Daily AncestorSteward
A steward managed property, supplies or service for others: on a ship the officer in charge of food and provisions, on an estate or in a club the manager.
The basic sense is a person who manages property or affairs for someone else, from the chief officer of a medieval manor to the person in charge of a club's or estate's buildings, grounds or animals.
At sea the steward was the ship's officer in charge of meals and provisions. A steward could also organize an event or tend bar, so in a 1910 to 1940 census the industry column usually shows which kind is meant.
As seen in a recordOccupation and industry columns of the 1910 to 1940 census
Arthur Lane, 41, Steward, Steamship
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Steward." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/steward. Last checked 2026-10-10.