Things Worth Knowing ~ Occupations - Part 3

D List of Occupations

This is a list of some occupations of which many are archaic although surnames usually originated from someone's occupation.

◦DAGUERREOTYPE ARTIST - early name for a photographer (from the Daguerreotype method)

◦DAIRYMAN - worker or owner of a dairy farm or seller of dairy products

◦DAMSTER - builder of dams for logging purposes

◦DANTER - female overseer in the winding rooms of a silk mill

◦DATELER / DAY MAN / DAYTALEMAN - casual worker, usually employed by the day

◦DEATHSMAN - executioner

◦DECIMER / DOZENER - elected by the householders in a street to act as their representative at the borough's Court Leet

◦DECOYMAN - employed to decoy the wild fowl, animals etc into a trap or within shooting range

◦DECRETIST - knowledgeable in decrees, decretals

◦DEEMER / DEEMSTER / DEMSTER / DEMPSTER - judge, usually in the Channel Isles or Isle of Man

◦DELVER - dug ditches

◦DEPATER - precious metal refiner

◦DEPUTY - safety officer for the pit crew in the mining industry

◦DERRICKMAN - worked on an oil well handling the tubes and rods used in drilling

◦DEVIL - printer's errand boy

◦DEVILLER - operated the devil, a machine that tore rags used in the textile industry

◦DEXTER - dyer

◦DEY WIFE - female dairy worker

◦DEXTER - dyer

◦DIKEMAN / DYKEMAN - hedger or ditcher

◦DIPPER - who worked in the pottery trade and was responsible for the glazing of items

◦DISHER / DISH THROWER - who made bowls and dishes

◦DISH TURNER - who made wooden bowls or dishes

◦DISTILLER - maker of alcoholic beverages

◦DISTRIBUTOR - parish official attached to the workhouse / poorhouse who looked after the secular needs of the poor

◦DOCKER / DOCK WALLOPER - dock worker, longshoreman

◦DOCK MASTER - in charge of a dockyard

◦DOG LEECH - veterinarian

◦DOG-WHIPPER - one who drove dogs away in a village

◦DOMESMAN - judge

◦DOMESTIC - household servant

◦DONKEY BOY / DONKEY MAN - driver of a carriage for passengers

◦DOOR KEEPER - guard, janitor, or porter

◦DOUBLER - who operated a machine used to twist together strands of fibre (cotton, wool etc)

◦DOWSER / DIVINER - water finder

◦DRAGMAN - fisher man who fished by dragging a net along the bottom of the water

◦DRAGOMAN - who acted as interpreter or guide in Turkish or Arabic

◦DRAGSMAN - driver of a small stage coach or carriage used for public transport or private hire

◦DRAGOON - mounted infantryman

◦DRAINER - who made drains

◦DRAPER - dealer in fabrics and sewing needs

◦DRAWBOY - weavers assistant in the shawl making mills , they sat atop the looms and lifted the heavy warps.

◦DRAYMAN - cart driver

◦DREDGERMAN - one who in a boat to collect the bits and pieces that had fallen overboard from other vessels which then were sold (London occupation)

◦DRESSER - one who dresses another, surgeon's assistant and also one who operated a machine which prepared threads in the textile industry

◦DRESSING MACHINE MAKER - who made sewing machines

◦DRIFT MAKERA - who made drift nets, used in the fishing industry

◦DRIPPING MAN - dealer in dripping (the fat collected during the cooking of meats)

◦DRIVER - slave overseer

◦DROVER - sheep or cattle driver

◦DRUGGER - pharmacist

◦DRUMMER - traveling salesman

◦DRY SALTER - dealer in pickles, dried meats, and sauces or a dealer in dyes and colors used in the dying trade

◦DUBBERE - cloth dubber, i.e., one who raises the nap of cloth

◦DUFFER - peddler of cheap goods

◦DUSTMAN / DUSTBIN MAN - collected domestic refuse

◦DRY STONE WALLER (DRY STANE DYKER in Scottish) - built stone walls usually using the stones removed from the fields as building materials. The art was in not using any cement or mortar and generally not cutting the stone, but being able to see where variuos stones would fit together

◦DYER - employed in the textile mills to color fabric prior to weaving

◦DYKER - Scottish term for a stonemason