The aldermen and the livery companies

The Aldermen of the City of London Temp. Henry III - 1912. Originally published by Corporation of the City of London, London, 1908.

This free content was digitised by double rekeying. All rights reserved.

'The aldermen and the livery companies', in The Aldermen of the City of London Temp. Henry III - 1912, (London, 1908) pp. 329-361. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/london-aldermen/hen3-1912/pp329-361 [accessed 24 April 2024]

In this section

THE ALDERMEN AND THE LIVERY COMPANIES.

From early times the Aldermen have usually been members of one or other of the craft guilds represented in the later centuries by the Livery Companies. I use the qualifying adverb "usually," because, in the case of many of the Aldermen in the reigns of Edward I. and Edward II., from which period the continuous succession begins, it is not now possible to associate them individually with any particular guild, and it is probable that the custom was not fully established until the latter of these reigns.

The Charter of Edward II., granted in June, 1319, provided that no "inhabitant" should be admitted to the freedom of the City unless he belonged to some mystery or trade, and the same rule was applied to "strangers," except so far as it might be dispensed with by the assent of "the whole community." Hence, from this date, there are few Aldermen recorded (other than those of Portsoken, where the Aldermanry of the Ward was held ex-officio by the Prior of Holy Trinity, Aldgate, until the dissolution of the monasteries in Henry VIII.'s reign), whose Companies are not either definitely stated in the records of their respective elections or easily obtainable from other official sources.

From the time of Edward II. to the end of the 14th century, the Aldermen, with rare exceptions, belonged to one or other of the following seven great Companies, viz.: Mercers, Grocers, Drapers, Fishmongers, Goldsmiths, Skinners and Vintners.

As showing the relative strength of these Companies in the Court of Aldermen at that time, it is interesting to note that in the course of the 14th century the aggregate number of those whose guilds I have identified was 45 Grocers, 45 Mercers, 40 Fishmongers, 33 Drapers, 23 Goldsmiths, 17 Skinners, 14 Vintners.

Of the other five which now are included in the "twelve greater Companies," the number and composition of which has remained unaltered during the past 360 years, only the Ironmongers are found represented on the Court of Aldermen in the 14th century; three members of this Company, the earliest dating from 1382, were elected during that period, one of whom had been originally a Girdler. Besides these, the names occur of 6 Woolmongers, 4 "Corders" and one from each of the following "mysteries," viz: Armourers, "Bladers," Broderers, Waxchandlers and Leathersellers ("mercatores alutae" a description which, according to some authorities, would be more correctly represented by Cordwainers). (fn. 1)

The tradition which is generally accepted and appears to have the support of so eminent an authority as Bishop Stubbs that at a particular date in the reign of Richard II. the Grocers had an absolute majority in the Court of Aldermen is altogether erroncous and is due to a misconception of the facts with which I have dealt in Note 'A' at the end of this excursus.

In the early years of the 15th century a solitary Saddler appears in the list, being the only representative of that trade amongst the Aldermen until nearly 250 years later. A Brewer also, if the identification of Robert Horn (Sheriff 1446–47) is correct, served from 1444 to 1456, no other member of that Company being chosen till 1521 when (as will be seen later), he was required to adopt another "mystery" forthwith, and it was not till 1632 that a third Brewer is found amongst the Aldermanic body.

There is no other instance in the 15th century of the election as Alderman of any member of an inferior Company. I use that adjective in no invidious sense, but simply to mark the recognised distinction between the twelve greater Companies and all the others.

Of the eight great Companies of whose representation in the Court of Aldermen in the preceding century, details have been given above, the Mercers in the 15th century took a decided lead, the Drapers holding the second place and the Grocers the third; the Fishmongers had less than a third of their former number, and the Vintners only contributed three members, not a single representative of that Company being elected in the second half of the century.

The total number of Aldermen who were members of these Companies in this century (exclusive of those elected at the end of the preceding one) was 41 Mercers, 33 Drapers, 31 Grocers, 16 Goldsmiths, 13 Fishmongers, 13 Skinners, 7 Ironmongers, 3 Vintners.

Speaking generally, the Companies were fairly evenly distributed amongst the various wards, but certain wards appear to have had an attraction for or towards particular crafts. Thus the Mercers, except for three intervals of a year each during the period of annual elections, enjoyed a monopoly of Bassishaw Ward from 1374 to 1506, 15 members of that Company being elected Aldermen of that ward in 130 years; 7 Mercers in succession held the Aldermanry of Cripplegate between 1402 and 1470; that of Candlewick was occupied by 8 successive Drapers from 1379 to 1444, with the exception of the single year 1380–1381; 9 Grocers were Aldermen of Tower between 1375 and 1464, with the exception of three terms of a year each during the annual election period and an interval from 1407 to 1414, when a Mercer represented the ward; and in Walbrook except for five brief intervals, amounting to an aggregate of 15 years, the Drapers and the Skinners divided the representation from 1376 to 1532, 11 of the former serving in all for 113 years and 6 of the latter serving 28 years. No Fishmonger was Alderman of Cheap at this period or in fact before 1733, and no Grocer sat for Coleman Street between 1381 and 1584 (or since 1645).

With regard to the four greater Companies unrepresented in the preceding century, we find that eight (or nine) (fn. 2) Tailors—the designation of Merchant Taylor was conferred later (in the year 1503), by Henry VII.—were chosen Aldermen between 1435 and 1500; in the period between 1460 and the close of the century, three Haberdashers and as many Salters were admitted. The Clothworkers were not as yet recognised as forming one of the greater Companies, but in the following century (1538), their claim was allowed, when John Tolos of that Guild was accepted as an Alderman, the minute of his admission expressly recording that "the said Company is now one of the 12 head Companies of London," and that the Master and Wardens had "promised faithfully that they will and shall be at all times ready to do their duties accordingly as they be bound to do for the honour and commonwealth of this City." (I have modernized the spelling of the minute.)

The established custom that any one chosen to be an Alderman must either be actually a member of one of the greater Companies, or, if not already possessing that qualification, must immediately acquire it, receives illustration from several instances recorded in the civic history of the 16th century. Thus in 1503, John Warner, an Armourer, on election as Alderman was required to join one of the greater Companies forthwith, and he accordingly chose the Grocers. Similarly in 1513, John Thurston, a Broderer, was at once translated to the Goldsmiths.

In 1521, Ralph Dodmer, a Brewer, being elected an Alderman, was commanded to choose one of eight Companies specifically named, viz.:—Mercers, Grocers, Drapers, Fishmongers, Goldsmiths, Skinners, Haberdashers or Ironmongers. Of these he choso the Mercers, though not until some compulsion had been applied to him in the form of committal to the custody of one of the Sheriffs for disobedience, and his choice was sanctioned, although, as we shall see, a "lawful impediment" might have been urged against it. Why, in the foregoing list, the Merchant Taylors, Salters and Vintners were not named does not appear.

In 1523, John Brown, a Painter-Stainer, was translated to the Haberdashers. When directed to make his choice as to the greater Company into which he would seek admission, he had followed Dodmer's example in choosing the Mercers, but he was not permitted to join that Guild on the ground that there were already six members of it on the Court of Aldermen, a limit which an ordinance of Common Council, passed in 1446, forbade to be exceeded. As a matter of fact there were at that time already seven Mercers in the Court, as I have noted at p. 233, where the names are given, and this objection should have been taken in the case of Dodmer eighteen months earlier: that irregularity appears, however, to have been permitted, and the number of Mercers remained in excess of the prescribed limit until the death of Sir J. Yarford in 1527, when his place was taken by a Skinner.

Other examples of removal from an inferior to a greater Company in the first half of the 16th century are those of Richard Choppyn, a Tallow Chandler, who, on election as Alderman in 1532, straightway obtained admission (by redemption), into the Company of Grocers, and Sir John Ayliffe, who was translated to the same Company from the Barber-Surgeons in 1550, within two months of becoming an Alderman.

