Occupations & titles

Occupations & titles
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Domesday Books records a considerable variety of occupations and offices, many readily identifiable: bakers, barbers, beekeepers, boatmen, brewers, carpenters, cobblers, cooks, corn-dealers, dairy maids, falconers, fishermen, foresters, fowlers, goatherds, goldsmiths, ... merchants, millers, potters, sailors, shepherds, soldiers, washerwomen, and many others. Among the more unusual or even exotic, Domesday mentions gold-fringe makers, harpers, jesters, orphrey workers, and robe makers.

The following descriptions deal only with those occupations or titles which may be ambiguous, present problems of identification, or particular points of historical interest.

almsman almswoman
archer artificer
baron beadle
boatman bowman
bursar butler
chamberlain chancellor
commissioner constable
crossbowman deliverer
dispenser emissary
engineer falconer
farmer forester
Guard gunner
housecarl huntsman
installer interpreter
jester man-at-arms
marshal reeve
registrar sheriff
staller steersman
steward thane
thegn treasurer
usher Young

For a complete list of titles, officials and occupations, see: Domesday Book: index of subjects, edited by J.D. Foy (Chichester, 1992).