Dictionary of Old Occupations
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Definitions of jobs Flax Retter - Foot Post
Flax Retter: submerged bundles of flax stalks in water to separate flax fibre from the stem.
Flax Scutcher: as part of the process of dressing flax, scraped a wooden scotching knife down through vertically hanging to separate and pull away pieces of stalk.
Flaxman: a merchant dealing in flax.
Flesher: a butcher, or a person who prepared animal hide by scraping off flesh with a knife.
Fleshewer: a butcher; a person who hewed animal flesh.
Fleshman: alternate term for a Flesher, a butcher of a person who scraped flesh off animal hide.
Fletcher: made arrows. The name derives from the fletchings attached to the shaft of the arrow in order to stabilise flight. The term Fletcher may also refer to the medieval occupation of the person who supplied arrows to bowmen.
Flint Miller: worked in the pottery industry, shovelling flint into mills.
Flinter: person who loads powdered flint into sagger for making pottery.
Floater: tramp, hobo, vagrant.
Floatman: alternative term for a type of boatman known as a Flatman.
Flower Painter: hand painted decorative flowers onto pottery prior to glazing.
Flowerer: made decorative flowers using moulds for use on pottery.
Flowering Muslin: made embroidered muslin.
Flusherman: unblocked water pipes.
Fly Coachman: drove a fly carriage, which generally means a horse drawn delivery wagon or coach. In the UK however it specifically refers to a single horse drawn, covered light carriage such as a hansom cab.
Fly Forger: worked in a smithy, forge or ironworks making spinning machine components for the textile industry.
Fly Maker: an alternate name for a Fly Forger or a ‘Spindle and Fly Forger’, or a person who made hooks for fly fishing.
Copyright: Jane Hewitt. This dictionary is authorised for use on www.familyresearcher.co.uk only.
Fly Master: alternate term for a Fly Proprietor, who owned a fleet of fly carriages and employed drivers.
Fly Proprietor: owned a fleet of fly carriages and hired drivers.
Flying Stationer: sold newspapers in the street.
Flyman: an abbreviation of Fly Coachman, who drove a horse drawn carriage. Also refers to a worker in a theatre, often an ex-sailor, who undertook the physically demanding job of moving, repairing, loading and unloading scenery.
Fogger: a generic term for a travelling merchant, or an agricultural worker who fed cattle whilst working alongside Milkers. May also be an abbreviation of Pettifogger, an attorney or lawyer who handled cash or worked on petty cases.
Foister: abbreviation of Foisterer, usually a joiner.
Foisterer: a joiner (a skilled carpenter who joins wood without nails) or a shyster.
Foot Maiden: a servant girl.
Foot Post: delivered mail on foot, or a military term for an infantryman.
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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