MEMORIALS OF THE FRATERNITY.
I. THE COMPANY.
1. It will be convenient, as an introduction to the different
Memorials printed in the subsequent part of this volume, that
a brief sketch be given, in chronological order, of the various
incidents relating to the Company which have come under my
notice, from the earliest period until the year 1691, when it
ceased to have any direct connection with trade.
A.D. 1267.
2. One of the earliest civic records mentioning the Taylors
as a separate craft or mysterie, (fn. 1) is the "Chronicle of the Mayors
and Sheriffs of London," which narrates their dispute with the
Goldsmiths, and the subsequent conviction of the rioters of
both sides by Laurence de Broc, the Justiciar, in November
1267. (fn. 2)
A.D. 1299 and 1300.
3. The next event in order of date is mentioned by Stowe,
who writes that Edward I., in the 28th year of his reign,
granted them his licence to adopt the name of "Taylors and
Linen Armourers of the Fraternity of St. John the Baptist,"
and to hold their feast and to choose their Master and Wardens
on the Midsummer Day yearly. According to his authority
(and the Company's books if forthcoming (fn. 3) should confirm it)
upon St. John Baptist's Day, 1300, a Master (Henry de Ryall)
and four Wardens were chosen, and called, until the 11th
Richard II., the first, the "Pilgrim," as travelling for the whole
Company, and the others the "Purveyors of Alms" or
"quarterages," plainly showing that the Guild in its original
institution was a charitable rather than a commercial fraternity.
A.D. 1322.
4. The earliest ordinances (fn. 4) in the year 1322, ordained in the
Husting Court, relate rather to the trade of Armourers than of
"Linen" Armourers. To prevent worthless and unserviceable
armour being covered, these ordinances provided that no smith
that made, should henceforth himself cover, any basnet for sale,
but should sell them out of his hand quite new and uncovered.
Further, they were to remain uncovered until they had been seen
and passed by four men inspecting them for the purpose of determining, under oath, whether they were fit for covering or not. (fn. 5)
A.D. 1326.
5. In March 1326, the first Charter (fn. 6) was granted to the
Company by Edward III. Their petition to Parliament set
forth that they had been accustomed, "from the time whereof
there is no memory," to hold their Guild once a year to govern
their mysteries and to settle the state of their servants, and
prayed a confirmation of their privileges. Under the Charter
which was then granted to them, they were to hold their Guild
once a year, to govern their mysteries and servants by view of
the Mayor, and to correct "the same by the more honest and
sufficient men of the mysteries." No one was to hold a shop
of the said mysteries within the City unless free, nor should any
one be made free "unless vouched by honest and lawful men of
the mysteries that he is honest, faithful, and fit for the same."
A.D. 1331–51.
6. In 1331, the Company acquired that portion of their
Threadneedle Street estate upon which their present Hall
stands. (fn. 7) In 1351 they enrolled their first honorary member,
and during the episcopacy of Symon of Sudbury (1361 and
1371) obtained a grant (fn. 8) (noticed upon our records, but not by
Dugdale in his History of St. Paul's) of a chapel at the north
side of the mother church of St. Paul's, in honour of St. John
the Baptist, for daily service and prayers for "the preservation
of them that are or shall be of the Fraternity." In 1382,
Thomas Carleton devised a rent-charge to the Master and
Wardens for religious services in this chapel.
A.D. 1371.
7. In 1371, the Company, under the first Charter, with the
approval of the Lord Mayor, made an ordinance (fn. 9) to regulate
their trade, with the especial object of recovering damages
from workmen miscutting the cloth which was intrusted to them.
For each offence a fine was imposed, payable in part to the
Chamber of the Guildhall, and in part to the alms of St. John,
that is, to the priests and poor.
A.D. 1385–90.
8. In 1385, Richard II. became an honorary member, and in
July 1390 granted the Company their second Charter, under
which, "in honour of St. John Baptist," they were to hold and
exercise the Guild of Taylors and Linen Armourers, and to
receive members into their Fraternity. They were also to elect
a Master and Wardens from amongst themselves [de seipsis] as
often as they pleased; to have a livery (fn. 10) of a garment of one
suit in every year; "to hold meetings in places of the City
belonging to them, and in an honest manner their feast of
meat and drink on St. John Baptist's Day," whereat they were
to make ordinances amongst themselves as they should see fit
for the government of their Fraternity.
A.D. 1401–6.
9. In 1401, Henry IV. and the Prince his son were admitted
to the honorary freedom of the Company, and the same year
the Company made their first purchase of real estate (being
the Saracen's Head, Friday (fn. 11) Street), out of their Common Box.
In January 1404, the first devise was made in favour of the
Company, that by Thomas Sibsay, of houses in Bread Street;
and in 1406 the Company received a large accession of property
adjacent to the Hall, by Churchman's gift of the advowson of
St. Martin's, and of houses in Bishopsgate and Threadneedle
Streets, (fn. 12) which, in the seventh year of the same reign, (fn. 13) they
obtained a licence to hold in mortmain.
