Dictionary of Old Occupations

Glossary of jobs beginning S - Sch

Sacristan: in charge of a sacristy, which is a church room for storing Parish records, vestments, church furnishing etc. Note – other religious buildings may also have had a sacristy, e.g. a monastery.

Saddle Tree Maker: produces the wooden frame for a horse saddle. The tree is customised to fit the size of horse and rider, and eventually covered with stretched leather.

Saddler: a tradesman who made horse saddles for sale, or repaired and maintained saddles.

Safernman: possibly an archaic spelling of ‘Saffron Man’, a seller of saffron. Saffron is an expensive spice derived from the Saffron Crocus, and is used to flavour food.

Saggar Maker: producer or seller of saggars. A saggar is a box-like fire clay container used to enclose pots which need protection whilst themselves being fired in the kiln, shielding them from heat variations.

Salinator: person who salted food. Salt was often added to food as a preservative.

Saloonist: ran a saloon, which was in Britain was part of a pub (public house).

Salt Boiler: boiled sea water to produce salt. As the water boils away to steam, salt is left behind.

Salter: supplier of salt.

Saltpetre Man: produced or sold saltpetre. Saltpetre was produces by mixing soil, mortar or wood ashes and manure with organic materials such as straw. The mound was kept moist with urine for a year. A smelly job!

Sandesman: a messenger, envoy or ambassador.

Sarcenet Weaver: worked in the textile industry weaving silk. The word is sometimes spelt ‘sarcennett’ or ‘sarcinet’.

Savant: a scholar. Comes from the French word ‘savoir’, meaning ‘knowing. You might come across this word as a misspelling of ‘servant’ when researching your family tree.

Sawbones: a slang term for a surgeon. Ever wondered how the character ‘Bones’ Star Trek got his name?

Sawyer: used a saw to cut wood. May have been employed in the timber industry, or in other areas of manufacturing.

Say Weaver: a textile industry worker who wove material for tablecloths

Scabbler: shaped stone into squares using a hammer or axe.

Scagiola Maker: made scagiola out of selenite (gypsum) and glue. Scagiola is used to decorate buildings, columns, statues etc.

Scaleraker: an alternate name for a scavenger - a street cleaner, dustman or a child working in the textile industry.

Scavelman: maintainer of ditches, canals and rivers.

Scavenger: sometimes called a scaffie, a scavenger was a dustman or street cleaner. Also, in the textile industry, the term scavenger referred to children employed in the highly dangerous job of darting under moving industrial machinery to snatch up waste material. A mistake could result in serious injury or death for the child.

Scholar: a child attending school. This term commonly shows up in census records. The child may only be attending school on a part-time basis.

Schrimpschonger: a craftsman who made scrimshaw items. He carved the bones and teeth of marine animals into art.

Schumacker: a cobbler or shoemaker.

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.

Further information