| Word/Phrase | Definition | Useage |
| Cab Driver / Cabbie / Cabman | Driver of a horse-drawn passenger vehicle for hire. The first two are still in current use for a taxi driver | UK Occupation |
| Cabinetmaker | Maker of wooden furniture | Scot.Occup |
| Cachexia | Malnutrition | Medical |
| Cacogastric | Upset stomach | Medical |
| Cacospysy | Irregular pulse | Medical |
| Cad | Fed and watered horses at coaching inns | UK Occupation |
| cadastra | A public record, survey or map for tax purposes showing ownership and value of land | Colonial Diseases |
| Caddie | Messenger or errand boy | UK Occupation |
| Caddy Butcher | Butcher dealing in horse meat | UK Occupation |
| Cadger | 1) Beggar 2) Medieval hawk carrier. Attended hawking party, carrying hawks perched on a square frame around his waist and slung from his shoulders. Origin of 'cadge a lift' | UK Occupation |
| Caduceus | Subject to falling sickness or epilepsy | Medical |
| Cafender | Carpenter | UK Occupation |
| Caffeler / Caffler | Rag & Bone man | UK Occupation |
| CAILS | Certified American Indian Lineage Specialist, BCG credential | Colonial Diseases |
| Cainer | Walking stick maker | UK Occupation |
| Caird | Tinker | UK Occupation |
| Cal. Prin. | Calico printer. Calico was a cotton cloth imported from India, then patterned with dyes | Scot.Occup |
| Calciner | Made powdered lime from burning bones | UK Occupation |
| Calculator | 18c term for a mathematician engaged in computing tables, such as the annual Nautical Alamanac used by navigators in the calculation of astronomical observations. An extremely laborious occupation! | UK Occupation |
| Calender | A person who listed documents (filing?) | UK Occupation |
| Calenderer / Calenderman | 'Calender' operator. A machine used to press and finish fabrics or paper between rollers. More Info. More Info. | UK Occupation |
| Calico Printer | Dyed, coloured and printed calico | UK Occupation |
| Callenderer | Smoothed cloth or paper by passing through rollers | Scot.Occup |
| Caller Off / Caller Out | Loads and unloads trucks in a goods depot; calls out particulars of incoming and outgoing consignments, from labels on goods, to goods checkers in preparation for their removal from platform or wagon by goods porters. | UK Occupation |
| CALS | Certified American Lineage Specialist, BCG credential | Colonial Diseases |
| Camb Builder | A camb or comb builder made and fitted devices to thread the yarn on weaving looms. See also reedmaker . | Scot.Occup |
| Cambist / Cambrist | 1) Dealer in bills of exchange - financial expert. 2) Banker | UK Occupation |
| Cambric Maker | Made cambric, a fine cotton or linen fabric | UK Occupation |
| Camerist | Lady's maid | UK Occupation |
| Camister | Minister of the cloth | UK Occupation |
| Camlet Merchant | Sold 'camlet' - cloth used in making petticoats and cloaks | UK Occupation |
| Camp fever aka Camp diarrhea | Typhus | Medical |
| Canal Porter | Loaded and unloaded canal barges | UK Occupation |
| Canal Puddler | During canal construction, 'puddled' layers of clay on the sides and bottom of the canal to waterproof it | UK Occupation |
| Cancellarius | Chancellor - from Latin | UK Occupation |
| Candler | Candle maker | UK Occupation |
| Caner / Chair Bottomer | Made woven cane chair seats | UK Occupation |
| Canine madness | Rabies, hydrophobia | Medical |
| Canker | Ulceration of mouth or lips or herpes simplex | Medical |
| Cannaller | Canal boat worker | UK Occupation |
| canon law | Church law | Colonial Diseases |
| Canter / Cantor | 1) Beggar 2) Religious speaker, chanter | UK Occupation |
| Canting Caller | Auctioneer | UK Occupation |
| Canvaser | Canvas maker | UK Occupation |
| Caper / Capper | Cap maker | UK Occupation |
| Capillaire Maker | Made orange flavoured syrup | UK Occupation |
| Capitalist | Investor, providing capital for commerce | UK Occupation |
| Carbonarius | Charcoal maker | Scot.Occup |
| Carcinoma | Cancer | Scot.Dise 1855 |