A.D. 1407.
10. In August 1407, King Henry IV. granted the third
Charter, (fn. 14) under which the Master and Wardens and their
successors were made "a sound, perpetual, and corporate
Fraternity," and acquired their name of "the Master and
Wardens of the Fraternity of Taylors and Linen Armourers of
St. John the Baptist in the City of London," and a "Common
Seal." Of more importance, however, was the licence thereby
granted to them to hold in mortmain (under the various names
set out or any other name) all the lands which they had hitherto
acquired to the use of the Company.
A.D. 1412.
11. The year 1412 is memorable as the first in which the Guild
was made the trustee of lands for benevolent purposes. In this
year, one Peter Mason (fn. 15) devised the corner-houses of the Poultry
towards Bucklersbury to the Company; therefore, for 460 years
and upwards, the rents of this estate have been faithfully given
to those objects whom the testator designated as recipients of
his bounty. It was followed in 1418 by another trust devise (fn. 16)
(Creek's), and three others—viz., Sutton's, Candish's, and
Holland's—were made in the same century.
A.D. 1415.
12. In 1415, the condition of certain apprentices—Yeoman
Taylors (as they were then, and have since been called)—living
without supervision in "Three, Shears Court, at Garlick Hill,"
excited the notice of the City authorities, and became the
subject of legal investigation. The Master and Wardens were
summoned by the Mayor to discuss the matter, and explain
how it was that they permitted their servants and apprentices
to live apart, without a "superior to rule them." Having
expressed their grief at such misconduct, the offenders themselves were summoned by the Mayor, and, after reprimand,
told to disperse, under pain of fine and imprisonment. (fn. 17)
A.D. 1417.
13. In 1417, the same Brotherhood of Yeoman Taylors
became petitioners for the privilege of going, without the
Master, to the church of St. John, but this the Lord Mayor
denied them, telling them, that "in future times no servant or
apprentice should presume by themselves to enter assemblies
or conventicles at the aforesaid church, unless with the
Master." (fn. 18)
A.D. 1432.
14. It was not long after the acquisition of Churchman's gift,
i.e., in 1414, (fn. 19) that the Almshouses were established. The terms
show the object of that gift to have been the promotion of
charity, and the will of Sutton in 1432 makes express reference
to the "Almshouses near the Hall" as an established institution at that date.
A.D. 1434–7.
15. In 1434, King Henry VI. was admitted to the honorary
freedom of the Company, and in the year 1436–7, Parliament,
by the 15 Henry VI., cap. 6, legislated upon the subject of
City Guilds, obliging them—1st, To register their Charters or
Letters Patent before the Lord Mayor; and, 2ndly, To submit
their Ordinances for his approval, and for subsequent record in
the City Archives. (fn. 20) So long, therefore, as this enactment was
in force the Lord Mayor had a controlling authority over the
Guilds, and his Court was one of appeal, at the instance either
of the Company or of any recalcitrant member. (fn. 21)
A.D. 1439.
16. In February 1439, the fourth Charter was granted to
the Company, under which they acquired an exclusive right of
search in and concerning the mysteries, and concerning those
persons who are or may be privileged with the Taylors, within
the City and the suburbs thereof, and to correct and reform
the same. (fn. 22) Under this Charter a search was annually made at
St. Bartholomew's Fair until its abolition.
A.D. 1442.
17. In 1442, the Taylors sought to set aside the election
of Robert Clopton as Lord Mayor, in favour of their
Brother (and future benefactor), (fn. 23) Ralph Holland. They
became so outrageous in their opposition that some of the
rioters were committed to Newgate by the Lord Mayor (Sir
John Paddesley), and punished as they (are said to have)
deserved. (fn. 24) Possibly it was in revenge for this contention that
Clopton, when he was Lord Mayor, impeached, before the
Privy Council, the legality of the Charter of Henry VI., and
obtained an order for the suspension of its operation. (fn. 25)
A.D. 1455.
18. In June 1455, the chapel at St Paul's being too small,
a petition was addressed to Rome (fn. 26) for a grant of a free chapel
at the Hall, setting forth that their "brethren had founded and
endowed another perpetual chapel in the Hall or Inn of the
Brotherhood, called Taylor's Hall (within the community of the
parish of St. Martin's), with an altar in the chapel for the more
commodious performance of the devotions of the Brotherhood.
The prayer of this petition was granted by Pope Calixtus III.,
and, by his Bull, free and lawful permission was given to have
masses celebrated, whenever necessary, on the altars in the
chapel of "Taylor's Hall."
A.D. 1460–5.
19. In 1460, King Edward IV. became an honorary member
of the Company, and in August 1465 granted the fifth Charter (fn. 27)
confirming the last Charter, which had previously been a
subject of controversy. (fn. 28)
A.D. 1480.
