Old Occupations Dictionary

Census takers and clerks recorded jobs that no longer exist, or used old names for familiar ones. Search or scroll.

Occupation	What they did
Brazier	Worker in brass.
Carter / drayman	Hauled goods by cart or dray.
Chandler	Made or sold candles; a ship chandler sold supplies for ships.
Collier	Coal miner, or a coal merchant.
Cooper	Made barrels and casks.
Cordwainer	Shoemaker (working in new leather).
Currier	Finished tanned leather.
Drover	Drove livestock to market.
Drummer	Traveling salesman.
Fireman	Often stoked engines and boilers, especially on railroads and steamships, rather than fighting fires.
Fuller	Cleaned and thickened woolen cloth.
Gentleman	A man of property who did no manual labor.
Hostler / ostler	Cared for horses at an inn or stable.
Huckster / peddler	Traveling seller of small goods or produce.
Husbandman	Farmer, usually of lower status than a yeoman and often a tenant.
Joiner	Carpenter who did finish work, such as doors, windows and furniture.
Keeping house	On census records, a woman managing her own household.
Lighterman	Worked on a barge (lighter) carrying goods to and from ships.
Mercer	Dealer in fabrics.
Millwright	Designed and built mills and their machinery.
Navvy	Laborer on canals, railroads or roads.
Operative	Factory worker, especially in textile mills.
Planter	Farmer; in the South, often the owner of a large farm and of enslaved people.
Puddler	Ironworker who made wrought iron.
Sawyer	Sawed logs into lumber.
Scrivener	Professional writer of documents; a clerk.
Sexton	Church caretaker, often responsible for graves.
Spinster	Originally a woman who spun thread; later, an unmarried woman.
Stevedore	Loaded and unloaded ships.
Tanner	Turned hides into leather.
Teamster	Drove a team of horses or oxen; later, a truck driver.
Tinker	Traveling mender of pots and pans.
Tinsmith / whitesmith	Worked in tin and other light metals.
Turner	Shaped wood or metal on a lathe.
Victualler	Sold food and drink; a licensed victualler was an innkeeper or tavern keeper.
Wainwright / wheelwright	Built wagons (wainwright) or wheels (wheelwright).
Yeoman	Farmer who owned his own land.