Victorian Occupations

A collection of the occupations or job descriptions of the people living in London in the 1890's.  Most of the descriptions are fairly self explanatory, I'll elaborate on the ones that aren't in due course.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Wabster	A weaver.
Waggoner	Someone who drove a wagon, a carrier.
Wagoner	wagon or cart driver
Wailer	Someone employed in the mines to remove the impurities from the coal.
Wainwright	A builder or repairer of wagons
Waistcoat Maker
Waiter	Customs officer or tide waiter; one who waited on the tide to collect duty on goods brought in
Waiter, Inn	Someone who waited on tables at an inn.
Waitman	A night watchman.
Waitress, Inn	A female who waited on tables at an inn.
Wakeman	A night watchman.
Walker	A cloth worker who cleaned and thickened the cloth by wetting it then walking over it.
Walking Stick Dresser	someone who dressed walking sticks.
Walking Stick Maker	Someone who made walking sticks.
Waller	someone who built walls either with bricks or dry stone, also someone who worked making coarse salt.
Wantcatcher	Someone employed to catch moles.
Wanter	A mole catcher
Warder	Someone in charge of prisoners.
Wardrobe Dealer	Someone who dealt in wardrobes.
Wardrobe Shop Keeper	Keeper of a shop which sold wardrobes.
Wards Maid Hospital
Warehouse Boy	An assistant in a warehouse.
Warehouse Lad	An assistant in a warehouse.
Warehouse Man	Someone in charge of or employee in a warehouse.
Warehouse Porter	An employee in a warehouse.
Warper	Someone who set the warp thread on the looms, also someone employed to move boats by hauling on the warps (the ropes attached to the boats).
Warrener	Someone in charge of a portion of land used for breeding rabbits and other small game.
Washman	A tin coater.
Wasteman	Someone employed in the mines to check the old workings for gas and maintain them in good order. A person employed to remove waste.
Waste Paper Dealer	Someone who dealt in waste paper.
Watch & Clock Maker	Someone who makes watches and clocks.
Watch Finisher	assembled watches and clocks
Watchman	A town official who guarded the streets at night.
Water Bailiff	official in charge of the fishing rights on a stretch of water
Water Carrier	Someone who carried and sold fresh water
Water Cress Woman	A woman who grew and sold water cress.
Water Gilder	Someone who trapped water fowl.
Water Leader, Leder or Loder	Someone who transported and sold fresh drinking water.
Waterman	someone who worked with or on boats usually on rivers.
Waterproof Cab Maker	Someone who waterproofed cabs.
Waterproof Garment Maker	Someone who made waterproof clothing.
Waterproofer	Someone who made things waterproof.
Waterside Labourer	A dock labourer who worked on the ships in harbour.
Wattle Hurdle Maker	Someone who made a type of fence from wattle to keep the sheep in.
Waulkmiller	See Walker.
Waver	A weaver
Way Maker	employed to make roads
Way Man	surveyor of roads
Weatherspy	An astrologer
Weaver	Someone who weaves.
Webber	A weaver.
Webster	A weaver operating weaving looms (originally a female weaver).
Weeder	Someone employed to remove the weeds from the gardens of the rich.
Weigher	Someone employed on the docks to weigh the cargo as it was unloaded.
Wellmaster	Someone in charge of the local well with the responsibility of ensuring clean water for the village.
Well Sinker	Someone who dug wells.
Well Wright	Someone who made the winding equipment used to raise the bucket in the well.
Wet Glover	Someone who made leather gloves.
Wet Nurse	woman employed to suckle the child of another (common practice with the rich)
Wetter	Someone employed to dampen paper during the printing process. Also someone in the glass industry who detached the glass by wetting.
Whacker	A horse or oxen team driver.
Wharfanger	The owner of a wharf.
Wharfinger	The owner of a wharf, or one who is in charge.
Wharf Labourer	A labourer who works on a wharf.
Wheeler	wheel maker, attended to the spinning wheel in the textile industry
Wheelwright	maker or repairer of wagon wheels, carriages
Wheeryman	Someone in charge of a wheery, a small light rowing boat.
Whig	A horse driver.
Whipcord Maker	Someone who made whips.
Whipmaker	Someone who made whips.
Whipperin	Someone who managed the hounds in a hunt.
Whitcher	Someone who makes chests.
Whit Cooper	Someone who made barrels etc from tin.
Whitear	Someone who cleaned hides.
White Limer	Someone who plastered walls using lime and water plaster.
Whitener	Someone who bleached cloth.
Whitening Moulder
Whitening Roll Maker	Someone who made the whitening used in whitening walls of cottages.
Whitesmith	Tinsmith; worker of iron who finishes or polishes the work
Whitester	Someone who bleached cloth.
Whitewing	A street sweeper.
Whitster	Someone who bleached cloth.
Whittawer	Someone who made saddles and harnesses. Also someone who prepared white leather.
Wholesale Butcher	A butcher who supplied other shops rather than the general public.
Wholesale Oilman	Someone who supplied oil to oil dealers.
Willeyer	Someone who throws handfulls of wool or hair, hemp or flax tow, etc., on to the feed apparatus of a willeying machine. A textile process.
Willow Plaiter or Weaver	Someone who made baskets, etc.
Winder	Someone who transferred the yarn from bobbins onto cheeses or into balls ready for weaving. Also, in the mines someone who operated the pulley or winch.
Window Cleaner	Someone who cleaned windows.
Windster	A silk winder.
Wine and spirit merchant	A dealer in wine and spirits.
Wire Drawer	Someone who made wire from metal by drawing the metal through various size holes in a template.
Wire Frame Maker
Wire Worker	Someone who works with wire.
Wonkey-Scoop	A driver who operates a one horse scoop.
Wood Box Maker	Someone who makes wooden boxes.
Woodbreaker	Someone who made wooden water casks.
Wood Carver	Someone who carves in wood.
Wood Chopper	Someone who chops wood.
Wood Cutter	Someone who cuts wood.
Woodranger	Someone in charge of the forest or woods.
Woodreeve	Someone in charge of the forest or woods.
Wood Sawyer	Someone who saws wood.
Wood Tier
Wood, Timber Merchant	Someone who dealt in wood.
Wood Turner	Someone who turns wood on a lathe.
Woodward	Someone in charge of the forest or woods.
Woodworker	Someone who works with wood.
Wool Comber	Someone employed in the woollen mills to operate the machines that separate the fibres ready for spinning.
Wool Driver	Someone who brought the wool to market.
Wool Factor	wool merchants agent.
Wool Grower	A sheep farmer.
Wool Knitter	Someone who knits wool.
Wool Labourer	A general labourer who works in the woollen industry.
Wool Man	Someone who sorted the wool into different grades.
Wool Sorter or Woolsorter	Someone who sorted the wool into different grades.
Wool Stapler	Someone who sorted the wool into different grades.
Woolsted Man	A seller of woollen cloth; from worsted man.
Wool Winder	Someone who made up balls of wool for selling.
Woolen or Woollen Billy Piecer	Someone employed in the woollen mills to piece together the broken yarns.
Woollen cloth manufacture	The owner of a woollen cloth factory.
Working Builder	A builder.
Working in Fur	Someone who works with fur.
Works in Soap Factory	Someone who works in a soap factory.
Worsted Manufacturer	Someone who made worsted cloth.
Worsted Shearman	Someone who made worsted cloth.
Worsted Winder	Someone who winds wool.
Wright	A skilled workman; builder or repairer, many different trades.
Writer	Someone who writes, a scribe or a clerk.
Wyrtha	A labourer.

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