20. In October 1480, the Company received the first grant of
arms, taking emblems essentially religious, as "an holy lamb (fn. 29)
set within a sun; the crest, being within the pavilion, our
Blessed Lady St. Mary the Virgin, Christ her son standing
naked before her, holding between his hands a vesture called
tunica inconsutilis." (fn. 30)
A.D. 1484.
21. In 1484 arose the celebrated controversy with the
Skinners for precedency, which was settled on the 10th April
by the award (fn. 31) of the Lord Mayor (Robert Billesden), the
terms of which award from that date have been annually complied with in the Halls of the Merchant Taylors and Skinners. (fn. 32)
From its perusal it will be seen that a controversy had arisen
between the two Companies "for the roume and place in
their going afore in processions within the City," and that "for
norishing of peas and love," the Lord Mayor adjudged a dinner
at the Hall of each Company; and that as to precedence, the
Skinners should go before the Taylors "from the fest of Easter
then next coming unto the fest of Easter then next coming,"
and that the Taylors, from the same fest of Easter then next
ensuing, shall go in all processions before the Skinners for a
year fully to be complete, (fn. 33) but if either Company had a Lord
Mayor of the Fraternity (which gave precedence over all Companies) then that yeare was to be taken out of the award.
A.D. 1502.
22. It was not until the reign of Henry VII. (in 1502) that
the Company attained to the full privileges which they afterwards enjoyed. Early in his reign the King became an honorary
member, and in his 18th year of it granted to the Company
their final Charter, (fn. 34) save those of mere confirmation. As "the
men of the mysteries" (to use the quaint language of it), "in
all quarters and kingdoms of the world," used "all and every
kinds of merchandizes" to the renown, honour, and benefit of
the kingdom, "buying and selling of all and every wares and
merchandizes whatsoever," "as well wholesale as retail," the
title of "Merchant," before that of "Taylors," was conferred
upon their Company.
23. Under this Charter they ceased to be exclusively Taylors,
for it enabled them to take in "whatsoever persons, natives,
whom they might be willing to receive into the said Fraternity,
without the hindrance or disturbance of any person or persons
of any other art or mystery." (fn. 35)
24. But the highest powers conferred were those of making
ordinances for the governance by punishment and correction
of the mysteries for offences therein. Certainly the Master and
the Wardens exercised, if they did not possess, the powers of
fine and imprisonment (the criteria of a Court of Record), (fn. 36) and
their Court Minutes show that they heard and judicially deter
mined the causes or complaints of those who were subject to
their special jurisdiction.
25. And lastly, the Charter conferred upon them the exclusive monopoly "in the working, cutting, or making of men's
apparel within the city and suburbs"; while no one was to
presume to search any liege subject of the Fraternity, or the
workmen of men's apparel within the city or suburbs, or their
goods, ells, or measures, except the Master and Wardens of the
Company, whose authority was, however, always to be exercised
without prejudice to the higher authority of the Lord Mayor.
26. That the power of making ordinances might not be
abused, Parliament, in the year succeeding this Charter, enacted,
by the 19 Henry VII., c. 7, that no ordinance should be made in
diminution of the Royal prerogative or against the common
profit of the people. Further, it required that all ordinances
should be approved by the Lords Treasurer and Chancellor and
Chiefs of the Bench, or any three of them, and that no ordinance should usurp the authority of the supreme courts by
restraining its members from sueing therein.
27. The prime mover in getting this Statute passed is
said to have been the Recorder, Sir Robert Sheffield, who felt a
higher regard for the prosperity of his profession than of his
fellow citizens. Under this Act of Parliament ordinances were
prepared for the Company, and approved in 1507 by William,
Archbishop of Canterbury (as Lord Chancellor), Thomas, Earl
of Surrey (as High Treasurer), and by the two Chief Justices
of the King's and Common Bench. These were entered by
that assiduous Common Clerk of the Company, Henry Mayour,
in the old Ordinance Book, which is still extant amongst the
Company's muniments of title. (fn. 37)
28. A study of the Charter and Ordinances of Henry VII.'s
reign, together with the oaths of the several members and
officers of the Fraternity, will enable the reader to understand the
constitution of the Guild, and the objects for which it was founded.
29. Tracing the subject under two divisions, the Company
comprised the governors and the governed; the former consisted, as it now consists, of these officers (fn. 38) —
1st. The Master, whose summons or order the Clerk or
Beadle has to deliver or execute.
2nd. The four Wardens, in whom, with the Master, the
corporate powers and property are vested.
3rd. The Court of Assistants, chosen from the Livery as
Counsellors, who are to be consulted upon the affairs of
the Company as often as the Master may deem needful.
