Ever run across reference to ‘William was a ___ for 20 years’ and you have no clue what that was?

Someone has compiled a list of those jobs with an explanation.

Some examples:

• BATMAN – officers servant in the army

• BILLIER / BILLYMAN – operated a Billy Roller, a machine used in the cotton industry to prepare the cotton for spinning

• CARTWRIGHT – maker of carts & wagons

Some of these jobs still do exist, but we call them something else today.

• MUDLARK – sewer cleaner, riverbank scavenger

• NIMGIMMER – doctor

• PETERMAN – fisherman

Or, the job sounds familiar but the actual job is something different.

• PASTOR – shepherd

• QUARREL PICKER – glazier

View a loooooooooong list of job titles and their description on Rootsweb.