Big Book - C

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Cab Driver / Cabbie / Cabman Driver of a horse-drawn passenger vehicle for hire. The first two are still in current use for a taxi driver

Cad Fed and watered horses at coaching inns

Caddie Messenger or errand boy

Caddy Butcher Butcher dealing in horse meat

Cadger 1) Beggar 2) Medieval hawk carrier. Attended hawking party, carrying hawks perched on a square frame around his waist and slung from his shoulders. Origin of 'cadge a lift'

Cafender Carpenter

Caffeler / Caffler Rag & Bone man

Cainer Walking stick maker

Caird Tinker

Calciner Made powdered lime from burning bones

Calender A person who listed documents

Calenderer / Calenderman "Calender" operator. A machine used to press and finish fabrics or paper between rollers.

Calico Printer Dyed, coloured and printed calico

Cambist / Cambrist 1) Dealer in bills of exchange - financial expert. 2) Banker

Cambric Maker Made cambric, a fine cotton or linen fabric

Camerist Lady's maid

Camister Minister of the cloth

Camlet Merchant Sold "camlet" - cloth used in making petticoats and cloaks

Canal Puddler During canal construction, 'puddled' a layer of clay on the sides and bottom of the canal to waterproof it

Cannaller Canal boat worker

Cancellarius Chancellor - from Latin

Candler Candle maker

Caner / Chair Bottomer Made woven cane chair seats

Canter / Cantor 1) Beggar 2) Religious speaker, chanter

Canting Caller Auctioneer

Canvaser Canvas maker

Caper / Capper Cap maker

Capillaire Maker Made orange flavoured syrup

Capitalist Investor, providing capital for commerce

Capite means the Tenant held the property in 'Capite' for the landlord to whom he paid rents

Cardroomer Worker in the carding room of cotton/woollen mills

Carder Carded (combed - a skilled job) wool or cotton

Card Maker 1) Made the combs and implements for carding (combing) wool 2) Made the loom-cards used by Jacquard looms in the weaving of figured fabrics

Carman/Charman/Carrier/Carter/Cartman Driver of (horse-drawn) vehicles for transporting goods. Carmen were often employed by railway companies for local deliveries and collections of goods and parcels. Modern day van driver. Also sometimes someone who drove horse-drawn trams was called a Carman.

Card Nailer / Nailorer Maintained the teeth (nails) on the carding machine used on wool & cotton before weaving

Carnifex Butcher

Carpentarius Carpenter - from Latin

Carter Carrier of goods by wagon

Cart Wheeler Cart wheel maker

Cartographer Mapmaker

Cartomancer Fortune teller using cards

Cartwright Made carts and wagons

Case Hardener Heat treats steel to harden its surface

Cashmarie Fish seller - usually in inland markets

Caster / Castorer Made small bottles for sprinkling salt, pepper, sugar etc.

Castrator / Gelder Castrated farm animals

Catagman Cottager (phonetic)

Catchpole / Catchpoller Bailiff or Sheriff's assistant

Catechist Religious teacher - from catechism

Cattle Jobber Bought and sold cattle

Caulker Filled up cracks in ships, casks, windows or seams to make them watertight by using tar or oakum hemp fibre produced by taking old ropes apart

Ceiler Installed ceilings

Cellarman As today, looked after beer & spirits & its dispensing equipment in pubs or warehouses

Cemmer Hand combed yarn prior to weaving

Cemetery A place where one is buried after death

Cemetery records the names and death dates of those buried, Sometimes Kept within the Chapel on the actual burial site as well as a Burial Map

Census records a census is an official enumeration of the population in a particular area.

Ceramist A craftsman who shapes pottery on a potter's wheel and bakes it in a kiln

Chaff Cutter Cut straw to make chaff

Chafferer Dealer in chaff

Chairman One of two persons who carried a sedan chair

Chair bodger Travelling chair repairer

Chaise Driver Drove a chaise - a two-wheeled open horse-drawn carriage for one or two persons

Chaisemaker Carriage or cart maker

Chaloner 1) Dealer in Shalloon – a fabric from Chalons in France 2) Blanket maker. Chalon or Shalloon - a woollen blanket or coverlet for a bed (from its original place of manufacture, Chalons-sur-Marne, in France)

Chamberlain Steward in charge of administration of the household of royalty or nobility. One of the four main officers of the court, he controlled access to the King

Chamber Master Shoemaker working from home or selling to the public

Chandler 1) Dealer or trader 2) Maker or seller of candles 3) Retailer of groceries - esp. to ships

Chanty Man The leader in singing sea shanties aboard ship

Chapeler Hat maker and seller - from French "chapeau"

Chapman / Copeman / Ceapman 1) 13c - 16c Itinerate Trader/Peddler. 2) Merchant - in the 17/18c, before the advent of factories, a Chapman would invest in the raw materials of the cotton, woolen or silk trade, put out the work to spinners and weavers at home on piece-rates, and sell the product for profit - the term later became used for an itinerant peddler of goods in the 19c

Chapman Code name given to abbreviations for counties. eg. DBY is for Derbyshire. See Chapman Codes

Charcoal Burner Made charcoal from burning, usually on the site of felling the trees

Chartmaster Negotiated mining contracts and supplied the labour

Charwoman A woman hired by the day to do odd jobs, usually cleaning, in a house - as still used today and in use as early as 1596. The word "chare" or "char" was used to describe an odd job

Chaser An engraver

Chatelaine Mistress of the house

Chaunter Street entertainer (singer)

Cheese Factor / Monger Cheeseman Cheese dealer

Check Weaver A weaver who used a loom that used more than one shuttle, each of which had a different coloured bobbin in order to produce checked cloth.

