A Dictionary of Old Trades, Titles and Occupations (Reference)

The world of work has changed enormously in recent times. Who knows what buddle boys, claquers, dobbers, hokey pokey men, rogue spotters and sperviters are?

In this comprehensive reference guide, author Colin Waters provides a link to the past, explaining the function of nearly 4,000 old trades, titles and occupations. The entries here are taken from sources dating as far back as the days before the Norman conquest. 

This book will be especially useful to anyone interested in family, social and local history.

Structured in an A-Z dictionary format, with lots of illustrations throughout, the book is perfect for dipping into for short bursts.

Here are just a few highlights from the thousands of entries contained within the book:

• A is for aubobulcus: herder of oxen.
• B is for blencher: a worker whose job it was to shrink cloth or garments. 
• C is for char-a-banc driver: driver of a multi-seated holiday or excursion passenger coach, often referred to as a 'sharavan'. 
• D is for disgerbigator: farm worker engaged in haymaking. 
• E is for excecationist: a kind of excecutioner who had the task of making a person blind rather than killing them. 
• F is for fancy man: Victorian cab driver who lived off the earnings of prostitutes, often using the cab in the plying of their trade. 
• G is for goffer: cutlery trade worker. 
• H is for hippopath: once a common name for a horse doctor, but often used to describe a vet. 
• I is for infumator: person in charge of a beacon, bonfire or furnace. 
• J is Jack Ketch: a hangman. The term was derived from an actual hangman of that name. 
• K is for knock nobbler: churchwarden with the job of turning unruly dogs out of church. 
• L is for liripoopist: a clergyman. Also a man who made a type of hood worn by clergymen, known as a liripoop. 
• M is for mell man: a honey-gatherer. 
• N is for nightsoil man: a town or city worker who emptied dry toilets in the days before modern plumbing.
• O is for owler: a smuggler who worked at night and communicated with his companions on shore by the use of owl hoots. 
• P is for powder monkey: ship's boy who assisted with the gunpowder used in the cannons. 
• Q is for quidnunc: a news vendor. Also used to describe a person who pretended to know everything. 
• R is for raddler: hedge-maker who used interwoven branches. 
• S is for scaleraker: rubbish collector or street cleaner. 
• T is for trepanner: a surgeon specialising in opening the skull. 
• U is for underman: a railway carriage maintenance worker. 
• V is for vapulator: the person who gave the punishment of flogging on a ship or in a gaol.
• W is for wang maker: manufacturer of small fastenings, especially buckles for shoes. 
• X is for xylopola: a wood merchant. 
• Y is for yowler: assistant to a thatcher. He held the yowls of straw and passed them to the thatcher (17th century). 
• Z is for zythepsarist. A brewer.