In 1551, Thomas Curtes, a Pewterer, was elected an Alderman. He continued for some years to make an obstinate resistance to the order to remove to one of the higher Companies: he was subjected to fine and imprisonment, and it was not until 1556 that his translation (to the Fishmongers) was effected.

Having regard to an incident in later history in connexion with the Clothworkers' Company, which will be noticed in its proper place, it is an interesting fact that Alderman Curtes had at one time proposed to join himself to that Guild. It is recorded in Repertory 13, fo. 316 b, under date September 3, 1555, that the Alderman had declared himself "contented to depart from the fellowship of the Pewterers, whereof he was free, and to be translated and set over to the Company of the Clothworkers, and he agreed to cause the Wardens of the same Company shortly to repair hither and to declare to the Court here whether they be contented to receive him in their Company or not." We find nothing further definitely stated as to the issue of this negotiation, but inasmuch as Mr. Curtes did not join the Clothworkers, and on November 19 following was ordered to "show certainly to this Court" at the next Court day "what Company he will be translated unto and not to delay the Court any further for the declaration and finishing thereof" (Rep. 13, fo. 345), an order which had to be in substance repeated on February 13, 1556 (fo. 370), it is a natural inference that the Clothworkers were not "contented to receive him in their Company," and it will be seen that a similar reluctance on the part of the same Company, nearly two centuries later, to accept a member of another Guild into its fellowship was followed by important results of a permanent character.

From this time the rule of requiring every Alderman to become a member of one of the greater Companies appears to have been silently relaxed, although it was still applied to the Lord Mayor. Thus, William Aleyn, a Leatherseller, elected an Alderman in 1559, did not attach himself to a greater Company until 1564, when he was admitted to the Mercers by patrimony. Richard Pype, another Leatherseller, joined the Drapers before serving as Lord Mayor, but Hugh Offley of the same Company, who served the office of Sheriff in 1589–90, being elected an Alderman during his Shrievalty, appears to have continued in the fellowship of the Leathersellers till his death in 1594, he not having reached the Mayoral Chair, while Stephen Soame, a Girdler, who had been an Alderman since 1589, was translated to the Grocers a few days after his election to the Mayoralty in 1598.

The number of Aldermen belonging to the greater Companies who were elected in the 16th century was 42 Mercers, 40 Grocers, 28 Drapers, 27 Haberdashers, 25 Merchant Taylors, 16 Clothworkers, 15 Goldsmiths, 14 Skinners, 14 Ironmongers, 12 Salters, 11 Fishmongers and 5 Vintners. Of the last named all except one became Aldermen after 1580.

As a natural consequence of the relaxation of the rule requiring all Aldermen to be Members of one or other of the twelve greater Companies, the minor Companies began to be represented more frequently in the elections to vacancies in the Court of Aldermen. In the first half of the 17th century there were elected from the inferior Companies, 11 Leathersellers, 5 Dyers, 4 Girdlers, 3 each from the Stationers, Scriveners, BarberSurgeons and Brewers, 2 Weavers, 2 Woodmongers and one from each of the following guilds, viz.: Apothecaries, Coopers, Innholders, Pewterers, Plumbers, Upholders, a total of 42. In the latter half of the century this number was greatly increased, and the following Companies, in addition to most of those already named are found sending representatives to the Aldermanic body, viz.: Bakers, Broderers, Cordwainers, Cutlers, Painter-Stainers, Saddlers, Shipwrights, Tallow Chandlers.

The following are the instances which occur during the 17th century of the translation of Aldermen from an inferior Company to one of the twelve in anticipation of the Mayoralty:

1621 E. Barkham, from the Leathersellers to the Drapers.
1622 P. Probie, from the Barber-Surgeons to the Grocers.
1626 C. Hackett, from the Dyers to the Drapers.
1636 E. Bromfield, from the Leathersellers to the Fishmongers.
1661 Sir J. Frederick, from the Barber-Surgeons to the Grocers.
1669 Sir S. Starling, from the Brewers to the Drapers.
1675 Sir J. Sheldon, from the Tallow Chandlers to the Drapers.
1676 Sir T. Davies, from the Stationers to the Drapers.
1679 Sir R. Clayton, from the Scriveners to the Drapers.
1692 Sir J. Fleet, from the Coopers to the Grocers.

In addition to these, Sir R. Browne (Lord Mayor, 1660–1661), who had been a Woodmonger and Sir H. Edwin (Lord Mayor 1697–1698), who had been a Barber-Surgeon at the dates of their respective elections as Aldermen had joined the Merchant Taylors and Skinners respectively some years before attaining to the seat of the Chief Magistrate.

It will be seen from the foregoing list that in the short period between 1669 and 1679, the Lord Mayoralty was held by four Aldermen who had been translated from inferior Companies to that of the Drapers.

In one instance only before the fourth decade of the 17th century did a Lord Mayor-elect (or about to be elected), who was not already enrolled in one of the great Companies, fail to translate himself. This was Thomas Andrewes, a Member of the Leathersellers' Company, who was appointed to succeed Abraham Reynardson, the Royalist Lord Mayor, on the latter's deposition in April, 1649, and having served till the following October, was, after a year's interval, again chosen for the year 1650–1651. I know of no explanation of the non-observance of the rule in his case, and can only suggest that it was one of the many irregularities of the troubled period of the Commonwealth.

With this single exception the rule was observed until 1742, further instances of its operation being found in the cases of—

Sir J. Parsons (1703), translated from the Brewers to the Fishmongers.

Sir J. Fryer (1720), translated from the Pewterers to the Fishmongers.

J. Barber (1732), translated from the Stationers to the Goldsmiths.

Sir J. Barnard (1737), translated from the Glovers to the Grocers.

D. Lambert (1741), translated from the Coopers to the Vintners.

Four other Lord Mayors of the period, viz.: Sir J. Bateman (1716), Sir W. Stewart (1721), Sir G. Mertinns (1724), H. Parsons (1725), had been subsequently to their election as Aldermen, but at a longer interval before elevation to the Mayoral dignity, translated from the Loriners, the Barber-Surgeons, the Clockmakers and the Waxchandlers to the Fishmongers, the Goldsmiths, the Skinners and the Grocers respectively.

In 1742, Alderman R. Willimott, a Cooper, who had been elected Lord Mayor for the ensuing year and had professed his readiness to accept translation to one of the twelve higher Companies, finally decided not to leave his parent Company. The circumstances under which he determined to refrain from adopting the usual course are set forth fully in the subjoined extract from The Annals of Europe for 1742, pp. 301, 302.

"Robert Willimott, Esq., having at the usual time been chosen Lord Mayor for the ensuing year, his election caused a doubt to be cleared up, which had for many years remained undecided; for till then a notion had prevailed that the Lord Mayor must be free of one of the twelve great Companies, and every Lord Mayor, before his turn for being chosen came on, had taken care at a great expense, to get himself made free of one of these Companies, if he was not so before. Mr. Willimott being of the Coopers' Company, which is not one of the twelve, had endeavoured to comply with this custom, by getting himself translated to the Clothworkers' Company, which is one of the twelve; but many of that Company objected against his being admitted, so that the question was carried in his favour, but by a small majority, and the Company absolutely refused to let him have the use of their Hall for holding his Mayoralty. This ill-treatment made him be at the trouble and expense of inquiring into the foundation of the custom, and having consulted some of the most eminent Counsel upon the question, they were all of opinion that to be President of the Irish Committee it was necessary that the candidate should be free of one of the twelve Companies, but to be chosen Lord Mayor, it was not necessary to be free of one of the twelve, and that therefore his not being so could only prevent his being chosen President of the Irish Committee, whereupon he resolved to give no further trouble either to the Clothworkers' Company, or any other of the twelve, and so put an end to a custom which had been observed for many years to the great emolument of these Companies."

