Genealogical Terms - W

GENEALOGICAL TERMS LETTER 'W'

W/3 wife # 3 ABBREVIATION

W/I with issue ABBREVIATION

W/O wife of ABBREVIATION

WA Western Australia, AUS PLACE-NAME

WA Washington, USA PLACE-NAME

WABSTER weaver OCCUPATION

WADSETTER under Scottish law a creditor to whom a wadset is made; a wadset is a
right, by which lands, or other heritable subjects, are impignorated by the
proprietor to his creditor in security of his debt OCCUPATION

WAGONER wagon or cart driver OCCUPATION

WAILER one employed in the mines to remove the impurities from the coal 
OCCUPATION

WAINWRIGHT builder or repairer of wagons OCCUPATION

WAIT night watchman OCCUPATION

WAITER customs officer or tide waiter OCCUPATION

WAKEMAN night watchman OCCUPATION

WAL Waldeck, GER PLACE-NAME

WALCHEREN FEVER ague MEDICAL

WALKER cloth worker OCCUPATION

WALLER one who built walls either brick or dry stone, also a person who worked
making coarse salt OCCUPATION

WALLOON descendants of the Gallic Belgae who occupy part of southern Belgium
and north-eastern France, speaking a French dialect containing Gallic and Low
German words GENEALOGY

WANTCATCHER mole catcher OCCUPATION

WANTER mole catcher OCCUPATION

WAR Warwickshire, ENG PLACE-NAME

WAR NEPHRITIS acute nephritis MEDICAL

WARD guardian, watchman OCCUPATION

WARDER in charge of prisoners OCCUPATION

WAREHOUSEMAN in charge of or employee in a warehouse OCCUPATION

WARPER set the warp thread on the looms or employed to move boats by hauling on
the warps (the ropes attached to the boats) OCCUPATION

WARRANTY DEED a conveyance (promise) of warranty or a covenant by the grantor
to defend the title and possession of the estate granted LEGAL

WARRENER in charge of a portion of land used for breeding rabbits and other
small game OCCUPATION

WART a small, hard, nonmaligant bump formed on and rooted into the skin MEDICAL

WASHMAN tin coater OCCUPATION

WASTEMAN checked the old workings for gas and maintaining them in the mines or
employed to remove waste OCCUPATION

WAT Waterford, IRL PLACE-NAME

WATCH FINISHER assembled watches and clocks OCCUPATION

WATCHMAN town official who guarded the streets at night OCCUPATION

WATER BAILIFF official in charge of the fishing rights on a stretch of water 
OCCUPATION

WATER CANKER cancrum oris MEDICAL

WATER CARRIER carted and sold fresh water OCCUPATION

WATER GILDER trapped water fowl OCCUPATION

WATER GRIPES cholera infantum MEDICAL

WATER LEADER transported and sold fresh drinking water OCCUPATION

WATER LEDER transported and sold fresh drinking water OCCUPATION

WATER LODER transported and sold fresh drinking water OCCUPATION

WATER ON THE BRAIN hydrocephalus MEDICAL

WATER-BRASH pyrosis; a burning sensation in the stomach and gullet with
belching of a sour-tasting liquid MEDICAL

WATERMAN boatman who plies for hire OCCUPATION

WATERPOX chicken pox; varicella MEDICAL

WATTLE HURDLE MAKER made a type of fence from wattle to keep the sheep in 
OCCUPATION

WAULKMILLER cloth worker OCCUPATION

WAY MAKER road construction worker OCCUPATION

WAY MAN surveyor of roads OCCUPATION

WD will dated LEGAL

WEANING BRASH cholera infantum MEDICAL

WEATHERSPY astrologer OCCUPATION

WEAVER one who made baskets, etc OCCUPATION

WEBBER weaver (originally a female weaver); operator of looms OCCUPATION

WEBSTER weaver (originally a female weaver); operator of looms OCCUPATION

WEDUWE widow DUTCH

WEDUWNAAR widower DUTCH

WEF Westfalen, GER PLACE-NAME

WEIGHER worked on the docks to weigh the cargo as it was unloaded OCCUPATION

WELL SINKER dug wells OCCUPATION

WELL WRIGHT made the winding equipment used to raise the bucket in the well 
OCCUPATION

WELLMASTER one in charge of the local well with the responsibility of ensuring
clean water for the village OCCUPATION

WEM Westmeath, IRL PLACE-NAME

WES Westmoreland, ENG PLACE-NAME

WET GLOVER made leather gloves OCCUPATION

WET NURSE woman employed to suckle the child of another (common practice with
the rich) OCCUPATION

WETGLOVE maker of leather gloves OCCUPATION

WETTER dampened paper during the printing process or in the glass industry who
detached the glass by wetting OCCUPATION

WEX Wexford, IRL PLACE-NAME

WEY 182 pounds of wool WEIGHT

WHACKER horse or oxen team driver OCCUPATION

WHARFINGER owner of a wharf OCCUPATION

WHEEL TAPPER railway worker who checked for cracked wheels by striking them
with a long handled hammer and listening for a clear ring OCCUPATION

WHEELER wheel maker; attended to spinning wheels in the textile industry; one
who led the pit ponies that pulled the tubs underground in mines OCCUPATION

