Often when researching our family history, we come across defunct terms and titles. Sometimes the meaning of terms change, too. For example, a "Hooker" in olden times was a textile mill worker. Sometimes it pays to do a little background research about the language of the period to properly determine what these terms mean.
Here are some places you can find information about old occupations:
1) Genuki United Kingdom and Ireland Occupations [Link]
2) Victorian Occupations [Link]
3) Dictionary of Occupational Titles [Link]
4) Unusual Trades of the Past (French) [Link]
5) Old Occupation Names [Link]
6) Dictionary of Occupational Terms [Link]
7) Descriptions of Occupations [Link]
These documentaries demonstrate various jobs of old times. In the first, see what it took to do the job of a shepherd, a redder, a steeplechaser, and a feathery (golf ball maker).
In this one you can see what was involved with gold mining, Anglo-Saxon building, peasantry, farming, charcoal making, flour making, bog iron hunting, coin making, Viking life, monk life and guillemot egg collecting.