THE GUILD MERCHANT AND CRAFT GUILDS
BEFORE 1612
The composition of 1306 between the bishop and
citizens for the administration of the city under the
bishop's authority (fn. 1) provided for the immediate
establishment of a guild merchant comprising all
those merchants, craftsmen, and other persons
numbering about 300 named in a schedule attached
to the agreement. In fact this must have been a
re-constitution of a guild merchant, which may have
been formed as early as 1227, the date of the first
royal charter. (fn. 2) In 1248–9 a guild merchant had been
in existence for some time, for the established
custom of the city was recited when Robert of
Alderbury, though villein born, retained his freedom
by proving that he had dwelt in Salisbury 'in scot
and lot and in the guild merchant as a free burgess'. (fn. 3)
After 1306 members were admitted to the guild
merchant either by the bishop or by the mayor on
payment of a fee, which was divided equally between
the bishop and the commonalty. (fn. 4)
Apart from its social and religious aspects nothing
is known of the activities of the guild merchant and
the control, if any, it exercised over the craft guilds
and the trading community. The records of its
affairs were presumably kept among the archives of
the bishop's court, no longer extant. A request for
an effective guild merchant court was made in the
course of the negotiations with Bishop Beauchamp
in 1472, (fn. 5) but this was not granted. It appears that
industrial or commercial matters of outstanding
importance, such as those connected with the cloth
industry, were recorded in the city's ledger books as
being the direct concern of the assembly, and
regulations for the sale of all kinds of food likewise
appear to have been the responsibility of the mayor
and assembly rather than of a guild merchant.
The earliest reference found to a craft guild in
Salisbury is to the fraternity of the craft of skinners
in 1380. (fn. 6) Although no other mention of the craft
guilds in the 14th century has been found, early 15thcentury references show the craft guilds to be firmly
established in the city by then, so that they must
have been in existence during the previous century.
By the mid-15th century, and probably earlier, it
was the practice to use the organization of the crafts
for the fulfilment of certain national or municipal
obligations, such as the supply of armed men under
the commissions of array, or to make good the
fortifications and clean the Town Ditch. This fact
has helped to preserve evidence of the relative
importance of the crafts, and of their groupings.
Thus in 1440 there is a complete list of the guilds
made when wardens from 38 crafts and trades
attended a meeting to raise money for the completion of the great ditch around the city. (fn. 7) The
list is headed by two names representing the
mercers, grocers, and drapers jointly, followed by
the names of two representatives each for the
weavers, brewers, fullers, tailors, shoemakers, and
bakers, in that order. Innkeepers, butchers, tanners,
dyers, and skinners were also separately represented; other occupations were represented in
groups, as for example the goldsmiths with the
blacksmiths and braziers, and the carpenters with a
number of crafts, which by the 17th century formed
the joiners' company, namely, the bowmakers,
coopers, masons, tilers, painters, and fletchers. (fn. 8)
In 1415 the guilds contributed towards the supply
of money, 'hobblers', and archers for the Agincourt
campaign. (fn. 9) Their support was similarly called for in
1474 and 1475 and three separate contingents totalling 48 men were equipped, 10 by the mercers, 6 by
the brewers, 4 by the tailors, and one or two by 15
other occupations. The city ledger book also includes
a list of names under 11 of these occupations
distinguishing officers from ordinary members. The
total number of names under each craft gives some
