Morayshire Family History Sharing
Scottish Occupations
We have all have some sort of paperwork that has occupations
listed, Civil Registrations, Monumental Inscriptions, Census returns
and Probate records to name a few.
Over the years occupations have come and gone, new industries and
technologies have taken over from the workers on the land and crafters
This list is a partial extract of an occupations list on Scotroots Ancestor Service and is listed here with their permission, with additional occupations added by myself.
| Occupation | Description |
| Advocate | Solicitor acting in a Law Court |
| Agricultural . Labourer (Ag. Lab) | A labourer working on the land. Will be seen in most documents as Ag.Lab. |
| Annealer | Processed metal or glass by furnace-heating and immersion in chemical baths |
| Annuitant | Person receiving an annual income or pension, the person concerned does not work and may never have done. |
| Apprentice | Trainee bound to learn a craft or trade for a set number of years |
| Assizor | A juror |
| Bailie | Magistrate in a Scottish Burgh |
| Bailiff | One who guards the fishing rights on a stretch of river |
| Banksman | Mine worker at pithead who loads coal from the cages |
| Bard | Poet or teller of stories |
| Baxter | Baker |
| Beetler | Textile mill worker operating a beetling machine to emboss fabric |
| Blaxter | Bleacher of cloth |
| Bleacher | Mill worker who whitened textiles, or paper |
| Blockcutter | Person who hand-carves wooden blocks used for printing |
| Blockmaker | A trader, broker |
| Blockprinter | Person who prints on paper or cloth with carved wooden blocks |
| Bobbin turner | Maker of wooden bobbins and spools for textile mills |
| Bookmaker | "Bookie" accepts gambling bets, traditionally on racing horses, dogs, fighting in various forms |
| Bottler | One who fills bottles, often in distillery |
| Border | A smallholder |
| Bowman | A sub-tenant who farms a tenant's cows for a season |
| Brazier | Worker in brass metal |
| Brewster | A brewer, a maker of beer |
| Brusher | Coal miner who repaired mine passage roofs and sides |
| Burgess | Man listed as merchant or craftsman in a town burgh - a Tradesman |
| Cabinetmaker | Furniture maker |
| Callenderer | Smoothed cloth or paper by passing through rollers |
| Candler | One who makes or sells candles |
| Carder | Prepares wool for spinning by brushing with wire pads to remove organic matter and knots |
| Carter | Worked with horse and cart on farm or in towns |
| Catechist | Instructor in religious doctrine |
| Caulker | Filler of cracks more often than not in ships by sealing with tar |
| Cellarman | Keeper of wine and spirits - in later years also included beers |
| Chaisemaker | Carriage maker |
| Chandler | Dealer in goods, more often than not in ship's supplies |
| Charwoman | Cleaning woman |
| Chowder | Seller of fish - a fishmonger |
| Clagger | Person removing clags or dirty clots from a fleece |
| Clark | Clerk - an alternative spelling |
| Cloth Lapper | Driver of coach and horses |
| Coal Trimmer | Person who stabilised coal-carrying barges/ships |
| Cobbler | Maker or repairer of shoes |
| Collier | Coal miner, usually a coal face worker |
| Colourman | Mixer of dyes in textile trade |
| Colporteur | Travelling book seller |
| Compositor | Person who sets up type for printing |
| Cooper | Maker of barrels and casks, often for distillers |
| Cordiner / Cordwainer | Maker of fine leather shoes and boots. Can also refer to a worker in goatskin who made the finest gloves |
| Costermonger | Street seller of apples, other fruit and vegetables |
| Cottar | Tenant with only a cottage and maybe enough land to feed themselves |
| Cow-feeder | Tenant of small farm with dairy cows |
| Cowper | Maker of cups |
| Crofter | Tenant of farm and cottage (croft), usually in Highlands and Islands. |
| Currier | A curer or tanner of hides |
| Custumer | Custom-house official |
| Cutter | One who cuts the cloth for a tailor |
| Dexter | Dyer |
| Diker or Dyker | Builder of dry stone walls |
| Docker | Worker at docks who loads and unloads ships cargo |
| Domestic Servant (Dom. Serv. ) | A household worker |
| Dominie | School teacher |
| Draper | Dealer in fabrics and sewing materials |
| Drawer | Mine worker pushing or dragging coal carts |
| Dresser | 1. Surgeon's assistant |
| Drover | Cattle dealer and mover of livestock. There are many Drover Roads in Scotland and between the Scottish Borders and England |
| Drayman | Cart driver of a long cart without sides |
| Drysalter | Dealer in pickles, dried or tinned meats, and sauces |
| Dustman | Lifted street litter and domestic rubbish ( see 'scavenger' ) |
| Dyker | Builder of dry stone walls |
| Exciseman | Collector of taxes |
| Factor | Estate agent for landowner, collector of rents. A middleman between two parties. |
| Farm servant | Farm worker who was contracted to work for a farmer |
| Farrier | Blacksmith who shoes horses |
