Daily AncestorFowler
A fowler hunted or trapped wild birds, especially ducks and other waterfowl, for food, feathers or the market.
The word goes back to Old English fuglere, from fowl, bird. Fowling means taking wild birds for meat, feathers or sport, with nets, decoys or guns.
The best-known English fowlers were the punt gunners of the Fens, who lay in a low boat with a long, heavy gun, stalked a raft of ducks and fired one charge of shot, then gathered the birds and took them to market.
As seen in a recordEnglish parish registers of the 1600s to 1800s
Jno. Fennick, fowler, of Whittlesey
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Daily Ancestor. "Fowler." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/fowler. Last checked 2026-10-12.