TANNER, n. One whose occupation is to tan hides, or convert them into leather by the use of tan. Tanners might operate as a small business but most worked in tanneries, to tan the skins and hides of animals, converting them into leather. The leather was used primarily for making boots and shoes but doublets and jerkins were also made of leather.In ancient history, tanning was considered a noxio...
English (northern): topographic or occupational name from Middle English bothe (Old Danish bōth) ‘temporary shelter such as a covered market stall or a cattle-herdsman's hut’. The latter sense was predominant in the Pennines of Lancashire and Yorkshire where there were many cattle farms or vaccaries and whose subdivisions were known as ‘booths’. The principal meaning of the surname there was th...