Wharfinger is an archaic term for a person who is the keeper or owner of a wharf. The wharfinger took custody of and was responsible for goods delivered to the wharf, typically had an office on the wharf or dock, and was responsible for day-to-day activities including slipways, keeping tide tables and resolving disputes. The word's etymology is probably Elizabethan-era English.[1] An 1844 usage appears in Pigot's Directory of Dorset[2] in which Beales and Cox are noted to be wharfingers for the Port of Weymouth.