30. The latter consisted, as it now consists, of these
members—
1st. The Livery, who as men of substance, are called by
the Court to accept the clothing or livery of the Company, and by whom certain special charges of the Fraternity were formerly borne. (fn. 39)
2nd. The Yeomen or Batchelors, (fn. 40) who as Freemen, had
also to contribute to the Common Box, and were (as now
they generally are) the working or labouring part of the
Fraternity.
31. The members now known as "honorary," and who are
gratuitously admitted only to the freedom of the Company,
stand in a different position to that occupied by Kings and
others, who, in earlier times, were admitted to the Livery by a
payment, always equal and sometimes more (fn. 41) than that made
by ordinary members, to the Guild. What the advantage of
taking the Livery was deemed by such persons to be is not
apparent, but that they paid for the honour of admission (fn. 42) is
clear; and at a time so recent as James I.'s reign, we
find the exemption of Dr. John Bull from the payment of his
livery fine treated of as an act of grace to him by the Company. (fn. 43)
A list purporting to contain the names of all the honorary
members was presented to James I.; but a recent investigation of the early account books has brought many other names
to notice which, it would seem, should have been included
therein. These are printed in a note. (fn. 44)
32. The servants of the Fraternity were, as they now are:—
1st. The Common Clerk, who is the recorder of the proceedings of the Master and Wardens, and their channel
of communication with the Fraternity.
2nd. The Beadle, who as the summoning officer, is charged
with the execution of such process or orders as formerly
were, or now are, issued by the Court against the
Fraternity.
33. Accepting the record of Henry Mayour, as stating
the truth, in 1508, it is clear that the Master and Wardens
exercised a primary judicial power over all members of the
Fraternity in relation to trade controversies, and therefore the
Court was, in a certain sense, a tribunal of commerce or of
conciliation, which if failing "to pacify the matter and cause
of complaint," then gave to the parties a free liberty to sue in
the ordinary Courts "where they listed." (fn. 45)
34. The benefits of this tribunal (according to the same
authority) were "good obedience," "perfect love and charity,"
"by reason whereof the citizens did richly increase and grow
into wealth and prosperity." Evil therefore would appear to
have been the day when the Recorder, Sir Robert Sheffield,
"by his great labour, subtle wit, and crafty means caused an
Act of 19 Henry VII., cap. 7, to be made," the effect being
practically to abolish these tribunals, and to throw the law
open to every one.
35. The principal object of the Guild was the preservation
of the trade or calling of the Fraternity; no one being permitted
to work in London, as a "Tailor," unless a freeman of the Company. This freedom was only to be obtained (1) by patrimony;
(2) by apprenticeship; (3) by purchase or redemption,—though
the latter method was urgently protested against by those
whose living was dependent upon monopoly. (fn. 46)
36. For the protection of the trade the right of search (fn. 47) was
vested in the Guild, such search being a guarantee to the public
that the honest usages of trade were observed, and to the
Fraternity, that their monopoly was not infringed. Moreover,
by the ordinances, the Master had supreme authority to summon
any member before him (each member having by oath agreed
to obey his summons) and to protect the King's lieges from
dealings with incompetent men, "without ability or cunning,"
as a license to open a shop was needed, which the Master and
Wardens only granted after they were satisfied of the competency of the freeman.
37. The authority of the Master over the Fraternity was
maintained by an ordinance directed (as were the orders of
1415 and 1417) against assemblies or conventicles which, if
he did not preside, were unlawful, and justified the infliction
of fine and even imprisonment upon members attending thereat.
Even to associate or company with one breaking an ordinance
was, after warning, a criminal offence for which a fine might
be inflicted.
38. The Judicial integrity of the Court was upheld by the
oaths (fn. 48) of its members. "The Master was wisely and discreetly
to examine the matter of complaint," that with the consent of
the parties "it might be truly determined," and "that no
favour nor partiality be showed to either party, otherwise than
right, equity, and good conscience asked"; and the Wardens
were sworn in like words. The Assistants, by their oath, were
"acting after their wisdom and discretion," to give "their
opinion and sentence according to truth and good conscience,
not sparing any man for favour, affection or love, nor hurting
nor hindering any man for malice or hate, but equally and
truly to bear and behave in all causes and matters between
party and party according to equity, indifference, and good
conscience."
39. For the sustentation of the poor, every member of the
Fraternity was put under quarterly contribution for sums
regulated according to the status of his membership. Hence,
therefore, the difficulty of getting transferred from one to another
Company, as being thereby released from the charges that
were due to the Common Box from each member of the
Fraternity. Besides these payments, fines and other charges
were imposed for delinquency, the object of which was not
only disciplinary, but to obtain, when no other poor law existed,
a fund for the relief or sustentation of the poor members. (fn. 49)
A.D. 1507–15.
40. After this date, till the great event of the Reformation,
there is little to record. From the contents of an inventory of
the Company's effects, which was taken in 1512, no less than
from the ordinances of 1507, it is apparent that the religious
element entered largely into the Corporate life of the Guild.