| Card Maker | 1) Made the combs and implements for carding (combing) wool | UK Occupation |
| Card Master | In charge of the carding room in a cotton/wollen mill | UK Occupation |
| Card Nailer / Nailorer | Maintained the teeth (nails) on the carding machine used on wool & cotton before weaving | UK Occupation |
| Carder | Carded (combed - a skilled job) wool or cotton. Prepared wool for spinning by brushing with wire pads | UK Occupation |
| Cardroomer | Worker in the carding room of cotton/woollen mills | UK Occupation |
| Carman/Charman/Carrier/Carter/Cartman | Driver of (horse-drawn) vehicles for transporting goods. Carmen were often employed by railway companies for local deliveries and collections of goods and parcels. Modern day van driver. A Carter typically drove a light two wheeled carriage. Also sometimes someone who drove horse-drawn trams was called a Carman. | UK Occupation |
| Carman | Driver of horse-drawn tramcars in late 19th Century | Scot.Occup |
| Carnifex | Butcher | UK Occupation |
| Carpentarius | Carpenter - from Latin | UK Occupation |
| Cart Wheeler | Cart wheel maker | UK Occupation |
| Carter | Carrier of goods by wagon. Worked with horse and cart on farms or in towns | UK Occupation |
| Cartographer | Mapmaker - as today | UK Occupation |
| Cartomancer | Fortune teller using cards | UK Occupation |
| Cartwright | Maker and repairer of horse-drawn carts | UK Occupation |
| Case Hardener | Heat treats steel to harden its surface | UK Occupation |
| Cashmarie | Fish seller - usually in inland markets | UK Occupation |
| Caster / Castorer | Made small bottles for sprinkling salt, pepper, sugar etc. | UK Occupation |
| Castrator / Gelder | Castrated farm animals | UK Occupation |
| Catagman | Cottager (phonetic) | UK Occupation |
| Catalepsy | Seizures / trances | Medical |
| Catarrh | Inflammation of the mucous membranes | Scot.Dise 1855 |
| Catarrhal | Cattarh is a cold (the al at the end makes it an adjective): Nose and throat discharge from cold or allergy | Medical |
| Catchpole / Catchpoller | Bailiff or Sheriff's assistant | UK Occupation |
| Catechist | Religious teacher - from catechism | UK Occupation |
| Cats Meat Man | Sold meat from a barrow for cats and dogs | UK Occupation |
| Cattle Jobber | Bought and sold cattle | UK Occupation |
| Caulker | Filled up cracks in ships, casks, windows or seams to make them watertight by using tar or oakum hemp fibre produced by taking old ropes apart | UK Occupation |
| Causewaymaker | Built town roads (causeways) with stone setts | Scot.Occup |
| Cautioner | Person who stands surety for another, for example for the arrival of a groom on his marriage day | Scot.Occup |
| Ceiler | Installed ceilings | UK Occupation |
| Cellarman | As today, looked after beer & spirits & its dispensing equipment in pubs or warehouses | UK Occupation |
| cemetery record | an account of the names and death dates of those buried within a cemetery | Colonial Diseases |
| Cemmer | Hand combed yarn prior to weaving | UK Occupation |
| census record | A government sponsored enumeration of the population in a particular area; contains a variety of information from names heads of household or all household members, their ages, citizenship status, and ethnic background etc. | Colonial Diseases |
| Census | Official enumeration, listing or counting of citizens. | General |
| Ceramist | A craftsman who shapes pottery on a potter's wheel and bakes it in a kiln | UK Occupation |
| Cerebral haemorrhage | Bleeding in the brain resulting in a stroke | Scot.Dise 1855 |
| Cerebritis | Inflammation of cerebrum or lead poisoning | Medical |
| Certificato di matrimonio | Marriage record | Italian |
| Certificato di morte | Death record | Italian |
| Certified copy | A copy made and attested to by officers having charge of the original and authorized to give copies. | General |
| Chaff Cutter | Cut straw to make chaff | UK Occupation |
| Chafferer | Dealer in chaff | UK Occupation |
