Knocker-up

A knocker-up or knocker-upper was a member of a profession[1] in the Netherlands, Britain, Ireland, and some other countries that started during, and lasted well into, the Industrial Revolution, when alarm clocks were neither cheap nor reliable.

Generally the job was done by elderly men and pregnant women but sometimes police constables supplemented their pay by performing the task during early morning patrols.

[4] Hindle Wakes, a play written by Stanley Houghton and then a movie (of the same title) directed by Maurice Elvey, similarly involves one.

The profession of a knocker-up is documented and explained in the episode "The Industrial Revolution" of the television series The Worst Jobs in History.

He wakes the Hardcastle family and their neighbours up by tapping on their upper windows with a long pole that has wires hanging from the end.