•    •  Glossary of Old Occupations, Professions and Trades

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old occupations, jobs, archaic trades and similar historical terms are often encountered in Family History. Definitions of these words and terms are recorded here.

# 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
There are currently 18 old occupations, professions and trades in this directory beginning with the letter J.
Jack
[1] A young male assistant, [2] A sailor, [3] A lumberjack.

Jack-Frame Tenter
Cotton industry worker who operated a jack-frame, used for giving a twist to the thread.

Jack-Smith
Maker of lifting machinery and contrivances.

Jagger
[1] Carrier, carter, pedlar or hawker of fish. [2] 19c. Derbyshire. A young boy in charge of 'jags' or train of trucks in coal mine. [3] Man in charge of pack horse carrying iron ore to be smelted. [4] From 1899 a uniformed messenger boy employed by a London business firm.

Jakes-Farmer
A person who emptied cesspools.

Japanner
A varnisher who used lacquering process invented in Japan. Closely allied to papier-mâché trade.

Jerquer
Custom house officer who searched ships.

Jersey Comber
Worker in woollen manufacture. (Jersey = wool which has been combed but not spun into yarn).

Job Coachman
see JOBMASTER. Driver of coach hired out for long periods to nobility or gentry.

Jobber
A buyer in quantity to sell to others, a pieceworker.

Jobling Gardener
One employed on a casual basis. Also Jobbing.

Jobmaster
A person who supplied carriages, horses and drivers for hire.

Joiner
A craftsman who works with wood. A skilled carpenter.

Jongleur
A travelling minstrel.

Journeyman
A craftsman who had served an apprenticeship and was no longer bound to serve a master. Distinguished on one side from apprentice, on the other from master.

Jouster
A female hawker of fish who usually travelled on foot for town to town. A fish monger

Joyner
see JOINER.

Justiciar
The head of the royal judicial system and the king's viceroy when absent from the country.