IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 CLC/L/WC
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF WEAVERS
Date(s): 1155-1971
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 513 production items
Name of creator(s): Worshipful Company of Weavers
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The Company is the oldest chartered livery company in the City of London, receiving its charter from King Henry II in ca. 1155-8 (Guildhall Library Ms 4621). It had control of weaving in the City of London, as well as Westminster and Southwark. The Company had a hall in Basinghall Street, in the parish of St Michael Bassishaw, until its demolition in the mid-19th century. The Company also held other properties in the City of London, as well as estates in Billericay and Shenfield in Essex.
Almshouses: William Watson (d. 1673) gave £200 towards the building of almshouses in Shoreditch. The almshouses (with 12 rooms) were opened in 1670. Richard Garrett of Wandsworth bequeathed £1,000 East India stock for the building of six almshouses at Elder Street, Porter's Fields for poor members of the Weavers' Company. In 1851 these almshouses were sold and new ones were erected at Wanstead. They comprised 24 dwellings (12 for men and 12 for women) and were ready for occupation in 1859.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of the Worshipful Company of Weavers, including registers of freedom admission from 1600-1921 (incomplete), and of apprentice bindings 1655-1867; charters; bye-laws and ordinances; Court and Committee minute books; quarterage books; financial accounts; letter books; deeds and other papers relating to property; and papers relating to charity.
They also include records of the Weavers' Company almshouses, which include quarterly lists of pensioners, minutes, papers relating to the receipt of rents, and financial records. Further references may be found in other Weavers' Company records such as minutes and accounts. See MS 04648C- D, 05235, 10596A, 17951A.
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
System of arrangement:
As the archive is large and complex, and to assist the user, the catalogue has been arranged in sections each with an archival classification code as follows:
L/WC/A Constitutional records
L/WC/B Court records
L/WC/C Membership records
L/WC/D Financial records
L/WC/E Trade records
L/WC/F Clerk's records
L/WC/G 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. Please note 48 hours notice is required for access.
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 1948. The Manuscripts Section merged with London Metropolitan Archives in 2008. The records have been catalogued by various members of staff over many years. The accession of 1998 necessitated the renumbering of certain series. Changes and former numbers are noted in the relevant entries.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Publication note:
The two standard histories of the Company are: Frances Consitt, The London Weavers' Company, from the Twelfth Century to the close of the Sixteenth Century (Oxford 1933); and Alfred Plummer, The London Weavers' Company 1600-1970 (1972). Both volumes include appendices transcribing a number of the Company's records.
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