Occupations

Most occupations were for males only. A member can portray any occupation, however, they must portray the period gender, i.e., a butcher would be a male persona.   Many occupations would have ranks of apprentice, journeyman or assistant.  If located within the City of London, some would require membership in a guild. While an occupation may be too upper class for members, an apprenticeship to one might be acceptable.

MALE OCCUPATIONS

Actor – Man or boy who performs in a stage play (also a Player) (for a female member who adopts a
male persona, this could lead to a female doing a male actor impression, who plays a female)
Apothecary – Person who sells drugs and herbs
Armorer – Person who makes armor for soldiers
Astrologer – Person who predicted events by “reading” the stars, the planets, the sun, and the moon
Baker – Person who prepared bread, pastry, and other baked goods
Bard – Poet or storyteller (see also Playwright)
Beadle – Minor church official who kept order during services and performed menial tasks; messenger
for law courts
Bellmaker – Maker of bells
Blacksmith – Maker of horseshoes and other objects from iron heated in a forge
Boatman – Boat operator (see also Waterman)
Bookbinder – Binder of published manuscripts, journals, diaries, etc.
Bowyer (or Bower, Boyer) – Maker of bows that shoot arrows
Brazier – Maker of brass objects
Brewer – Maker of beer and ale
Bricklayer – Person who sets bricks
Butcher – Person who cuts meat
Carpenter – Person who makes and repairs items of wood
Chandler – Person who makes candles from wax or tallow
Chapman – Operator of a warehouse; trader, peddler
Cheesemonger – Person who sells cheeses
Chimney Sweep (or Sweeper) – Person who cleans soot from chimneys
Clergyman – Man who serves as a parish priest
Clerk – Keeper of accounts and records
Clockmaker – Person who makes and repairs clocks
Cocker – Person who breeds, trains, and handles fighting roosters, or cocks
Constable – Officer of a court or town watch
Cook – Preparer of food in a household
Cooper – Person who makes barrels
Coppersmith – Person who makes, repairs, and repairs items of copper
Cordwainer – Shoemaker
Crier – Person who walks the streets ringing a bell as he shouted news and proclamations
Currier – Person who prepares tanned leather by soaking, scraping, coloring, or beating it
Cutler – Person who makes, sells, sharpens, and repairs knives
Draper – Dealer in woolen cloth
Drayer or Drayman – Person with a horse-drawn cart for transporting heavy loads
Dyer – Person who dyes cloth
Embroiderer – Person who uses needlework to make designs on fabric
Falconer – Person who breeds and trains hunting falcons and hawks
Farrier – Blacksmith who specializes in making horseshoes
Fletcher – Person who makes arrows
Fowler – Person who hunts and sells game birds to kitchens
Fripperer – Person who sells second-hand clothes
Fruiterer – Person who deals in fruit
Fuller – Person who cleanses, thickens, and fulls cloth. To full cloth means to take knitted items and
make them thick, like felt
Furbisher – Person who polished or burnished various objects
Gamekeeper – Person who supervises the woods of a landowner and guards against trespassers.
Gardener – Person skilled at tending gardens
Grocer – Person who sold foods and general household supplies
Glazier – Person who cuts and installs glass for windows
Glover – Maker of gloves
Gravedigger – Person who digs graves
Groom – Male servant in a household; male who tends, feeds, and cleans horses in a stable
Haberdasher – Person who sells men’s clothing
Hatmaker – Person who makes hats
Herbalist – Person who grows, sells, or studies herbs, mainly for use as medical remedies
Hosier – Knitter of socks and stockings (hosiery)
Husbandman – Farmer
Innkeeper – Person who owned or hosted an inn
Ironmonger – Dealer in hardware
Jeweler – Person who makes, repairs, and sells items of jewelry
Joiner – Person who makes cabinets, furniture, interior woodwork, doors, window sashes, and other
wooden objects
Latten Maker – Maker of thin sheets of brass or an alloy. Latten was used to make church vessels and utensils.
Limner – Person who colors books, etc.
Linen Draper – Dealer in linen cloth
Locksmith – Person who makes keys and installs and repairs locks
Lorimer – Maker of metal parts for harnesses and other riding gear
Mason – Person who works with stone (see also Stonecutter)
Mattressmaker – Maker of mattresses
Monger – Merchant who sells goods from a cart or other device. Examples: fishmonger, ironmonger
Musician – Person who sings or recites to the accompaniment of an instrument
Ostler – Operator of an inn that rents rooms and stable space and serves food and drink
Painter – Person who paints walls, signs, etc
Peddler – Itinerant seller of merchandise (also spelled Pedlar)
Pewterer – Person who makes and repairs items of pewter
Physician – Medical doctor
Pinmaker – Person who makes and sharpens pins (a very low-class job)
Player – (see Actor)
Playwright – Person who writes plays (also a Bard)
Plummer – Works in lead
Porter – Doorkeeper, gatekeeper
Potter – Person who makes items of clay
Poulterer – Dealer in poultry and other game
Printer – Person who sets type in a form for printing; owner of printing business
Puppeteer – Person who stages puppet shows
Purser – Ship officer who keeps financial accounts and secures valuables for passengers
Ratcatcher – Person who catches rats for hire
Roper – Maker of ropes
Saddler – Maker of saddles and bridles
Sailor – Woks for hire about ships
Salter – Person who sells salt or salts meat, fish, and other food
Sawyer – Person who saws wood for construction
Secretary – Person who write documents, employed by a businessman or other important person
Servant – Person who carries out routine household chores (can be a very high end job)
Shepherd – Person who herds and watches over sheep
Shipwright – Carpenter who builds and repairs ships
Shoemaker – Person who makes and repairs shoes; cordwainer
Sieve Maker – Maker of sieves (strainers or sifters)
Skinner – Person who removes the skins of animals and prepares them for sale; seller of hides
Slater – Person who lays slate on roofs
Soapmaker – Person who makes soap
Spoonmaker – Maker of spoons (also a Horner)
Spurrier – Maker of spurs
Stonecutter – Person who cuts, shapes, and carves stone (see also Mason)
Street seller – Seller of goods (fruit, food, small goods) in the street, from a basket (very low class job)
Tailor – Person who makes clothing
Tanner – Person turns hides into leather by soaking it in tannin, a chemical that prevents decay
Tapster – Bartender
Taverner – Person who maintains a tavern
Thatcher – Person who thatches (covers roofs with straw or other plant material)
Tiler – Person who installs roof tiles
Tinker – Traveling handyman who repairs almost anything; jack-of-all trades
Tranter – Peddler who sells his wares from a horse-drawn cart
Tumbler – Entertainer who performs handsprings, somersaults, and other feats requiring physical agility
Turner – Person who shapes wooden objects, such as table legs, on a lathe
Warrener – Person who breeds or catches rabbits
Waterman – Operates a small boat for crossing the Thames (also a Wherryman)
Weaver – Person who makes cloth
Wheelwright – Person who makes and repairs wagon, cart, and carriage wheels
Wiredrawer – Person who draws metal into wire
Woodcarver – Person who carves wood to make it decorative

