Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. any man, irrespective of appearance.

1811		Lex. Balatronicum n.p.: Gorger. A gentleman. A well dressed man. Mung kiddey. Mung the gorger; beg child beg, of the gentleman.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1848		Bell’s Life in Sydney 26 Feb. 1/4: When a Gorger comes up, Jinney comes up too.
1857		‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar Tongue 16: gorger, n. Man. ‘The old gorger behind the bazaar counter,’ The man behind the counter.
1881		Newcastle Courant 25 Nov. 6/5: Her good looks ’ll be no drawback to a single man as this here gorger.
1887		Notts. Guardian 10 Dec. 6/5: The jealous Gorger kept watch [...] over the Lancashire Lad.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 81: [S]tow it, the gorger’s leary,’ leave off, the man is looking.
1898		Lloyd’s Wkly Newspaper 27 Nov. 16/1: It wouldn’t at all surprise me if the old gorger had got spliced to her on the quiet.
1912		Leamington Spa Courier 20 Sept. 7/1: There are a great many tramps staying in this district at the present time [...] The ‘gorgers’ (men) are in the majority .

2. a dandy, an exceptionally well-dressed man [? + SE gorgeous].

1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1859		Matsell Vocabulum 38: gorger A gentleman; a well-dressed man.
1864, 1867, 1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.
1881		Trumble Sl. Dict. (1890).

3. a landlord or lodging house owner; thus gorgeress, a landlady.

1844		New Sprees of London 13: Palmer, the Gorger, conducts this crib himself ; here you may depend on hearing a good chant.
1846		Swell’s Night Guide 50: ‘Your doss gorger cracked a wid about you to me, and said she must give you the shoot.’ ‘Shoot! what for?’ roared poor Fuzzy [...] ‘Why because you made a dunniken of your cupboard, and used to lag in the coffee pot.’ [Ibid.] 67: The gorgeress, Mother Ruckers, is in no way less notorious than is the crib.

4. a manager, an employer.

1846		Swell’s Night Guide 39: Poor Ben Smithson, the theatrical gorger [...] has made his exit.
1860		Cardiff Times 28 July 7/3: Seven of them were at work in a tunnel, when a stone fell from the top and killed the deceased [...] The gorger (gaffer) told them there was no danger.
1864, 1867, 1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.
1868		M.E. Braddon Dead-Sea Fruit I 314: The gorger’s awful coally on his own slumming, eh? [...] I mean to say that our friend the manager is rather sweet upon his own acting.
1898		Falkirk Herald 5 Feb. 2/7: I heard a horrid low comedian tell the stage manager that if I hadn’t been the Gorger’s niece I shouldn’t have been allowed to deliver a message [...] ‘The Gorger?’ ‘Name for the manager’.