Dictionary of Old Occupations
Definitions of jobs Well Sinker -Whitawer
Well Sinker: person who dug wells for water.
Wellmaster: person responsible for the availability of drinking water from the local well.
Wellwright: produced and sold the mechanical winding gear which was used to draw water from a well.
Wet Glover: made leather gloves.
Wet Nurse: a childminder who breast fed babies in lieu of their mother.
Wetter: a worker in a glass factory, or a worker in a paper mill who operated a water tank as part of the paper making process.
Whacker: drove a coach and horses.
Wharfinger: The owner of a wharf, or the person who managed it for the owner.
Wheel Tapper: inspected train carriage wheels for damage by tapping the wheels and listening to the noise they made. A similar idea to tapping a drinking glass to see if it is cracked.
Wheeler: a textile worker who operated a spinning wheel, a mining worker who controlled the pit ponies, or a craftsman who made wheels.
Wheelwright: a craftsman who produced and repaired wheels.
Wherryman: operated a riverboat.
Whey Cutter: a food industry worker. Whey is a by-product of cheese-making.
Whig : a Scottish term for the driver of a coach and horses.
Whim: a mine worker who operated winding gear to raise and lower men and equipment.
Whimseyman: alternate name for a Whim, who operated a mine's winding gear.
Whipcord Maker: a person who produced whips.
Whipcorder: alternate name for a Whipcord Maker.
Whipper-in: managed the hounds for a Hunt (a fox-hunting term).
Whipping Boy: not really an occupation likely to be found on your family tree records(!), but for some reason is included in many online lists of trades and occupations. A whipping boy received punishment in place of the misbehaving son of a wealthy person.
Whisket Weaver: an alternate name for a basket maker.
Whit Cooper: a craftsman who made tin barrels and other items from tin.
White Cooper: pan alternate name for a Whit Cooper.
White Limer: a decorator who used lime to cover walls.
Whitear: cleaned hides to make leather or fur as raw materials.
Whitener: worked in the textile industry, responsible for bleaching cloth.
Whitening Roll Maker: produced whitewash.
Copyright: Jane Hewitt. This dictionary is authorised for use on www.familyresearcher.co.uk only.
Whitesmith: specialised in crafting items from tin, or who polished newly made tin products.
Whitester: an alternate name for a Whitener, who produced bleached white cloth.
Whitster: an alternate name for a Whitener, who produced bleached white cloth.
Whittawer: a craftsman who produced leather items for horses, such as saddled and harnesses, or any items made from bleached white leather.
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.
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George Sturt’s frank and moving account of his trade as a wheelwright in the late nineteenth century offers a unique glimpse into the working lives of craftsmen in a world since banished by technology. The wheelwright’s shop where he entered business had been operating for two centuries; this chronicle, first published in 1923, is a poignant record of that tradition, written as it was passing into history. |
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