WHEELWRIGHT maker or repairer of wagon wheels OCCUPATION

WHEERYMAN in charge of a wheery (a small light rowing boat) OCCUPATION

WHIG horse drover (Scot) OCCUPATION

WHIPCORD MAKER made whips OCCUPATION

WHIPMAKER made whips OCCUPATION

WHIPPERIN managed the hounds in a hunt OCCUPATION

WHITE LEG thrombosis of veins in the thigh MEDICAL

WHITE LIMER plastered walls using lime and water plaster OCCUPATION

WHITE PLAGUE tuberculosis MEDICAL

WHITE POX alastrim MEDICAL

WHITE SMITH tin smith OCCUPATION

WHITE SWELLING tuberculosis of the bone MEDICAL

WHITEAR hide cleaner OCCUPATION

WHITENER one who bleached cloth OCCUPATION

WHITENING ROLL MAKER made the whitening used in whitening walls of cottages 
OCCUPATION

WHITESMITH tinsmith; worker of iron who finishes or polishes the work 
OCCUPATION

WHITESTER one who bleached cloth OCCUPATION

WHITEWING streetsweeper OCCUPATION

WHITLOW infection beginning at the edge of a nail and spreading in a line up
the limb MEDICAL

WHITSTER bleacher of cloth OCCUPATION

WHITSTER one who bleached cloth OCCUPATION

WHITTAWER one who made saddles and harness OCCUPATION

WHITTAWER preparer of white leather OCCUPATION

WHOOPING COUGH pertussis MEDICAL

WI Wisconsin, USA PLACE-NAME

WIC Wicklow, IRL PLACE-NAME

WID West Indies PLACE-NAME

WID/O widow of ABBREVIATION

WIDOW was often used in the 18th century not only in the modern sense but also
to indicate a woman past her child birth years TITLE

WIE Wien (Vienna), OES PLACE-NAME

WIG Wigtown, SCT PLACE-NAME

WIL Wiltshire, ENG PLACE-NAME

WILL legal expression of one's wishes after death LEGAL

WILLOW PLAITER one who made baskets, etc OCCUPATION

WINCHESTER BUSHEL English dry measure = 2170 3/7 cubic inches WEIGHT

WINCHESTER BUSHEL English standard for dry measures, containing 2140 and 3/7
cubic inches MEASURE

WIND air trapped or contained within the body MEDICAL

WIND COLIC distressing pain in the bowels; also interalgia or flatulent colic 
MEDICAL

WINDSTER silk winder OCCUPATION

WINTER FEVER pneumonia MEDICAL

WITHY PEELER removed bark from willow rods or osiers which were used in basket
weaving, usually women and children; also osier peelers OCCUPATION

WITNESS one who sees the execution of an instrument, and subscribes it for
authenticity; a person who gives testimony or evidence in a judicial proceeding
LEGAL

WITTAWER one who tans skins into white leather OCCUPATION

WITWE widow GERMAN

WITWER widower GERMAN

WLN West Lothian, SCT PLACE-NAME

WLS Wales PLACE-NAME

WM Wesleyan Methodist ABBREVIATION

WO/I without issue ABBREVIATION

WOENSDAG Wednesday DUTCH

WOMB FEVER infection of the uterus MEDICAL

WOOD REEVE in charge of the forest or woods OCCUPATION

WOODBREAKER one who made wooden water casks OCCUPATION

WOODRANGER in charge of the forest or woods OCCUPATION

WOODWARD in charge of the forest or woods OCCUPATION

WOOL DRIVER one who brought the wool to market OCCUPATION

WOOL FACTOR wool merchants agent OCCUPATION

WOOL MAN one who sorted the wool into different grades OCCUPATION

WOOL SORTER one who sorted the wool into different grades OCCUPATION

WOOL SORTER'S DISEASE anthrax MEDICAL

WOOL WINDER one who made up balls of wool for selling OCCUPATION

WOOLCOMBER operated machines that separate the fibers ready for spinning in
woolen industry OCCUPATION

WOOLEN BILLY PIECER worked in the woolen mills to piece together the broken
yarns OCCUPATION

WOOLSTED MAN a seller of woolen cloth (from worsted man) OCCUPATION

WOOLWARD keeper of the forest - in charge of growing timber OCCUPATION

WOR Worcestershire, ENG PLACE-NAME

WORM FIT convulsions associated with teething, worms, elevated temperature or
diarrhea MEDICAL

WORSTED MANUFACTURER one who made worsted (yarn or thread spun from
long-staple-wool) OCCUPATION

WP will proved LEGAL

WPR Westpreussen (West Prussia), GER PLACE-NAME

WRIGHT a worker of wood, especially a construction worker OCCUPATION

WRITER lawyer OCCUPATION

WRY YKS - West Riding, ENG PLACE-NAME

WRYNECK a abnormal rotation and bending of the head caused by contraction of
the muscles of the neck; torticollis MEDICAL

WUE Wurttemberg, GER PLACE-NAME

WV West Virginia, USA PLACE-NAME

WVL West-Vlaanderen, BEL PLACE-NAME

WY Wyoming, USA PLACE-NAME

WYR grandchild (male) WELSH

WYRES grandchild (female) WELSH

WYRTH laborer OCCUPATION

WYTH eight WELSH