Apprentices of the Bowyers’ Company 1680 – 1806 Young people came from all over the country to be apprenticed in London. For the family historian, their origins would probably be untraceable were it not for the apprenticeship registers of the City Livery Companies which give details of the name, occupation and parish of the apprentice’s father. For this reason, The Society of Genealogists has commissioned a series of abstracts of such registers with the aim of covering all apprentices up to about 1800. After that date, the number of apprenticeships started to fall considerably and fewer apprentices came from outside London. Cliff Webb abstracted and indexed the apprenticeship records of the three companies associated with the bow and the arrow: the Bowyers, the Fletchers and the Longbowstringmakers. These were published in 1996 as Volume 3 in the London Apprentices series. The apprentice registers of the Bowyers covering the period 1680 to 1806 were extracted from the records of the Company held at Guildhall Library: MS 5349(10 volumes) – Bowyer Company Court Minute Books, 1679-1899, including a record of freedom admissions from c. 1656 and apprentice bindings from 1679: Vol 1 – 1679-1727; Vol 2 – 1727-1758; Vol 3 – 1758-75; Vol 4 – 1775-1806 The full list of the apprentices is set out in alphabetical order in Appendix I. These have been analysed to reveal the following: 1. There are 497 entries and the numbered references which follow refer to order in the list in Appendix I. 2. There are only 495 apprentices listed as two pairs of entries are duplicates. 101 Cox alias Streete Jacob s ... to Edmund Johnson 5 Nov 1691 415 Streete, Cox alias, Jacob s ... to Edmund Johnson 5 Nov 1691 104 Crosby, Gandy alias, Rebecca d Chriskenham, Ipswich, Sfk, blacksmith to Richard Elliot 9 Aug 1687 165 Gandy alias Crosby Rebecca d Chriskenham, Ipswich, Sfk, blacksmith to Richard Elliot 9 Aug 1687 3. Nine of the Bowyer apprentices were women. They were admitted between 1685 and 1746. 36 Beesley Margaret d John, Hose Grange, Lei, gent, to Richard Elliot 30 Nov 1688 104 Crosby, Gandy alias, Rebecca d Chriskenham, Ipswich, Sfk, blacksmith to Richard Elliot 9 Aug 1687 171 Gilberne Catherine d Isaac Lewis, St Peter le Poer, Lnd to Catherine widow of Isaac Lewis Gilberne 11 Nov 1742 173 Gilberne Susanna Maria d Isaac Lewis, St Peter le Poer, Lnd to Catherine widow of Isaac Lewis Gilbern 29 Apr 1746 259 Keyes Martha d John, Stratford le Bow, Mdx, clerk to Richard Elliott 15 Nov 1685 274 Lidgould Marian d John, Harmondsworth, Mdx, vicar to Catherine widow of Isaac Lewis Gilberne 24 May 1744 405 Speak Grace d Edward, St Katherine Cree, clothworker to Nathaniel Belchamber 17 Jul 1746 436 Tull Sarah d Robert, St Saviour Southwark, Sry, stable keeper to Richard Elliott 16 Jul 1696 475 Wilkinson Ann d James, Lnd, cook to Richard Elliott 2 May 1693 4. All of the apprentices came from England with the exception of one from Scotland and four from Wales. 459 Watson James s James, Fettercairn, Kcd (Kincardine), schoolmaster to John Thurstone 10 Mar 1697/8 134 Edwards Owen s Thomas, Llandderfel, Mer (Merioneth), yeoman to Enos Milward 26 Feb 1747/8 turned over to Richard Finlow, broderer 4 Sep 1751 138 Evan John s Evan Humphrey, Pwllheli, Cae (Caernarvonshire), husbandman to John Brayne 9 Mar 1719/20 307 Morgan Owen s Evan, Llandderfel, Mer (Merioneth), mason to John Tyrer 10 May 1682 349 Powell Charles s Morgan, Brecknock, (Brecknockshire), shoemaker to Henry Trindall 12 Mar 1691/2 5. There is just one mention of lands overseas: 478 Williamson William s William, late St James Westminster, Mdx, now in East Indies to Edward Duncombe 13 Feb 1788 6. The Gregorian Calender was adopted in Britain in 1752. Under the old Julian calender, the first day of the new year was 25th March. Accordingly, where any date in the records falls between 1st January and 24th March prior to 1752, the year is given in both old and new styles. For example, John Allwin was admitted on 24 Jan1716/7 which was 1716 old style but 1717 new style. For the purposes of statistics, the new style has been adopted. An analysis by year is set out in Appendix II. The analysis shows that there was a marked decline in the number of registrations per year between 1680 and 1806 but in only 7 out of the 126 years were there no registrations at all. The average is 4 per year, the highest number of registrations was 13 in 1683 and 75% of the registrations were before 1746. 7. The parish or town of origin is stated in 381 entries. Of the remainder where no place of origin has been given, 72 are sons of freemen or liverymen (and so are presumably from London), 11 are from an un-named parish in London and one is from an un-named parish in Northamptonshire. In only 32 entries is there no record at all of a place origin. 8. Three of the places of origin are not identifiable on modern maps: “Futersfield” in Yorkshire (457); “Kingsted” in Kent (313) and “New Hall” in Staffordshire (417). 