Barkman:- Anyone who tanned leather using the bark of trees.

Basil/Bazil Worker:- A person who worked with sheep and goat skins.

Bellows Maker:- A person who made bellows used for organs or blacksmiths fires.

Belly Roller:- Operated a machine which rolled and compacted fibres on the belly of cattle hides.

Bend Trimmer:- Marks cutting lines on hides and trims ragged edges, thin areas, and brand marks from hides, using rule, pattern, knife, and chalk.

Bender:- Leather cutter.

Boot Closer:- A person who worked in the shoe trade stitching together all the parts of a shoe upper.

Boot / Shoe Clicker:- This was one of the skilled and best paid jobs in the shoe industry. A clicker cut out the leather for the different parts that made up the shoe and the term comes from the sound made when carrying out the job.

Botcher:- A tailor or cobbler who mends and repairs.

Bottiler / Bottler:- A person who made leather containers for holding liquids e.g. wine flasks or water bottles.

Braider:- Someone who made cord by twisting strips of leather.

Buckler / Bucklesmith:- Made buckles.

Buckle Tongue Maker:- Made the metal points that go in the holes of a belt.

Chamber Master:- A shoemaker that worked from home as an outworker or selling direct.

Clicker:- A person who worked in the shoe trade cutting out the uppers, also the person who made the shoelace holes.

Clogger:- Made wooden shoes "clogs" — in England they were usually leather with thick wooden soles.

Clouter / Clower:- A person who made nails. Also another term for a shoemaker.

Cobbler:- A person who mended shoes and boots.

Collar Maker:- A maker of horse collars.

Cordwainers / Cordewanarius:- From Cordovan leather. At first they made many types of leather articles. In Middle Ages they specialised in shoes. Cordwainer is from the French word "cordonnier" and came to England in 1066 with the Norman invasion. After Cordoba fell in the 12th century English Crusaders brought back this alum-tanned goatskin (by the late 13th century a distinction grew in England between Cordwainers proper, called alutari, who used only alum "tawed" cordwain, and another class of shoemakers called basanarii, who employed an inferior "tanned" sheepskin which was prohibited for footwear apart from long boots.) It was considered the highest quality shoe leather in Europe (originally made from the skin of the Musoli goat, then found in Corsica, Sardinia, and elsewhere, this leather was "tawed" with alum after a method supposedly known only to the Moors.) Cordwainers work only with new leathers. A rather less sophisticated interpretation says a Wainer was a "maker" and Cord was short for Cordoba in Spain where the leather came from — hence a Cordwainer was a Shoemaker. Cordoban boots were soft and worn crumpled or with a kink. A large piece of leather shaped like a butterfly was stitched across the instep to hold the golden or silver rowel spurs. A soulette was a strap fastened under the foot, which also held the spur in position. In the twelfth century there were three terms used for the makers of medieval shoes: cordwainers (cordwanarii), corvesers (corvesarii) and cobblers (sutores). Both the cordwainer and the corveser made new shoes, while the cobbler either repaired old shoes or remade old shoes for sale. See Cordiner below.

Cordiner:- Originally a term used for a person who worked with Cordovan, a special soft leather from Spain. Later it became the term used for a shoemaker. See Cordwainers above.

Corwin:- Used for a shoemaker who used Cordovan leather.

Corvister:- Involved in leather tanning, curing, processing, manufacturing trades.

Currier (Cuhreur, Cunreur):- One who dresses the coat of a horse with a currycomb, also one who tanned leather by incorporating oil or grease.

Fellmonger:- Dealer in hides and skins. One who removes hair or wool from hides in preparation for leather making. Also recycled inedible animal parts for glue, fertiliser; horn, bone, gut etc. By the end of the sixteenth century, the trade of the fellmonger began to develop to the detriment of the gloving trade. A fellmonger took the sheepskins from the butcher or farmer, removed the wool from the skin and sold the wool to the textile trade and the pelt to the whittawer or glover. Previously this trade had been controlled by the whittawers. As the wool was more valuable than the pelt, care was not always taken with the quality of the skin.

Fewster:- Made wooden saddle trees — the “frame” upon which a leather saddle is constructed. (Also called: saddle tree maker.)

Flesher ⁄ Fleshmonger:- Tannery worker.

Girdler:- Maker of leather belts and girdles, mainly for the army.

Glover:- One that makes or sells gloves.

Hamberghmaker / Hamberow:- Horse collar maker.

Heelmaker:- A person who made shoe heels.

Kiddier:- Dealer in young goats and skins.

Knacker:- (1) Harness. (2) Dealer in old and dead animals — "Knacker's yard".

Lace Roller Operator:- Tends machine that winds leather belting or shoelaces onto cardboard or wooden spool, also cuts leather from roll, using knife.

Laster:- One who worked or shaped shoes on a last (the mould of the human foot made of wood and used to shape footwear).

