Dictionary of Old and Obsolete Occupations - S

Dictionary of Old and Obsolete Occupations - S The occupations found recorded in documents from prior centuries often appear unusual or foreign when compared to the occupations of today. The following occupations beginning with S are generally now considered old or obsolete. Saddler  - maker and repairer of saddles and bridles Saddle Tree Maker - one who creates  the wooden frame for a horse saddle Salter  - one who makes or deals in salt Sandler - sandle maker Savant  - servant Sawbones  - physician Sawyer  - sawer of wood; carpenter Scabbler  - person who uses a scabbler (pick) to trim the sides of a tunnel Scappler - responsible for rough-shaping stone before final dressing by a stonemason   Schumacker  - shoemaker or cobbler Scribler / Scribbler  - minor or worthless author Scrivener  - scribe or clerk; professional or public copyist or writer; notary public Scrutiner  - election judge Scutcher / Skutcher - one who beat flax to extract linen fibers from flax stems Seinter  - girdle maker Servitor - a clerk or secretary Sewer rat  - a bricklayer who specialized in making and repairing sewers and tunnels Sexton - a church caretaker, sometimes responsible for digging graves Sharecropper -  a tenant farmer who is allowed to farm (and sometimes live on) anothers land in return for a percentage share of the crops produced on their portion of land Shearer - sheared wool from sheep Shearman  - one who raised the surface of woolen cloth and then sheared it to a smooth  surface; cutter of woolen cloth; sometimes a cutter of metal Shepster - dressmaker or sheep shearer Ship chandler -  a dealer in supplies and equipment for ships and boats, known as ship stores Shrieve / Shriever  - sheriff Shunter - railway worker responsible for coupling train cars and carriages; also known as a switcher Sickleman  - a reaper Silk drawer -  one who drew silk from silk waste for spinning Skepper / Skelper - beehive maker or seller   Skinner - a flayer of animal hides for leather Slagger - a worker in a steel mill responsible for removing slag from a furnace during the smelting process. Slater / Slatter  - roofer; tiler Slopseller  - seller of ready-made clothes in a slop shop Slubber - a worker in a cotton or textile mill, responsible for  removing the slubs or imperfections in the yarn prior to weaving Sluicer - one who tended the sluice in a mine (often a gold or silver mine) Smith - a metal worker, usually a blacksmith. See also the surname SMITH. Snobscat / Snob  - shoe repairer; cobbler Sojourner - a traveler or traveling merchant; sometimes used to refer to a temporary (non-permanent) resident of a parish Soper  - soapmaker Sorter  - tailor Sperviter - a keeper of sparrow hawks Spicer  - a grocer or dealer in spices Spinster  - unmarried woman; spinner (female) Spit boy -  Ã‚  a kitchen worker responsible for turning spits in the fireplace so food would cook evenly Spittleman  - hospital attendant Spurrer / Spurrier  - maker of spurs Squire  - country gentleman; farm owner; justice of peace Staymaker - a maker of bone stays for corsets Stevedore  - a dock worker or laborer who loads and unloads ships cargos. Stoddard - a breeder or keeper of horses Stone cutter - possibly a stone mason, but often a carver of tombstones Stoner - mason Stuff Gown  / Stuff Gownsman  - junior barrister Surveyor - one who estimates or measures areas of land Switcher  - railway worker responsible for coupling train cars and carriages; also known as a shunter Explore more old and obsolete occupations and trades in our free Dictionary of Old Occupations and Trades!