From the commencement of its history we find a chapel and
priest at the Hall and at the north side of Powles, and to the
middle of the 16th century many gifts or devises were made to
the Company for religious or superstitious uses. (fn. 50) Another fact
worthy of notice is that, so early as the year 1512, Sir Stephen
Jenyns (fn. 51) (the Master of the Fraternity in 1492), by Letters
Patent of 22nd September, established and endowed (under
the management of the Company) a free Grammar School at
Wolverhampton—now one of the most prosperous of those
schools which have been refounded under the Endowed
Schools Act, 1869. (fn. 52)
A.D. 1547.
41. Parliament, which at the Reformation suppressed all
purely religious Guilds, preserved those connected with trade
—but secularized them. The interrogatories exhibited by the
King's Commissioners, and the certificate (fn. 53) given in by the Company, enable the reader to ascertain the number and purpose of
the religious endowments of which, in 1547, the Company were
trustees. They disclaimed having any chapel, but set forth
that they had endowments for nine priests, and twenty-three
obits or services, which were to be performed in these City
churches:—
The Chapel on the north side of St Paul's (endowed
by Thos. Carleton in 1382).
St. Martin Outwich, six obits.
St. Mary Abchurch, four obits.
St. Mary Woolnorth, three obits.
Aldermary, two obits.
In seven other churches, one obit in each.
42. The policy of Parliament was to sweep away these payments for superstitious uses, by declaring them forfeited to
the Crown that the Crown might, with this property, found
Grammar Schools or Collegiate Institutions. In the case of
the Merchant Taylor's (as of other Companies) these annual
charges (amounting to 102l. 0s. 10d.) were sold to the Company, who, to redeem these, sold other lands (to the extent of
2,006l. 2s. 6d. in value). (fn. 54)
A.D. 1552.
43. The year 1552 brings to notice one of the most celebrated members of the Company—Sir Thomas White. As the
purchaser of the dissolved monastery, in the name of the Corporation of Coventry, he directed a deed, dated the 26th July,
to be prepared between the City of Coventry and the Company,
under which the proceeds of the estate, then 70l. per annum,
were, after his death (which happened in February 1566) to
go in certain proportions to five towns—viz., Coventry, Nottingham, Northampton, Leicester, and Warwick, with a proportionate
yearly sum to the Company, to be paid at the Feast of St.
Bartholomew the Apostle, at their Hall, for their labour and
pains in seeing the said matter duly performed. (fn. 55)
A.D. 1555–7.
44. In anticipation of the future establishment of a School (fn. 56)
by the Company, Sir Thomas White, in the years 1555–7,
founded the College of St. John's, Oxford, and out of the fifty
fellowships created and endowed he reserved forty-three for
the Company's scholars, with a prior claim as to six of such
fellowships in favour of the founder's kin. By this act of
munificence his name has been associated with the annals of
the Company and of St. John's, Oxford.
A.D. 1561.
45. One of the first fruits of the Reformation in regard
to the Company was the establishment of their school at
St. Lawrence, Pulteney Hill, in 1561. The principles upon
which this was established are to be found in the Statutes
of the 24th September in that year, adopted on the model of
Dean Colet's, for the foundation of St. Paul's School. The
school was to be essentially of a religious type. "In the honor
of Christ Jesus" the Masters "shall teach the children, if need
be, the catechisme and instructions of the Articles of the Faith
and the Ten Commandments in Latin," and that the religion so
taught should be "National," the same Statute (20) explains
"that is to say: such a catechism as shall be approved by
the Queen's Majesty that now is, and by the Honorable Committee of Parliament of this realm from time to time."
1564.
46. And it may be incidentally mentioned that the Court
Minutes of a quarterly meeting of the Fraternity at about the
same period bear the same impress of the religious spirit prevailing. Then (as is the practice of Parliament now) their
meetings were opened by the Chaplain, and prayer was made
for "Church and Queen," for the increase of the common weal,
—against the "enemies of the Gospel, the Pope, the Turk, and
their adherents." (fn. 57)
1566.
47. From the contents of a certificate, dated 24th January
1566, of their real and personal estate, made to the income-tax
assessors appointed under the 8th Elizabeth, cap. 18, the school
would appear to have consumed more than one-half the
Company's surplus income. (fn. 58) By the Statutes, the Masters'
salaries were made a charge on the Common Box (fn. 59) "until such
tyme as the same shall be otherwise discharged by the gifts
and legacies of good and well-disposed"; but—strange as it
may appear to some readers—the benefactors have chosen
rather to give their property to the Company to be disposed of
in most instances at its absolute discretion than to create any
separate endowment in favour of the school.
48. Looking at the twenty-six benefactions made to the
Company either as a trustee or as a beneficiary during the 16th
Century, they may be classed as fourteen before and twelve
after the Reformation, though upon the post-Reformation gifts
no strictly religious use is grafted. It was after the establishment of the school, and chiefly in the 17th Century, that a
number of benefactions were made to the Company, none of
these having, as I have before observed, any trust whatever
in favour of the school.
