| Word/Phrase | Definition | Useage |
|---|
| la naissance | Birth | French |
| Lace Drawer | Drew out the threads in lace making. Frequently child labour | UK Occupation |
| Lace Runner | Embroidered on lace | UK Occupation |
| Lace Woman | Lady's maid | UK Occupation |
| Laceman | Lace dealer. Commonly bought from the weavers in their homes, normally requiring them to have used his thread, and sold it at the lace markets | UK Occupation |
| Lace-Master/Mistress | Employed lace workers in factories or at home | UK Occupation |
| Lademan | A lademan or loadman carried and carted loads, for example at a mill | Scot.Occup |
| Ladle Liner | In ore dressing, smelting, and refining, a person who repairs and re-lines pouring ladles used to transport molten metals, such as iron, steel, and copper. | UK Occupation |
| lag | law | Swedish |
| låg | low | Swedish |
| laga år kommen | of legal age | Swedish |
| lägersmål | illicit relations | Swedish |
| Lagger | Sailor | UK Occupation |
| lägrad kvinna | woman who has had illicit relations | Swedish |
| Lagraetmen | Constable - contraction of Law Rightman | UK Occupation |
| lägre | lower | Swedish |
| Lagrippe | Influenza | Medical |
| Laird | Rural estate landowner, usually in the Highlands | Scot.Occup |
| Lairman / Lairsman | Looked after cattle during their brief stops at 'lairages', which were the areas where cattle were temporarily housed while in transit to markets. | UK Occupation |
| läkare | doctor | Swedish |
| Lamp Exhauster | Early 20c. Removed the air from the glass envelope of electric light bulbs. This is necessary to prevent the filament from burning up. | UK Occupation |
| Lamplighter / Leerie | Employed by the local council to go around the streets and light the (gas) street lamps, using a pole. Also often used to wake people up for work (as a 'knocker-up') | UK Occupation |
| Lamplighter | Employed to light the gas street lamps in Victorian cities | Scot.Occup |
| Lampman | The lampman or lamp trimmer maintained the paraffin oil lamps in a colliery, and checked the miners' safety lamps. | Scot.Occup |
| Lamptrimmer | In either Royal or Merchant Navy, originally responsible for keeping all oil lamps on the vessel in working order, later became a general assistant to the Boatswain and Storekeeper. A Petty Officer. | UK Occupation |
| län | county | Swedish |
| land | land, country | Swedish |
| Lander | Miner | UK Occupation |
| landsarkiv | provincial archive | Swedish |
| landsförsamling | rural parish of a city | Swedish |
| landskap | province | Swedish |
| Landwaiter / Landing Waiter | Customs official overseeing landed goods from ships More Info. | UK Occupation |
| längd | roll, record, book | Swedish |
| länsman | sheriff | Swedish |
| lapp | Lapp | Swedish |
| Lappett Maker | Made machine embroidered textiles in which the design was worked into | UK Occupation |
| Lappit Weaver | Lappit or lappet is a light muslin cloths with figuring woven in a zigzag pattern on a special loom. Also lappit clipper, and ripper. | Scot.Occup |
| lärare | teacher | Swedish |
| Lardner | Keeper of the cupboard (larder) | UK Occupation |
| lärling | apprentice | Swedish |
| Laster | Shoe maker (from his use of a last) | UK Occupation |
| Late | Recently deceased. | General |
| Lath Render / River | Someone who rends/rives (i.e splits) wood to form laths More Info | UK Occupation |
| Lathsplitter | Prepared thins strips of wood (laths) for nailing to walls and ceilings as a base to spread plaster over | Scot.Occup |
| Lattener/Latoner/Lattensmith | Brass worker. Latten was an alloy similar to brass | UK Occupation |
| Laundress | Washerwoman for clothes | Scot.Occup |
| Lavender | Washerwoman | UK Occupation |
| Lawman | Officer with magisterial powers | Scot.Occup |
| Lawrightman | Determined local weights & measures, and land tax | Scot.Occup |
| Laxfisher | Salmon fisherman (from Norwegian laks) | Scot.Occup |
| Layer | Paper mill worker - at a particular process | UK Occupation |
| LDS | See Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Colonial Diseases |
| le décès | Death | French |
| le mariage | Marriage | French |
| Lease | AAn agreement which creates a landlord tenant situation. | General |
