Occupation "Sherman" in 1599
 

My ancestor William Dymes lived in the parish of St Mary, Guildford, Surrey and for all his children's baptisms he is described as a "Sherman". Several other people on each page are also described in the same manner.

I have seen that it can mean a person who shears sheep, but that wouldn't be a full-time occupation and I feel it must mean something else. Even in those days, Guildford would have been a town of a reasonable size.

Any suggestions, please? This description goes way into the 1600s.

http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/47...1_312033-00028

I found someone's family tree online which says about their ancestor who appeared in the same register at about the same time:
In several christening records, the father's occupation is given as 'sherman' (i.e.shearman, one who trims cloth in tailoring), and inothers as 'clothier.
http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bowyer-233

This history of Guildford says that a lot of people there worked in the wool and cloth trades at that time:
http://www.localhistories.org/guildford.html

My 3x G Grandfather was a She(a)rman in 1841 and in 1851 his occupation was 'Cloth worker, scribler'. This was in Trowbridge, Wiltshire where there was a large number of cloth manufacturers and workers.

A cloth shearer (shearman, sherman) trims the nap from newly woven fabrics:

http://trowbridgemuseum.co.uk/raisin...-and-pressing/

Thanks, everyone. Really interesting - I noted there were a lot of clothiers about too.

The vicar for this parish deserves a posthumous pat on the back for giving mother's names and father's occupation, not something you often see in the early registers.

Merry, this article is very useful. Many thanks!

The cloth industry was very important in Guildford at the time. Somewhere I have a little book of Guildford freemen, which gives occupations. I've never used the municipal records, which I assume are at the Surrey History Centre, but they seem to be very detailed, by the odd references made to them.

Phoenix, that is very interesting. I was born at Guildford and one branch of my mother's family seems to have been there back to the start of the PRs. It was almost my second home when I was growing up. I'll have to pay another to the Surrey History Centre as I have a lot of unfinished business there.