9. Two of the places of origin are of particular historical interest. “The Liberty of the Rolls” (252) was originally a “liberty” which became a civil parish in 1866. It is named after the Rolls House on Chancery Lane which was on the site of the Public Records Office, now occupied by King’s College, London. A “liberty” was an area outside the usual system of hundreds and boroughs, usually because of some peculiarity regarding its tenure. “The Old Artillery Ground” (79) was situated in Spitalfields and was part of the Liberties of the Tower of London. Originally the outer precinct of the Priory and Hospital of St Mary Spital, it was converted to an Artillery Ground in 1538 for the use of 'The Fraternity or Guild of Artillery of Longbows, Crossbows and Handguns' (later to be known as the Honourable Artillery Company) and the Gunners of the Tower. In 1658 the Honourable Artillery Company moved to its present site at Bunhill Fields leaving the Gunners of the Tower in possession of the area until 1682, when it was sold for development. The site can still be identified by the street names: Fort Street, Gun Street, Artillery Passage and Artillery Lane. 10. It is to be expected that many of the parishes within what is now Greater London appear several times in the list of registrations. Putting these on one side, there are 27 provincial towns or villages which appear more than once. The references in brackets refer to Appendix I. Four entries: Hitchin, Hertfordshire (264, 316, 330, 465) Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire (27, 145, 244, 361) Ross, Herefordshire (186, 202, 273, 424) Three entries: Aston Abbotts, Buckinghamshire (210, 212, 222) – two are sons of Thomas Hawkins Aylesbury, Buckinghamsnhire (83, 366, 492) Blean, Kent (393, 396, 402) – all three are sons of Thomas Smith Two entries: Burnham, Buckinghamshire (413,451) Chipping Wycombe, Buckinghamshire (60, 342) Cublington, Buckinghamshire (158, 411) Dagenham, Essex (200, 364) Dunton, Buckinghamshire (124, 127) - both sons of Edward Duncombe Highworth, Wiltshire (268, 287) Llanderfel, Merioneth (134, 307) Loughborough, Leicestershire (43, 144) Maidstone, Kent (176, 197) Navestock, Essex (92, 351), Reading Berkshire (218, 306) Romford, Essex (331, 433) Sherington, Buckinghamshire (263, 279) St John Horsleydown, Surrey (61, 148) Swallowfield, Berkshire (460, 461) Waltham, Leicestershire (270, 271) – both sons of Robert Lee Warwick, Warwickshire (108, 359) Wendover, Buckinghamshire (28, 235) Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire (182, 183) – both sons of Thomas Greene Wolverhampton, Staffordshire (19, 74) Worcester, Worcestershire (352, 496) 11. The name of the county was denoted by a three letter abbreviation. The distribution by county is set out in Appendix III. The majority of the apprentices were from London and the Home Counties. In 18 cases, the name of the county is not given but can be deduced from the name of the parish. In 102 cases, no county or parish of origin is given. However, 72 of the apprentices in this category are sons of liverymen which suggests that they may have come from London. 12. The father’s occupation is stated in 369 of the entries. This information can be used to give some indication of social background and an analysis is set out below. Bishop 1 Bachelor of Divinity/clergyman/rector/vicar 4 Esquire 11 Esquire and grocer (484) 1 Gent 42 Yeoman 55 Other trades 255 Total 369 The list above does not include the 72 apprentices whose fathers were freeman or liverymen. In those cases, whilst the livery was given, there was no mention of the father’s actual trade or occupation. 13. Amongst those fathers who were merchants and tradesmen, 96 different trades are recorded. These are listed in full in Appendix IV together with an explanation of the less familiar trades. 14. 72 of the apprentices were sons of freemen or liverymen of City livery companies. They can be distinguished from un-liveried tradesmen by the title of Citizen, abbreviated to cit. Only 11 of the apprentices were sons of Bowyers ( 62, 139, 163, 219, 228, 350, 383, 428, 437, 452, 491). 37 livery companies are represented including the Pinmakers (174) which is no longer in existence (see Appendix V). 15. Eleven of the apprentices were apprenticed to women. 132 Eaton William s John, Barnet, Hrt, yeoman to Mary Turner, widow 6 Apr 1756 145 Fary William s Anthony, Newport Pagnell, Bkm, baker to Ann widow of Thomas Clifton 17 Jul 1719 turned over John Wilford, cit and tallow chandler 11 Jan 1722/3 170 Gibson John s James, Christ Church, Lnd, watchmaker to Edmund Barber 17 Mar 1747/8 turned over to his mother Mary Gibson 23 Jun 1751 171 Gilberne Catherine d Isaac Lewis, St Peter le Poer, Lnd to Catherine widow of Isaac Lewis Gilberne 11 Nov 1742 172 Gilberne Isaac William s Isaac Lewis, St Peter le Poer, Lnd to Catherine widow of Isaac Lewis Gilberne 31 Mar 1744 173 Gilberne Susanna Maria d Isaac Lewis, St Peter le Poer, Lnd to Catherine widow of Isaac Lewis Gilberne 29 Apr 1746 219 Herbert Richard s Richard, cit.