[Whatever may have been the case formerly, it is not now necessary for the President of the Irish Committee, i.e. the Governor of the Irish Society to belong to one of the twelve great Companies; neither the present Governor, nor his immediate predecessor possesses that qualification. Mr. Durie Miller, the present Secretary to the Irish Society, informs me that he was unaware of any such restriction having ever existed, and I know of no authority except that quoted above.]

Mr. Willimott's successors naturally followed his example, the only Lord Mayorelect after his year who adhered to the old custom being F. Cokayne, who on his election to the Chief Magistracy in 1750, was translated from the Farriers to the Vintners. During the remainder of the century a few cases occurred of Lord Mayors who had left their original Companies and become members of one of the twelve; these were Sir S. Fludyer (1761), B. Crosby (1770) and S. Plumbe (1778), of whom the first-named had exchanged the Tylers and Bricklayers' Company for the Clothworkers, and the others had been translated to the Goldsmiths from the Musicians and the Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers respectively, but in each case the translation had been effected some years before the elevation to the Mayoralty. Early in the following century (1803) Sir W. Leighton during his year of office as Sheriff was translated from the Wheelwrights to the Fishmongers, and on the same day Alderman J. J. Smith exchanged the Pattenmakers for the Ironmongers; each of these served as Lord Mayor several years later.

A few instances occur in the 18th century of the translation of Aldermen to one of the twelve Companies who were not destined to attain to the Mayoral dignity, as Sir John Cass, from the Carpenters to the Skinners in 1713, Sir R. Hopkins from the Cutlors to the Fishmongers in 1730, Sir G. Champion (fn. 3) from the Coopers to the Haberdashers in 1739, and J. Shakespeare from the Armourers to the Fishmongers in 1768.

The list of Lord Mayors between the date of Willimott's Mayoralty and the close of the century included the following representatives of the inferior Companies, viz.: four Stationers, three Joiners, two Brewers, two Glovers, and one representative each of the Bowyers, Carpenters, Coopers, Cutlers, Fletchers, Framework-knitters, Musicians, Tvlers and Bricklayers, Wheelwrights, a total of 20 in 58 years.

Towards the end of the 18th century two cases are found of Aldermen who were members of two Companies simultaneously, retaining their connexion with the parent Company after gaining admission by patrimony to one of the twelve. H. C. Combe, who was elected an Alderman in 1790, was at this time both a Brewer and a Fishmonger, and he occupied the Chair in each of these Companies at a later period after serving the office of Lord Mayor. In the minutes of his elections, both to the Aldermanry and to the Mayoralty, he is described as a Brewer, although already a member of one of the higher Companies. Similarly Stephen Langston, elected Alderman in 1793, is described as a Joiner in the minutes of his election, although he had some years before obtained admission to the Haberdashers' Company, of which he was Master in that year. I know of no other similar case until the 19th century, when the practice of accepting simultaneous membership of several Companies gradually became by no means uncommon, and the rule rather than the exception amongst those who were afterwards Aldermen. Thus at the present time, Sir G. Truscott, whose parent Company is that of the Stationers, is also connected with two of the greater Companies, being both a Haberdasher and a Vintner; his father, the late Sir F. W. Truscott, was a member of the same three Companies. Sir J. Savory is associated with five Companies, being a Goldsmith, Clockmaker, Gardener, Poulter, and Shipwright, and Sir A. J. Newton exceeds that number, being a Loriner, Girdler, Fanmaker, Framework-knitter, Turner, and Gold and Silver Wyre Drawer.

Many of the smaller Companies have been strongly represented in the Court of Aldermen since the middle of last century. This is especially the case with the Loriners and the Spectacle Makers. With the exception of Sir J. Bateman, who was elected an Alderman in 1708, and in the following year translated to the Fishmongers, the first Loriner to enter the Court of Aldermen was Sir J. Duke, in 1840. Since that date there have been in all 17 Aldermanic Members of that Company, of whom 12 have already served as Lord Mayor.

The first Spectacle Maker who became an Alderman was James Harmer in 1833, who has had as many as 20 successors, of whom 18 have been Lord Mayors.

15 Companies made their first appearance in the Aldermanic ranks in the 19th century, viz.: the Fanmakers, the Fruiterers, the Butchers, the Turners, the Blacksmiths, the Coachmakers, the Gardeners, the Needlemakers, the Pattenmakers, the Plaisterers, the Poulters, the Masons, the Playing-card Makers, the Cooks, the Glass-sellers and the Glaziers; the five last named with only one representative in each case, the seven immediately preceding with two each. The previous century had also (besides the Loriners already mentioned) introduced to the Court of Aldermen 15 Companies hitherto unrepresented there, viz: the Bowyers, the Carpenters, the Clockmakers, the Curriers, the Distillers, the Farriers, the Feltmakers, the Fletchers, the Framework Knitters, the Glovers, the Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers, the Joiners, the Musicians, the Tylers and Bricklayers and the Wheelwrights. Of these the Joiners and the Farriers have had no representative since the close of that century, and the Musicians and the Tylers and Bricklayers ceased to be represented before the end of the first decade of the 19th. A Gunmaker, who was elected in 1710 (the only member of that guild who has ever been chosen Alderman) declined to serve.

As the inferior Companies have contributed an increasing number of members to the Aldermanic bench, the twelve greater Companies have been much more sparsely represented there. In the 18th century only eight Mercers were elected Aldermen, of whom six dated from before 1730 and but one (N. Newnham), survived till the 19th dying in 1809, since which date the premier Company has been conspicuous by its nonrepresentation in the Court of Aldermen: Sir J. C. Dimsdale, elected Alderman in 1891, was the first Grocer chosen since 1799; almost simultaneously with his retirement, Mr. Simmons, of the same Company, was admitted into the Aldermanic ranks.

Aldermen Thorp and C. Smith, both of whom died in 1835, were the last representatives up to the present time of the Drapers.

Two Skinners occupied seats in the Court during the 19th century, their aggregate periods of service amounting to less than ten years. No member of that Company was an Alderman between 1809 and 1867, nor has any Skinner served in that capacity since 1871.

The Ironmongers also contributed two Members to the Court of Aldermen during the 19th century, who served for 28 years (1803–1831), and 33 years (1821–1854) respectively; a third, elected before the century began, retained his seat till 1818. Since Alderman Thompson's death in 1854, the Ironmongers have been unrepresented.

The remaining seven of the twelve greater Companies have maintained a more continuous connection with the Court of Aldermen than the other five; two of them, however, the Salters and the Clothworkers, have been unrepresented since 1891.

At the present time, 1906, the 26 Aldermen include three Merchant Taylors, three Haberdashers (one of whom is also a Vintner), two Goldsmiths, one Grocer, and one Fishmonger. The minor Companies are represented as follows: Loriners 7, Spectacle Makers 5, Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers 4, Fanmakers 4, Shipwrights 3, Fruiterers 3, Gardeners 2, Broderers 2, Coachmakers 2, Stationers 2, Plumbers 2, Turners 2, Framework Knitters 2, Bakers 2, Cutlers, Poulters, Clockmakers, Barbers, Girdlers, Leathersellers, Glovers, Innholders, Cordwainers and Glass-sellers one each.

Two of the greater Companies are associated with the profession of particular political opinions; the Merchant Taylors are a strongly Conservative body, while the Fishmongers have a traditional connection with the Whig or Liberal party and still, t more or less distant intervals, continue to offer their hospitality to its official chiefs, although the effect of the great schism on the Irish question has been to introduce a powerful Unionist element into the Company.

