Big Book - M

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M. (abbreviation) married.

Mab welsh for Son

Maderer Garlic seller

Mad Hatter Disease Psychosis from mercury poisoning

Maiden name a woman's name prior to marriage.

Major person who has reached legal age.

Majores ancestors.

Majority (age of majority)legal age.

Maker-up 1) Made up garments to order 2) Chemist 3) Agent for paraffin sales

Mail Agent Government appointed Agent sailing on Royal Mail Ships (RMS) to ensure the mail was "protected and handled in a proper manner"

Male Maker Maker of travelling bags - "males" - from the bags used by the Royal Mail

Malender Farmer

Malignant fever Typhus

Malignant purpuric fever Meningitis (meningococcal)

Malignant pustule Anthrax

Malignant sore throat Diphtheria

Maltster / Malster Brewer Made or sold malts

Mam-gu Welsh term for "grandmother

Mania a form of mental illness

Manchester Warehouseman/ Cotton warehouseman Manchester being the centre of the cotton industry at the time, cotton cloth was called "Manchester" cloth

Manciple Steward

Mangler Worked a mangle for wringing out water from washing

Mangle Keeper / Mangle Woman Woman who hired out her mangle.

Manor Medieval England was divided into territorial units called manors

Manor Courts Manor courts were held 'for lord and neighbourhood',Principal functions being the preservation of the rights of the lord, on the one hand, and the regulation of relations between tenants, on the other

Manorial Documents include court rolls, surveys, maps, terriers, documents and all other documents relating to the boundaries, franchises, wastes, customs or courts of a manor.

Manorial Documents Register (MDR) identifies the nature and location of manorial records

Manorial records the documents created by landed estates called manors.

Manse parsonage;

Mango Slave dealer

Mantle Cutter Cut out the mantles for gas lamps

Mantua Maker A specific type of Dressmaker.

Manumission the act of being released from slavery or servitude.

Manuscript usually unpublished family histories or collections of family papers.

Marasmus Malnutrition

Marbler Stained paper or other surfaces to look like marble

Marine Store Dealer Proprietor of a store selling equipment to Mariners.

Marita married woman, wife.

Maritus bridgroom, married man.

Marksman 1) Sharpshooter 2) Marked out land 3) One who makes a mark in place of a signature 4) A grade or degree of the Orange Order 5) One who ranges competitors in a race 6) One who superintended marking New Forest ponies

Marriage bond document obtained by an engaged couple prior to their marriage.

Marriage contract legal agreement between prospective spouses made before marriage to determine their property rights and those of their children.

Marriage records a marriage record contains information about a marriage between two individuals.

Marshall Horse doctor or shoe smith

Marsh fever Malaria

Marshman Employed by landowners to tend marshland and the animals grazing there

Mashmaker Made the mash-vats or "mashels" used in brewing

Mason Stone cutter or dresser. Bricklayer

Master One of the three grades of skill recognised by a Crafts Guild. Skilled tradesman, often with his own business

Master Lumper Contractor employing cheap labour (working on the lump)

Master Mariner Ship's officer qualified to take command of a ship - not necessarily a Captain.

Master Writer Scribe or writer. (In Scotland, a Writer would be a Lawyer)

Matchet Forger Forged knife blades

Matchet Mounter Worked in the cutlery industry mounting knife blades to the handles

Maternal line line of descent traced through the mother's ancestry

Math An old word for mowing. Used as a measure of land, e.g. six days math = a piece of land that takes six days to mow.

Matrilineal Line line of ascent is through one's mother and the female ancestors who preceded her.

Matron older married woman with children

Matross Formerly, in the British service, a gunner or a gunner's mate; one of the soldiers in a train of artillery, who assisted the gunners in loading, firing, and sponging the guns

Mawer / Mather Mower

Mayer Physician

Mealman Dealer in meal or flour

Mechanic 1) Machine operator, less skilled than an engineer 2) A journeyman engaged in one of the lower forms of handicraft

Melancholia depression.

Melder Corn miller

Membranous croup Diphtheria

Menses Menstruation

Mensis month.

Mercator Merchant

Mercer Cloth seller

Merch - Welsh term for daughter

Messuage House or dwelling.

Meterer Poet

Metes measurements of distance in feet, rods, poles, chains, pertains to measuring direction and distance.

Meteorism Flatulent distension of the abdomen with gas in the alimentary canal

Metes and bounds method of surveying property by using physical and topographical features in conjunction with measurements.

Mil. (abbreviation) military.

Milk fever fever which accompanies lactation

Military records records of military service

Militia a military organization formed by local citizens to serve in emergencies.

Miller Miller of corn, cloth miller, saw miller, oil miller (see)

Miller's Carman Drove cart delivering flour or seed

Milliner Women's hat maker / seller

Millwright Designed, built and maintained mills or mill machinery, requiring a variety of skills, from reading plans to diagnosing and solving mechanical problems.

Milestone Inspector Vagrant - "gentleman of the road"

Mine Captain Senior supervisor or the equivalent of a superintendent in a mining operation.

Minor a person under legal age;

Mintmaster / Maker Issued local currency

Misegatherer Local tax collector

mo. (abbreviation) - Month.

Mocado Weaver 16-17th Century weaver of wool (mock velvet) for clothing

Moiety A half, part, portion or share of property etc. Note: Such is usually based on family or unilateral descent.

Molitor Miller

Mondayman Worked for the landowner in lieu of rent - usually a Monday

Monger Seller of goods (ale, fish etc.) i.e. fishmonger

Monthly Nurse An attending woman during the first month after childbirth. Also known as 'Confinement Nurse'.

Moor reeve an official appointed by the court to oversee the exercise of common rights on open moorland.

Morbilli Measles

Morbus Disease

Morbis cardis heart disease/heart failure

Morbus cordis see Morbus cardis

Morbus gallicus Syphilis

Mormal Gangrene

Mortis Death

Mortus latin died

Moss reeve A bailiff who received and dealt with claims for land on swamps and mossy areas.

Moulder Made moulds for castings, brick making etc

Mountebank Seller of fake patent medicines. An impostor

MS Male servant

Mudlark Scratched a living by scavenging river banks at low tide

Muffin Carrier A street seller of muffins

Muggler Pigman

Mugman Possibly a variant of 'Potman' a term sometimes used for a barman or other helper in a inn or public house

Mule Scavenger Cleaned working Spinning Mules

Mule Spinner See Spinner

Muleskinner Teamster

Muleteer Mule driver

Multurer Miller

Multure mill toll. a payment for grinding corn at the lord's mill.

Mungo A material of short fibre and inferior quality obtained by devilling woollen rags or the remnants of woollen goods, specif. those of felted, milled, or hard-spun woollen cloth, as distinguished from shoddy, or the devilled product of loose-textured woollen goods or worsted, - a distinction often disregarded.

- A fibrous material obtained by devilling rags or the remnants of woollen goods.

Musicker Musician

Mustarder / Mustardman Dealer in mustard

Myocardial degeneration degeneration of heart/euphemism for Old Age

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