FEMALE OCCUPATIONS

Alewife – Woman who brews ale and sells it from her home
Apothecary – Person who sells drugs and herbs
Baker – Person who prepared bread, pastry, and other baked goods
Bawd – Keeper of a brothel
Brewer – Maker of beer and ale
Cook – Preparer of food in a household
Dyer – Person who dyes cloth
Fishwife – Woman who sells fish
Herbalist – Person who grows, sells, or studies herbs, mainly for use as medical remedies
Hosier – Knitter of socks and stockings (hosiery)
Housewife – Woman who keeps a home; can assist in husband’s business
Innkeeper – Person who owned or hosted an inn
Lacemaker – Woman who makes lace
Laundress – Woman who washes clothes
Maid – Female servant, such as barmaid, chambermaid, milkmaid, or housemaid
Midwife – Woman who delivers babies
Milkmaid – Woman who milks cows; dairymaid; vendor of milk
Needleworker – Woman who mends and repairs clothing
Peddler – Itinerant seller of merchandise
Pinmaker – Person who makes and sharpens pins (a very low-class job)
Seamstress – Woman who sews for a living (shirts and shifts only)
Servant – Person who carries out routine household chores
Street seller – Person who sells food or goods in the street, from a basket (very low class job)
Taverner – Person who maintains a tavern
Washerwoman – Woman who washes clothes

OCCUPATIONS TO AVOID

The following Occupations should be avoided, either because they are too upper-class, or they already exist within the Bandes. Check with the Education Officer to see if there are potential conflicts.

Barber-Surgeon
Barrister (Lawyer, Attorney)
Bearwarden
Gentleman Adventurer
Instrument Maker
Mapmaker
Schoolmaster
Any government official
Any merchant
Any position that requires University education