1566.
49. After the decease of Sir Thomas White, the City of
Bristol, (fn. 60) by a deed of the 1st July 1566, in which they were of
the first part, St. John's College, Oxford, of the second part,
and the Company of the third part, declared the trusts of a fund
contributed by his bounty entitling the Company as one of
twenty-four Corporations to a sum of 100l. as loan money every
twenty-fourth year, (fn. 61) which trust continues in operation.
A.D. 1568.
50. In the year 1567 we have a trace of the Company's
corporate action in their search (fn. 62) for the protection of their own
trade or mystery, and in the year 1568, they took an active
part in the Lord Mayor's inauguration festival—a member of
the Fraternity (Sir Thomas Rowe) holding that office. At that
period, having no official residence or plate allowed him out of
the Civic funds, each Lord Mayor had to look to his Guild for
aid enabling him to sustain "the dignity of his office." In this
instance the Company voted money towards the charges of
Rowe's Mayoralty, and as the records give a complete account
of the "order of attendance and arrangement of the Feast," they
will be found well worthy of perusal. (fn. 63)
A.D. 1571–2.
51. The year 1571–2 presents the Company in the aspect of
discharging the duties (1) of attending upon the Sovereign (fn. 64)
with part of an armed retinue on May day, and (2) of setting
an armed watch (with the Vintners' Company) over the Gates
of the City (fn. 65) to prevent the admission of idle or disorderly
persons—duties which, before a Standing Army or an organized
Police were established, usually fell upon the Citizens of London
to discharge.
A.D. 1578.
52. When a new English edition of the Bible was put forth,
the Master and Wardens decreed "that a Bible of the new
form lately printed by Christopher Barker, the Queen's Majesty's
Printer, shall be bought and set up in their Common Hall in
some convenient place that such as resort unto the said Hall
may occupy themselves at Court days while they attend for the
hearing of their causes." (fn. 66)
A.D. 1585–6.
53. To raise money for the Public Service, the Crown
resorted to the expedient of a lottery, and addressed the Lord
Mayor with the object of his persuading the City Companies to
make an adventure therein. (fn. 67) The letter of the Privy Council is
printed at length, (fn. 68) and the reader will not fail to notice the
inducement which is held out to the Mayor and his colleagues
the Sheriffs in the promised gift "of a bason and ewre of 100l."
to the Lord Mayor, "and of a bason and ewre of 100 markes"
to the Sheriffs between them. "Loving brethren of the
Mysterie" were appointed to attend the drawing at the "west
door in Pawle's Church Yard," but the result is not recorded.
A.D. 1586.
54. In 1586, the Company took advantage of the Herald's
Visitation throughout the kingdom (to register pedigrees and
to regulate the use of armorial bearings), to secularize their
armorial bearings by casting off the religious emblems which
are to be found in the earlier grant, (fn. 69) and by taking two camels
as supporters, and, as a motto, the words of Sallust, which are
at present found in the arms of the Company.
A.D. 1588–92.
55. As the Almshouses at the Hall were originally designed
for Liverymen who might be married when or (the Company
assenting) after they were appointed, it frequently happened
that their widows had to be removed, for the vacancy was
usually given away in reversion—i.e., while the Almsman was
alive. To provide for these and other widows, Mr. Richard
Hilles (who benevolently aided in the establishment of the
School) proposed, and in fact established, other Almshouses at
Tower Hill—which there remained till the institution was
transferred to Lee, in Kent. (fn. 70)
A.D. 1592 to 1605.
56. It may be noticed that at this period John Stowe, who
was not only the author of the "Survey of London," but a
working freeman (as a tailor), was a pensioner of the Company; a worthy Master and benefactor, Robert Dowe, having
provided for him first at his own cost and then by asking the
Company to aid him with an increase of pension. (fn. 71)
A.D. 1607.
57. The early years of the 17th Century show the Fraternity
as occupying a position of increased importance. In 1602–3,
we have a list of the names of the whole Company who were
assessed (fn. 72) to bear the expenses of King James' coronation, but
the more notable event to record is the entertainment given by
the Company to the King in 1607. The Court Minutes, and an
accurate statement of expenditure—every item being entered
—are, as valuable records of the period, printed verbatim. (fn. 73)
A.D. 1609.
58. In the year 1609, James I. proposed to the City Guilds
that they should aid in the general scheme for colonization.