idea of their importance: weavers 66; tailors 44;
fullers and shearers 30; smiths 24; dubbers 21;
tanners 18; butchers 14; barber surgeons 13; cornmongers 11; innkeepers 8; and pewterers 3. (fn. 10) It is
interesting to note, however, that 54 years earlier the
master weavers alone, including their 4 stewards,
numbered 85 people. (fn. 11) The lists of 1474 and 1475
show that all the crafts had their own stewards as
well as wardens, with the exception of the tanners,
who had only wardens, and the innkeepers, who had
no officers. The butchers had also 2 searchers. (fn. 12)
A less onerous, but equally binding, obligation
imposed upon the craft guilds was attendance at the
city watch on Midsummer's eve, and the eves of the
feasts of St. Osmund and St. Peter. (fn. 13) In 1447, for
example, 6 tanners, 5 barber surgeons, and a shoemaker were fined for non-appearance. (fn. 14)
Although no very clearly defined segregation of
crafts to special quarters of the city has been
detected, an early 15th-century taxation list shows
that at that date the largest number of weavers and
tuckers lived in St. Martin's Ward, dyers in the
Market Ward, and skinners, tailors, saddlers, and
curriers in New Street Ward. (fn. 15)
The only guild charters so far discovered for the
15th and 16th centuries are those of the weavers and
tailors. The first extant charter of incorporation of
the weavers, dated 1562, was subsequently found
to be defective, and was revised in 1590. By this, in
addition to incorporation and powers of controlling
their own craft, the weavers were authorized to hold
property up to the annual value of £40, not £20 as
in the charter of 1562. (fn. 16) While most weavers seem
to have lived in the south-east part of the city, their
hall stood in Endless Street, (fn. 17) not far from the wool
market, and fairly near St. Edmund's Church, in
which their fraternity of St. Mary worshipped and
kept its common chest. (fn. 18) The guild owned property
in Endless Street, formerly belonging to Richard
Gage, merchant, who died c. 1444, (fn. 19) and some of its
land lying to the west of the modern Greencroft
may have been given by Richard Wreffyn, a resident
there in 1497. (fn. 20) Sixteen other messuages and
fourteen gardens were purchased shortly after the
new charter was obtained in 1590. (fn. 21) Provision was
made for the maintenance of property belonging to
the weavers' guild fraternity of St. Mary in the will,
dated 1491, of John Briggs, clothier, who was buried
in St. Edmund's Church. (fn. 22) The household of John
Briggs may be considered typical of the wealthier
citizens at that time. He left to three men servants 2 broad looms and a kersey loom, and to
four apprentices and five women servants 20s.
apiece. (fn. 23)
The fullers, usually called tuckers, were already
firmly established as a separate craft by the early
15th century, having, like the weavers, masters and
journeymen with two stewards for each group. (fn. 24) Less
numerous than the weavers, they nevertheless played
an adequate part in Salisbury's cloth industry.
Attention has been drawn elsewhere to the numbers
of weavers, fullers, and dyers, whose names occur
so frequently in the city records, and to the contribution made by them to the economic life of medieval
Wiltshire. (fn. 25)
The earliest known references to the guild of
tailors occur in the wills of two of its members,
Thomas Child (d. 1413) (fn. 26) and William More (d.
1420). (fn. 27) In 1447 the tailors' fraternity of St. John the
Baptist was attached to St. Thomas's Church, but
that year, owing to the ruinous state of the church,
it was moved to St. Edmund's. (fn. 28) Two years later, at
the instigation of over 30 members of the guild, led
by Stephen Hendy and John Ashford, the fraternity
returned to St. Thomas's, although a link with St.
Edmund's was maintained. (fn. 29) A number of tailors
even attempted to establish a chaplain in St.
