Things Worth Knowing ~ Occupations - Part 10

S List of Occupations

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

◦SADDLER - one who made saddles, harnesses, horse collars, bridles

◦SADDLE TREE MAKER - one who made the frames for saddles that the saddler used

◦SAGGER MAKER - one who made the fireclay containers in which the stoneware was placed ready for firing

◦SALT BOILER - one who obtained salt by boiling water

◦SALTER / DRYSALTER / SAUCER - one who made or dealt in salt

◦SARCINET WEAVER - silk weaver

◦SALOONIST - saloon keeper

◦SANDESMAN - ambassador or messenger

◦SAND HOG - those who dug the tunnel under the river

◦SANDWICHMAN - wears a sandwich billboard for advertising

◦SAWYER - saws timber to boards

◦SAY WEAVER - one who made Say, material used for table cloths or bedding

◦SCAGIOLA MAKER - one who made imitation marble

◦SCALERAKER / SCAVENGER - employed by the parish to clean the streets

◦SCAPPLER - one who roughly shaped the stone prior to being finished by the stonemason

◦SCAVELMAN - employed to keep the waterways and ditches clear

◦SCHRIMPSCHONGER - artisan who carves in bone, ivory, or wood

◦SCRIBE - clerk

◦SCRIBLER - a minor or worthless author

◦SCRIMER - fencing master

◦SCRIVENER - clerk, notary

◦SCOTCH DRAPER / SCOTCHMAN - sold goods door to door with payment to be made by installments

◦SCREENER - screened the ore at the mines surface

◦SCRIBBLER - employed in a scibbling mill where the wool was roughly carded before spinning

◦SCRIBER - employed at the docks to mark the cotton bales with the approximate weight ready for selling by the brokers

◦SCRIPTURE READER - employed by the local clergy to go from house to house reading parts of the bible to try and encourage people to attend church, also read scriptures during some services

◦SCRIVENER - wrote out legal documents etc

◦SCRUTINEER - election judge

◦SCUTCHER - beat the flax to soften the straw in the bundles

◦SCULLERY MAID - female servant who performed all the menial tasks

◦SCULLION - male servant who performed all the menial tasks

◦SEAL PRESSER - employed in the glass industry to seal the bath against air intake which could spoil the finished surface

◦SEARCHER - customs man

◦SECRET SPRINGER - one made watch springs

◦SEEDSMAN - sower of seeds

◦SELF ACTING MINDER - one in charge of the automatic spinning mule in the mills

◦SEMI LORER - maker of leather thongs

◦SEMPSTER - seamstress

◦SENESCHAL - A senior steward at the Manor

◦SEWER HUNTER - scavenger who concentrated on the sewers trying to find valuable objects

◦SEWER RAT - bricklayer who specialised in making and repairing sewers and tunnels

◦SEWING CLERK - collector of clothing piecework

◦SEWSTER - seamstress

◦SEXTON - employee or officer of a church who cared and upkept church property and sometimes rang bells and dug graves

◦SHAGREEN CASE MAKER - one who worked with shagreen leather

◦SHANTY MAN - lumberman

◦SHARECROPPER - tenant farmer who would be paid with part of the crop

◦SHEARER - removed the fleece from sheep

◦SHEARGRINDER - sharpened shears, scissors

◦SHEARMAN or SHERMAN - shearer of cloth, metal

◦SHEATH MAKER - one who made scabbards for swords

◦SHEEPMAN - sheep herder

◦SHEPSTER - dressmaker

◦SHINGLER - A roof tiler who used wooden tiles (shingles)

