Dictionary of Old Occupations

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Definitions of jobs Cobbleman - Combere

Cobbleman: fished from a coble, which is a fishing boat with a flat floor originally used off the coast of Yorkshire.

Cobbler: shoemaker / mender.

Cockboatman: operated a small riverboat, sometimes used near the shoreline.

Cockfeeder: fed fighting cocks, known as fighting roosters in the US. The sport dates back millennia.

Cockspur Maker: made spurs designed to be attached to the legs of fighting cocks. The spurs had long curved spikes made of silver and were designed to injure opponent birds in a fight.

Cocus: Latin term for a cook, derives from the word coquus.

Cod Placer: worked in the pottery industry, loaded containers of unfired pottery into the kiln.

Coffin Maker: produced wooded coffins.

Copyright: Jane Hewitt. This dictionary is authorised for use on www.familyresearcher.co.uk only.

Coffineer: prepared corpses for burial or cremation.

Cohen: refers to a priest. Comes from the Hebrew word kohen.

Coiner: stamped coins in a mint.

Coke Drawer: retrieved coke produced by burning coal. Coke was commonly used as a fuel, or to smelt iron ore.

Collar Maker: operated machinery to create collars for clothing such as shirts, or a person who made the part of a horse harness known as a horse collar.

College Porter: a member of staff in a college of one of the famous universities.

Collier: a broad term encompassing many jobs working in coal mines or in transporting coal.

Colliery Doorkeeper: alternate term for a Coal Trapper, who operated trap doors allowing the passage of carts in a coal mine.

Colliery Hanger: an alternative term for an Onsetter - responsible for attaching and removing corves at the bottom of a mine shaft or at designated stopping places.

Colonus: Latin for tiller of the soil.

Colour Man: mixed coloured dyes for use on textiles. The term may also refer to an assistant to a House Painter.

Colour Millman: worked in the pottery industry, mixing ground colours.

Colourator: person who worked with coloured dyes. The US spelling is of course Colorator.

Colporteur: itinerant trader carrying religious texts and books for sale.

Colt: alternate term for a Colt Labourer in the textile industry.

Colt Labourer: a term used to describe workers in the 19th century textile industry who had not completed the seven year apprenticeship.

Comb Maker: produced combs, which were originally made from wood, bone or later on, metal.

Comber: either combed wool, flax or yarn by hand, or operated a machine called a comber which had the same purpose.

Combere: alternate spelling of comber, person who combed wool, flax or yarn.

This dictionary is my own work, and copyright Jane Hewitt. I sometimes find unauthorised (i.e. stolen) copies of my website content appearing on other people's websites. If you should read a group of identical glossary definitions elsewhere on the web, consider whether such sites are reputable or not.

Memories of the Lancashire Cotton Mills by Ron Freethy

Lancashire was once the Cotton Capital of the world. This book is a nostalgic look back at the county's cotton industry. Includes the workers' recollections and anecdotes, the events, both happy and tragic and the jobs and what they entailed. Profusely illustrated with old photographs.