The Goldsmiths also are credited with Conservative predilections, though of a less pronounced character than those of the Merchant Taylors. The latter Company numbered in its ranks in the early part of the 19th century two Aldermen (Atkins and Heygate), who entered public life as Whigs, but both, perhaps under the influence of the Company's associations, renounced their early opinions and adopted Conservative politics. At an earlier period, that of the Revolution of 1688, two of the most active City Whigs, (Sir P. Ward and Sir W. Ashhurst), were Merchant Taylors, the Tories being represented, amongst others, by Sir W. Turner, Sir W. Prichard and Sir R. Bedingfeld, and at a still remoter date (that of the Civil War), the Royalists, Sir W. Acton and Sir A. Reynardson were balanced by the Roundheads, S. Avery and W. Bigg.

The Fishmongers, too, have not been altogether of one type of political opinion. In the Civil War period, the Royalist Sir J. Gayre could pair off with the regicide Isaac Penington and in the days of Queen Anne, the Tory Aldermen, Sir W. Withers and Sir J. Parsons with the Whigs, Sir T. Abney and Sir J. Fryer; while in the 19th century, though the Aldermanic Fishmongers most prominent in the political world were the well-known Liberals, H. C. Combe and Sir M. Wood, the Company also included on its roll of members so active a Tory as Anthony Brown (afterwards Chamberlain), and also W. Cubitt, who championed the Conservative cause at the City contest for Lord John Russell's vacated seat in 1861.

Two of the most democratic Aldermen in the civic history of the last two centuries, J. Sawbridge and R. Waithman, were members of the same Company, that of the Framework Knitters, but this is merely a coincidence and does not imply any political bias on the part of that Company.

In the following pages will be found a list of the Aldermen of the various Companies arranged in chronological order. No such list has ever been published before; everything of that kind that has been printed has been restricted to Lord Mayors and Sheriffs.

The dates in brackets denote the periods in which the persons named respectively held the office of Alderman; in most cases these periods are continuous between the limits indicated, but in some instances, especially as regards those who served during the years of annual elections (1377–1393), such service was interrupted and the earliest and latest dates of it are given. Very few of those elected since the accession of Edward III. are omitted (the Companies of these not having been ascertained), except for the period of the suspension of the Charter (1683–1688), when several persons were nominated by the King's Commission who were certainly not at the time members of any Company, though some (as Sir J. Parsons, Sir J. Herne and Sir B. Firebrace), subsequently became such, while others, who probably were connected with some one or other of the Guilds are not recorded as belonging to them, and I am consequently unable to assign them.

The names of Mayors and Lord Mayors are printed in small capitals [in this edition, bold]; those who served as Sheriffs without attaining to the Mayoral dignity are in the ordinary type, whilst others who did not serve either as Mayor or Sheriff are represented in smaller type [in this edition, represented by a preceding #]. Of present Aldermen (1906), those who have held the Shrievalty but have not yet been elected to the Mayoralty are distinguished by a prefixed to their names, whilst the names of those who have not served as Sheriff are in italics.

Mercers.

# A. de Auvergne –1277).

# R. Eswy (1280–1293).

W. Hauteyn (1290–1293).

R. de Refham (1298–1312).

N. Picot (1298–1312).

S. de Paris (1299–1321).

R. de Paris (1312–1319).

H. de Godchep (1315–1327).

H. de Gartone (1319–1327).

# H. de Seccheford (1319–1336).

# W. de Hedersete (1320–1322).

W. de Caustone (1320–1321, 1333–1355).

R. le Callero (1321–1322).

J. Hauteyn (1322–1336).

J. de Caustone (1323–1350).

R. le Lacer (1334–1357).

S. Fraunceis (1336–1358).

R. de Forsham (1338–1342).

J. de Aylesham (1342–1345).

G. Wychingham (1345–1349).

# S. de Worstede (1349–1366).

W. de Todenham (1349–1370).

A. Fraunceis (1352–1375).

R. de Notyngham (1355–1363).

J. de Bernes (1361–1375).

W. de Berneye (1368–1369).

J. Pyel (1369–1379).

A. Stable (1372–1381).

J. Fyfhide (1374–1377).

J. Organ (1376–1388).

# W. Betele (1377–1378).

J. Boseham (1377–1387).

J. Heylesdon (1377–1384).

W. Knyghtcote (1378–1382).

# R. Warbulton (1378–1387).

J. Fresshe (1381–1397).

J. More (1382–1383).

# R. Norbury (1383–1384).

# W. Anecroft (1383–1385).

W. Sheryngham (1383–1397).

J. Shadworth (1383–1405).

J. Loneye (1388–1394).

T. Vynent (1391–1393).

T. Newenton (1392–1399).

W. Parker (1393–1403).

R. Whityngdon (1393–1423).

J. Wodecok (1397–1408).

W. Walderne (1399–1424).

T. Fauconer (1402–1435).

S. Speleman (1407–1416).

W. Cotton (1409–1416).

J. Lane (1410–1414).

A. Everard (1415–1418).

T. Aleyn (1415–1422).

J. Coventre (1420–1429).

J. Boteler (1420–1423).

Sir W. Estfeld (1423–1446).

H. Frowyk (1424–1457).

T. Wandesford (1426–1446).

R. Large (1429–1441).

W. Melreth (1429–1446).

T. Chalton (1433–1452).

J. Olney (1435–1458).

G. Feldynge (1446–1460).

Sir W. Cantelowe (1446–1461).

G. Boleyn (1452–1463).

J. Middleton (1456–1462).

Sir R. Verney (1457–1478).

Sir H. Wiche (1458–1468).

J. Lambarde (1460–1470).

Sir J. Stokton (1461–1473).

J. Lok (1463).

J. Tate (1463–1479).

J. Warde (1468–1476).

R. Gardyner (1469–1489).

Sir J. Browne (1470–1498).

R. Rawson (1476–1485).

Sir H. Colet (1476–1505).

T. Home (1478–1481).

R. Tate (1479–1500).

# J. Fisher (1481–1483).

J. Mathewe (1482–1499).

Sir J. Tate (1485–1515).

H. Clopton (1485–1496).

W Purchase (1492–1502).

N. Ailwyn (1496–1506).

T. Wyndout (1499–1500).

Sir R. Haddon (1499–1516).

W. Browne (1500–1508).

J. Hawes (1501–1510).

T. Bradbury (1502–1510).

W. Browne (1505–1514).

C. Hawes (1506–1508).

Sir J. Yarford (1509–1527).

# W. Lamberd (1510).

R. Basford (1510–1520).

N. Shelton (1510–1515).

Sir T. Baldry (1514–1534).

Sir J. Aleyn (1515–1545).

# J. West (1515–1517).

Sir T. Seymour (1515–1535).

J. Kyme (1519–1528).

M. Englysshe (1520–1531).

Sir R. Dodmer (1521–1536).

Sir W. Holyes (1528–1542).

Sir R. Warren (1528–1553).

Sir M. Dormer (1531–1545).

Sir T. Kytson (1534–1540).

W. Dauntsey (1536–1543).

Sir R. Gresham (1536–1549).

Sir J. Gresham (1540–1556).

Sir R. Hill (1542–1561).

R. Gerveys (1543–1553).

R. Chertsey (1545–1551).

Sir W. Lok (1545–1550).

# C. Aleyn (1549–1550).

# W. Robyns (1550–1552).

Sir T. Leigh (1552–1571).

# V. Randall (1554–1555).

Sir R. Malorye (1556–1567).

Sir R. Martyn (1556–1573).

H. Baskerfeld (1558–1564).

Sir W. Aleyn (1558–1586).

Sir L. Duckett (1564–1587).

J. Haydon (1582).

W. Elkyn (1586–1593).

Sir T. Bennett (1594–1627).