Edmund's, and complained that Stephen Hendy and
John Stavely, parishioners of St. Thomas's, both of
whom had been wardens of the guild, refused to
surrender the necessary letters patent, vestments,
and ornaments. (fn. 30) John Ashford later associated the
guild with St. Edmund's by devising property to
endow an obit there. (fn. 31)
A set of ledgers and act books, extending from
1444 to 1836, give much information about the
organization and activities of the tailors. (fn. 32) The rules,
ordinances, and constitution of the 'Tayllours and
the bretherhethe of Seynt John Baptist' are set out
at the beginning of the first ledger. (fn. 33) Near the
beginning of the second is Bishop Beauchamp's
confirmation, dated 1462, of the guild's charter of
incorporation from Edward IV, dated 1461. (fn. 34) This
charter granted the usual powers and authority
together with the right to hold land to the annual
value of £20 to support a chantry priest celebrating
daily in St. Thomas's. The charter was confirmed
by charters of Mary and Elizabeth I in 1554 and
1558 respectively. (fn. 35)
An undated bede roll in the second ledger book
names 41 benefactors of the tailors' guild beginning
with John Pinnock. (fn. 36) Pinnock was presumably a
tailor, and is possibly to be identified with the John
Pinnock, who died abroad some time after 1386,
having arranged for William More, tailor, to dispose
of his estate. (fn. 37) The greatest of all the tailors' benefactors was William Swayne, not himself a tailor,
whose connexion with the church of St. Thomas
has been described elsewhere. (fn. 38) It seems likely that
he supported the craft in its continued allegiance to
this church, for during his mayoralty in 1479, when
he made provision for the guild's chantry priest,
the tailors recorded their indebtedness to him over
the past 30 years, and gave him the title of 'founder
of the guild'. (fn. 39)
The tailors, like the fullers and weavers, were
organized under the two groups of masters and
journeymen, each having its own warden and two
stewards. The development of their activities made
it necessary in 1451 to appoint a master for the whole
craft, and John Ashford was the first holder of this
office. (fn. 40) Two chamberlains were established after
the grant of the charter of 1461, (fn. 41) and a list of oaths
drawn up in 1481 shows that there was also a beadle,
whose duty it was to present all offences. (fn. 42) In 1560
seven viewers were made responsible for examining
the craftsmanship of all new members. (fn. 43) In the 16th
century some of the Salisbury tailors were selling
woollen cloth. (fn. 44) Hosiers also became members of
the tailors' guild, and from time to time in the later
16th century rules were made confining them to
their own type of work, namely, women's hose,
men's stockings, and boot hose. Likewise, apprentices to tailors were to make only men's and women's
garments. (fn. 45)
In the 15th century the master tailors had a hall
near the Market Place, which may have been the
chamber in St. Thomas's churchyard, for which
they paid the churchwardens a rent of 6s. 8d. (fn. 46)
From 1451 to 1533 the meetings of the whole guild
usually took place in the hall of the Grey Friars. (fn. 47)
In 1534 the guild assembled in a 'convenyent
mansion house and place', thenceforth to be called
the Tailors' Hall, which they had built upon their
own ground at the corner of Milford and Pennyfarthing Streets in the area known until the 17th
century as Swayne's Chequer, and later as the Ship
Chequer. (fn. 48) The numbers belonging to the guild at
different dates give some indication of the extent of
their business. In 1451, apart from men having
shops said to be 'not of the clothing', there were 40
registered master tailors. (fn. 49) By 1481 these had
increased to 54 including their wardens, chamberlains, and stewards. (fn. 50) The numbers continued to
increase during the earlier 16th century, fell after
the suppression of the chantries, but recovered again
under Elizabeth I, 67 members being present at a
meeting in 1566. (fn. 51) Although according to their first
bede roll begun in 1495 (retrospectively) and continued until 1581, only four tenements came to the
fraternity by direct devise, (fn. 52) part of the ready money
from 37 other benefactors was invested in property.
A rental made in 1587 of their lands within the city
shows that the tailors then owned sixteen houses,
chiefly in Gigant Street, and Love Lane, Milford
Street near the Black Bridge, Tanner Street, and
Endless Street. (fn. 53) Other property in Endless Street,
High Street, and New Street was bought in 1595. (fn. 54)
The regular compilation of the records of the
tailors' fraternity and their preservation may show
the guild's consciousness of its importance among
the Salisbury crafts. It was the only guild, apart
from that of the weavers, to be wealthy and important enough to present its own pageant in the
processions of the watch on St. Osmund's eve. (fn. 55)
The chief feature of this pageant was the giant with
attendant sword and mace bearers, the figure and
trappings of which are still preserved in the Salisbury Museum. All sections of the craft also took
part in the celebration of masses on 6 May, 24 June,
and 29 August, and at the annual feast on Midsummer's Day. The craft also had morris dancers,
a custom which continued until the early 17th
century at least, for in 1611 the wardens of the craft
were committed to prison for patronizing the morris
dancers on a Sunday. Although not many tailors
were among the very foremost citizens, their masters
contributed to the conduct of city affairs, usually as
aldermen or members of the twenty-four and fortyeight, (fn. 56) occasionally as mayors. (fn. 57) A tailor of
substance, who in 1476 was exonerated from holding
the office of mayor on payment of 10 marks, was
William Marchy, (fn. 58) a member of the forty-eight from
1456, (fn. 59) and warden of the master tailors in 1475–6
and possibly earlier as well. (fn. 60) His will, proved in
1480, expressed his wish to be buried in St. Thomas's
Church, behind the High Altar before the image of
St. John the Baptist, and disposed of his dwelling
in Winchester Street, a tenement with garden and
racks in Gigant Street next to St. Edmund's Church,
and a cottage with garden in Rollestone Street.
