W List
of Occupations
This
is a list of some occupations of which many are archaic although surnames
usually originated from someone's occupation.
◦WABSTER - weaver
◦WADSETTER - under Scottish law a creditor to whom a wadset
is made; a wadset is a right, by which lands, or other heritable subjects, are
impignorated by the proprietor to his creditor in security of his debt
◦WAGONER - wagon or cart driver
◦WAILER - one employed in the mines to remove the
impurities from the coal
◦WAINWRIGHT - builder or repairer of wagons
◦WAIT / WAKEMAN - night watchman
◦WALKER / WAULKMILLER - cloth worker
◦WALLER - one who built walls either brick or dry stone,
also a person who worked making coarse salt
◦WANTER / WANTCATCHER - mole catcher
◦WARDER -in charge of prisoners
◦WAREHOUSEMAN - in charge of or employee in a warehouse
◦WARPER - set the warp thread on the looms or employed to
move boats by hauling on the warps (the ropes attached to the boats)
◦WARRENER - in charge of a portion of land used for
breeding rabbits and other small game
◦WASHMAN - tin coater
◦WASTEMAN - checked the old workings for gas and
maintaining them in the mines or employed to remove waste
◦WATCH FINISHER - assembled watches and clocks
◦WATCHMAN - town official who guarded the streets at night
◦WATER BAILIFF - official in charge of the fishing rights
on a stretch of water
◦WATER CARRIER - carted and sold fresh water
◦WATER GILDER - trapped water fowl
◦WATER LEADER / LEDER / LODER - transported and sold fresh
drinking water
◦WATERMAN - worked with or on boats usually on rivers
◦WATTLE HURDLE MAKER - made a type of fence from wattle to
keep the sheep in
◦WAY-MAKER - employed to make roads
◦WAY MAN - surveyor of roads
◦WEATHERSPY - astrologer
◦WEBSTER / WEBBER - weaver (originally a female weaver)
◦WEIGHER - worked on the docks to weigh the cargo as it was
unloaded
◦WELLMASTER - one in charge of the local well with the
responsibility of ensuring clean water for the village
◦WELL SINKER - dug wells
◦WELL WRIGHT - made the winding equipment used to raise the
bucket in the well
◦WET GLOVER - made leather gloves
◦WET NURSE - woman employed to suckle tthe child of another
(common practice with the rich)
◦WETTER - dampened paper during the printing process or in
the glass industry who detached the glass by wetting
◦WHARFINGER - owner of a wharf
◦WHEEL TAPPER - railway worker who checked for cracked
wheels by striking them with a long handled hammer and listening for a clear
ring
◦WHEELER - wheel maker, attended to the spinning wheel in
the textile industry and one who led the pit ponies that pulled the tubs underground
in the mines
◦WHACKER - horse or oxen team driver
◦WHEELWRIGHT / WRIGHT - maker or repairer of wagon wheels
◦WHEERYMAN - in charge of a wheery (a small light rowing
boat)
◦WHIG - horse driver (Scottish term)
◦WHIPCORD MAKER / WHIPMAKER - made whips
◦WHIPPERIN - managed the hounds in a hunt
◦WHITEAR - hide cleaner
◦WHITE LIMER - plastered walls using lime and water plaster
◦WHITE SMITH - tin smith
◦WHITENING ROLL MAKER - made the whitening used in
whitening walls of cottages
◦WHITTAWER - one who made saddles and harness
◦WHITENER / WHITESTER / WHITSTER - one who bleached cloth
◦WHITEWING - streetsweeper
◦WHITSTER - bleacher of cloth
◦WHITTAWER - preparer of white leather
◦WILLOW PLAITER / WEAVER - one who made baskets etc
◦WINDSTER - silk winder
◦WOODBREAKER - one who made wooden water casks
◦WOODRANGER / WOOD REEVE / WOODWARD - in charge of the
forest or woods
◦WOOLCOMBER - operated machines that separate the fibres
ready for spinning in woolen industry
◦WOOL DRIVER - one who brought the wool to market
◦WOOL FACTOR - wool merchants agent
◦WOOLEN BILLY PIECER - worked in the woolen mills to piece
together the broken yarns
◦WOOL MAN /WOOL SORTER / STAPLER - one who sorted the wool
into different grades
◦WOOLSTED MAN - a seller of woollen cloth (from worsted
man)
◦WOOL WINDER - one who made up balls of wool for selling
◦WORSTED MANUFACTURER / SHEARMAN - one who made worsted
◦WRIGHT - builder or repairer
◦WYRTH - laborer
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