Things Worth Knowing ~ Occupations - Part 7

M, N & O List of Occupations

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

◦MADERER - gathered and sold garlic

◦MAID - female domestic servant

◦MAIL GUARD - armed guard, frequently an ex-soldier, employed on the mail coach service

◦MAISE MAKER - one who made measures for weighing herring catch

◦MALEMAKER - maker of 'Males' or travelling bags

◦MALENDER - farmer

◦MALSTER - brewer, maker or seller of malts

◦MANCIPLE - steward

◦MANGLER - works a mangle

◦MANGLE KEEPER - woman who offered use of the mangle for a fee

◦MANGO - slave dealer

◦MANTUAMAKER - dressmaker

◦MARBLER - one who stained paper or other material, veined in imitation of marble

◦MARSHALL - horse doctor of shoesmith

◦MARSHMAN - paid by various landowners to look after marshlands and tend the animals put to graze there for the season

◦MASHMAKER - maker of the mash-vats or mashels used for mixing malt

◦MASON - stonecutter

◦MASTER - one of three grades of skill recognised by the Guild of Crafts

◦MASTER LUMPER - contractor of laborers at cheap rate of pay

◦MASTER MARINER - ship's captain

◦MATCHET FORGER - knifemaker

◦MAWER - mower

◦MEALMAN - dealer in meal or flour

◦MELDER - corn miller

◦MERCATOR - merchant

◦MERCER - cloth seller

◦METERER - poet

◦MIDWIFE - experience woman who assists in child birth

◦MILLER - corn miller, cloth miller, saw miller

◦MILLERESS - miller's wife

◦MILLERS CARMAN - drove carrier to deliver the flour or seed to the customers

◦MILLPECK - sharpener of mill stones

◦MILLNER - maker of womens' hats

◦MILLWRIGHT - designer & builder of mills or mill machinery

◦MILSTONE INSPECTOR - vagrant, a gentleman of the road

◦MINTMAKER or MINTMASTER - issuer of local currency

◦MIXER - bartender

◦MOCADO WEAVER - weaver of woollen cloth used for making clothes 16-17th century.

◦MOLITOR - miller

◦MONDAYMAN - one who worked for landowner on Mondays in lieu of rent

◦MONGER - (i.e., fish) - dealer

◦MOULDER - maker of molds or castings, brickmaker

◦MOUNTEBANK - seller if ineffectual patent medicines

◦MUDLARK - sewer cleaner, riverbank scavenger

◦MUFFIN MAKER - maker who made muffins

◦MUFFIN MAN - itinerant seller of muffins

◦MUGGLER - pigman

◦MUGSELLER - seller of cups, mugs

◦MULE MINDER - minded the spinning mules in the cotton mills

◦MULESKINNER - teamster

◦MULETEER - mule driver

◦MULTURER - miller

◦MUSICKER - musician

◦MUSTARDER / MUSTARDMAN - made and dealt in mustard

◦NAPERER - royal servant in charge of table linen

◦NAPIER - naperer

◦NARROW WEAVER - weaver of ribbons, tapes, etc

◦NAVIGATOR - laborer building canals or railways

◦NEATHERD - cowherder

◦NECKER - worker responsible for the feeding of cardboard into the machine the makes boxes

◦NEDELLER - needle maker

◦NECESSARY WOMAN - servant responsible for emptying and cleaning chamber pots

◦NETTER - net maker

◦NIGHT SOILMAN / NIGHTMAN - one who emptied cesspits, ashpits and backyard toilets

◦NIGHTWALKER - watchman or bellman

◦NIMGIMMER - doctor

◦NIPPER - lorry boy, a young person employed by the carter or wagoner to assist with the collection and delivery of goods

◦NOB THATCHER - wig maker

◦NOON TENDER - guarded the goods on the quay while the officers were a lunch

◦NOTERER - notary

◦OCCUPIER - tradesman

◦OILMAN - sold the oil for lamps

◦OLITOR - kitchen gardener (from Olitory—a kitchen garden)

◦ORDERLY - soldier who functioned as a servant for an officer

◦ORDINARY KEEPER - innkeeper

◦ORRERY MAKER - made a mechanical apparatus for showing the movements of the planets (named after the Earl of Orrery the inventor)

◦ORRICE WEAVER - designer of lace patterns to be woven with silk thread and silk

◦OSIER PEELER - removed bark from willow rods or osiers which were used in basket weaving, usually women and children (also known as withy peelers)

◦OSTIARY - monastery door keeper

◦OUT CRIER - auctioneer

◦OUTWORKER - worker who carried on their occupation at home, e.g., cotton or woollen weavers but it applies to many occupations

◦OVERLOOKER - superintendent or overseer, especially in the textile mills

◦OVERMAN - supervisor in a colliery who checked the miners work and the quality of the mined coal

◦OWLER - sheep or wool smuggler

◦OYSTER DREDGER - member of the crew on board an oyster fishing boat