A farmer or agricultural worker, usually of modest status.
A husbandman was a person involved in farming or agricultural work.
The term usually referred to a farmer who worked their own holding, often as a tenant, rather than a landless labourer. Husbandmen commonly occupied small farms or customary holdings and were an important part of rural communities.
The status of a husbandman was generally below that of a yeoman, who often held a larger or more secure farming position.
Court rolls and other records frequently identify people by occupation, providing evidence about the structure of local society.
See also:
Yeoman
Tenant
Customary Tenant
Tenement
