Daily AncestorSexton
A sexton was a church caretaker who looked after the building and graveyard and often dug graves and rang the bell.
The sexton kept the church clean and heated, rang the bell for services and funerals, and often dug graves and kept burial records in the churchyard.
Sexton's records or burial books can give names, dates and plot locations not found anywhere else. The 1900 census instructions named janitor, sexton and undertaker as separate occupations to be reported according to the fact.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1880 to 1920 census
Thos. Byrne, 58, Sexton, Ireland
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Sexton." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/sexton. Last checked 2026-10-01.