Chevener Embroidered fine silk stockings, popular with the Victorians.

Chiffonnier Wig maker

Chinglor Tiled roofs with wooden shingles (shingler)

Chippy Carpenter - esp. Ship's carpenter or shipwright

Christened. A religious ceremony to name a person, usually as an infant.

Christian name names other than a person's last name

Chirugeon / Chirurgeon Apothecary or surgeon

Chowder Fishmonger

Chronologist Recorder of important historical events

Church records Churches normally record information about christenings, baptisms, marriages, and burials.

Civil law laws concerned with civil or private rights and remedies, as contrasted with criminal law; body of law established by a nation, commonwealth, county or city, also called municipal law.

Civil War

Cinder Wench Female who collected cinders from factories for sale door to door

Circa. about or around (Latin)

Claker Magician / Astrologer

Clapman Town Crier

Classman Unemployed labourer

Claviger Servant

Clay carrier Assistant to the shot firer in the pits

Clay Puddler Made the waterproof clay lining used on canals and dams.

Clayman / Cleyman 1) Prepared clay for brick making 2) Rendered buildings with clay to waterproof them

Clerk Medieval clergyman or cleric

Clergyman without cure of Souls A clergyman without his own parish (without cure - care - of souls). Getting a Parish with sufficient income when there were more Clergy than Parishes wasn't always possible

Codicil supplement or addition to a will; not intended to replace an entire will.

Collateral line line of descent connecting persons who share a common ancestor, but are related through an aunt, uncle, cousin, nephew, etc.

Collier 1) Coal miner or dealer 2) Charcoal burner

Collindale British Newspaper Library, Colindale, London

Commission Agent Merchant buying or selling commodities or securities on account of a third party.

Common ancestor person through whom two or more persons claim descent or lineage.

Communicant person receiving communion in a religious ceremony or service.

Consanguinity the degree of relationship between persons who descend from a common ancestor. A father and son are related by lineal consanguinity, uncle and nehpew by collateral sanguinity.

Consort wife, husband, spouse, mate, companion.

Conveyance legal document by which the title to property is transfered; warrant; patent; deed.

Copyhold a form of manorial tenure, so called because the tenant was given a copy of the entry in the manor's court roll relating to his tenure.

Cordwainer shoemaker, can also mean a worker in cordwain, a leather originating in Cordova, Spain.

Corn Chandler Corn Merchant

Corn Factor Middleman in corn dealing

Corn Meter Official who weighed and weighed the corn at market

Cornet The lowest commissioned rank in a cavalry regiment, who carried the colours

Corver Made baskets, known as Corves, used in coal mining

Costermonger / Coster Wife 1) Peddler of fruits and vegetables 2) Ditto, female

Cotiler / Coteler / Cotyler Cutler - maker or dealer in cutlery

Cottager / Cottar / Cotter / Cottier Agricultural labourer, living in a landowner's farm cottage

Cotton Baller Wound cotton thread into balls on a special balling machine. These were used in 'Ball Warping', the oldest system of warping, not much used today.

Cotton Dresser Operator who assembled the yarns or threads prior to weaving of cloth

Cotton Feeder Was employed feeding the cotton into a carding machine, which roughly straightened the fibres prior to spinning More Info.

Cotton Rover Loaded cotton yarn onto bobbins, giving the yarn a twist, (Roving) after the Carding and Combing processes.

Cotton Singer (Meaning singe-er) Tends a machine that singes the nap or lint from cloth More Info.

Cotton Yarn Gasser 1) A person who worked in the "gas-room" where raw cotton was de-fumigated 2) A person who applied gas to finished cotton threads to smooth them

Coucher Worker in the paper mills

Countour Collected rates

Couper Buyer and seller, usually of livestock

Couranteer Journalist - from French

Court Baron A manorial court primarily dealing with the administration of the tenures of property held of the manor concerned. See also Court Leet.

Court Factor Dealer in Courts - small carts

Court Leet A manorial court primarily dealing with offences occurring within the bounds of the manor concerned.

Court Roller In charge of the rolls and records of the court

Court Toolmaker Made the tools for making Courts - small carts

Courtier Owner/driver of Courts - small carts

Cow Leech Animal Doctor

Coxwain Helmsman of a ship or boat - still in use

Crier 1) Town Crier 2) Auctioneer 3) Law court officer

Crimper Member of a Navy press gang

CRO County Records Office

Crocker Potter

Crofter 1) Tenant farmer of a croft - small piece of land - still in use 2) Also connected with bleaching of textiles - see Crofters

Croft Bleacher Worked bleaching cloth prior to dyeing and spreading it out in enclosed fields, or "crofts" See Crofters

Cropper 1) Tenant farmer who was paid with a share of the crop 2) Also known as a shearman, a skilled textile worker who sheared the nap from the cloth

Crowner Coroner

Cuhreur Courier - French

Cupper Worked in the potteries, making cups

Curer Tobacco Curer

Curretter Broker

Currier 1) Dressed the coat of a horse with a curry comb 2) Tanned leather by incorporating oil or grease

Customer Customs tax collector

Cutler Knife maker/seller/sharpener

CWGC Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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