We all have bad days at work, but at least you’re not working one of these jobs!

1. Whipping Boy

A Whipping Boy was educated alongside a Prince or Child King, who had to receive the punishments earned by the bad behavior of those Princes or Kings, because a tutor could not beat a member of the monarch. Ouch!

2. Tosher

In Victorian London, Toshers made a living by trawling through sewers, looking for anything of value that may have been lost and made it’s way into the sewers. Imagine spending your working days ankle deep in sewage…yuk!

3. Pure Finder

In the 18th & 19th Centuries, the ‘pure’ that Tanneries sought for their leather for book bindings was dog faeces…yes dog faeces. So, if you were a Pure Finder you would spend your days trying to collect as much dog faeces as you could.

4. Sin-eater

Another job from the 18th & 19th centuries, most common in Wales was Sin-eating. Basically a Sin-eater was a poor person who was hired at funerals to eat bread off of the deceased. It was believed that the Sin-eater would absorb the sins of the departed. Glad you weren’t born in the 18th or 19th century yet?!

5. Wool Fuller

A Wool Fuller was involved in the stripping of dirt and grease from wool, and apparently the most perfect liquid to whiten the wool was human urine. So, in this job you spent all day marching on the spot, in a vat of stale human urine. Imagine the smell!

6. Gong Farmer

During the 14th century, before modern drainage, the bodily waste of humans was becoming a problem and it needed clearing, hence the role of a Gong Farmer. Gong Farmers spent the night in holes of human excrement up to their waist or neck, digging it out and clearing it away. Some of them died from diseases or even suffocation.