The settlements in Ireland are matters of civic history, and the
record of those in Virginia (fn. 74) appear to be worthy of notice from
the advantages then foreseen as flowing from them. The
immediate benefits were, first, the city and suburbs should
"be eased of a swarme of unnecessary inmates," the cause of
dearth, famine, and plague. To the emigrants, if they should
demand "what would be their present maintenance, what their
future hopes" in this new world, "it may please you to let
them know that for the present they shall have meate, drink,
and clothing, with an house, orchard, and garden (for the
meanest family), and a possession of lands to them and their
posterity." But as affecting the public weal, colonization was
spoken of in higher terms, "as an action concerning God and
the advancement of religion, the present ease, future honour
and safety of the kingdom, the strength of the Navy, the
visible hope of a great and rich trade, with many secret
blessings not yet discovered," nor were these advantages
exaggerated, as we now see them developed in our great
Colonial Empire.
59. An entry (fn. 75) of the Quarterly Court for Michaelmas, 1607,
presents to us the fact of the same religious spirit pervading
their assemblies as was noticeable in earlier days. The whole
fraternity assembled, and at the common feast around their
hospitable board they gathered not only the wives of the same
members but the "almsmen" of the Livery, "as in antient time
hath been accustomed."
A.D. 1608.
60. In the following year an entry is found having reference
to an assembly of the fraternity for the burial of a deceased
member, upon which occasion (November 1608) "a commendable
grace or thanksgiving drawn by a learned divine" was adopted
for use. To make this use perpetual, the worthy Robert Dowe,
in 1610, created an endowment of an annual sum of 5s. to the
Common Clerk for reading the grace. (fn. 76)
A.D. 1612.
61. Nor is this the only benevolence of Robert Dowe which
should be recorded. He contracted with the Company "to
perform for him certain deeds of charity by God and grace for
ever," the particulars of which are entered in the Company's
records, and noticed upon the pages of Stowe by his successor
Strype. (fn. 77) He made a provision for singing in divine service by
the boys in Christ's Hospital, and, besides the perpetual maintenance of almswomen in the Company's House, he left an annual
provision for sixty poor to be selected by the ecclesiastical
authorities of Aldgate parish. The gift was to be bestowed in
the church, and the recipients were to be exhorted "to kneel
down, and with all humility and reverence to say (after the
minister) the Lord's Prayer, and then, God receive all good
benefactors and bless the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors."
Afterwards they were to leave quietly, with a benediction from
the minister. Of the same religious character was another
object which he provided for—viz., the exhortation (fn. 78) to repentance of Newgate criminals condemned to execution—1st, by
an exhortation in their cells over night, and then, on the
morning of execution, by the "Passing Bell," and an admonition to them as they went by St. Sepulchre's Church wall to
execution. (fn. 79)
A.D. 1618.
62. Of greater importance was the foundation of Great
Crosby School by John Harrison in 1618. His father was,
according to local tradition, a shepherd boy who left his
employment for the search of wealth in the great City,
and his (the founder's) connection with the Company till he
became a member of the Court of Assistants is shown in the
footnote. (fn. 80) The history of the school until its re-foundation in
1874 by the Endowed Schools Commissioners (1869) is given
in a separate record. (fn. 81)
A.D. 1621–2.
63. About the same time, Dr. Thomas White selected the
Company as his auditor in regard to the endowment which he
made by deed of August 1621 for the Chair of Moral Philosophy
at Oxford, and in the following year he established Sion College,
giving to the Company the nomination to eight of the twenty
almshouses which he connected with the College. (fn. 82)
64. The subsequent events of the century may be noted as
those incident to the "Great Rebellion" and the "Dreadful Fire,"
both events being equally disastrous to the Company. At the
close of the "Rebellion" the State was indebted to the
Company in the sum of 24,731l., an accumulation of debt which
is thus described by a Finance Committee in 1769 as having
arisen from the repeated calls made upon the Company.
"In the year 1640 the Company were obliged to raise 5,000l.,
to be paid into the Exchequer for the service of the King and
the Kingdom, and in 1642 the sum of 200l. towards the relief of
Londonderry. The same year paid into the Chamber of London,
for the relief of Ireland, 7,000l. In the year 1643, 3,000l. for the
further relief of Ireland. In 1644, for the King's use 4,050l., as
their proportion of 50,000l. borrowed of the several Companies.
In 1645, towards the maintenance of fortifications about the
City of London, 150l. For the maintenance of the Army under
Sir Thomas Fairfax, 150l. All which sums added together
amount to the sum of 19,550l.
65. "In the year 1640, being distressed to raise the sum of
5,000l., they called in the debts due on Bond, and in 1642, when
a further demand was made upon them for 10,000l. for the preservation of Ireland, they were obliged to borrow that sum on
the credit of their Common Seal at 8 per cent., and, in order to
supply after demands, the Master and Wardens were directed
to sell part of the Company's Plate for furnishing the same.
And in 1644 they sold Plate to the amount of 875l. 19s. 6d., and
were under the necessity of borrowing further sums at the same
rate of interest, so that their debt in the year 1646 was increased
to 20,000l. and upwards.
