Big Book - C
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
Chapman Code name given to abbreviations for counties. eg. DBY is for Derbyshire. See Chapman Code
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
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
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
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
