BAND FILER - metal worker in the gun making industry BANDSTER - bound the wheat sheaves after harvest BANG BEGGAR - officer of the parish who controlled the length of stay of any stranger to the parish BANKER - dug trenches and ditches to allow drainage of the land, placing the surplus earth in banks around the edge BANKSMAN - employed in the mining industry being in charge of the cages at the pit head (sometimes known as a bank manager) BARBER / BARBER SURGEON - a barber also also a surgeon (an Act was passed that limited Barbers to hair-cutting, shaving, dentistry and blood letting in the 18th century) BARD - poet or minstral BAREMAN - beggar or pauper BARGEE / BARGEMAN - worked on or owned and operated a barge BARGE MATE - Naval officer BARILLA MANUFACTURER - made barilla, a substance obtained from burning saltworts, the resulting mixture of sodium salts being used in the glass and ceramics industry BARKEEPER - another name for a tollkeeper BARKER - tanner BAUER - farmer BAXTER - baker BELHOSTE - tavern keeper. BARTONER - in charge of the monastic farm, also known as a barton BASIL WORKER - worked with sheep and goat skins BASKETMAN - made baskets and furniture from wicker, and also employed to empty the basket of coal being offloaded from the colliers into the barges BASS / BAST DRESSER - employed in dressing fibre or matting BATHING MACHINE PROPRIETOR - owned and hired the changing huts used at the seaside in the by bathers BATMAN - officers servant in the army BATT MAKER - made the wadding used in quilt and mattress making BATTER OUT - sliced a short cylinder of clay (a bat) from a "pug" and threw it onto a mold shaped for the face of a ceramic plate BATTLEDORE MAKER - made the beaters used on clothes carpets etc to remove the dust (later made the paddles used in washing machines) BAYWEAVER - who wove bay (a fine woollen fabric also known as baize) BEADLE / BEDEL / BEDELL - officer of the parish whose principle duty was to keep order, also was the town crier BEADMAN / BEADSMAN / BEDESMAN - employed to pray for his employer, inhabitant of an almshouse / poorhouse / hospital or tenant employed by the manor for a specific service BEAD PIERCER - employed to drill the holes in beads BEAMER - winds the warp on the roller before putting it on the loom in the textile industry BEARER - worked undergrpound carrying the coal to the bottom of the pit shaft and placed it in the containers for uplifting to the surface BEATER - cleansed and thickened the cloth by treading it underwater with fullers earth (aka Fuller) BEAVER - made felt used in hat making BEDMAN - sexton BEDRAL - in Scotland a minor church official BEDWEVERE - made the webbing for bed frames and also a one who wove quilts BEESKEPMAKER - made beehives BEETLER - operated a beetling machine, used in the textile trade for embossing fabric BELLEYETERE - bellfounder BELLFOUNDER / BELTER / BILLITER - made bells BELL HANGER - installed bells in churches BELLMAN - employed as a watchman or town crier or who worked for the post office and collected letters for the mail coach by walking the streets and ringing a bell BELLOWFARMER - responsible for the care and maintenance of the church organ BELLOWS MAKER - made bellows used for organs or blacksmiths fires BELLY BUILDER - built and fitted the interiors of pianos BENDER - cut leather BESSWARDEN - appointed by the parish to look after its animals BESOM MAKER - made brooms BEVER - beverage maker BIDDY - female servant usually of Irish stock BILLIER / BILLYMAN - operated a Billy Roller, a machine used in the cotton industry to prepare the cotton for spinning BILL POSTER - put up notices, signs and advertisements BINDER - bound items, e.g., books, hats etc . BIRD BOY - employed to scare away birds from crops BIRD CATCHER - caught birds for selling BIRDS NEST SELLER - sold bird nests collected from the wild complete with eggs which were then hatched by domestic birds and sold as pets BIRLYMAN - in Scotland a ground officer or parish arbiter BLACK TRAY MAKER - made Japanned trays BLACKING MAKER - made polish for shoes BLACK BORDERER - made black edged stationery for funerals BLADESMITH - swordmaker or knife maker BLAXTER / BLEACHER - bleached cloth or paper pulp BLEMMERE - plumber BLENTONIST - water diviner BLINDSMAN - employed by