V

 

vaccarius. Cow keeper.

vagabundus. Tramp.

vagina maker. Same as shether.

vaginarius. Same as shether.

valet. Male servant responsible for the master’s wardrobe, bathing and shaving needs and other personal services.

valet shop owner. Valet shops sprang up in the 1920s to press the clothing of customers. They developed into the modern dry-cleaners.

vallancy maker. Manufacturer of a particularly large type of wig that shaded the face.

valletus. Same as valet. Also a farmer with his own land, i.e. a yeoman.

vamper. Person who repaired old things to make them look like new.

van driver. The driver of a small horse-drawn delivery truck. Later a small motorised vehicle for carrying goods.

van man. Same as van driver.

van soldier. A vanguard soldier who led the other troops in an army.

vapulator. Person who gave the punishment of flogging on a ship or in a gaol.

vassal. Someone who had taken an oath to follow a leader and in exchange received his protection.

vat man. Someone who looks after the vats in a factory (e.g. a brewery, cloth or paper factory).

vault owner. Someone who ran a wine and/or spirit selling business (usually direct from the barrel for take-away sales) known as a ‘spirit vaults’.

vavassor. Similar to a knight. He was a free tenant just under the status of a baron.

V.D.M. ‘Verbi dei minister’. A nonconformist church minister.

vectigalis. Taxer (i.e. tax collector).

vedette. An army watchman on horseback, usually employed to keep watch over an encampment.

venator. Hunter.

venator con canis. Hunter who uses hounds.

vendor. Means ‘seller of’ with the commodity usually „following.

venter. Public speaker or publisher who distributes information.

venur. Same as venator.

verbi dei minister. See V.D.M.

verderer. Originally a royal officer in charge of the King’s forest. Later a petty constable.

verge maker. Specialist clock/watch part maker.

verger. Originally a lowly worker in charge of a yard or paddock known as a virga. Also, a clergyman or church/procession official.

verrier. Glass worker/glazier.

verser(er). Poetry seller/reader/compiler.

versificator. Poet.

vesica maker. Same as shether.

vestiar(ius). Clothing manufacturer/dealer.

vestryman. Member of a local (church) parish council.

vexil carrier. Flag carrier or standard bearer.

viaticus. Tramp (sometimes traveller).

vicar. As well as its use for a clergyman, the term was also used in the 19th century for a deputy or other authorised person.

vicar general. Ecclesiastical officer whose duties later became combined with those of the chancellor of a diocese.

vicarius. Vicar.

vicecomes. Viscount/sheriff/shire reeve.

viceroy. One who governs as a sustitute of the sovereign.

victor. Uncertain, probably a soldier or a victualler.

victualarius. Same as victualler.

victualler. Food shop keeper. Also inn keeper who also provides meals.

vidulator. A musician who played an instrument similar to a fiddle.

villanus. Common worker.

villein. A common worker. Unfree but above the status of a slave with a much restricted lifestyle (similar to a serf).

villein in gross. Same as a villein but could be transferred as a property to another owner.

villicus. Steward.

vinarius. Grape grower/wine seller.

vinerator. Grape grower.

vinero(o)n. Grape grower.

vini mercator. Wine merchant.

vintner. Wine merchant or dealer.

viper catcher. See under snake catcher.

virgiferens. A verger (church attendant) or procession official.

virgin (light keeper). Girl or young woman who was responsible for lighting the church candles.

virginal maker. Musical instrument maker.

viridarius. Grass cutter or hay maker.

viro. Boatman.

vitarius. Glazier.

vitellarius. Inn keeper who also provides meals.

vitillarius. Same as vitellarius.

vitrar(ius). Glass blower/seller or glazier.

vitrolite worker. Worker in a factory that made ‘vitrolite’ (rolled coloured glass).

viverrarius. A kind of medieval rat and pest catcher who used ferrets.

vocabulist. Compiler of dictionaries.

votaress. Used to describe nuns, but strictly any female devoted to a particular form of worship or way of life.

votarist. Male equivalent of votaress. Also votary.

vulcan. Blacksmith.

vulcan rubber worker. Worker in a rubber factory.

vulcanizer. Rubber industry worker who hardened rubber by adding sulphur during the manufacturing process.

 

Workers in a rubber factory, vulcanizing car tyres. Before modern manufacturing processes, car tyres and other rubber objects would be strengthened by being vulcanized in large vats in which sulphur had been added. The workers in the above photograph taken around 1935 are lowering moulded tyres into the `vulcanizer’. Between 12 and 35 tyres would be vulcanized at once.