| Chain | See measurements. | General |
| Chair bodger | Travelling chair repairer | UK Occupation |
| Chair Turner | Turned the legs and spindles used in chair making often turned on rough 'bodgers' - lathes - as a cottage industry- common in Buckinghamshire | UK Occupation |
| Chairbearer | One of two porters who carried a sedan chair with passenger in 18th century Edinburgh and Glasgow | Scot.Occup |
| Chairman | One of two persons who carried a sedan chair. | UK Occupation |
| Chaise Driver | Drove a chaise - a two-wheeled open horse-drawn carriage for one or two persons | UK Occupation |
| Chaisemaker | Carriage or cart maker | UK Occupation |
| Chaloner | 1) Dealer in Shalloon – a fabric from Chalons in France 2) Blanket maker. Chalon or Shalloon - a woollen blanket or coverlet for a bed (from its original place of manufacture, Chalons-sur-Marne, in France) | UK Occupation |
| Chamber Master | Shoemaker working from home or selling to the public | UK Occupation |
| Chamberlain | Steward in charge of administration of the household of royalty or nobility. One of the four main officers of the court, he controlled access to the King | UK Occupation |
| Chambre Syndicale des Généalogistes - Héraldistes | 74, rue des Saints-Pères, 75005 Paris, France. The genealogical body providing certification for professional genealogists in France. | Colonial Diseases |
| Chandler | 1) Dealer or trader 2) Maker or seller of candles 3) Retailer of groceries - esp. to ships | UK Occupation |
| Change-keeper | An inn-keeper | Scot.Occup |
| Chanty Man | The leader in singing sea shanties aboard ship | UK Occupation |
| Chapeler | Hat maker and seller - from French 'chapeau' | UK Occupation |
| Chapman / Copeman / Ceapman | 1) 13c - 16c Itinerate Trader/Peddler. 2) Merchant - in the 17/18c, before the advent of factories, a Chapman would invest in the raw materials of the cotton, woolen or silk trade, put out the work to spinners and weavers at home on piece-rates, and sell | UK Occupation |
| Chapman | Dealer of goods from a stall, or by travelling from village to village | Scot.Occup |
| Chapper | Employed to knock on doors of early risers. eg bakers, jute workers etc. | Scot.Occup |
| Characteristics | Features that distinguish people or places from others. | Genealogy |
| Charcoal Burner | Made charcoal from burning, usually on the site of felling the trees | UK Occupation |
| Chartmaster | Negotiated mining contracts and supplied the labour | UK Occupation |
| Charwoman | A woman hired by the day to do odd jobs, usually cleaning, in a house - as still used today and in use as early as 1596. The word 'chare' or 'char' was used to describe an odd job | UK Occupation |
| Chaser | An engraver | UK Occupation |
| Chatelaine | Mistress of the house | UK Occupation |
| Chattel | Personal property which can include animate as well as inanimate properties. | General |
| chattels | personal property, both animate and inanimate | Colonial Diseases |
| Chaunter | Street entertainer (singer) | UK Occupation |
| Check Weaver | A weaver who used a loom that used more than one shuttle, each of which had a different coloured bobbin in order to produce checked cloth. | UK Occupation |
| Cheese Factor / Monger Cheeseman | Cheese dealer | UK Occupation |
| Chevener | Embroidered fine silk stockings, popular with the Victorians. | UK Occupation |
| Chiffonnier | Wig maker | UK Occupation |
| Chilblain | Swelling of extremities caused by exposure to cold | Medical |
| Childbed fever | Infection following birth of a child | Medical |
| Chimney Sweep | Chimney cleaner | UK Occupation |
| Chin cough | Whooping cough | Medical |
| Chinglor | Tiled roofs with wooden shingles (shingler) | UK Occupation |
| Chippy | Carpenter - esp. Ship's carpenter or shipwright | UK Occupation |
| Chirugeon / Chirurgeon | Apothecary or surgeon | UK Occupation |
| Chirurgeon | A surgeon | Scot.Occup |
| Chlorosis | Iron deficiency anemia | Medical |
