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A waterman is a river worker who transfers passengers across and along city centre rivers and estuaries in the United Kingdom and its colonies. Most notable are those on the River Thames and River Medway, but other rivers such as the River Tyne and River Dee, Wales also had their watermen who formed guilds in medieval times.
Watermen or wherrymen were an essential part of early London. Using a small boat called a wherry or skiff they would ferry passengers along and across the river. With bad rural roads and narrow, congested city streets, the Thames was the most convenient highway in the region. And until the mid-18th century London Bridge was the only one below Kingston.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterman_(occupation)
Resources:
Were your ancestors associated with Thames Sailing Barges or lighters, Watermen and Lightermen or the London Docks? We have a large number of family names, sailing barge names and sailing barge histories already logged but please keep watching this page for details of our website dedicated to researching their family histories.
Our site is dedicated to researching the history of Thames sailing barges and barge builders and the watermen and lightermen who worked on the wharves and docks along the river and travelled the Thames from Middlesex, Kent, Surrey and Essex to London. Links can be found to other river sites.
We've extended our family history research to the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk and are collating information about local wherries, wherrymen and their families.