Big Book - M
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Manuscript usually unpublished family histories or collections of family papers.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