| Cholecystitis | Inflammation of the gall bladder | Medical |
| Cholelithiasis | Gall stones | Medical |
| Cholera morbus | Characterized by nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, elevated temperature, etc. Could be appendicitis | Medical |
| Cholera | Acute severe contagious diarrhea with intestinal lining sloughing | Medical |
| Chorea | Disease characterized by convulsions, contortions and dancing | Medical |
| Chowder | Fishmonger | UK Occupation |
| Christen | To receive or initiate into the visible church by baptism; to name at baptism; to give a name to. | General |
| christening | Christian ceremony of baptizing and giving a name to an infant. See also baptism | Colonial Diseases |
| Chronologist | Recorder of important historical events | UK Occupation |
| Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | A major Christian religion founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith, the Mormons. In 1894 it founded the Family History Library to gather records which help people trace their ancestry. The Library has grown to acquire the world's largest collection of genealogical information. The Library is located at 35 North West Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150 (Telephone: 801-240-2331). You do not need to visit the Library to utilize its resources. Most of the library's films and microfiche can be loaned for use at one of their Family History Centers, located in many cities around the world. The key library resources include FamilySearch®, Family History Library Catalog®, the International Genealogical Index™ (IGI), Ancestral File™, Family Registry™, and Personal Ancestral File® (PAF). Many of the resources of the church are available at the Family History Centres without charge. | Colonial Diseases |
| church record | See baptismal record, marriage record, and burial record | Colonial Diseases |
| Cinder Wench | Female who collected cinders from factories for sale door to door | UK Occupation |
| circa (ca.) (Latin) | about, approximately | Swedish |
| circa, circiter (c., ca., circ.) | about | Latin |
| Circa | About, near, or approximate -- usually referring to a date. | General |
| Cirrhosis | Chronic disease of the liver causing scarring and liver disfunction | Scot.Dise 1855 |
| City Meter | Weights and Measures inspector's assistant, checking both the weights of goods as sold and the accuracy of the metal weights used. Some specialised - such as in Coal Meters, etc. | UK Occupation |
| Civil war | War between the States; war between North and South, 1861-65. | General |
| civilregistret | civil registrar | Swedish |
| cla | A Celtic group esp. in the Scottish Highlands comprising a number of households whose heads claim descent from a common ancestor | Colonial Diseases |
| Clagger | Person removing clags or dirty clots from a wool fleece | Scot.Occup |
| Claker | Magician / Astrologer | UK Occupation |
| Clapman | Town Crier | UK Occupation |
| Clark | Clerk | Scot.Occup |
| Classman | Unemployed labourer | UK Occupation |
| Claviger | Servant | UK Occupation |
| Clay carrier | Assistant to the shot firer in the pits | UK Occupation |
| Clay Puddler | Made the waterproof clay lining used on canals and dams. Mixing water with clay, they worked it with their feet until it became smooth and waterproof. | UK Occupation |
| Clayman / Cleyman | 1) Prepared clay for brick making 2) Rendered buildings with clay to waterproof them | UK Occupation |
| Clergyman without cure of Souls | A clergyman without his own parish (without cure - care - of souls). Getting a Parish with sufficient income when there were more Clergy than Parishes wasn't always possible | UK Occupation |
| Clericus | Clerk - from Latin | UK Occupation |
| Clerk | Medieval clergyman or cleric | UK Occupation |
| Clicker | 1) Foreman printer who looked after the typography and layout; 2) Shoe-maker who cut out the leather for making the uppers. 3) The servant of a salesman who stood at the door to invite in customers More Info. | UK Occupation |