| Leather Currier | Tanned leather by incorporating oil or grease | UK Occupation |
| Leavelooker | Examined market foodstuffs - a sort of quality control | UK Occupation |
| Lederer | Leather maker - from German | UK Occupation |
| ledig | unmarried, free | Swedish |
| Leech | Physician | UK Occupation |
| Leerie | A popular name for a lamplighter (qv) | Scot.Occup |
| Legacy | Property or money left to someone in a will | General |
| Legerdemainist | Magician | UK Occupation |
| Legger | Canal boatman. (Barges had to be 'legged' through tunnels by men lying flat on deck and 'walking' along the roof or sides of the tunnel) | UK Occupation |
| Leghorn Presser | Pressed a type of straw hat known as a Leghorn | UK Occupation |
| Legislature | Lawmaking branch of state or national government; elected group of lawmakers. | General |
| Leightonward | Gardner. Leighton was the term for a garden | UK Occupation |
| Lengthsman | In rural areas, a lengthsman was a man who took pride in keeping his district neat and tidy, well swept and free from litter. On the canals, a lengthsman was responsible for patrolling his length, looking for leaks, seeing to routine maintenance, cutting. Railway worker responsible for maintaining a length of rail track. | UK Occupation |
| Letter Carrier | The 18c. term for a postman, started in 1722 | UK Occupation |
| Letter of Apartments | A person who had Apartments to let - (rent) | UK Occupation |
| leva | to live | Swedish |
| levande | living | Swedish |
| Licensed Messenger | Licensed couriers who delivered messages and documents. | UK Occupation |
| Licensed Victualler | A Tavern or Innkeeper or Publican- term still used today for someone who runs a Pub (Public House) | UK Occupation |
| Lien | A claim against property as security for payment of a debt. | General |
| Liferenter | One who has a tenancy for life | Scot.Occup |
| Lighterman | Works (still) on lighters - flat bottomed barges | UK Occupation |
| lik | corpse | Swedish |
| lilla | little, small | Swedish |
| Limeburner | Burned limestone (calcium carbonate) in kilns to produce lime for farmers, quicklime for making mortar and for tanneries to remove hair from hides | UK Occupation |
| Lime-burner | Rock lime was burned in stone kilns, then crushed and spread on farm fields. | Scot.Occup |
| Limmer | 1. Thief or scoundrel 2. Artist who decorates manuscripts | Scot.Occup |
| Limner | 1) Illuminator of books 2) Painter or drawer | UK Occupation |
| lineage | Direct descent from an ancestor | Colonial Diseases |
| Lineal | Consisting of or being in a direct line of ancestry or descendants; descended in a direct line. | General |
| Lineator | Surveyor or measurer | Scot.Occup |
| Linener / Linen Draper | Sold linens, calicos, flannels, blankets, sheets, sheetings, bed ticks, gloves, ribbons, fancy ties, scarves etc. | UK Occupation |
| Liner / Lyner | Flax dresser | UK Occupation |
| Linesman | (Ireland) Was engaged to look after a stretch of road. | UK Occupation |
| Link | See measurements. | General |
| Linkerboy / man | Carried a 'link' or torch to guide people through the streets at night for hire. (Licensed in early 19c). Sometimes applied to general manservant | UK Occupation |
| Linman | A Linman was a wholesale dealer in Flax/Hemp. The name is derived from Linen, which is made from these materials | UK Occupation |
| Lint dresser | Prepared flax (lint) fibres ready for spinning. | Scot.Occup |
| Lis pendens | Pending court action; usually applies to land title claims. | General |
| Lister / Litster | Dyer | UK Occupation |
| liten | little, small | Swedish |
| Lithographer | Makes printing press plates from type-set paper or film | Scot.Occup |
| Litster | Dyer of cloth | Scot.Occup |
| Litterman | Horse groom | UK Occupation |
| Loaders | In the Cheshire salt industry, men who transported salt from the storage place to the canal boats (or later, railway trucks) in barrows. Highly dangerous, as they worked at high speed, and could easily fall many feet from the edge of the loading platform. | UK Occupation |
| Loadman | A loadman or lademan carried and carted loads, for example at a mill | Scot.Occup |
| Loadsman / Lodesman | Ship's pilot. Originally from the man 'lodesman' who piloted a ship by heaving the lode (lead) to check the depth of water. Knowledgeable of the local waters, he navigated in this manner | UK Occupation |
