tranter

plural tranters · alternative traunter

1. UKdialectalobsoletea peddler.

   1879, William Barnes, Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect, Dobbin Dead An’ he met wi’ zome yew-twigs the men had a-cast Vrom the yew-tree, in churchyard, the road that he past. He wer pweison’d. (1.) O dear, ’tis a hard loss to bear, Vor a tranter’s whole bread is a-lost wi’ his meäre;

   2 more examples

   Through the open doorway of a small inner room on the left hand, of a character between pantry and cellar, was Dick Dewy’s father, Reuben, by vocation a ‘tranter’, or irregular carrier.

   1872, [Thomas Hardy], “II: The Tranter's”, in Under the Greenwood Tree: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School, volume I, London: Tinsley Brothers, →OCLC, part I, page 13

   ...the persons tenanting these few houses included two retired military officers, one old navy lieutenant, a small farmer and tranter, a relieving officer and registrar, and an old militiaman […]

   1929, Florence Hardy, The Early Life of Thomas Hardy, 1841-1891

plural Tranters

1. A surname originating as an occupation.