What or who is a Yeoman

[AlanC]

My perception is that of a Military nature but I suspect it could mean something else in Liverpool 1879. Can anyone advise please?

[PaddyMedic]

Yeoman also undertook civilian duties such as church warden, bridge warden and the like. (if I remember correctly)

[keldon]

The obvious is indeed military.
OED has Yeoman: 'A member of the (Imperial) Yeomanry' and Yeomanry as 'A volunteer cavalry force in the British army, originally formed at the time of the French revolution, and consisting chiefly of men of the yeomanry class or status; first embodied in 1794 (Act 34 Geo. III, c. 31). ... In 1899 the formation of a new corps was provided for, entitled the Imperial Yeomanry, recruited for service in the Boer War (1899–1902) from the yeomanry, the volunteers, and civilians; this title was subsequently extended to the original yeomanry, and was retained until 1908.'

Or it could be 'An attendant or assistant to an official, etc.'

There's no other definition on the OED that I can see which would suit this period of time. The other alternative is that it is Liverpudlian slang for something or someone.

[WendyPusey]

Yeoman refers chiefly to a free man owning his own farm, especially from the Elizabethan era to the 17th century. Work requiring a great deal of effort or labor, such as would be done by a yeoman farmer, came to be described as "yeoman's work".^[1] Thus yeoman became associated with hard toil.^[2]
Yeoman was also a rank or position in a noble household, with titles such as Yeoman of the Chamber, Yeoman of the Crown, Yeoman Usher, and King's Yeoman. Most of these, including the Yeomen of the Guard, had the duty of protecting the sovereign and other dignitaries as a bodyguard, and carrying out various duties for the sovereign as assigned to his office.

[AlanC]

I'm a wiser man....thank you.

[clematised]

Most times I have come across the title has been to do with Welsh Farmland

Edna