the Post Office to deal with incorrectly addressed letters and parcels BLOCKCUTTER / BLOCKER - made wooden blocks used in the hat trade or laid down the blocks on which a ships keel was laid; a blockcutter was also a person who made and cut the patterns into wooden blocks for textile printing BLOCK MAKER - engraved the blocks used in the printin BLOCK PRINTER - printer who used wooden blocks for printing BLOODMAN / BLOODLETTER - used leeches for letting blood, this was thought to be a cure for many ailments BLOOMER - produced iron from ore, a bloom smithy BLOWER - glass blower, one who operated a "blowing machine" used to clean and separate fibres in the textile trade, one who operated the bellows at a blacksmiths BLOWFEEDER - fed the fibres into a "blowing machine" BLUESTOCKING - female writer BLUFFER - innkeeper or landlord of a pub BOARDING OFFICER - inspected ships before entering port BOARDMAN - truant officer who checked school attendance. a tenant of manorial land who paid rent by maintaining the manor's table BOARDWRIGHT - made tables and chairs aka carpenter BOATMAN - worked on a boat, predominately on rivers and canals also the name given to a boat repairer BOATSWAIN - ship's officer in charge of riggings & sails BOBBER - who polished metals one who helped to unload fishing boats BOBBIN CARRIER - worked in spinning and weaving sections of the mills BOBBIN TURNER - made the bobbins used in the spinning and weaving industry BOBBY - policeman usually of constable rank BODEYS / BODY MAKER - made bodices for womens garments BODGER - craftsman who made wooden chair legs and the spars and usually worked in the actual woodland that they cut the timber in BOILERMAKER - worked with metal in any industrial setting BOILER PLATER - made rolled iron plate used to make boilers for steam engines etc BOLL - looked after power looms in the weaving industry BOLTER - sifted meal BONDAGER - female worker on a farm who was bonded BONDMAN - bonded to a master for the purpose of learning a skill or trade BONDSMAN - stood bond or surety for another where a bond was required by law BONE BUTTON TURNER - made buttons using a lathe BONE LACE MAKER - made pillow lace BONE MOULD TURNER - made the moulds for button manufacturers BONE PICKER - collected rags and bones aka Rag and Bone Man BONESETTER - set broken bones BONIFACE - keeper of an inn BOOK GILDER - decorated books with gold leaf BOOKHOLDER - prompter in the theater BOOK KEEPER - looked after the accounts for businesses BOOKMAN - student BOONMASTER - surveyor of roads with the responsibilities of maintaining and repairing the road BOOTBINDER - employed to operate the machines which bound footware BOOT CATCHER - servant at inn who pulled off traveler's boots BOOT CLOSER - worked in the shoe trade stitching together all the parts of a shoe upper BOOTHMAN - corn merchant BORLER - who made cheap coarse clothing BORSHOLDER - regional name (Kent) for a constable BOTCHER - tailor or cobbler BOTTILER / BOTTLER - made leather containers for holding liquids eg wine flasks or water bottles BOTTLE BOY - pharmacists assistant BOTTOM MAKER - moulded the bottoms for saggers in the pottery industry BOTTOM KNOCKER - sagger makers assistant in the pottery industry BOTTOMER - worked down the pits moving the ore etc to the bottom of the shaft for removal BOWDLER - worked with iron ore BOWKER - bleached yarn. A local term in some parts of Lancashire for a butcher BOWLER - made bowls and dishes and also a term used for those who made the rounded part of spoons before casting BOWLMAN / BOWLWOMAN - dealer in crockery BOWLMINDER - in charge of the vats used for washing raw wool before processing BOWYER / BOWER - made bows used in archery BOZZLER - parish constable BRABENER - weaver BRACHYGRAPHER - shorthand writer BRAIDER - made cord by twisting threads or strips of leather BRAILLER - made girdles BRAKEMAN / BRAKESMAN - operated the winch at the pit head or operated the braking mechanism on trains and trams BRASILER - dyer BRAZIER - worker with brass BREWSTER - female brewer or brewer BRIGHTSMITH - metal worker BROOM-DASHER - dealer in brooms BROOM SQUIRE - broom maker BROTHERER / BROWDERER / BRODERER / BROIDERER - embroiderer BROW GIRL - female employed at the pit head BROWNSMITH - works with copper or brass