# T. Cordell (1595).

Sir H. Rowe (1596–1612).

# B. Barnes (1599).

# W. Quarles (1599).

# W. Walthall (1605–1608).

# W. Higges (1607).

# T. Walthall (1611).

# T. Edwards (1611).

# Sir B. Hicks [Viscount Campden] (1611).

# E. Barnes (1612).

T. Bennett (1613–1620).

W. Halliday (1617–1624).

# W. Ferris (1622)

# R. Stint (1625).

J. Poole (1625–1633).

# J. Pledwell (1625–1626).

# F. Fuller (1627).

R. Backhouse (1627–1640).

H. Perry (1632–1634).

Sir J. Cordell (1635–1647).

Sir T. Atkyn (1638–1661).

Sir J. Dethick (1649–1660).

# T. Witherings (1649).

# R. Clutterbuck (1650).

# A. Bedingfield (1650).

# G. Wynn (1650).

# Sir W. Cooper (1651).

# G. Savage (1651).

# W. Barker (1651).

# J. Elwayes (1651).

# J. Travell (1651).

# A. Kendricke (1651–1652).

E. Sleigh (1652–1657).

# S. Moyer (1653).

# Sir S. Mico (1653–1656).

# I. Lee (1654).

# R. Wynn (1656).

# J. Halley (1656).

R. Kinge (1658–1661).

Sir R. Ford (1661–1678).

# H. Spurstowe (1661).

# H. Barnard (1661).

# T. Culling (1661–1662).

# J. Godwyn (1662).

# T. Charlton (1663).

# W. Duncombe (1667).

# J. Doggett (1670).

Sir J. Peake (1679–1688).

Sir J. Chapman (1680–1689).

Sir D. North (1682–1684, 1688–89).

Sir B. Thorogood (1683–1694).

Sir W. Gostlyn (1684–1690).

# Sir J. Herne (1686–1687).

# W. Ivatt (1687).

# T. Papillon (1689).

Sir W. Gore (1692–1708).

Sir W. Hedges (1693–1701).

Sir J. Woolf (1705–1711).

Sir C. Cooke (1717–1721).

R. Levett (1722–1740).

Sir J. Williams (1723–1743).

Sir F. Porten (1724–1728).

Sir T. Lombe (1728–1739).

J. Townsend (1769–1687).

N. Newnham (1774–1809).

At an earlier period than that at which the continuous succession of Aldermen in this book begins, we and among the Mercers—

Serlo le Mercer (Mayor 1215, 1216–1222).

Ralph Eswy (Mayor 1242–1244)]

Grocers (originally Pepperers).

H. de Frowyk (–1286).

W. le Mazeliner (–1305).

J. de Canterbury (1289–1304).

W. de Betoyne (1288–1293).

T. Romeyn (1294–1313).

W. de Leyre (1298–1320).

J. De Gisors (1306–1321).

S. Corp (1313–1321).

J. de Bureford (1321–1322).

J. de Grantham (1323–1344).

A. de Salisbury (1325–1330).

B. de Folesham (1327–38).

A. Aubrey (1334–1355).

J. Hamond (1335–1348).

W. de Thorneye (1342–1349).

J. de Rokele (1343–1347).

S. Dolseley (1348–1362).

B. Frestlyng (1352–1377).

T. Dolseley (1355–1361).

# J. Gunwardby (1358–1361).

J. Nott (1361–1369).

J. Warde (1369–1380).

Sir J. Philipot (1372–1384).

Sir N. Brembre (1372–1388).

R. Hatfield (1374–1380).

J. Hadle (1375–1407).

# J. Maryns (1375–1380).

# A. de St. Ives (1376–1393).

W. Baret (1377–1394).

A. Karlyll (1377–1397).

A. Lovekyn (1377–1378).

# W. Badby (1378–1381).

# J. Hoo (1378–1381).

# R. de Prestone (1378–1387).

# W. Eynesham (1379–1380).

# R. Aillesbury (1380–1384).

J. Chircheman (1381–1391).

H. Fastolf (1381–1390).

W. Staundon (1383–1410).

# J. Furneux (1383–1384).

W. Venour (1383–1396).

# G. Crymelford (1383–1385).

W. Creswyk (1392).

T. Knolles (1393–1435).

# J. Cosyn (1393–1394).

W. Hyde (1397–1401).

W. Venour (1397–1407).

# W. Newenton (1399–1400).

G. Broke (1400–1408).

R. Chichele (1402–1426).

H. Halton (1407–1415).

W. Chichele (1407–1420).

W. Sevenok (1411–1426).

W. Cauntebrigge (1415–1432).

R. Widyngton (1418–1426).

J. Welles (1420–1442).

R. Otele (1426–1436).

S. Broun (1429–1460).

T. Catworth (1435–1451).

W. Whetenhale (1438–1451).

N. Wyfold (1442–1456).

T. Canynges (1445–1461).

W. Marowe (1449–1464).

Sir R. Lee (1452–1472).

J. Walderne (1454–1464).

Sir W. Taillour (1458–1483).

Sir J. Yonge (1460–1481).

Sir G. Irlond (1461–1473).

W. Edward (1464–1480).

Sir J. Plummer (1464–1468).

Sir J. Crosby (1468–1476).

T. Bledlowe (1472–1478).

Sir T. Hill (1473–1485).

J. Warde (1478–1501).

J. Stoks (1480–1481).

T. Northlonde (1481–1485).

R. Tilney (1485–1499).

J. Broke (1488–1502).

R. Revell (1490–1491).

J. Wynger (1498–1505).

H. Kebyll (1502–1517).

J. Warner (1503–1511).

W. Stede (1504–1506).

R. Grove (1505–1509).

A. Don (1506).

Sir W. Boteler (1507–1534).

J. Rest (1508–1523).

J. Dawes (1512–1514).

N. Partricke (1517–1525).

Sir N. Lambarde (1523–1533).

R. Choppyn (1532–1536).

N. Gybson (1534).

# R. Fermor (1535).

R. Aleyn (1536–1547).

Sir W. Laxton (1536–1556).

# R. Osborn (1536).

Sir J. Lyon (1547–1564).

Sir J. Ayliffe (1550–1556).

Sir T. Lodge (1553–1566).

Sir J. Whyte (1554–1573).

# R. Greneway (1556–1558).

E. Jakman (1561–1569).

R. Lambert (1564–1567).

Sir J. Ryvers (1565–1584).

Sir T. Ramsey (1566–1590).

H. Mylles (1569–1574).

W. Boxe (1570–1581).

F. Bowyer (1576–1581).

N. Backhouse (1577–1580).

Sir J. Harte (1580–1604).

R. Woodcocke (1580–1586).

W. Massam (1582–1594).

Sir S. Soame (1589–1619).

R. Brooke (1590–1599).

P. Bayning (1593–1602).

P. Houghton (1593–1596).

# L. Bathurst (1593).

O. Stile (1596).

Sir E. Holmedon (1597–1603).

Sir H. Weld (1598–1610).

Sir H. Anderson (1601–1605).

Sir T. Myddelton (1603–1631).

# Sir G. Howland (1604).

# A. Bayning (1605).

# G. Holman (1605).

N. Style (1606–1615).

Sir G. Bolles (1607–1621).

R. Pyatt (1610–1620).

# H. Walcot (1614).

Sir P. Probie (1614–1625).

R. Johnson (1617–1626).

# R. Cocks (1621–1622).

# W. Pennyfather (1622).

# H. Parkhurst (1622).

# J. Nevill (1622).

J. Hodges (1622–1629).

Sir H. Handford (1622–1625).

Sir T. Moulson (1623–1638).