Other bequests included silver vessels, furred gowns,
and money amounting to some £35. (fn. 61) In the 16th
century a number of prominent tailors styled themselves drapers. (fn. 62)
No medieval regulations have survived for any
other Salisbury guilds, and, so far as is known, no
others besides the weavers and tailors possessed
charters of incorporation or held lands for the
support of chantries in the city churches. The
existence, however, of other guilds as organized
groups is disclosed by the 15th-century lists referred
to above. (fn. 63) A little more information about some of
them is to be had from chance references. In 1566
the skinners, who are first mentioned in 1380 when
a London merchant left the fraternity a pouch, (fn. 64)
petitioned the tailors not to allow their members to
encroach upon the work of the skinners by furring
any garment for man or woman. (fn. 65) The hides of the
Salisbury tanners were noted as far north as
Beverley, for the saddlers' craft of that town
required its members to use 'Salisbery lethyr, calf
lethyr, swyn lether and brynt lethyr'. (fn. 66) The names
of a few goldsmiths appear in the city records, such
as John Perhaunt, a member of the assembly, and
Geoffrey Mauncell, who lived in Castle Street, (fn. 67) but
nothing is known of the organization of their craft.
Salisbury was, however, included among the seven
towns outside London allowed by Parliament in
1423 to have their own touches for the goldsmiths'
marks. (fn. 68) The Salisbury goldsmiths in the late 15th
and 16th centuries if not earlier, were subject to
supervision by the wardens of the London Company
of Goldsmiths so far as the metallic fineness of their
finished work was concerned, and faced some competition from London craftsmen visiting their fairs.
In the 16th century Exeter was also a competitor of
note. (fn. 69)
The barber-surgeons appear to have worshipped
in the church of St. Thomas, and John Winchester,
a member of the craft, lived in a house opposite the
Poultry Cross, which he devised to the wardens of
the fraternity for religious purposes. (fn. 70) A light of the
fraternity kept in the cathedral is mentioned in the
will dated 1430 of William Harnell, barber, who was
buried with several other members of his family in
St. Edmund's churchyard. (fn. 71) The cooks were
associated with the barber-surgeons in the lists of
1440. (fn. 72) They, and also the bakers, gave offerings to
St. Edmund's Church at their guild festivals. (fn. 73) A
craft for which almost no information is available is
that of the hatters, yet among the signatories to the
agreement with Bishop Simon of Ghent signed in
1306, (fn. 74) whose occupation was given, no fewer than
six men were of this craft, 4 from New Street Ward,
and 1 each from the Market and St. Martin's
Wards. (fn. 75) Richard le Hattere owned a house in 1331
at the corner of Brown Street and New Street, (fn. 76)
and represented the city in Parliament in 1306–7.
Other hatters working in the city during the earlier
14th century were John of London and John the
Mariner. (fn. 77) The latter had a tenement in Minster
Street in 1356, and this gave the name to a cellar
called 'Hatterestaverne' mentioned with other
property in a grant of 1396. (fn. 78) In the procession of
the watch on St. Osmund's eve the hatters and cappers came ninth together with the barbers and
chandlers. (fn. 79)