| Clipper/ on/off | Attached coal carts to the line hauling them from the coal face to the lifts | UK Occupation |
| Clipper | They trimmed cloth in the dyeing and bleaching process for textiles | Scot.Occup |
| Clod Hopper | Ploughman | UK Occupation |
| Clogger | 1) Made wooden shoes 'clogs' - in England they were usually leather with thick wooden soles More Info 2) In the Cheshire salt mines, inserted ribs in the base of a salt tub which supported the raised perforated base plate, thereby facilitating drainage | UK Occupation |
| Cloth Drawer | Same as 'cloth finisher' | Scot.Occup |
| Cloth Dresser / Cropper | Worked in the woollen industry, cutting the cloth surface after it had left the fulling mill More Info | UK Occupation |
| Cloth Dresser | Cloth mill worker who cut the sheets of cloth with shears | Scot.Occup |
| Cloth Finisher | Inspected and repaired small holes or blemishes in the final product | Scot.Occup |
| Cloth Lapper | Moved the yarn from the carding machine to the next process in weaving | UK Occupation |
| Cloth Layer | In garment manufacturing, laid out cloth in layers on a long table, checking for evenness and for defects. | UK Occupation |
| Cloth Linter or Picker | Removed surplus thread and lint from the finished woven cloth | UK Occupation |
| Cloth Looker | An inspector of finished woven cloth. Also remedied slight defects and applied 'padding' to remove oil spots | UK Occupation |
| Cloth Tearer | Assisted a cloth printer in a print mill . Usually a youngster. | Scot.Occup |
| Clothier / Clothesman / Clothman | Made or sold clothing | UK Occupation |
| Clothier | Stocked and sold clothes which the tailor made | Scot.Occup |
| Clouter / Clower | 1) Nail maker 2) Shoe maker | UK Occupation |
| Club Collector | The 'Club Man' called door to door on a weekly basis to collect payments for clothing, burial or Christmas Clubs | UK Occupation |
| Coach Trimmer | Finished of the building of a coach with painting, upholstery etc. | UK Occupation |
| Coachman | Driver of coach and horses | Scot.Occup |
| Coachsmith | Maker and repairer of horse-drawn coaches. | Scot.Occup |
| Coachstand Waterman | Watered horses at a coach or cab stand and looked after them in the absence of the drivers | UK Occupation |
| Coal Backer | Carried coal from barges to the coal wagons - on their backs. | UK Occupation |
| Coal Burner | Charcoal maker | UK Occupation |
| Coal Dealer / Merchant | Dealer and seller of coal - mainly to domestic customers. Still used today | UK Occupation |
| Coal Drawer | Moved coal carts in the mine | UK Occupation |
| Coal Heaver | Unloaded coalmine carts on the surface | UK Occupation |
| Coal Runner | Attended coal carts in the mines | UK Occupation |
| Coal Trimmer | Person who stabilised coal-carrying barges/ships | Scot.Occup |
| Coal Whipper | Unloaded coal from ships using baskets | UK Occupation |
| Coalman / Coal Higgler | Sold coal to householders, usually by horse & cart | UK Occupation |
| Coalmaster | Owner and operator of a coal mine | Scot.Occup |
| Coalmeter | Measured the coal | UK Occupation |
| Coast Waiter/Surveyor | Customs Official attending unloading of ships | UK Occupation |
| Cobbleman | Fisherman using a cobble - flat bottom boat | UK Occupation |
| Cobbler | Shoemaker/repairer - as today | UK Occupation |
| Cockfeeder | Looked after fighting cocks | UK Occupation |
| Cocus | Cook - from Latin | UK Occupation |
| Cod Placer | Placed fireproof containers, holding pottery being fired, into the kiln | UK Occupation |
| codicil | An addition to a will to change, explain, revoke or add provisions which overrule the provisions in the original will | Colonial Diseases |
| Cohen | Priest | UK Occupation |
| Coiner | Mint employee making coins | UK Occupation |
| Coke Drawer | Drew the finshed coke from the retort in which coal was heated to produce coke. | UK Occupation |
| Cold plague | Ague which is characterized by chills | Medical |
