1) Used especially of a man joined to a woman by marriage but more generally the master of a household.
1509 It is my wyll that John my son abyde styll upon my fader's hows with my fader
and ... that William my broder by ther husband, Ossett. In fact it formerly had a range of meanings which included 'a tiller of the soil' and a title indicative of a person's manorial status: 1249 ‘Nicholas de Aske manager of the Grange of Lede’. It occurred in some parts of the poll tax of 1379: Johannes Taillour, Husband
Willelmus Walker, Husband
Thomas Walker, Husband, Kearby. These were all married men who paid the standard rate of 4d. Occasionally, ‘to husband’ was to keep the soil in top condition: 1726 to burn into lime and ... carry away for the manuring and better husbanding the said ground, Eppleby.