◦SHIP HUSBAND - repairer of ships while in harbor

◦SHIP MASTER - owner or captain of a ship

◦SHIPWRIGHT - constructor or repairer or ships

◦SHOE FINDER - seller of shoe maker's tools

◦SHOESMITH - cobbler, one who shoed horses

◦SHOE WIPER - servant who polished shoes

◦SHOT FIRER - one in charge of blasting in mines or quarries

◦SHRAGER - one who trimmed and pruned trees

◦SHRIEVE - sheriff

◦SHUFFLER - yardman on the farms

◦SHUNTER - one who moved rolling stock around the railway yards

◦SHUTTLE MAKER - made the shuttles for the weaving mills

◦SICKLEMAN - reaper

◦SIDESMAN - one who assisted the churchwarden

◦SILK ENGINE TURNER - turned the wheel on automatic silk weaving looms

◦SILK THROWER - worker in the silk industry

◦SILKER - sewed the ends of the fabric to prvent the layers from separating

◦SILK DRESSER - prepared the silk for weaving

◦SILK MERCER - sold silk cloth and items made from silk

◦SILK TWISTER - silk spinner

◦SILVERSMITH - worked with silver

◦SISSOR or CISSOR - tailor

◦SIZER - applied the size to cloth or worked in a paper mill

◦SKEPPER / SKELPER - one who made and sold beehives

◦SKINKER - tapster in an ale house

◦SKINNER - dealer in hides, mule driver

◦SKIPMAKER - one who made the skips used in mining and quarrying for moving men or materials to the surface

◦SKIPPER - master of a ship

◦SLAPPER / SLAPER - one who worked in a pottery preparing the clay for the potter

◦SLATER - roofer

◦SLOPSELLER - seller of readymade clothes in a slop shop

◦SLUBBER - operated the machine used to prepare cotton for spinning

◦SLUBBER DOFFER - removed the bobbins from the spindles in the mills

◦SMALLWARE MAKER - who made smallware, e.g. tapes, braids etc

◦SMELTER - worker in a metal smelter, smelt fisherman

◦SMIDDY - smith

◦SMITH - metal worker

◦SMUGSMITH - smuggler

◦SNOBSCAT - one who repair shoes

◦SNUFFER MAKER - made the candle snuffer

◦SOAP BOILER (SOPER) - soap maker

◦SOJOURNER CLOTHIER - travelling clothes salesman

◦SOLICITOR - lawyer

◦SORTOR - tailor

◦SOUTER - shoe maker

◦SPALLIER - tin worker who performs chiefly menial tasks

◦SPERVITER - keeper of sparrows

◦SPICER - grocer or dealer in spices

◦SPINNER - spins yarn

◦SPLITTER - operated a splitting machine or one who split things by hand, e.g. stone, timber etc

◦SPOONER - made spoons

◦SPURRER or SPURRIER - maker of spurs

◦SQUIRE - (esquire) practitioner of a profession, a gentleman

◦STABLER - ostler

◦STALLMAN - keeper of a market stall

◦STAMPMAN - worker of an ore crushing machine

◦STATIONER - bookseller, seller of paper & writing implements

◦STATIST - politician

◦STAY MAKER - corset maker

◦STEEPLE JACKER - painted flag poles etc.

◦STEERSMAN - ship's helmsman

◦STENTERER - operated the cloth finishing machine

◦STEP BOY - employed to help passengers to enter or leave the coach

◦STEVEDORE - laborer who unloads and loads ships' cargoes

◦STEWARD - manager of property, purveyor of supplies or someone who attended passengers on conveyance

◦STICHER - one who does decorative stitching

◦STOCKINGER - knitter, weaver, or dealer in stockings

◦STOKER - tends the fire of an engine boiler

◦STONEMAN / STONEWARDEN - a surveyor of highways

◦STONE PICKER - employed to remove the stones from the farmers fields before planting

◦STONE WORKERS - worked with stone eg masons, quarriers etc

◦STOREMAN - one responsible for stored goods

◦STOWYER - one who stowed the nets away on fishing boats

◦STRAVAIGER - vagrant

◦STRAW JOINER - one who thatched roofs

◦STRAW PLAITER - one who made straw braids for the hat industry

◦STREAKER - one who prepared the body for burial

◦STREET ORDERLY / BOY - street cleaner

◦STRIKER - blacksmiths helper or harpooned the whale

◦STRIPPER - employed in the woollen trade to remove the rubbish from the carding machines

◦STRINGER - made the strings for bows

◦STUFF GOWSMAN - junior barrister

◦STUFF WEAVER - wove stuff (the coarse part of flax)

◦SUCKSMITH - one who made ploughshares

◦SUMNER - summoner or apparitor

◦SUMPTER - porter

◦SUTLER - merchant or peddler in an army camp

◦SWAILER - miller or dealer in grain

◦SWAIN - herdsman

◦SWEEP - chimneysweep

◦SWELL MAKER - one who made shallow baskets

◦SWINEYARD / SWINEHERDER - pig keeper

◦SWINGLER - one who beats flax to remove woody parts

◦SWORD CUTLER - sword maker