# G. Chetam (1625).

# R. Pallmer (1625).

# J. Woodward (1625).

T. Westrowe (1625).

# J. Farmer (1625).

# R. Mildmay (1626).

# Sir S. Soame (1626–1627).

H. Smith (1629–1638).

# G. Kirby (1629).

Sir E. Wright (1629–1643).

Sir T. Soame (1635–1649, 1660–1667).

J. Warner (1640–1648).

J. Towse (1640–1645).

Sir G. Clarke (1641–1648).

Sir J. Langham (1642–1649, 1660).

# S. Warner (1643–1645).

Sir T. Foot (1643–1660).

J. Kendricke (1643–1661).

# W. Ashwell (1643–1644).

# T. Hussey (1645).

# T. Bonest (1645).

# T. Bonest (1645).

# G. Morewode (1648).

# E. Harvey (1649).

# R. Waring (1649).

# R. Middleton (1649).

# Sir W. Nutt (1649).

# G. Hadley (1649).

# T. Stocke (1650).

# G. Keate (1650).

# J. Howland (1650).

# Sir R. Newton (1650).

# R. Box (1650).

# T. Turgis (1650).

# W. Aleyn (1650–1651).

# T. Thomlinson (1651).

# J. Wardell (1651).

# T. Hodges (1651).

# Sir J. Cutler (1651).

# P. Holman (1651).

# R. Johnson (1651).

# W. Vaughan (1651).

# J. Draper (1651).

# T. Browne (1651).

# J. Ramsey (1651).

# J. Blackwell (1651).

# J. Beresford (1651).

W. Underwood (1651–1658).

# T. Gower (1652).

# I. Foster (1652–1653).

Sir T. Alleyn (1653–1690).

# H. Hunter (1653).

Sir J. Frederick (1661–1683).

# A. Bence (1653).

# Sir S. White (1654).

# P. Sunderland (1656).

# G. Chetam (1656).

# H. Wood (1656–1657).

# E. Smith (1657).

# S. Langham (1657).

# J. Heather (1657).

# E. Wood (1657).

# T. Armstrong (1657).

# D. Davison (1657).

# E. Cunliffe (1658).

# R. Bressy (1658).

# Sir S. Scott (1658).

# Sir W. Vincent (1658–1659).

# J. Blackwell (1659).

# J. Jefferies (1661).

# R. Nelmes (1661).

# T. Turgis (1661).

# J. Coldham (1661–1662).

# T. Hussey (1661).

# A. Tyther (1661).

# W. Fisher (1661).

# J. Brooke (1662).

# J. Sanders (1662–1664).

# T. Wade (1662–1664).

# W. Webb (1662–1663).

# T. Wild (1663).

# W. Harvey (1663).

# J. Silverlock (1663).

# G. Franklyn (1663).

Sir R. Hanson (1664–1680).

Sir W. Hooker (1664–1689).

# J. Birchett (1664).

# P. Alston (1664).

# J. Bence (1664–1665).

# Sir R. Piggott (1666).

Sir J. Moore (1666, 1671–1702).

# T. Talbot (1667).

# R. Bailey (1667–1668).

# E. Nevett (1668).

# R. Booth (1668).

# S. Ryves (1668–1669.)

Sir J. Edwards (1669–1688).

# R. Copson (1670).

# J. Bonnell (1670).

Sir H. Tulse (1673–1689).

Sir W. Rawsterne (1678–1684).

# Sir B. Newland (1683–1687).

# E. Underhill (1687–1688).

# R. Bristow (1687–1688).

Sir J. Fleet (1688–1712).

Sir J. Houblon (1689–1712).

Sir J. Jefferies (1701–1709).

Sir S. Garrard (1702–1725).

Sir R. Baylis (1719–1748).

Sir R. Brocas (1721–1737).

H. Parsons (1721–1741).

Sir J. Barnard (1728–1758).

Sir J. Lequesne (1735–1741).

Sir R. Ladbroke (1741–1773).

# C. Ewer (1741–1742).

Sir T. Rawlinson (1746–1769).

M. Dickinson (1749–1765).

Sir M. Blakiston (1750–1769).

# R. Sclater (1754).

Sir W. Stephenson (1754–1774).

G. Nelson (1755–1766).

Sir H. Bankes (1762–1774).

# Sir W. Rawlinson (1773–1777).

Sir J. Hopkins (1782–1796).

W. Champion (1799).

Sir J. C. Dimsdale (1891–1902).

W. C. Simmons (1902–).

[The following Mayors of an earlier date than the reign of Edward I. are described as Pepperers.

Andrew Bukerel (Mayor 1231–1236).

John de Gisors (Mayor 1245–1246)]

Drapers.

J. Adrien ( –1285).

# P. de Edelmeton ( –1280).

# W. Bukerel ( –1278).

# J. le Acatur (1282–1291).

A. de Betevile (1283–1291).

J. le Blund (1291–1309).

E. Russell (1293–1303).

J. de Armentiers (1300–1306).

# R. de Wyrhale (1305–1319).

J. de Lincoln (1310–1319).

Stephen de Abyndone (1312–1321).

Simon de Abyndone (1316–1322).

# H. Nasard (1318–1322).

R. Costantyn (1319–1332).

Sir J. de Pulteneye (1327–1338).

Sir S. de Swanlonde (1327–1334).

H. Darci (1330–1349).

R. de Uptone (1334–1342).

R. de Berkyng (1335–1355).

# R. Costantyn (1336–1343).

R. de Kislingbury (1346–1352).

W. de Welde (1349–1372).

J. Costantyn (1349–1358).

W. Holbeche (1358–1367).

S. Cavendysshe (1358–1372).

J. Andreu (1363–1374).

J. de Mytford (1366–1375).

J. de Northampton (1375–1383).

# H. Begge (1376–1383).

# W. Kyng (1377–1384).

# R. Boxford (1377–1382).

# T. Noket (1377–1384).

# J. Eston (1378–1387).

# J. Vyne (1378–1381).

J. Heende (1379–1409).

# J. Shelford (1379–1380).

J. Walcote (1382–1406).

W. Evote (1393–1402).

W. Crowmere (1403–1433).

N. Wotton (1404–1446).

W. Norton (1406–1420).

T. Pyke (1409–1420).

R. Lobenham (1412–1414).

J. Gedney (1415–1449).

R. Whityngham (1417–1438).

R. Tatersale (1420–1429).

J. Brokle (1426–1444).

R. Clopton (1434–1448).

N. Yoo (1437–1444).

J. Norman (1441–1458).

S. Eyre (1444–1458).

J. Derby (1444–1454).

T. Scott (1446–1463).

P. Malpas (1448–1450).

Sir T. Cook (1456–1471).

Sir R. Josselyn (1456–1478).

J. Stokker (1458–1464).

# J. Walshawe (1460–1465).

Sir B. Jamys (1465–1481).

Sir H. Waver (1465–1470).

# S. Fabyan (1468–1469).

Sir T. Stalbrook (1468–1483).

R. Drope (1468–1487).

Sir W. Haryot (1469–1485).

Sir W. Stokker (1470–1485).

J. Stokker (1479–1485).

W. White (1482–1504).

Sir J. Fenkyll (1485–1499).

Sir W. Capel (1485–1515).

W. Isaak (1487–1503).

R. Fabyan (1494–1503).

Sir L. Aylmer (1504–1524).

R. Acheley (1504–1521).

R. Shore (1504–1510).

G. Monoux (1507–1541).

Sir J. Brugge (1510–1530).

Sir J. Milborne (1510–1536).

Sir W. Bayly (1514–1532).

J. Wylkynson (1517–1521).

Sir J. Rudstone (1521–1531).

Sir C. Ascue (1524–1539).

Sir W. Roche (1530–1549).

W. Champyon (1532–1534).

H. Monmouth (1534–1537).

Sir W. Bowyer (1534–1544).

