AIM25 collection description

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0074 CLC/L/BF
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full title	: WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF BREWERS
Date(s)	: 1418-1962
Level of description	: Collection
Extent	: 331 production units
Name of creator(s)	: Worshipful Company of Brewers

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The Company was incorporated by royal charter in 1437/8, although it appears to have existed in some form from the 13th century. The Company received a grant of arms in 1469. The Company certainly had a hall in Addle Street in the City of London (leased from the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral) from at least 1403. This building was destroyed in the Great Fire, and the Company's Second Hall built in 1673 was destroyed in World War Two. The present hall in Aldermanbury Square was completed in 1960.

Records of Dame Alice Owen's Charity: In 1609 Dame Alice Owen conveyed almshouses, situated by St John Street (which she had founded for ten poor widows of Islington) to the Brewers' Company. Four years later she founded a school for 30 boys in Islington next to the almshouses. Again, she entrusted the administration of the school to the Brewers' Company, which still retains close links. The almshouses were taken down in 1879-80 to make way for a new playground for the expanding school. A girls' school was added in 1886, and the two combined on its present site in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire in 1973.

Records of John Baker's almshouses: The charity established by the will of John Baker (d. 1818) provided for the establishment of six almshouses, which were built on Mile End Road.

Records of Richard Platt's charity: In 1596 Richard Platt, proprietor of the Old Swan brewery in the parish of St James Garlickhithe and twice Master of the Brewers' Company, obtained letters patent of Elizabeth I to found six almshouses and a grammar school in Aldenham, Hertfordshire. In 1599, the year before Platt's death, they were conveyed to the Brewers' Company. The school was for two centuries just a local village school with very few pupils, based in the master's house. It grew considerably in the 19th century. The Brewers' Company still plays an active role in the running of the school. For further information see R J Evans, The History and Register of Aldenham School, Aylesbury 1969.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of the Worshipful Company of Brewers. The records were compiled from 1418, but they include title deeds dating from 1328/9. Records include charters; ordinances; Court minute books; Court and Livery lists; registers of freedom admissions; registers of apprentice bindings; financial accounts; papers relating to property including rent rolls; and papers relating to charities (other than those listed below).

Records of Dame Alice Owen's Charity: The records include minutes, accounts, registers and estate papers. They are part of the archive of the Worshipful Company of Brewers (further information is given in the Company's introductory note). For further information see R A Dare, A History of Owen's School, 1613-1976, 1963. The records were catalogued by members of Guildhall Library staff.

Records of John Baker's almshouses: These records are part of the archive of the Brewers' Company (further information is given in the Company's introductory note). They comprise: memoranda, 1881-9 (Ms 18360-1); deeds and associated documents, 1813-1901 (Ms 18363); specification for the construction of 7 almshouses, 1825 (Ms 18371); quarterly record of payments to almswomen, 1826-1908 (Ms 18372); list of applicants, 1901-2 (Ms 18373); and signed agreements and guarantees, 1826-61 (Ms 18374). Further references will be found in other Brewers' Company records such as minutes and accounts.

Records of Richard Platt's charity: The records comprise statutes and ordinances, minutes and accounts, registers, estate records and plans.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

As the catalogue is large and complex, and to assist the user, the catalogue has been arranged in sections, each with an archival classification code as follows:
CLC/L/BF/A Constitutional records
CLC/L/BF/B Court records
CLC/L/BF/C Membership records
CLC/L/BF/D Financial records
CLC/L/BF/E Trade records
CLC/L/BF/F Clerk's records
CLC/L/BF/G Charities and estates.

Conditions governing access:

Available for general 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:

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 of the Company have been deposited with the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library at various dates since 1949. 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

Related material:

The Company has retained "The Brewers' Scrapbook", a volume of bills, menus, letters and memoranda, mostly dating from the 17th to 19th centuries, but also containing some earlier material.

Publication note:

The Printed Books Section of Guildhall Library holds a history of the Company by Mia Ball, The Worshipful Company of Brewers, A short history (1977).

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

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Oct-09

WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF BREWERS