black mastern.
/ˈblak mɑːstə/, U.S. /ˈblæk ˌmæstər/ English regional (London). Now historical.
A funeral director, an undertaker.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > obsequies > people involved in funeral > [noun] > undertaker
undertaker1698
upholder1709
death-hunter1723
black master1823
funeral director1834
mortician1895
black man1927
thanatologist1972
1823 Times 17 Feb. 2/2 I have had frequent conversations with his Lordship about funerals, and about the number of horses each black master in London kept.
1893 W. J. Gordon Horse-world London xi. 139 A hundred years ago there was but one black master in London.
1901 Daily Chron. 14 May 12/2 To Blackmasters and Undertakers.
1904 Daily Chron. 12 Nov. 6/7 ‘What is a black-master?’.. ‘That's a well-known term in London,..and means an undertaker.’
1997 Victorian Soc. Ann. 1996 11/1 Dottridge's, one of the largest black masters, had about 80 ‘genuine Flemings’ housed in ground floor stables in East Road.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1823