# J. Sadler (1538–1546).

J. Lambarde (1547–1554).

Sir W. Chester* (1553–1573).

# J. Lowen (1555).

Sir R. Champyon (1556–1568).

# W. Beswicke (1564–1565).

F. Barnham (1568–1576).

Sir R. Pype (1570–1587).

Sir J. Branche (1571–1586).

Sir T. Pullyson (1573–1588).

Sir M. Calthorp (1579–1589).

# W. Thorogood (1589).

B. Barnham (1591–1598).

Sir R. Goddard (1595–1604).

Sir T. Hayes (1603–1617).

# Sir J. Deane (1604–1605).

Sir J. Jolles (1605–1621).

# W. Cotton (1607).

Sir E. Barkham (1611–1634).

# B. Ianson (1611).

E. Rotherham (1611–1620).

# H. Wollaston (1612).

H. Jeye (1613–1620).

Sir M. Lumley (1614–1634).

Sir A. Cotton (1616–1628).

Sir C. Hackett (1616–1631).

# Sir W. Tirrey (1621).

# E. Meredith (1622).

# J. Rayney (1622).

# W. Prichard (1625).

# J. Hurst (1626).

Sir M. Abbot (1626–1642).

Sir H. Garaway (1627–1643).

# Sir H. Rowe (1627).

# W. Wollaston (1627).

# J. Chamberlen (1627–1628).

Sir T. Adams (1639–1649, 1660–1668).

# T. Lawley (1641).

Sir G. Garrett (1641–1648).

Sir T. Cullum (1643–1652).

Sir C. Pack (1647–1660).

# J. Cotton (1649).

# J. Smith (1649, 1658).

# Sir F. Bickley (1649).

# W. Christmas (1649).

# E. Harvey (1650, 1653).

# Sir R. Dycer (1650).

# W. Middleton (1650).

# R. Lowther (1650).

# Sir R. Smyth (1650–1651).

# Sir T. Baddulph (1651).

# J. Ianson (1651).

# T. Essington (1651).

# C. Lloyd (1651).

Sir A. Riccard (1651–1653).

# J. Hartley (1651).

# W. Williams (1652).

# A. Cade (1652).

# M. Hardy (1652).

# J. Melhuse (1652).

# W. Beake (1653).

# E. Ash (1653).

# W. Dennis (1654).

# J. Wall (1654).

# S. Sunderland (1655).

# A. Bronskill (1657).

T. Chandler (1657–1658).

# T. Bromsall (1657).

# W. Pincheon (1658).

# F. Crofts (1658).

# R. Higginson (1658–1659).

# J. Archer (1658).

# R. Winch (1658).

W. Love (1659–1662).

# T. Bewley (1661).

Sir S. Starling (1661–1674).

# R. Fuller (1661).

# S. Eve (1661).

Sir R. Ryves (1661–1671).

# Sir W. Warren (1662).

# R. Mills (1662).

# R. Hatton (1664–1665).

# E. Dudson (1666).

# Sir F. Clarke (1666).

Sir J. Sheldon (1666–1681).

# H. Lawton (1667).

Sir T. Davies (1667–1680).

# R. Clarkson (1667).

# J. Randall (1669–1670).

Sir R. Clayton (1670–1707).

Sir J. Smyth (1674–1689).

Sir T. Gold (1676–1683).

Sir P. Vandeput (1684–1687).

Sir T. Stampe (1688–1711).

# Sir J. Johnson (1696–1698).

Sir S. Stanier (1705–1724).

Sir H. Furnese (1711–1712).

Sir A. Crowley (1711–1713).

Sir E. Becher (1718–1732).

# R. Heysham (1720–1723).

# J. Crowley (1727–1728).

Sir H. Marshall (1737–1754).

# J. Heywood (1746).

A. Master (1758–1766).

R. Oliver (1770–1778).

# B. Hopkins (1773–1776).

Sir J. Sanderson (1783–1798).

Sir W. Curtis (1785–1829).

# T. Rigby (1802–1803).

C. Smith (1807–1835).

J. T. Thorp (1817–1835).

Henry Fitz Aylwin first Mayor of London (c. 1192–1212) was a Draper, as also were—

William Hardel (Mayor 1215–1216).

John Tulesan (Mayor 1252–1253).

Ralph Hardel (Mayor 1254–1258).

William Fitz Richard (Mayor 1259–1261).

Fishmongers.

A. de Fulham (1291–1307).

T. Cros (1293–1298).

H. Pourte (1300–1307).

R de Chigwell (1305–1306).

J. Lambyn (1312–1319).

H. de Chigwell (1315–1329).

# E. Lambyn (1319–1325).

R. de Ely (1329–1333).

W. de Mordone (1335–1336, 1343–1350).

J. de Mockyng (1336–1347).

# J. de Refham (1339–1343).

W. Turke (1342–1352).

J. Syward (1345–1349).

A. Brabazon (1346–1358).

J. de Croydon (1347).

J. Lovekyn (1347–1368).

J. Pecche (1349–1376).

J. de Gloucester (1350–1355).

R. de Lenne (1350–1358).

R. Smelt (1355–1361).

J. Little (1356–1377).

J. Wroth (1358–1376).

S. de Mordone (1364–1374).

J. de Tornegold (1365–1377).

R. de Croydon (1367–1375).

Sir W. Walworth (1368–1385).

A. Pykeman (1376–1381).

# J. Horn (1377–1382).

# J. Brian (1377–1383).

# E. Olyver (1377–1382).

# N. Godestone (1377–1378).

T. Welford (1377–1403).

# J. Southam (1377–1382).

# W. Sibyle (1377–1382).

W. Neuport (1377–1383).

# J. Kyrketon (1378–1383).

# J. Ragenell (1381–1382).

N. Exton (1382–1392).

# W. Bys (1382–1383).

W. Brampton (1390–1406).

J. Wade (1394–1402).

W. Askham (1396–1415).

# W. Radwell (1404–1406).

J. Michel (1413–1444).

J. Reinwell (1416–1445).

J. Perneys (1416–1434).

T. Bernewell (1433–1437).

W. Combes (1437–1452).

R. Horn (1444–1456).

S. Forster (1444–1458).

W. Hulyn (1450–1470).

J. Feelde (1456–1463).

Sir W. Hampton (1462–1482).

J. Bromer (1465–1474).

Sir R. Astry (1485–1494).

Sir W. Remyngton (1485–1511).

T. Kneseworth (1503–1513).

W. Copynger (1505–1513).

R. Symonds (1516, 1526, 1533–1534).

Sir H. Amcotts (1536–1554).

R. Turke (1546–1552).

Sir T. Curtes (1551–1559).

J. Cowper (1558–1570).

J. Bacon (1567–1573).

Sir J. Allott (1581–1591).

# W. Thwayte (1597–1598).

# H. Heyward (1597).

Sir J. Leman (1605–1632).

# H. Violet (1608–1609).

E. Allen (1620–1626).

Sir E. Bromfield (1626–1642).

# P. Allen (1626).

# E. Gardner (1627).

Sir J. Gayre (1636–1649).

I. Penington (1639–1657).

# J. Martin (1649).

# Sir W. Leman (1649,1653).

# R. Porter (1649).

# H. Brabourne (1649).

# J. Ofield (1649).

# J. Langley (1649–1650).

# J. Harper (1650).

# J. Wolverston (1650).

# G. Selby (1651).

# R. Baskerville (1651).

# R. Norton (1651).

# W. Vaughan (1651).

# Sir H. Pickering (1651).

# J. Waterer (1651–1652).

# R. Downes (1652).

# R. Cranley (1652–1653).

# J. Lee (1658).

# F. Knight (1659).

# J. Bathurst (1661–1662).

# # R. Thorogood (1663–1664).

# J. Owen (1667).

# W. Sherington (1667).

# R. Read (1668–1669).

# J. Finch (1669).

Sir J. Dawes (1669–1672).

