Milky Way | WATTLE HURDLE MAKER | Maker of a wattle fence used to confine sheep | WAVER | Weaver | WAVER | A common pond serving an entire village [Suffolk] | WAY-GOOSE | A form of entertainment performed by an apprentice to his fellow-workmen. [West England] | WAY MAN | Road surveyor | WAY MAKER | Road maker | WAZZOCK | Idiot, buffoon, Mid North England | WEATHER-CASTER | Person who computed the weather for Almanacs &c | WEATHERSPY | Astrologer | WEBBER | Weaver | WEBSTER | Weaver who operated a loom | WEDDE-FERE | Husband or wife [Anglo-Saxon] | WEDLOCK | Wife | WEDMAN | Husband | WEDWEDE | Widowhood | WEEAN | A small child or `wee one' [Yorkshire] | WEEDER | Person who tidied gardens of the rich | WEIGHER | Dock worker who weighed a cargo as it was unloaded | WELD | To hit someone, Midlands | WELL SINKER | Person who dug wells | WELL WRIGHT | Maker of the winding equipment used to raise a well bucket | WELLMASTER | Person responsible for a town's well, and of ensuring a clean water supply | WELLY | Nearly, Midlands | WERSELLS | Ourselves [North England] | WET GLOVER | Maker of leather gloves | WET NURSE | Woman who suckles the child of another, usually wealthy, woman | WETTER | Person who dampened paper in the printing process or a person who detached glass by wetting in the glass industry | WEY | Thirteen stones | WEYFERUS | Travellers | WHACKER | Horse or oxen team driver | WHAKER | Quaker [North England] | WHAMP | Young child [Warwickshire] | WHARFINGER | Person who owned or was in charge of a wharf | WHEDEN | A simple person [West England] | WHEELER | Wheel maker, or a textile worker who attended to spinning wheels, or a mine worker who led pit ponies pulling tubs underground | WHEELWRIGHT | Maker or repairer of wagon wheels | WHEERYMAN | Person in charge of a wheery, a small light rowing boat | WHEY AYE | Of course, NE England | WHIG | Horse driver [Scotland] | WHIP-JACK | Vagabond who begged for alms as a distressed seaman | WHIPARSE | Schoolmaster | WHIPCORD MAKER | Whipmaker | WHIPPERIN | Person who managed hounds in a hunt | WHIPSTER | Bleacher [North England] | WHIRKEN | To suffocate [North England] | WHIT COOPER | Maker of tin barrels | WHIT-TAWER | A tanner of white leather. Or a collar maker [North England] | WHITE LIMER | Person who plastered walls with lime and water plaster | WHITE SMITH | Tin smith | WHITEAR | Cleaner of hides | WHITENING ROLL MAKER | Person who made whitening used to daub cottage walls | WHITEWING | Streetsweeper | WHITSTER | Whitesmith [East England] | WHITSTER OR WHITESTER OR WHITENER | Bleacher of cloth | WHITSUNDAY | 15th May [From about 1696] | WHITTAWER | Person who made saddles and harnesses | WICK | Quick, agile, NW England | WIDOW-BEWITCHED | A wife separated from a husband | WIDOW'S BENCH | A share of a husband's estate due to widows in Suffolk in addition to their jointures | WIDVER | A widower [West England] | WIFE MODIR | Mother-in-law | WIFLER | Huckster | WIFLES | Unmarried [Anglo-Saxon] | WILLEYER | Operator of a willeying machine, which cleaned wool, hair, hemp or flax by separating fibres and shaking out dirt. A process carried out prior to carding | WILLOW BENCH | A share of a husband's estate due to widows in addition to their jointure | WILLOW PLAITER OR WEAVER | Basket maker | WINDER | Textile employee who transferred yarn from bobbins onto cheeses or into balls in preparation for weaving. Or a mineworker who operated a pulley or winch | WINDING PIECE | A piece of land which is part of a segment of a circle [East England] | WINDSTER | Silk winder | WIPE-HAULER | Pickpocket of gentlemen's silk pocket handkerchiefs | WIPPET | Small child [East England] | WIRE DRAWER | Wire maker, pulled metal through various sized holes in a template | WISE-MAN | Conjuror | WISSERE | Teacher | WITNESS | Godmother | WOLD | Stretch of open, unforested, rolling countryside or moorland | WOOD HACKER | Woodman [Lincolnshire] | WOODBREAKER | Maker of wooden water casks | WOODMAN | Carpenter [Derbyshire] | WOODMAN | Man who hunted girls, a wencher | WOODWARD OR WOODREEVE OR WOOD RANGER | Person in charge of forest or woods | WOOL DRIVER | Person who took wool to market | WOOL FACTOR | Wool merchant's agent | WOOL GROWER | Sheep farmer | WOOL STAPLER OR WOOL MAN | Person who sorted wool into different grades | WOOL WINDER | Maker of balls of wool for selling | WOOLCOMBER | Woollen mill worker who operated machines that separated fibres in preparation for spinning | WOOLLEN BILLY PIECER | Woollen mill worker who worked broken yarns together | WOOLSORTER | Person who sorted wool into different grades | WOOLSTED MAN | From worsted man, seller of woollen cloth | WOPPIT | To box someone's ears, SW England | WORSTED SHEARMAN OR WORSTED MAKER | Maker of worsted cloth | WOZZER | Someone from the black country, Midlands | WRECHE | Stranger [Anglo Saxon] | WRIGHT | Workman, skilled builder or repairer in various trades [Anglo Saxon] | WYRTHA | Labourer | X | . | XYLOGRAPHER | Person who made and used wooden blocks to print illustrations | Y | . | YARD | Three feet | YARDLAND | Usually thirty acres | YARDMAN | A worker in a railroad yard, or who has special care of a farmyard | YARDWAND | A yardstick | YATMAN | Gatekeeper | YEARMAN | A person contracted to work for a year | YED | Edward [Derbyshire] | YEDART | Edward [Shropshire] | YEDWARD | Edward [Cheshire] | YELLOW-BOYS | Guineas | YELLOWS | Jealousy | YEM | Edmund [Lancashire] | YEMAN | A servant next below a squire in rank, of middling rank. | YEME | Uncle | YEOMAN | A freeholder, ship's officer in charge of stores or official's assistant | YETT | Gate | YUCKS | Hiccups, SW England | Z | . | ZIDLE-MOUTH | An ugly fellow, one with the mouth on one side [West England] | ZIN | Son [West England] | ZINNILA | Son-in-law [Exmoor] | ZINCOGRAPHER | Designer of a pattern etched in relief on zinc plates for printing | ZITHERIST | Player of a zither | ZOETROPE MAKER | Maker of an optical cylindrical toy which had a series of pictures painted inside which appeared to move when viewed through slits in the rotating cylinder | ZOG | To doze or snooze, SW England | ZOOGRAPHER | Person who describes and classifies animals |
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Updated June 3rd 2011