|
Old Name |
New Name or Meaning |
| Wadsetter |
(Scottish) Creditor to whom a "wadset" is made. A wadset is a right by which lands, or other heritable subjects, are consigned to a creditor as a security for debt |
| Wafer Maker |
Made the wafers taken in Holy Communion |
| Waggoner |
Wagon or 4-wheeeled cart driver |
| Wailer |
Removed impurities and foreign bodies from coal in the mines |
| Wainwright |
Maker or repairer of wagons - "wains" |
| Waister |
Seaman stationed in the waist of the ship |
| Wait / Wakeman |
Night-watchman |
| Waiter / Tide Waiter |
Customs officer who waited on the (high) tide (when vessels arrived) to collect duty on goods imported |
| Waker |
A person whose job was to wake workers in time for early morning work |
| Walker |
"Walked" over cloth after weaving, after wetting, to clean and thicken it - see Fuller |
| Waller |
1) Brick or dry stone wall builder 2) In the Cheshire salt-works, makers of coarser grades of salt used in industrial processes, chemicals, fisheries and potteries. |
| Wanter / Want Catcher |
Mole catcher |
| Warder |
Jailer |
| Wardrobe Dealer |
Dealer in second-hand clothing |
| Warper |
1) Set up the "warp" (thread) on looms 2) Moved boats by hauling on their "warps" (ropes) |
| Warrener |
A warrener maintains rabbit warrens, traps them and produces rabbit meat for the Laird. Warrens were the property of the lord of the manor |
| Washman |
Tin coater (tin plater) |
| Wasteman |
1) Waste remover 2) Checked and maintained that mine workings were free of gas |
| Watch finisher |
Assembled time pieces (did not make the parts) |
| Watcher |
Employed as security in Customs bonded warehouses - to Watch the goods. |
| Watchman |
Town night-watchman |
| Watch Making .... |
Various occupations in the Watch-Making Industry - See |
| Water Bailiff |
1) Maintained fishing rights on (usually) rivers - still in use 2) River based customs official |
| Water Gilder |
1) Gilded metal surfaces by applying liquid amalgam, the mercury being afterwards removed by evaporation. 2) Trapped water fowl |
| Water Leader / Leder / Loder |
Transported and sold fresh water |
| Waterman |
1) Boatman who plies for hire - usually on rivers More Info. 2) Waterman (waterworks) ; sluice man, valveman, water valve man controls sluices or valves by which water is let into and out of reservoirs. 3) (Also Drowner) A man who understood irrigation. He was appointed to control the watering of the common water meadows, especially in Dorset, Wiltshire, Avon and Hampshire. |
| Wattle Hurdle Maker |
Made wattle hurdles - panels of wattle fencing |
| Waulker / Waulkmiller |
Cloth worker - see Walker |
| Waver |
Weaver - from regional pronunciation |
| Way Maker |
Road builder |
| Way Man |
Road surveyor |
| Wayland |
A smith |
| Weather Spy |
Astrologer |
| Weaver |
The operative of a loom producing cloth More Info. |
| Webster / Webber |
Operator of looms; weaver - originally a female weaver |
| Weigher / Weigh Clerk |
Weighed landed goods on the dockside |
| Well Sinker |
Well digger |
| Wellmaster |
In charge of the village well and responsible for clean drinking water |
| Wellwright |
Made the winding gear for wells |
| Wet Glover |
Leather glove maker |
| Wet Nurse |
Woman who breast-fed babies for others |
| Wetter |
1) Dampened paper for printing 2) Glass making worker |
| Whacker |
Horse or ox team driver |
| Whalebone Dresser |
Prepared whalebones for corsetry and other purposes |
| Wharfinger |
Owner or manager of a wharf |
| Wheel Tapper |
Railway worker - tapped wheels to detect cracks from the resultant ring |
| Wheeler |
1) Made wheels 2) Spinning wheel attendant 3) Led pit ponies underground in the pits |
| Wheelwright |
Made or repaired wheels; wheeled carriages, etc. |
| Wherryman |
Ran a "wherry" - a large flat-bottomed sailing boat, used typically on rivers |
| Whig |
(Scottish) Horse driver |
| Whim / Whimseyman |
Employed driving mine winding gear carrying men and materials up and down mine shafts. More Info. |
| Whipcord Maker |
Whip Maker |
| Whipper-in |
Managed the hunting hounds |
| Whipping Boy |
He was whipped in place of royal miscreants. Not a coveted position! |
| Whit Cooper |
Made barrels and other items from tin |
| White Limer |
Plastered walls with lime |
| Whitear |
Hide cleaner |
| Whitesmith |
A person who worked with "white" or light-coloured metals such as tin and pewter. Whitesmiths fabricated items such as tin or pewter cups, water pitchers, forks, spoons, and candle holders, possibly also in the clothing industry, making or finishing buckles, buttons etc. |
| Whitster / Whitester / Whitener |
Cloth bleacher More Info. |
| Whitening Roll Maker |
Made whitening (whitewash) for whitening walls |
| Whitewing |
Street sweeper |
| Whittawer |
1) Made saddles and harnesses 2) Prepared white leather |
| Willeyer |
Fed fibres into a "willeying" machine to separate and comb them for carding, often blending fibres in the process |
| Willow Feeder |
Operated a self-acting Willow - a waste cleaner in cotton or woollen mills - Drawing |
| Willow Plaiter / Weaver |
Basket maker |
| Winder |
1) Transferred yarn onto bobbins or perns, ready for weaving More Info. More Info.
2) Operated the winding gear at a mine pithead |
| Windster |
Silk weaver |
| Wire Drawer |
Made wire by drawing the hot metal through dies |
| Wireworker |
Works with wire to produce mesh, cages, grilles etc. |
| WOAD Dyer |
Produced and dyed cloth using Woad. More Info. |
| Woodbreaker |
Made wooden casks |
| Wood Ranger/Reeve
/Ward/Man |
Employed in maintenance & protection of woodlands |
| Wool Comber |
Worked machinery combing - separating - fibres for spinning |
| Wool Driver |
Carried wool to market |
| Wool Factor |
Wool merchant's agent |
| Wool Grower |
Sheep farmer |
| Wool Billy Piecer |
Pieced together broken yarns in the mill |
| Wool Stapler |
A dealer in wool. The wool-stapler buys wool from the producer, sorts and grades it, and sells it on to manufacturers |
| Wool Winder |
Made up balls of woollen yarn for sale |
| Woolsted / Worsted Man |
Woollen cloth seller - derived from worsted |
| Wright |
Skilled workman, especially in constructing items. Used together with the trade i.e. wheelwright |
| Wyrth |
Labourer |