Lederer:- Leather maker; from the German.

Lorimer ∕ Lormer:- Maker of horse gear; bits, spurs, stirrup-irons and other horse furniture.

Paneler:- Saddler.

Pelterer:- A worker with animal skins.

Perchemear:- Parchment maker.

Picker Maker:- Made the "Pickers" — strong, leather attachments fitted to each side of a weaving loom, to drive the shuttle across the loom. Pickers were strong leather attachments made of cow/buffalo hide fitted to each side of a weaving loom, and used to drive the shuttle across the loom. That's why there was 288 pickers to a gross instead of 144.

James Fielden is credited with being the inventor of the “modern” picker. He made the first one whilst sitting at his own hand loom, from a bit of flat wood and two small pieces of leather. He made these and sold them for 1½d a pair. People bought them either direct from James or from the grocers' shops. Pickers were made later in all forms and shapes and by machine, and James was one of the first to produce them in this way.

Click thumbnails above to see more detail

He and William Holt, his nephew, produced a machine for making harder pickers from compressed leather, and they set up a manufacturing business. First, in a work shop at Inchfield Fold, Lancashire. James then moved his business to Clough Mill, and by 1851, he was employing 14 men and 3 boys at his workshop in the mill. His brother Robert continued at Inchfield and between them they employed over 50 workers in 1852. James purchased freehold his home, workshop and other hereditaments at Clough Mill. When he died in 1855, aged 57, he was a very rich man. James directed that his business at Clough Mill be sold after his death. His brother Robert continued in the picker making business until his own death 19 years later.

Portmanteau Maker:- A maker of leather trunks for clothes, etc., opening into two equal parts.

Pouchmakers:- Involved in leather tanning, curing, processing, manufacturing trades.

Purefinder ⁄ Pure gatherer:- Old women and young girls who collected dog droppings for use in the tanning industry. Dog droppings were used in the tanning leather for the glove industry, apparently the white variety was the best kind and was reserved for making kid leather!  The "dry limy-looking sort" fetched the highest price at some yards as it possessed more of the alkaline, or purifying properties. Others preferred the dark moist quality. It appears the preference for a particular kind suggested to the finders of the Pure the idea of adulterating it. This was effected by means of mortar broken away from old walls which was mixed up with the whole mass. In some cases, however, the mortar was rolled into small balls similar to those found. It appears that there was no business or trade, however insignificant or contemptible, without its own peculiar and appropriate tricks. Dog dung contains pancreatic enzymes which were used in solution to attack the non-collagenous proteins in skins or hides. This was a purifying, rather than a curing step, to clean the material prior to tanning. This also means that biotechnology has been used in the leather industry for at least 5000 years. Treating skins with dog dung was always called "puering", and the use of infusions of bird guano was called "mastering". Happily, the dung treatment is now obsolete, and nowadays the same general process is called "bating", and typically involves manufactured bacterial or pancreatic enzymes.

Rag and bone-pickers also collected what was called "pure" – or dogs' dung – as well. Their habits and mode of proceeding were nearly similar to the rag and bone-pickers proper, with the exception that the latter was a regular trade. The parties following it picked up but few rags or bones, and only such as were of the best quality. What they looked for mostly was the "pure." Some of the regular collectors of this article had been mechanics, and others, small tradesmen. They were a superior class of persons to the mere rag and bone-pickers, and those who had a good connection and the right of cleansing certain kennels, obtained a very fair living at it, earning from 10s.(50p) to l5s.(75p) a week. These, however, were very few. The majority had to seek the article solely in the streets, and by such means they could obtain only from 6s. to 10s. a week. The average weekly earnings of that class are thought to have been between 7s.(35p) and 8s.(40p).

The "pure" gatherer, after he had been his rounds, made the best of his way to some tanner in Bermondsey, to whom he was in the habit of selling the article. He sold it to the tanner by the stable bucketful, and got from 8d.(3½p) to 10d.(4½p) per bucket for it. It was used for the purpose of cleansing sheep and calf skins after they were taken out of the "lime-pits." A man generally picked up about a bucketful in the course of the day.

The "pure" pickers, are generally to be found in London all the year round, with the exception of the hay season, the corn harvest, and hop-picking time, when a very large portion leave London.

Saddle Tree Maker:- Made the wooden frames around which the saddle was formed with leather.

Saddler:- One who makes, repairs or sells saddle or other furnishings for horses.

Sadler:- Made saddles.

Seal / Seales:- Maker of seals or saddles.

Semi Lorer:- Made leather thongs.

Shagreen Casemaker:- Worked with shagreen leather.

Schumacker:- Shoemaker.

Shoe Finder:- Sold cobbler's tools.

Shoemaker:- A person who made shoes.

Shoesmith:- A cobbler, a person who repaired shoes.