| Colic | An abdominal pain and cramping | Medical |
| collateral ancesto | An ancestor not in the direct line of ascent, but of the same ancestral family | Colonial Diseases |
| Collateral ancestor | Belong to the same ancestral stock but not in direct line of descent; opposed to lineal such as aunts, uncles & cousins. | General |
| collateral familie | The families with whom your ancestors intermarried and moved. | Colonial Diseases |
| Collegeman | Works on 'colleges' - flat bottomed barges | UK Occupation |
| Collier | Coal mine worker or coal barge worker. Term still used today | UK Occupation |
| Colliery Doorkeeper | Doorkeepers or 'trappers', opened and closed the ventilation doors to let coal pass. Often young boys were employed in this position. | UK Occupation |
| Colonus | Farmer or husbandman - from Latin | UK Occupation |
| Colour Man | 1) Mixed textile dyes 2) House painter's assistant | UK Occupation |
| Colourator / Colorator | Worked with dyes | UK Occupation |
| Colourman | Mixer of dyes in textile trade | Scot.Occup |
| Colporteur | Peddler of religious books. Travelling book seller | UK Occupation |
| Colt | Worker who has not served an apprenticeship. Particularly applied to women and children in the knitting trade during the 1811-1812 Luddite troubles | UK Occupation |
| Comb Maker | Comb maker for 1) textile industry 2) hair | UK Occupation |
| Comb presser | Made combs by boiling imported buffalo horn, pressing flat, and shaping when cool | Scot.Occup |
| Comber / Combere | Combed wool or cotton | UK Occupation |
| Combmaker | A maker of combs for textiles, or hair. See also Vulcanite Comb Maker | Scot.Occup |
| Commission Agent | Salesman who derives his income solely from commission on sales | UK Occupation |
| Commissionaire | Uniformed doorman at an hotel, theatre, etc. Member of the Corps of Commissionaires, a 3,500 strong team of professionals including many drawn from the military, police and emergency services - still in use (in 2002) | UK Occupation |
| Common ancestor | Ancestor shared by any two people. | General |
| Compositor | Set type for printing - as today, but now giving way to the computer | UK Occupation |
| Computor | A person employed in computation of accounts, data etc. | UK Occupation |
| Conder / Conner | 1) Gave steering instructions to helmsman 2) Directed inshore fisherman towards fish shoals from ashore 3) Conner - Inspector or tester | UK Occupation |
| Coney Catcher | Rabbit catcher | UK Occupation |
| Confederate | Pertaining to the Southern states which seceded from theU.S. in 1860 -1861, their government and their citizens. | General |
| Confinement Nurse | An attending woman during the first month after childbirth. Also known as 'Monthly Nurse'. May also have the initials S.M.S. (Subsidiary Medical Services. i.e. not a doctor, but trained in some way ) | UK Occupation |
| Congestion | Any collection of fluid in an organ, like the lungs | Medical |
| Congestive chills | Malaria | Medical |
| Congestive fever | Malaria | Medical |
| connubial | Of or relating to the married state; conjugal | Colonial Diseases |
| connubium | marriage | Latin |
| consanguinity | A close relation, kinship | Colonial Diseases |
| Conservator | Guardian or custodian | Scot.Occup |
| Consort | Usually, a wife whose husband is living | General |
| Consumption | Tuberculosis | Medical |
| Contractor | Someone contracted to perform a trade or service, often by the owner eg a coal mining contractor. | Scot.Occup |
| conveyance | An instrument by which title to property is conveyed | Colonial Diseases |
| Cooper / Cuper | Made or repaired vessels made of wooden staves & hoops, such as casks, barrels, tubs, etc. | UK Occupation |
| Cooper | Maker of barrels and casks, often for distillers | Scot.Occup |
| coopvaerdi | merchant marine | Swedish |
| Cop Fitter | Fitted 'cops' to the looms. A cop is a cone onto which the yarn is wound after spinning, ready for weaving on the loom | UK Occupation |
