Big Book - B

---

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0..9

---

Backmaker Made "Backs" - vats, tubs - a Cooper

Backsmann / Backster / Beck / Becker Baker

Back-Boy Kitchen servant - from Back House Boy

Back Tenter Employed at the back of the weaving looms, clearing away debris.

Back Washer Cleaned wool in worsted manufacture

Badger Licensed pauper - wore a badge with "P" on it and was restricted to working a defined area 2) Corn Miller or Dealer 3) Itinerant food trader

Badgy Fiddler Military boy trumpeter

Bagman Travelling salesman

Bagniokeeper Keeper of a bathhouse or brothel.

Bailie / Bailie / Baillee / Bailiff Sheriff's Officer, land steward acting for the landowner/landlord. In Scotland, a magistrate of the Burgh - also looked after fishing rights on some rivers

Bairman / Bareman Pauper or beggar

Bal Maiden Female mine worker employed on the surface (Pit Brow Lass)

Balancer Employed in coal mines to operate a system of hauling coal tubs (Balance)

Baler 1) Baled hay 2) In the mills, one who baled wool or cotton goods

Balister Archer. Most commonly, a crossbowman

Ballad Monger Street seller of printed ballad sheets

Ballard Master In charge of ballasting vessels

Ballast Heaver Loaded ballast in ships - commonly stone. Necessary when ships were not carrying cargo

Baller / Baller Up Potter's assistant - measuring out the balls of clay. Also see Cotton Baller

Balloon Blower (India) Made rubber balloons - (rubber was known as India rubber)

Band Filer Metalworker in gun making

Bandster Bound wheat sheaves after harvesting

Bang Beggar Parish Officer who controlled how long strangers could stay in the Parish

Banker 1) Dug drainage trenches/ditches, banking up the diggings along the edges. 2) General surface worker in coal mining. More Info.

Banksman / Bank Manager / Browman In charge of the cages at mine pitheads - sometimes known as a Bank Manager.

Banns public announcement of an intended marriage.

Baptised.

Barber, Barber/Surgeon Cut hair and also a surgeon.

Bard Poet or Minstrel

Bareman Beggar or Pauper

Bargee / Bargeman Owned or worked on canal barges

Barilla Manufacturer Made Banilla, obtained from burning saltwort, the resulting sodium salt used in glass & ceramics

Barkeeper Tollkeeper - on toll roads

Barker / Barkman 1) Tanner of leather using tree bark 2) Fairground cryer

Barleyman / Bylawman Manorial Court official who enforced the court orders

Barm Brewer Made yeast

Barmaster Lead Mine arbiter. In charge of the standard measure for the lead ore

Barrel Filer Employed in gun making

Barrow Man Pushed barrows of coal from pit face to the shaft

Bartoner / Barton In charge of a monastery farm or barton

Base-born an illegitimate child.

Basil Worker Worked with skins of sheep and goats

Basketman 1) Make wicker baskets & furniture 2) Emptied coal baskets into barges

Bass / Bast Dresser Dressed fibre for matting

Bastard a Bastard is an illegitimate child.

Bathing Machine Proprietor Owned and hired out changing huts used by bathers at the seaside

Batman Army officers' servant - still current

Batt Maker Made the wadding (batts) used in quilt and mattress making

Battledore Maker Made the wicker beaters used on clothes & carpets to beat out the dust. Later made the paddles used in early washing machines

Bauer A Farmer

Baven Maker Made bavens - split and curled wood pieces used for kindling

Baxter Baker

Bayweaver Wove "Bay"(baize) a fine woollen felt like fabric

Bead Piercer Made the holes in bead making

Beadle / Bedel / Bedell Town crier and parish officer who kept order

Beadman / Beadsman / Bedesman 1) Manorial tenant employed for a specific purpose 2) Inhabitant of a Poorhouse, Almshouse or Hospital 3) Employed to pray for his employer

Beamer Drew the warp yarn through and onto the long heavy beam of a loom for weaving textiles

Bearer Carried coal to the pit shaft and placed it in containers for lifting to the surface

Beater / Fuller Cleaned and thickened cloth by treading it in water with Fuller's Earth

Beaterman Managed the Hollander Beater (invented in the 16th century in Holland) in a paper mill. A beater beats and crushes raw material, bruising and driving water inside the fibres

Beatster Made or mended drift nets used in fishing

Beaver Made felt for hat making

Bedman Sexton

Bedral Minor Scottish church official

Bedwevere Made webbing for bed frames and also wove quilts

Beer Seller Sold Beer and Cider in Beerhouses under the 1830 Beerhouse Act.

