Daily AncestorLumper
A lumper was an extra laborer hired to help load or unload a ship's cargo, a casual waterfront job.
Lumpers worked on the docks alongside regular longshoremen, carrying cargo on and off vessels when extra hands were needed. Work came and went with the ships, so a lumper might also appear as a day laborer in another year.
The word has other meanings, including a militiaman in some dialects and a kind of potato, but in an occupation column it means dock labor.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1850 to 1880 census
Dennis Hart, 29, Lumper, Ireland
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Lumper." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/lumper. Last checked 2026-10-01.