| Copeman | 1) Dealer in stolen goods 2) Dishonest horse dealer | UK Occupation |
| Coppice Dealer | Woodsman supplying coppice wood to local craftsmen. More Info. | UK Occupation |
| Coprolite Digger | Coprolite is fossilised animal dung and was found in Cambridgeshire, between Soham and Royston, and mined out between 1850 and 1890. Ground down and treated with acid, it made an excellent fertiliser. | UK Occupation |
| Coracle Maker | Made small round wicker and fabric inshore boats called Coracles | UK Occupation |
| Cordiner | Maker of leather shoes and boots. From the French 'cordonnier' | Scot.Occup |
| Cordwainer / Cordiner / Corviner / Corvisor | Shoemaker. Originally, a leather worker using high quality Cordovan leather from Spain for such things as harness, gloves and riding boots. By the 19c it had reduced to a shoemaker - as distinct from a cobbler, who repaired shoes More Info. More Info. | UK Occupation |
| Cordwainer | see Cordiner | Scot.Occup |
| Core Maker | Formed sand moulds and cores for the production of metal castings | UK Occupation |
| Cork Cutter | Worked with cork; mainly stoppers for bottles - in England from the 17th to 19th Century. | UK Occupation |
| Corn Chandler | Corn Merchant | UK Occupation |
| Corn Factor | Middleman in corn dealing | UK Occupation |
| Corn Meter | Official who weighed and weighed the corn at market | UK Occupation |
| Cornet | The lowest commissioned rank in a cavalry regiment, who carried the colours | UK Occupation |
| Coronary ... | Associated with the heart | Scot.Dise 1855 |
| coroners inquest | A legal inquiry, or inquest by a coroner, to determine the cause of a sudden or violent death. | Colonial Diseases |
| Corruption | Infection | Medical |
| Corver | Made baskets ,known as Corves, used in coal mining | UK Occupation |
| Coryza | A cold | Medical |
| Costermonger / Coster Wife | 1) Peddler of fruits and vegetables 2) Ditto, female | UK Occupation |
| Costermonger | Street seller of apples, other fruit and vegetables | Scot.Occup |
| Costiveness | Constipation | Medical |
| Cotiler / Coteler / Cotyler | Cutler - maker or dealer in cutlery | UK Occupation |
| Cottager / Cottar / Cotter / Cottier | Agricultural labourer, living in a landowner's farm cottage | UK Occupation |
| Cottar | Tenant with only a cottage and little land | Scot.Occup |
| Cotton Baller | Wound cotton thread into balls on a special balling machine. These were used in 'Ball Warping', the oldest system of warping, not much used today. | UK Occupation |
| Cotton Dresser | Operator who assembled the yarns or threads prior to weaving of cloth | UK Occupation |
| Cotton Feeder | Was employed feeding the cotton into a carding machine, which roughly straightened the fibres prior to spinning More Info. | UK Occupation |
| Cotton Piecer | Piecers in cotton mills, often children, had to lean over spinning-machines to repair broken threads | UK Occupation |
| Cotton Rover | Loaded cotton yarn onto bobbins, giving the yarn a twist, (Roving) after the Carding and Combing processes. | UK Occupation |
| Cotton Singer | (Meaning singe-er) Tends a machine that singes the nap or lint from cloth More Info. | UK Occupation |
| Cotton warper | Cotton mill loom operator who set the warp thread (yarn) on the looms before weaving | Scot.Occup |
| Cotton winder | Cotton mill worker who wound the thread on weaving looms | Scot.Occup |
| Cotton Yarn Gasser | 1) A person who worked in the 'gas-room' where raw cotton was de-fumigated 2) A person who applied gas to finished cotton threads to smooth them | UK Occupation |
| Coucher | Worker in the paper mills | UK Occupation |
| Countour | Collected rates | UK Occupation |
| Country of origin | The country in which a person is born. | Genealogy |
| Couper | Buyer and seller, usually of livestock | UK Occupation |
| Couranteer | Journalist - from French | UK Occupation |
| Court Factor | Dealer in Courts - small carts | UK Occupation |
