Dictionary of Old Occupations

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Definitions of jobs Iceman - Ivory Merchant

Iceman: a door to door ice merchant.

Idleman: a person living on their own means.

In-bye Worker: miner working at the coalface. Possibly a regional term from Northeast England.

Indentured Servant: a Labourer contracted to an employer for a fixed number of years in exchange for essentials such as food, shelter and clothing. Similar to a slave, but for a limited time period.

Infirmarer: worked in an infirmary tending to the ill.

Infirmarian: another name for an infirmarer.

Inspector of Nuisances: worked for the Council or Parish to inspect the area for nuisance offences such as insanitary conditions or obstructed roadways.

Intelligence Office: in the UK refers to an employment agency for Domestic Servants. Believe that in the US this refers to a non-specific employment office or agency.

Intelligencer: a spy.

Intendent: held a public administrative office.

Interfactor despite being listed all over the internet as meaning the old occupational title for a 'murderer', I do not consider this to be a recognised trade or occupation and have yet to see it on a census return!

Iron Charger: foundry worker who kept a smelting furnace loaded with iron ore.

Iron Dresser: worked in foundry cleaning cast metal and moulds.

Iron Founder: a foundry worker who cast (founds) iron.

Iron Miner: a miner who collected ironstone rock as a raw material for foundry use.

Iron Moulder: a foundry worker who made moulds for casting iron.

Iron Puddler: a skilled craftsman who worked in a foundry making wrought iron.

Iron Roller: operated machinery to roll and shape iron.

Iron Shingler: processed wrought iron as it was removed from the furnace.

Iron Turner: a lathe operator who made items from iron.

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

Iron Weigher: a foundry worker responsible for weighing iron products so they could be sold, usually by imperial tons.

Ironmaster: the person who managed or owned a foundry.

Ironmonger: a retailer, wholesaler or distributor of iron goods.

Iron Smith: a Blacksmith.

Itinerant Artist: a travelling portrait painter. Journeyed across remote areas of the US on horseback to distant communities carrying canvases of partially completed busts, upon which they would paint customer's faces. Also painted miniatures.

Itinerant Preacher: a preacher in the US who travelled on horseback from home to neighbouring communities to minister to their religious needs. Performed baptisms, marriages etc.

Ivory Merchant: a person who produced retail goods out of ivory, or who sold ivory as a raw material.

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.

The Victorian Ironmonger by Cecil A. Meadows

The Victorian ironmonger's shop was the nineteenth-century equivalent of the modern department store and a vast range of goods could be bought there. If the Victorian housewife needed knife-cleaning powder, candles, a saucepan or wallpaper, she would visit the ironmonger. Other tradesmen relied on the ironmonger for their tools and materials: cheese knives for the grocer, coffin handles for the undertaker, tools for the carpenter and gardener, even builders' supplies. Installing kitchen ranges, gas-fitting and bell-fitting were also within the ironmonger's repertory.

This book describes the Victorian ironmonger's varied stock and also explains the purchase of goods, keeping accounts, giving credit and the prompt delivery service

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