IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 CLC/L/VA
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: VINTNERS' COMPANY
Date(s): 1353-2005
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 1089 production units
Name of creator(s): Worshipful Company of Vintners
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The Vintners', one of the "Great Twelve" livery companies of the City of London. The Company received its formal charter of incorporation in 1437, but the Vintners' as a group of traders had received charters from 1363. The Company's charters have been retained by the Clerk, although the Manuscripts Section has copies of many of them.The Company had a hall in Upper Thames Street in the City of London from at least 1446, which was destroyed in the Great Fire, but rebuilt betweeen 1667 and 1676.
By his will dated 1446, Guy Shuldham bequeathed 13 buildings and land to the Vintners' Company to be converted into almshouses. The almshouses were destroyed in the Great Fire and were replaced by 12 almshouses in Mile End. A bequest by Benjamin Kenton (d. 1802) paid for the almshouses to be pulled down and rebuilt. The almshouses were damaged by bombing in the Second World War and were replaced by new almshouses built at the "Vintry", Nutley, Surrey in 1957-1960.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of the Worshipful Company of Vintners, compiled between 1353 and 2005, but they include deeds dating from 1286. They also include registers of freedom admissions and apprentice bindings from 1428; Court minutes; copies of charters and ordinances; committee minutes and agendas; registers of members; quarterage books; financial accounts; Clerk's papers including letter books; photographs; and papers relating to swan upping.
Also deposited with the archive of the Vintners' Company are records of Williams and Day, wine merchants of 3 Water Lane and 6 Fowkes buildings (Ms 15553-65).
Records of the Company Almshouses comprise: accounts, 1830 (15358); lists of benefactions to widows, 1899 (Ms 15370); plans, 1901 (Ms 18471); and miscellaneous papers including correspondence and details of next of kin, [1800?], 1902-60 (36817-19). Further references may be found in other Vintners' Company records such as minutes and accounts.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English; Latin and French.
System of arrangement:
As the archive is large and complex, and to assist the user, the catalogue has been arranged in sections, as follows: Constitutional records; Court records; Membership records; Financial records; Trade records; Clerk's records; Charities and estates.
Conditions governing access:
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries. For further information please see LMA Research Guide "Consulting Archives at Guildhall Library", available at http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Records_and_archives/Visitor_information/free_information_leaflets.htm
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright: Depositor.
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
The records have been deposited with the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library at various dates since 1958. The main deposit of records took place in 1974. The Manuscripts Section merged with London Metropolitan Archives in 2008. The records have been catalogued by various members of staff over many years.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Publication note:
See Anne Crawford, The History of the Vintners' Company (1977) for further details.
For further information relating to Livery Companies, particularly using the company records for family history, please see Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section "Livery Company Membership Guide" and Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section "Leaflet Guides to Records: Searching for Members or those apprenticed to Members of City of London Livery Companies" (both available online).
For a general introduction to the history of the City of London Livery Companies please see entry in The London Encyclopaedia, ed Ben Weinreb and Christopher Hibbert.
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: Oct-09