| Court Roller | In charge of the rolls and records of the court | UK Occupation |
| Court Toolmaker | Made the tools for making Courts - small carts | UK Occupation |
| Courtier | Owner/driver of Courts - small carts | UK Occupation |
| Cousin/e | Cousin | Germany |
| cousin | 1. The son or daughter of ones uncle or aunt 2. A collateral relative more distant than a brother or sister, but descended from a common ancestor | Colonial Diseases |
| Cow Leech | Animal Doctor | UK Occupation |
| Cowan | Old name for a builder of dry stone walls - a dry stone dyker | Scot.Occup |
| Cowfeeder | Stockman who raised cattle in and around towns selling them on for slaughter | Scot.Occup |
| Cowper | Maker of cups | Scot.Occup |
| Coxwain | Helmsman of a ship or boat - still in use | UK Occupation |
| Cramp colic | Appendicitis | Medical |
| Crate Maker | In the S Derbyshire potteries - wove crates from hazel and willow saplings for the transport of pottery More Info. | UK Occupation |
| Creeler | Mill worker who arranged the cones or spools on the creels for warping. | Scot.Occup |
| Creelman | Carried goods to market in a creel (basket) | Scot.Occup |
| Crepe Weaver | Wove a cloth called Crepea light, thin fabric with a wrinkled surface - in the Victorian era, crepe was worn by ladies in mourning and there was a big demand for it | UK Occupation |
| Crier | 1) Town Crier 2) Auctioneer 3) Law court officer | UK Occupation |
| Crimper | Member of a Navy press gang | UK Occupation |
| Crocker | Potter | UK Occupation |
| Croft Bleacher | Worked bleaching cloth prior to dyeing and spreading it out in enclosed fields, or 'crofts' See Crofters | UK Occupation |
| Crofter | 1) Tenant farmer of a croft - small piece of land - still in use 2) Also connected with bleaching of textiles - see Crofters | UK Occupation |
| Crop sickness | Overextended stomach | Medical |
| Cropper | 1) Tenant farmer who was paid with a share of the crop 2) Also known as a shearman, a skilled textile worker who sheared the nap from the cloth | UK Occupation |
| Crossing Sweeper | Swept ahead of people crossing dirty urban streets in exchange for a gratuity, creating a path that was referred to as a 'broom walk'. This was an informal 19th century occupation amongst the urban poor. | UK Occupation |
| Croup | Laryngitis, diphtheria, or strep throat | Medical |
| Crowner | Coroner | UK Occupation |
| Cugino | Cousin | Italian |
| Cuhreur | Courier - French | UK Occupation |
| Cultural diversity | A country or region inhabited by people from many different ethnic backgrounds. | Genealogy |
| Cultural mosaic | A country like Canada wherein many different cultures thrive and preserve their distinguishing characteristics. | Genealogy |
| Culture | The arts, beliefs, habits, institutions and other human endeavours considered together as being characteristic of a particular community, people or nation. | Genealogy |
| Cupper | Worked in the potteries, making cups | UK Occupation |
| Curator | Person appointed by law as guardian | Scot.Occup |
| Curer | Tobacco Curer | UK Occupation |
| Curretter | Broker | UK Occupation |
| Currier | 1) Dressed the coat of a horse with a curry comb 2) Tanned leather by incorporating oil or grease | UK Occupation |
| Customer | Customs tax collector. Custom-house collection officer (also custumer) | UK Occupation |
| Cutler | Knife maker/seller/sharpener. m\Maker of steel implements especially knives, and sometimes surgical instruments | UK Occupation |
| Cutlooker/Clothlooker | One who inspects the weaver's cut or piece of cloth as it comes from the loom. | UK Occupation |
| Cutter | Cutter of cloth for the tailor | Scot.Occup |
| Cutterman | Operated coal face cutting machinery | UK Occupation |
| Cyanosis | Dark skin color from lack of oxygen in blood | Medical |
| Cycle .... | Various occcupations in the Bicycle Making Trade - See | UK Occupation |
| Cynanche | Diseases of throat | Medical |
| Cystitis | Inflammation of the bladder | Medical |