Things Worth Knowing ~ Occupations - Part 5

G & H Lists of Occupations

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

◦GABELER - tax collector

◦GAFFER - foreman of a work crew

◦GAFFMAN - a bailiff

◦GAGER - tax collector of liquor taxes

◦GALVANISER - iron worker who handled process of coating metal with zinc, to inhibit formation of rust

◦GAMESTER - gambler or prostitute

◦GANGER - overseer or foreman from 1850 onwards

◦GANGSMAN - foreman

◦GANNEKER - tavern keeper

◦GAOLER - jailer

◦GARTHMAN - owner or worker of a fish trap

◦GAS MANAGER - forman position in charge of checking for poisonous gas in coal mine shafts

◦GATER - watchman

◦GATHERER - glassworker who inserted the blow iron into the molten glass ready for the blower

◦GATHERERS BOY - held a shovel to shield the gatherer's face from the heat

◦GATWARD - goat keeper

◦GAUGER - customs official who measured the capacity of imported barrels of liquor in order to calculate the customs duty

◦GAUNTER - glover

◦GAVELLER - userer and in the Forest of Dean, an officer fo the Crown who granted gales or the right to work a mine and in Suffolk a harvest worker, usually female

◦GELDER - castrator of animals, especially horses

◦GEOMETER - skilled in geometry

◦GERUND GRINDER - Latin instructor

◦GILDER - applies gold leaf

◦GIMLER - machinist involved in making a gimp, a kind of card

◦GINOUR - engineer

◦GIRDLER - leather worker who made girdles and belts, chiefly for the Army

◦GLASS COACHMAN - driver of two-horse carriage hired out for the day

◦GLAZIER - glass cutter or window classman

◦GLOVER - one that makes or sells gloves

◦GOAT CARRIAGE MAN - driver of small passenger carriage

◦GOLDSMITH - maker of gold articles, banker

◦GOOSE HERD - tends geese

◦GORZEMAN - seller of gorse or broom

◦GRACE WIFE - midwife

◦GRAFFER - notary or scrivener

◦GRAINER - painted wood to make it look like great and exotic woods

◦GRANGER - farmer

◦GRAVER - carver or sculptor, engraver of images or dockside worker who cleaned ship bottoms by burning and tarring

◦GRAZIER - pastures and raises cattle

◦GREAVE / GRIEVE - bailiff, foreman, sheriff

◦GREEN GROCER - fruit and vegetable seller

◦GREENSMITH - worker in copper or latten

◦GRIMBRIBBER - lawyer

◦GROOVER - miner

◦GROUNDSEL & CHICKWEED SELLER - streetseller of common weeds, used to feed pet songbirds

◦GUINEA PIG - an unattached, or roving person whose fee was usally a guinea

◦GUMMER - one who improved old saws by deepening the cuts

◦GYP - college servant especially one attending undergraduates

◦HABERDASHER - seller of men's clothing

◦HACKER - maker of hoes

◦HACKLER / HACKMAN / HECKLER - one who separated the coarse part of flax or hemp with a hackle, an instrument with teeth in linen industry

◦HACKNEY MAN - renter of horses & carriages

◦HAIR SEATING & CURLED HAIR MERCHANT - dealer in horse-hair stuffing used in upholstery

◦HAIRWEAVER / HAIRMAN - weaver of cloth composed wholly or partly of horsehair

◦HALBERT CARRIER - soldier or halberdier, armed with a halberd, a combination spear and battleaxe (a ceremonial officer)

◦HAMMERMAN - hammerer, a smith

◦HANDSELLER - street vendor

◦HANDWOMAN - midwife or female attendant

◦HARLOT - vagabond, beggar, rogue, 14th century male servant, attendant or menial, and 15th century, loose woman

◦HARMER BECK - constable

◦HARPER - performer on the harp

◦HATCHLER - combed out or carded flax

◦HATTER - maker of or dealer in hats

◦HAWKER / HUCKSTER - peddler

◦HAYMONGER - dealer in hay

◦HAYWARD - fence viewer

◦HEADSMAN - executioner

◦HEADSWOMAN - midwife

◦HEALD KNITTER - operator of a machine which produced a jersey type of fabric as opposed to woven fabric

◦HECK MAKER - maker of a part of a spinning machine by which the yarn is guided to the reels

◦HEDGE LOOKER - supervised good repair of fence and enclosures

◦HEDGER - hedge trimmer

◦HEELMAKER - made shoe heels

◦HELLIER / HILLIER - tiler or slater

◦HELPER-UP - young boy employed in Durham pits to help other workers

◦HEMPHECKLER - flax worker

◦HENCHMAN / HENSMAN - horseman or groom

◦HENTER - thief

◦HEWER - miner who cut coal, stone, etc., a face worker in a mine

◦HIGGLER - one who haggles or bargains or itinerant dealer, similar to a cadger

◦HIGHWAYMAN - robber who preys on public roads

◦HIND - farm laborer

◦HIRED MAN - gardener, farmhand, or stableman

◦HOBBLER - boat tower on a river or canal

◦HODSMAN - mason's assistant

◦HOGGARD - pig drover

◦HONEY DIPPER - extracted raw sewage from catch basins and out-houses

◦HOOFER - dancer

◦HOOKER - 16th century reaper, 19th century worker in textile industry who operated a machine which laid fabric flat in uniform folds of any required length

◦HOOPER - makes hoops for casks (not a cooper)

◦HORNER - worker in horn making spoons, combs, or musical horns

◦HORSE COURSER - owner of race horses

◦HORSE KNAVE - groom

◦HORSE LEECH - veterinarian, farrier

◦HORSE MARINE - man-handled barges on canals when horses could not be used

◦HORSE-CAPPER - dealer in worthless horses

◦HORSE-HAIR CURLER - dressed horse hair which was used extensively in the upholstery trade

◦HOSIER - retailer of stockings, socks, gloves, nightcaps

◦HOSTELLER - innkeeper

◦HOSTLER - cares for horses, stableman, groom, repairer or railway engines

◦HOUSE JOINER - house framer

◦HOUSE WRIGHT - house builder

◦HOTPRESSER - worker in paper or textile industries where product was pressed between glazed boards and hot metal plates to obtain a smooth and shiny surface

◦HOYMAN - one who carries goods and passengers by water (Hoy - small coastal vessel or sloop)

◦HOWDY WIFE - midwife

◦HUCKSTER - sells small wares

◦HUISSHER - usher or door attendant

◦HURDLEMAN / HURDLER - hedge-maker, of wattled framework fencing

◦HURRIERS - term applied to the girls aged 5-18 who were employed as coal-drawers in the coal industry

◦HUSBANDMAN - tenant farmer

◦HUSH SHOP KEEPER - brewed and sold beer without a license (usually as a side line)