66. "By an account taken in 1646, from sums lent to the State,
there was due from the Government at Ladyday 1647, for Principal and Interest, 24,731l. 8s. 2d., of which no part was received
until 1668. In this year they received 2,250l. in part of the
Principal, which was the only sum the Crown ever paid on that
account; and 94l. 15s. for interest, and having likewise received
1,000l. for fines of some estates, and in the following year 1669
having made an extraordinary call upon their members to take
up their Livery, a sum of 2,010l. was raised, by which the
Company was enabled to pay off the 4th part of their debt, and
the remainder by instalments."
67. The sympathy of the Company was with the Parliament. When the arrest of the 5 members was attempted by
Charles I., in January 1642, a Committee of the Commons
adjourned and sat at the Company's Hall; (fn. 83) and after the taking
of Chester by the Parliamentary Forces, in February 1645, (fn. 84)
when thanksgivings were to be celebrated in all the City
Churches, the Company appear to have added a dinner in honor
of the event with an increased allowance to the stewards. (fn. 85)
A.D. 1649.
68. The distress brought upon trade by the Rebellion led
to the infringement of the Apprenticeship Laws, hence in 1649
originated the schism between the Yeomen Taylors and the
Guild, which after 50 years of controversy led to the severance
of the working trade from the Guild of Taylors.
A.D. 1666.
69. The "Dreadful Fire" brought immediate ruin to the
resources of the Company. (fn. 86)
"The losses sustained by the Fire of London obliged the
Company to let their Land in the City upon small Ground
Rents to enable their Tenants to rebuild, which rendered them
incapable of paying their Instalments of loans borrowed. They
were therefore obliged to sell to Edward Backwell, Esq., for
5,000l., the Lands devised to them by Sir John Percival and
Giles Slater in Lombard Street (fn. 87) and Cornhill, which (as the
books declare) they esteemed as the richest Jewel of their
Estate. With this and other monies in the year 1674 they paid
Principal and Interest 5,384l.
70. "In the year 1688 four houses were sold to Michael Rolles,
Esq., in Bishopsgate Street, for 750l. reserving a Rent Charge of
24l. per annum, by the sale of which Estates their Annual
Income was so reduced as to render it necessary to suspend the
payment of some of their Benefactors' Gifts. In 1718 their
debt again increased to 16,344l. 3s. 2d., which occasioned them
to let Leases of their Estates at large fines and small Ground
Rents, they therefore let to Nathaniel Newnham, Esq., several
Estates for which they received 10,457l. 2s. 6d. for fines, and
therewith discharged several debts amounting to 9,949l. 3s. 2d.,
and there then remained due from the Company 6,395l., and by
pursuing the same method in the year 1719 paid off for Principal and Interest 2,640l. 8s. 3d., and so from year to year continued lessening their debt until the year 1727, when they sold
their Estate in Ireland (granted to them by King James the
First in the year 1609, as one of the 12 Companies, in consideration of their having advanced several considerable sums for the
new Plantation in Ulster) to Wm. Richardson, Esq., for 20,640l.,
reserving a rent charge of 150l. pr ann' which enabled them to
pay the remaining part of their debt, and also to lay out in the
years 1728 and 1734 in Repairs of their Hall, their School in
London and other Buildings, &c., as much as 4,100l. and upwards,
and 600l. for the renewal of Lease with the Prebendary of the
Moor, and to give 350l. for the rebuilding of the Parsonage
House of St. Martin Outwich."
A.D. 1682.
71. The close of the Reign of Charles II. brought upon the
Company (as it did upon the Corporation of London and upon
other Guilds) the forfeiture of their Charters. Public spirit
must have been at a low ebb indeed when Corporate bodies like
the City Guilds were found voluntarily to relinquish their
privileges and yield them up to such Kings as the two later
Stuarts, and afterwards, as in the case of James II., request the
honour to erect a Memorial to him, and (with the consent of
the Lord Mayor) to place it up in the Royal Exchange. (fn. 88)
A.D. 1689–90.
72. With Will. III. came the establishment of public liberty,
the Charters were restored, and the Company (like others)
heartily responded to the calls of the new Sovereign to fight
against James II. under the walls of Londonderry, by subscribing
to its defence. (fn. 89) In the year 1691 they entertained General
Ginkell and the officers returning after the reconquest of
Ireland. (fn. 90) and in the same year the controversy between the
Yeoman Tailors and the Guild was closed, by the Privy
Council leaving the Yeoman Tailors to their remedy at law,
which they never pursued.
73. What is here written is a bare outline to be filled in by
reference to the papers quoted in the foot notes; but, that the
affairs of the Company may be more completely understood,
it is especially desirable that the reader should study the
extracts taken from the early Account Books (fn. 91) (1399 to 1557),
and from the Court Minutes (1561 to 1681), the one prepared
by Mr. Martin of the Public Record Office, and the other by
Mr. R. Stephens, for so many years in the Company's service.