| Lobar pneumonia | Pneumonia affecting one or more lobes of the lung, often due to streptococcal infection | Scot.Dise 1855 |
| Loblolly Boy | 1) Ship surgeon's assistant 2) Errand boy | UK Occupation |
| Lock Keeper | (Still) Maintains and operates canal locks | UK Occupation |
| Locker | 1) Employed in Customs bonded warehouses as a trusted person to keep charge of the elaborate locks [known as the King's - or Queen's] Locks 2) Fed a power driven flat lock machine with knitted fabrics etc 3) Separated and graded locks of fur in the hat trade 4) Cut and folded sheet tin before feeding it into a grooving machine 5) Worker in the mining industry | UK Occupation |
| Lockjaw | Tetanus or infectious disease affecting the muscles of the neck and jaw. Untreated, it is fatal in 8 days | Medical |
| Lodge | A chapter or meeting hall of a fraternal organization. | General |
| Lofters | In the Cheshire salt industry, men engaged in storing the salt in the stove house roof space, pushing the dried lumps up into the loft. | UK Occupation |
| Logwood Grinder | Made a dye from logwood for the textile industry | UK Occupation |
| Long Sickness | Tuberculosis | Medical |
| Long Song Seller | Street seller of popular printed song sheets | UK Occupation |
| lönskaläge | illicit relations between unmarried persons | Swedish |
| Looker | Someone employed to look after or inspect something. 'Looking' manufactured items or looking after shep. | UK Occupation |
| Loom Sweeper | Child (originally) or small adult employed crawling under weaving looms to clean, whilst in operation. Dangerous work | UK Occupation |
| Loom Winder / Tender | Tended winding units attached to looms that automatically wind yarn onto quills More Info. | UK Occupation |
| Looper | Operates a looping machine to close the opening in the toe of seamless hose or to join knitted garment parts | UK Occupation |
| löpande | current | Swedish |
| lördag | Saturday | Swedish |
| Lorimer | Maker of metal horse harnesses | Scot.Occup |
| Loriner / Lorner | 1) Maker of horse gear 2) Maker of small ironware 3) Wrought iron worker | UK Occupation |
| Lorryman | Driver of a lorry (heavy goods vehicle) . Term used also in the time of horse-drawn vans. | Scot.Occup |
| lösdrivare | vagrant | Swedish |
| Lotman | A corn thresher who was paid an allowance of corn as part of his fee | Scot.Occup |
| lots | sea pilot | Swedish |
| Lotseller | Street Seller | UK Occupation |
| Lotter | 1. Made up odd lots of wool and batched them for sale 2. Croft or small farm divided into lots, usually worked by sons of the crofter | Scot.Occup |
| Loun | A boy | Scot.Occup |
| Loyalist | Tory, an American colonist who supported the British side during the American Revolution. | General |
| Lozenge Cutter | Cut and prepared sweets (candy) or preserve. Lozenge piner ? | Scot.Occup |
| lucka | gap (missing records) | Swedish |
| Lues disease | Syphilis | Medical |
| Lues venera | Venereal disease | Medical |
| luglio | July | Italian |
| Lum Swooper | (Scottish) Chimney sweep | UK Occupation |
| Lumbago | Back pain | Medical |
| Lumbar... | Connected with the back or spine | Scot.Dise 1855 |
| Lumpers / Lumpmen | 1) Lumpers - Dock worker unloading timber for a 'Master Lumper' 2) Lumpmen/Lumpers - Makers of table salt or salt for the dairy industry | UK Occupation |
| Lung fever | Pneumonia or tuberculosis | Medical |
| Lung sickness | Tuberculosis | Medical |
| lunginflammation | pneumonia | Swedish |
| Lungs | Alchemist's assistant who fanned the fire | UK Occupation |
| lungsot | consumption, tuberculosis | Swedish |
| Lurryman | Driver of a lurry - lorry or truck today. Lurry was the former spelling. | UK Occupation |
| luteran, lutersk | Lutheran | Swedish |
| Luthier | Made and repaired stringed instruments | UK Occupation |
| Lying in | Time of delivery of infant | Medical |
| lysning | banns | Swedish |
| lysningslängd | banns register | Swedish |
| lyst | posted banns | Swedish |
Home
Links
Facebook
References
Genealogies
Glossary
Time Line
Censuses
Database Search
Picture Gallery
Places
Cemetery Listings
Historical Maps
Help
Courses
Getting Started
Contact