Skin Dresser:- An obsolete bookbinding term for the workman who shaved or pared leather.

Skinner:- A dealer in hides.

Snobscat:- Snob, one who repaired shoes.

Souter:- Shoemaker or cobbler in Scotland.

Spurrer:- Maker of spurs.

Spurier:- A maker of spurs.

Tan Bark Stripper:- Collected tree bark for use in the tanning of leather.

Tannator:- Tanner; curer of animal hide into leather.

Tanner:- Tanned (cured) animal hides for leather making. Still used.

Tanner's Beamsman:- Draped part-cured skins over a Tanners Beam, a flat slab of wood or stone, to scrape off the remaining flesh, fat and hair.

Tanney:- A leather worker.

Tawer ⁄ Tawyer:- Made white leather.

Theemaker:- Shoemaker.

Vamper:- Made up the upper part of a boot or shoe covering the instep and sometimes extending over the toe.

Wet Glover:- Leather glove maker.

Whipcord Maker:- A person who made whips.

Whipmaker:- A person who made whips.

Whitear:- Hide cleaner.

Whitamer:- Involved in leather tanning/curing/processing trades.

Whittaw:- (1) Made saddles and harnesses. (2) Tanner of skins with alum to produce white leather.

Whittawer:- A maker, worker and seller of leather goods such as purses, belts and gloves. One who treats leather to retain its natural colour and make it soft and pliant; often specifically a saddler or harness maker. (The word is made up of two parts: whit from 'whitleather', a type of leather of a white or light colour; and tawing, i.e. dressing with alum and salt, so as to retain the natural colour.) The traditional difference between the tanner and the whittawer was that the tanner took cattle hides and tanned them using a vegetable, oak bark tannage, whereas the whittawer took the skins of other animals and processed them using only alum and oil. The tanner used relatively fresh hides from animals slaughtered for food, but the whittawer often used casualty skins recovered from animals that had died naturally. By the Tudor period the whittawer was also using vegetable tanning to produce bazils/basils (these were rough tanned sheepskins used for shoe linings).

Glossary of leathercraft terms

Boiling:- A water-forming technique in which leather is immersed for a short time in boiling water, causing the leather to bend and pucker. When dry, the leather is extremely hard, though brittle.

Carving:- Designs are cut into the leather, then all edges are bevelled to make the design stand out. Also called incising.

Chrome tanning:- A tanning process using salts of chromium to make leathers that are especially supple and suitable for bags, garments, etc.

Combing leather:- The name applied to the leather used on the combing rolls of cotton machinery and manufactured of calfskin or side leather.

Cuir-bouilli:- (kweer-boo-ee) A flat piece of leather is soaked, moulded over a form, and dried in an oven so that it will harden and retain the moulded shape.

Dyeing:- Colour is given to an entire leather surface or to parts of a design.

Embossing:- A decorative technique in which a design is raised in relief, working with modelling tools on both hair (grain) side and flesh (inner) side.

Flesh side:- The side of the leather that was closest to the musculature of the animal; the inner side.

Glue-resist:- A decorative technique in which a removable glue is applied to the leather before it is dyed. The dye cannot penetrate the glue protected areas.

Laminating:- A technique of bonding layers of leather together under pressure for strength, thickness or visual effect.

Lasting:- A water-forming process in which the damp leather is forced over a mould and clamped or nailed into place until dry. When dry, the leather retains the moulded shape.

Nude finish:- A leather that is usually vat dyed, but has little or no protective coat.

Pull-up:- A pull-up leather is one which, when pulled tight, produces a brilliant burst of colour. Pull-ups are full aniline leathers that have received an oil and/or wax application. When the leather is pulled, the oil and/or wax separates, causing the colour to become lighter. Pull-ups can have varying thicknesses.

Saddle stitching:- A two-handed stitching method using a needle at both ends of a single thread. It produces a uniform stitch on both sides of the leather.

Stamping:- The technique of using hand-made or commercial metal stamps to make impressions on damp leather, lends itself to simple designs and all-over geometric patterns. The skill lies in the exact alignment of the impressions and the use of a constant striking force.

Split:- The inner layer of the leather cut from the top grain portion.

Suede:- A type of leather in which the flesh side is buffed smooth. Suede splits are buffed on both sides.

Tooling:- General name given to several related techniques of working vegetable-tanned leather to create effects of low relief: carving, stamping, embossing, etc.

Top-grain:- The outer surface of the hide, still possessing the original grain surface; the hair side.

Vegetable tanning:- (or oak bark tanning) A tanning process using extracts of tannic acid, that makes strong leathers suitable for belts, bags, etc., and that can be water-formed.

Water-formed:- (wet-formed) A technique in which leather is dampened to make it more pliable, and worked freehand or over a mould or last. When dry, the leather will retain its shape.

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