Beeskep Maker Made beehives

Beetler Operated the Beetling Machine, used for embossing textiles. The Beetling Machine was also used to give a Shiny effect to cloth as the pressure of the wooden rollers during the squeezing (mangling) of the Cotton Cloth added lustre

Belhoste Tavern keeper

Bell Hanger Hung bells in church towers

Belleyetere / Belter / Billiter Bellfounder - bell maker

Bellman 1) Watchman or town crier 2) Worked for the Post Office, collecting mail by walking the streets ringing a bell Coaches then transported the mail

Bellpit Bell-shaped shaft dug by miners

Bellowfarmer Maintained the church organ (which was bellows operated)

Belly Builder Built and fitted piano bellies or interiors

Belly Roller Operated a machine which rolled and compacted fibres on the belly of cattle hides

Benchman In chairmaking, cut out the seat portion

Bender 1) Leather cutter 2) Bent wooden chair parts

Bequeath term appearing in a will meaning to leave or give property as specified therein

Bercary Sheep farm

Berewick Dependent settlement or outlying hamlet contributing to the sustenance of a manor

Besom Maker Broom maker, usually of birch twigs

Besswarden Appointed by a parish to look after its animals

Bibliography list of writings relating to a specific subject, some of which are annotated.

Biddy Female servant - usually Irish

Billhook Axe-like long-handled tool, used for cleaving sticks for wattle

Billier / Billyman Operated a Billy Roller, used to prepare cotton for spinning

Bill Poster As today, put up notices, signs and posters

Binder Bound books, hats etc.

Biography is a book written about a particular individual.

Bird Boy Scared away birds from crops

Bird Catcher Caught birds for sale

Birlyman Scottish ground officer or parish arbiter

Birth records contains information about the birth of an individual.

Bisshunter A hunter of rabbits for fur

BIVRI British Isles Vital Records Index

Black Borderer Made black edged funerary stationery

Black Tray Maker Made black (Japanned) trays

Blacksmith Worked (still does) iron with forge and hammer.

Blackworker Embroidered "blackwork" using black silks on, commonly, white fabric

Blacking Maker Made boot polish (usually using soot)

Bladesmith Made swords, knives etc.

Blaxter / Bleacher /Bleacherer Bleached cloth or wood pulp for paper in a "Bleachery"

Blemmere Plumber

Blentonist Water diviner

Blindsman Dealt with incorrectly addressed mail for the Post Office

Block Cutter / Blocker 1)Made wooden blocks for hat making 2)Laid the blocks for laying of a ship's keel in shipbuilding 3)Cut designs into wooden blocks for printing fabrics 4)Quarryman, whose job was to cut stone into useable blocks

Block Maker 1) Engraved or set up the blocks used in block printing 2)Made pulley blocks

Block Printer Printed paper or fabrics by the use of inked and carved or engraved wooden blocks. (Block Printing)

Bloodman / Bloodletter Used leeches to let blood, thought to be the cure for many ailments.

Bloomer / Bloom Smith Produced iron from iron ore

Blower 1) Glass blower; 2) Operated a "blowing machine" to clean and separate textile fibres 3) Operated the blacksmith's bellows

Blowfeeder Fed the fibres into a blowing machine

Boyds Boyds Marriage Index

Blue Dyer/Maker Used/made blue dye for whitening fabrics in manufacture or washing

Bluffer Innkeeper or pub landlord

BMD Births/Marriages/Deaths

Boarder Term used for a Lodger - usually dined with the family, whilst a Lodger did not

Boarding Officer Port official who inspects ship's papers on port entry - still exists

Boardman 1) Truant officer for checking school attendance 2) Manorial tenant who paid rent by maintaining the manor house table

Boardwright Carpenter. Made tables and chairs

Boatman 1) Worked on river and canal boats 2) Boat repairer

Boatswain Petty officer in charge of the ship's crew, also the ship's rigging and deck maintenance, responsible to the Chief Officer. Still in use today

Bobber 1) Metal polisher 2) Unloaded fishing boats

Bobbin Carrier Supplied the looms with bobbins in spinning and weaving

Bobbin Ligger Placed the spools for spinning

Bobbin Turner Made (lathe turned) the wooden bobbins used in the textile mills

Bodeys / Body Maker Made the bodices for women's garments

Bodger A skilled craftsman who made wooden chair legs and spars using a lathe set up in home made workshops in deep woodlands. His work was often produced for chair factories

Boilermaker Industrial metalworker.

Boiler Plater Made rolled steel/iron plate for steam engine boilers etc.

Boll Power loom attendant

Bolter Sifted meal

Bondager Bonded female farm worker

Bond written, binding agreement to perform as specified.

