Daily AncestorBoilermaker
A boilermaker built and repaired steam boilers and other large iron or steel tanks, working with heavy metal plates in boiler shops and shipyards.
The trade grew out of industrial blacksmithing; in the early 1800s a boilermaker was called a boilersmith. Boilermakers were already in the shipyards building iron boilers for wooden steamships, so when ships began to be built of iron they did that work too, and later anything large made of iron or steel.
Do not confuse the trade with the drink of the same name, a whiskey with a beer chaser.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1860 to 1940 census
Pat. Cullen, 38, Boilermaker
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Boilermaker." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/boilermaker. Last checked 2026-10-10.