| Fencible | Soldier recruited at times of war, a militiaman |
| Fireman | 1. Person in charge of a furnace, e.g.. on a train, ship or foundry 2. A fire fighter |
| Fish curer | Dried and salted fish for transport in barrels |
| Fishwife | Woman who carried and sold fresh fish from door to door. |
| Fitter | Assembled wooden or metal parts , or machinery |
| Ferry-louper | An Orkney name for incomer from mainland |
| Feuar | Landholder under feudal system paid a feu (fee) to the overlord/ landowner |
| Flaxman | One who deals in flax |
| Fleshmonger / Flesher | A butcher or one who worked in a tannery |
| Fletcher | A maker of arrows (an arrowsmith) |
| French Polisher | A craftsman who uses sandpaper and oils to bring wooden furniture to a glass-like shine. |
| Fruictman | One who sells fruit |
| Furnaceman | Attended to furnace, often in metal a works |
| Gaberlunzie | A beggar |
| Gamekeeper | A guard and breeder of wild game (pheasants etc) on an estate |
| Ganger | Gangsman leading a gang or squad of men |
| Gangrel | Vagrant or tramp |
| Gaoler | Jailer |
| Guager | Excise officer |
| General Labourer (Gen. Lab) | General labourer, one who can work in various industries doing general manual tasks |
| Ghillie | Highland guard of wild game, especially deer |
| Girnalman | In charge of meal store or granary |
| Glover | Maker of gloves |
| Granger | Keeper of grain store (granary) |
| Grieve | Factor, collector of farming rents. Can also refer to the foreman or supervisor on a farm |
| Groom | Responsible for looking after the horses on an estate |
| H.L.W. (a common abbrev.) | Hand loom weaver |
| Haberdasher | Seller of small clothing wares and sewing materials |
| Hackler / Heckler | Lint dresser who separated the coarse flax with a toothed hackle |
| Heritor | Landholder in a parish |
| Hammerman | Metal worker, a smith |
| Hatter | Maker of hats, a milliner |
| Hawker | Pedlar, seller of small goods from door to door |
| Hecklemaker | Maker of flax combs for use by heckler/hackler |
| Herd | Shepherd |
| Hetheleder | A person who sold heather as a source of fuel |
| Hewer | Miner underground working the coal face |
| Hind | Farm servant |
| Hosier | Seller of long wool or silk stockings |
| Hostler / Ostler | One who looks after horses at an inn |
| Hooper | Maker of hoops for barrels |
| Howdywife | Midwife |
| Iron Miner | Miner of ironstone rock used in the production of pig iron |
| Iron Moulder | Iron worker who poured molten iron from furnace into moulds |
| Jackman | Attendant or man-at-arms, for a nobleman or landowner |
| Japanner | Applied black gloss lacquer to furniture |
| J.P. (abbrev.) | Justice of the Peace |
| Jobbing man | Employed for a variety of small jobs or tasks |
| Joiner | A wood worker, a carpenter |
| Journeyman | 1. Qualified tradesman, apprenticeship served 2. Also a man who was employed by the day |
| Kirk-master | Deacon in a church |
| Kish maker | Maker of woven willow baskets |
| Laird | Rural estate landowner, usually in the Highlands |
| Lamplighter | Employed to light the gas street lamps in Victorian cities |
| Lathsplitter | Prepared thins strips of wood (laths) for nailing to walls and ceilings as a base to spread plaster over |
| Laundress | Washerwoman for clothes |
| Lawrightman | Determined local weights & measures, and land tax |
| Leerie | Another name for a lamplighter |
| Lengthsman | Railway worker responsible for maintaining a length of rail track |
| Limmer | 1. Thief or scoundrel 2. Artist who decorates manuscripts |
| Lineator | Surveyor or measurer |
| Litster | Dyer of cloth |
| Lorimer | Maker of metal horse harnesses |
| Lotter | Made up odd lots of wool and put them in batches for sale |
| Maltster | Preparer of malt for brewing |
| Mariner | Seaman, usually in merchant navy |
| Mason | Stone cutter and layer |
| Master | 1. Head school teacher 2. Skilled and self-employed craftsman or tradesman |
| Master Mariner | Ship's captain |
| Milliner | Maker of hats and female headwear |
| Miner | Workers in mines, usually coal mines in the central regions of Scotland |
| Monger | Seller of goods, eg iron-monger |
| Nailer | Blacksmith maker of nails by cutting and shaping metal |
| Navvie | A short form of the word " navigator", a worker digging out canal beds, later roads and railways. |
| Night Soil Carrier | Person employed to remove and dispose of toilet waste |
| Notary | Solicitor, lawyer |
| Orraman | Spare man or odd-job man around the farm |
| Ostler / Hostler | Hostler, one who looks after horses at an inn |
| Overman | Supervisor in colliery checking mine and coal quality |
| Pattern Maker | Metal pattern makers made forms and moulds for casting iron products |
| Pauper | Person without money and means of earning a livelihood |
| Pedlar | Seller of small goods from door to door |
| Pendicler | Sub-tenant with some grass and arable land |
| Pensioner | Originally meant someone receiving an Army pension after active service |