Bondman As for Apprentice - bonded to his Master to learn a skill or trade

Bondsman Stood the bond or surety for a bonded person

Bone Lace Maker Made pillow lace

Bone Mould Turner Made the moulds for button making

Bone Picker Rag & Bone Man. Collected rags and bones (originally) later any discarded articles / metals

Bonesetter Set broken bones

Boniface Innkeeper

Book Gilder Gilded book bindings with gold leaf

Bookholder Theatre prompter

Book Edge Marbler Decorated the edges of pages in bound books

Book Keeper As today, looked after business accounts

Bookman Student

Boonmaster Surveyed, maintained and repaired roads

Bootbinder Operated machines in shoemaking, binding uppers to soles

Boot Catcher Servant at an Inn who pulled off travellers' boots

Boot Closer Stitched the shoe uppers to the soles

Boothman Corn Merchant

Borler / Boreler Maker of borel - cheap coarse woollen cloth

Borough English A custom of inheritance by the youngest son

Borsholder Kent regional name for a police constable

Botcher Tailor or cobbler

Bottiler / Bottler A person who made leather containers for holding liquids eg wine flasks or water bottles. From the turn of the 17c it would more likely refer to a worker in a bottling factory for beer, soft drinks, water etc.

Bottle Boy Pharmacist's assistant

Bottomer Adzed out the finished seat from the rough shape in wooden chair making

Bottom Knocker Sagger Maker's assistant - See Saggar Maker's Bottom Knocker.

Bottom Maker Moulded the bottoms for Saggers in the pottery industry

Boundary Setters / Layers Employed by the Board of Ordnance (Ordnance Survey) for setting out and plotting important boundaries used in map-making.

Bounds pertaining to measuring natural or man-made features on the land.

Bounty land land promised as an inducement for enlistment or payment for military services.

Bowdler Worked with iron ore

Bowker Bleached yarn. Also in parts of Lancashire, a butcher

Bowler 1) Maker of bowls and dishes 2) Made the bowls of spoons before casting

Bowlman/woman Crockery dealer

Bowlminder In charge of vats in which raw wool were washed before processing

Bowyer / Bower Made archery bows

Bozzler Parish constable

Brabener Weaver

Brachygrapher Shorthand writer

Braider Made cord by twisting cords or leather

Brailler Made girdles

Brakeman / Brakesman 1) Operated pithead winding gear 2) Operated brakes on trains or trams

Brasiater Brewed Ale

Brasiler Dyer

Bratman Made rough garments

Brazier Worked with brass

Breakman / Brickman Bricklayer

Breech Maker Made the breeches for guns

Brewster Brewer

Bridewell Keeper In charge of a lock-up or jail

Bridgeman / Bridger Toll bridge keeper

Brightsmith Metal worker

Brimstone Refiner Refined sulphur, one of the components of gunpowder

Broadcloth Weaver / Broadweaver Wide(broad)loom operator

Broad Cooper Go-between for breweries and innkeepers

Brogger Wool merchant

Broker Essentially a salesman or middleman to a supplier for arranging sales.

Broom Dasher Broom dealer

Broom Squire Broom Maker/ itinerant maker of besoms or brooms

Brotherer/Broiderer/Broderer/Browderer Embroiderer

Brow Girl Female employed at the pithead

Brownsmith Worked with copper or brass

Brush Drawer Fixed the bristles into the stock or handle of a brush. More Info.

Brush Stock / Stale Maker Made the handles for brushes

BT's Bishops Transcripts

Buckler / Bucklesmith Made belt buckles

Buckle Tongue Maker Made the pointed part of a belt buckle

Buckram Maker Made buckram - used for stiffening lapels, collars, cloth belts etc.

Buck Washer Laundress

Buddleboy Used and maintained ore-washing vats in lead and tin mining

Buddler Women and children employed washing ore

Bullwhacker Oxen driver

Bum Bailiff An officer of the court who went to a convicted person's home or business premises and siezed goods in lieu of payment of a fine, in default

Bumboat Man Seller of goods and foodstuffs from boats to ships at anchor (Typically Suez Canal)

Bummaree Fish market middlemen - between wholesalers and retailers

Bummer Army deserter

Bunter Female rag & bone collector

Bureler Maker of Borel, a rough woolen cloth

Burgess Represented a borough official at functions

Burgonmaster / Burgomaster Mayor

Buried.

Burler Clothing quality inspector

Burleyman / Byelawman Manorial court official who enforced the court orders

Burmaiden Chambermaid or lady in waiting

Burneman Carrier of barm or water for brewers

Burye Man Grave digger - (bury man)

Bushel Maker Cooper

Busheler Tailor's helper

Busker Hair Dresser

Buss Maker Gunsmith

Butner Button maker

Butter Carver Prepared butter for sale

Back to Contents