Big Book - L
Lace Drawer Drew out the threads in lace making.
Laceman Lace dealer. Purchased from home weavers good they had made, often with his threads.
Lace-Master/Mistress Employed lace workers in factories/at home
Lace Runner Embroidered on lace
Lace Woman Lady's maid
Lagger Sailor
Lagraetmen Constable - contraction of Law Rightman
Lairages areas where cattle were temporarily housed while in transit to markets.
Lairman / Lairsman Looked after cattle during brief stops
Lairwite - fine paid by a villein to the lord of the manor after his daughter committed fornication or adultery. Also spelled leywrite, learwite, and leyrewite.
Lamplighter / Leerie Employed by the local council to go around the streets and light the (gas) street lamps, using a pole. Also often used to wake people up for work (as a "knocker-up")
Lamptrimmer In either Royal or Merchant Navy, responsible for keeping all oil lamps on the vessel in working order, /general assistant to the Boatswain and Storekeeper. A Petty Officer.
Lamp Exhauster Early 20c. Removed the air from the glass envelope of electric light bulbs.
Land records -proof that a piece of land is owned by a particular individual.
Landwaiter / Landing Waiter Customs official overseeing landed goods from ships
Lappett Maker Made machine embroidered textiles in which the design was worked into the cloth by a series of needles
Lardner Keeper of the cupboard (larder)
Laster Shoe maker (from his use of a last)
Late denoting someone who is deceased
Lath Renderer Applied the first coat of plaster on wall & ceiling. (Plasterer's assistant)
Lattener / Lattensmith Brass worker. Latten was an alloy similar to brass
Lavender Washerwoman
Layer Paper mill worker - at a particular process
LDS Latter Day Saints also known as the Mormon church
Leather Currier Tanned leather by incorporating oil or grease
Leavelooker Examined market foodstuffs
Leech Physician
Lederer Leather maker - (from German)
Legacy property or money bequeathed to someone in a will.
Legatee someone who inherits money or property from a person who left a will.
Legerdemainist Magician
Legger Propelled barges through tunnels by means of Legging
Legging the means by which a barge was propelled through a tunnel by the use of men/boys (not horses)
Leighton the term for a garden
Leightonward Gardener.
Lengthsman Checked canal for leaks/maintained tow paths ie: vegetation cutting
Lepra Leprosy
Lessee - person leasing property from an owner.
Lessor owner leasing property to a tenant.
Letter Carrier The 18c. term for a postman,
Letters Testamentary court document allowing the executor named in a will to carry out his or her duties.
Liber book of public records.
Lic. (abbreviation)- license.
Licensed Messenger Licensed couriers who delivered messages and documents.
Licensed Victualler A Tavern or Innkeeper or Publican
Lien claim placed on property by a person who is owed money
Licentiam Latin by licence
Life estate use interest in property until death.
Lighterman Works (still) on lighters - flat bottomed barges
Lights The lungs
Limeburner Burned limestone (calcium carbonate) in kilns to produce lime for farmers, quicklime for making mortar and for tanneries to remove hair from hides
Limner 1) Illuminator of books 2) Painter or drawer lineage - direct line of descent from an ancestor; ancestry; progeny
Linener / Linen Draper Sold linens, calicos, flannels, blankets, sheets, sheetings, bed ticks, gloves, ribbons, fancy ties, scarves etc.
Liner / Lyner Flax dresser
Linkerboy / man Carried a linK or torch to guide people through the streets at night for hire. /general manservant
Lis pendens notices of suits pending litigation, usually in matters concerning land.
Lister / Litster Dyer
Litigant person involved in a lawsuit.
Litterman Horse groom
Liv. (abbreviation)- living.
Loadsman / Lodesman Ship's pilot.
Loblolly Boy 1) Ship surgeon's assistant 2) Errand boy
Locker 1) Employed in Customs bonded warehouses as a trusted person to keep charge of the elaborate locks [known as the King's - or Queen's] Locks 2) Fed a power driven flat lock machine with knitted fabrics etc 3) Separated and graded locks of fur in the hat trade 4) Cut and folded sheet tin before feeding it into a grooving machine 5) Worker in the mining industry
Lock jaw tetanus
Lock Keeper (Still) Maintains and operates canal locks
Loco parentis in place of the parent or parents.
Logwood Grinder Made a dye from logwood for the textile industry
Long Sickness Tuberculosis
Long Song Seller Street seller of popular printed song sheets
Loom Sweeper Child or small adult employed crawling under weaving looms to clean, whilst in operation.
Loom Winder / Tender Tended winding units attached to looms that automatically wind yarn onto quills
Lorimer / Lormer 1) Maker of horse gear 2) Maker of small ironware 3) Wrought iron worker
Lotseller Street Seller
Lues Syphilis from Latin 'plague'
Lues Venera Any venereal disease, often syphilis
Lum Swooper (Scottish) Chimney sweep
Lumper 1) Dock worker unloading timber for a "Master Lumper" 2) Worker in salt making
Lunatic of less than sound mind
Lunatic asylum Mental hospital
Lungs Alchemist's assistant who fanned the fire
Lung Fever Pneumonia
Lung Sickness Tuberculosis
Lupoid pertaining to chronic skin problem
Lupus Vulgaris Tuberculosis of the skin
Lurry original spelling of Lorry
Lurryman Driver of a lurry
Luthier Made and repaired stringed instruments
Ltd. (abbreviation)-limited
Lying In Time of delivery of infant