| Periwig-maker | Maker of wigs for gentlemen |
| Peuterer | A worker in pewter |
| Pirn-winder | Mill worker who threaded yarn on weaving looms |
| Pitheadman | Over-ground worker at a coal mine |
| Pit Roadman | Mine worker preparing and repairing underground passageways |
| Platelayer | Railway worker laying and repairing rails |
| Plewman / Ploughman | Ploughman -Farm worker who works with horse and a plough |
| Pointsman | Railway worker who operates rail points |
| Pony Driver | Leading pony underground pulling coal hutches |
| Porter | Baggage carrier; or gate keeper |
| Portioner | Owner of land, previously divided amongst co-heirs |
| Post Boy | Guard travelling on a mail coach |
| Printfield worker | A mill worker who printed cloth with dyes and inks. |
| Procurator | Lawyer or advocate |
| Procurator-Fiscal | Principal public prosecutor in district |
| Provost | Elected head of burgh council |
| Puddler | Iron worker operating a puddling or ball furnace |
| Quarrier | Worker in stone quarry |
| Railway Lengthsman | Railway worker responsible for maintaining a length of rail track |
| Ranselman | Was empowered by court to search houses for stolen property |
| Reidare | Minor clergyman in early Church, a reader |
| Relict | Widow |
| Riever | Robber, originally of cattle |
| Rivetter | Shipyard worker joining metal plates with hammered rivets |
| Saddler | Maker and repairer of horse saddles and leathers |
| Sandpaperer | Another name for a French Polisher |
| Sawbones | Surgeon or physician. Is used in the Navy a greatdeal |
| Sawyer | Worker in sawmill or timber pit |
| Scallag | Poor male or female farm servant of a tacksman |
| Scavenger | A"scaffie" is a dustman or street sweeper |
| Schoolmaster | Head school teacher |
| Sclater | Slater, a roof tiler with slates |
| Scrivener | Writer employed to arrange contracts, prepare accounts, etc |
| Scullery Maid | A kitchen servant |
| Seamstress | Woman who sews, makes and mends clothes |
| Servitor | Clerk or secretary |
| Sexton | Layman guarding church building and vestments |
| Sheriff | Chief officer of Crown in county |
| Shingler | Roof tiler with wooden shingles |
| Shipwright | Constructor and repairer of ships |
| Ship Master | Owner or captain of a ship |
| Skinner | Flayer of animal hides for leather |
| Solicitor | A Lawyer |
| Souter | Shoemaker |
| Slater | A Roof tiler who works with slates |
| Smith | Metal worker, more often than not refers to a blacksmith |
| Spinster | A woman who spins textiles, is also a term for an unmarried woman |
| Spirit Merchant | Dealer in spirits, wines and ale |
| Sprigger | Embroiderer of fine lace and muslin, also boot and shoe finisher |
| Square Wright | Is a carpenter |
| Squattie (squatter) | A person with or without his family who lived on other peoples property without permission. In some places, there was a law that if they had by sunset a fire burning in a hearth with a chimney, they were allowed to stay and build a home. |
| Station Master | A man in charge of a railway station |
| Steward | Chief of household in a royal or noble family |
| Stoker | Stoked fuel in to a furnace or boiler, e.g. on a ship |
| Stravaiger | A wanderer, a vagrant |
| Surfaceman | Laid and repaired surface of road or railway, or mine passage |
| Surveyor of taxes | Responsible for calculating and levying taxes on property and possessions |
| Tacksman | Farm tenant who sub-let rents or tacks |
| Tailzeor | Tailor |
| Tambourer | Embroiderer using hoops to hold the cloth |
| Tanner | Curer of hides to make leather |
| Tenementer | Tenant of dwelling in large town building, a tenement |
| Tenter | Tuner and maintainer of power looms |
| Thatcher | Roofer working with reeds or heather thatch |
| Tinker | Travelling repairman , seller of pots and pans |
| Todman | A man employed to kill foxes (tods) on an estate |
| Towsman | Man in charge of the halyards on a fishing boat |
| Trencherman | Cook |
| Turner | A lathe operator, shaping wood or metal |
| Type-founder | Printer who set out individual letters on printing blocks |
| Vermin Trapper | A person employed to set traps and kill rats, mice, foxes, moles and other vermin |
| Victualler | Supplier of food and provisions |
| Vintner | Wine merchant |
| Wadsetter | A wadset is a right, under Scottish Law, by which lands are honoured to acreditor in security of a debt |
| Wainwright | Wagon maker |
| Walkster | Cloth worker cleaning and thickening cloth by wetting and walking over it |
| Wheelwright | Maker or repairer of wheels |
| Whig | a carriage driver |
| Whitesmith | Worker in tin and light metals |
| Winder | Mill worker who wound the thread on weaving looms |
| Wright | Joiner or carpenter |
| Writer | Solicitor |
| Writer to the Signers (Abbrev W.S) | A Solicitor |
| Yarn bleacher | Bleacher of textile fibres, such as flax |
| Yarn dresser | Preparer of flax fibres |
© Carol Sklinar 2003 - 2004