Sir S. Lewis (1680–1689).

Sir R. Howe (1682–1683).

# Sir J. Buckworth (1683–1686).

# T. Hartopp (1686–1687).

Sir J. Parsons (1687–1717).

# T. Rodbard (1687–1688).

Sir T. Abney (1692–1722).

Sir W. Withers (1698–1721).

Sir J. Bateman (1708–1718).

Sir J. Fryer (1710–1726).

# Sir T. Scawen (1712–1714).

Sir P. Delme (1721–1728).

Sir E. Bellamy (1723–1749).

Sir R. Hopkins (1724–1736).

Sir R. Kendal-Cater (1733–1738).

S. Bethell (1749–1758).

Sir J. Cartwright (1754–1767).

# J. Kirkman (1768–1780).

W. Crichton (1780–1782).

H. C. Combe (1790–1817).

Sir W. Leighton (1799–1821).

Sir M. Wood (1807–1843).

R. Rothwell (1818–1821).

A. Brown (1821–1844).

M. Gibbs (1838–1851).

W. Cubitt (1851–1863).

Sir W. Lawrence(1855–1897).

Sir J. C. Lawrence (1860–1897).

Sir T. Dakin (1861–1889).

Sir A. Lusk (1863–1895).

Sir H. E. Knight (1874– ).

# J. E. Saunders (1887–1888).

Goldsmiths.

G de Rokesle (–1291).

# J. de Blakethorn (–1279).

W. de Farndone (1278–1293).

W. de Hereford (1286–1296).

# W. de Finchingfeud (1291–1307).

N. de Farndone (1293–1334).

# R. de Honilane (1298–1307).

# H. de Gloucester (1300–1319).

# R. de Frowyk (1312–1324).

# E. de Suffolk (1314–1326).

R. de Betoyne (1322–1333).

# R. le Bret (1331–1333).

J. de Hyngstone (1333–1336).

R. de Basyngstoke (1348–1349).

J. De Chichester (1357–1377).

J. de Thame (1361–1365).

R. Lyons (1374–1376).

Sir N. Twyford (1375–1391).

T. Cornwaleys (1376–1385).

Sir R. Launde (1376–1381).

# R. Lucas (1377–1382).

# T. Reynham (1378–1381).

A. Bamme (1382–1397).

# H. Bamme (1383–1393).

J. Fraunceis (1383–1405).

D. Barentyn (1392–1415).

T. Polle (1397–1413).

W. Louthe (1406–1419).

# J. Standolf (1419–1420).

# J. Blackdon (1422).

J. atte Water (1422–1428).

J. Paddesle (1428–1451).

W. Russe (1432–1435).

J. Sutton (1436–1450).

Sir M. Philip (1450–1476).

Sir H. Hayford (1464–1480).

Sir E. Shaa (1473–1488).

Sir H. Bryce (1476–1496).

R. Hardyng (1483–1490).

H Cote (1490–1498, 1505–1506).

Sir J. Shaa (1496–1504).

T. Wood (1496–1504).

Sir B. Rede (1498–1505).

R. Johnson (1506–1507).

Sir T Exmewe (1508–1529).

H. Worley (1511–1524).

R. Fenrother (1511–1524).

Sir J. Mundy (1513–1537).

J. Thurston (1515–1519).

# R. Amadas (1523, 1529–1532).

# J. Twyselton (1525–1526).

# R. Trappes (1534).

Sir M. Bowes (1536–1566).

# H. Averell (1538).

# E. Gylbert (1561–1564).

Sir J. Langley (1566–1578).

# J. Harryson (1574).

Sir R. Martin (1578–1602).

Sir J. Pemberton (1602–1613).

# Sir W. Heyricke (1605).

G. Smythes (1611–1615).

A. Prescott (1612–1622).

# H. Banister (1622).

# R. Cheney (1622).

# W. Ballett (1625).

G. Harrison (1634–1641).

Sir J. Wollaston (1639–1658).

W. Gibbs (1642–1649).

Sir T. Vyner (1646–1660).

# F. Ash (1648).

# F. Aleyn (1649–1652).

# T. Noell (1649–1652).

# W. Daniell (1651).

# G. Pyke (1651).

# J. Barker (1651).

# H. Bedingfield (1651).

# J. Perryn (1654–1656).

# J. Richardson (1656).

# Sir J. Barkstead (1658–1660).

# E. Backwell (1660–1661).

F. Meynell (1660–1666).

Sir C. Doe (1664–1667).

# C. Everard (1664).

# (fn. 4) (?) A. Holt (1665–1666).

# W. Knight (1665–1666).

# J. Austen (1666).

Sir R. Vyner (1666–1686).

# J. Colvill (1669).

Sir J. Shorter (1676–1688).

Sir C. Duncombe (1683–1686, 1700–1711).

Sir T. Fowle (1686–1687, 1691–1692).

Sir F. Child (1689–1713).

Sir T. Cooke (1692–1709).

Sir P. Floyer (1700–1702).

Sir R. Hoare (1703–1719).

Sir W. Stewart (1711–1723).

# Sir R. Child (1713–1721).

Sir F. Child (1721–1740).

J. Barber (1722–1741).

Sir R. Hoare (1740–1754).

J. Blachford (1743–1759).

E. Ironside (1745–1753).

# Sir P. Warren (1752).

# R. Beckford (1754–1756).

Right Hon. T. Harley (1761–1804).

B. Crosby (1765–1793).

Sir T. Hallifax (1766–1789).

S. Plumbe (1767–1782).

# J. Bird (1770–1772).

J. Martin (1772).

W. Pickett (1782–1796).

P. le Mesurier (1784–1805).

# R. Atkinson (1784–1785).

R. Williams (1796–1801).

P. Perchard (1798–1806).

# J. P. Hankey (1806–1807).

R. A. Cox (1813–1826).

J. Garratt (1821–1832.

W. T. Copeland (1829–1868).

Sir T. Gabriel (1857–1891).

Sir J. Savory (1883– ).

Sir S. Knill (1885–1898).

Sir J. Knill (1897– ).

Skinners.

J. de Dunstaple (1293–1307).

A. de Hallingberi (1296–1300).

T. Sely (1297–1311).

J. Cotun (1319–1329).

# R. Sely (1319–1325).

R. le Palmer (1320–1326).

J. de Northalle (1339–1348).

W. Pountfreyt (1341–1348).

T. Leggy (1342–1357).

A. de Bury (1349–1376).

W. Forster (1361–1374).

W. Wodehous (1377–1383).

# E. de Thorpe (1377–1381).

J. Rote (1378–1389).

T. Irlond (1379–1382).

J. Sely (1379–1385).

# T. Rolf (1383–1384).

# W. Olyver (1383–1396).

W. Framlyngham (1401–1404).

H. Barton (1406–1435).

J. Penne (1408–1422).

R. Barton (1416–1435).

W. Gregory (1435–1461).

C. Warter (1451–1458).

R. Alley (1451–1460).

T. Oulegrave (1458–1470).

W. Constantyn (1463–1469).

# J. Croke (1470).

W. Wyking (1481).

Sir W. Martyn (1483–1505).

R. Chester (1484–1485).

T. Graunger (1503–1510).

T. Mirfyn (1509–1523).

N. Jenyns (1523, 1526–1529).

Sir J. Champneys (1527–1556).

Sir A. Judde (1541–1558).

Sir R. Dobbys (1542–1556).

# H. Herdson (1554–1555).

# P. Gunter (1569).

Sir W. Dixie (1574–1594).

T. Starkye (1576–1588).

Sir S. Slanye (1584–1608).

Sir R. Salstonstall (1588–1601).

# E. Fisher (1594).

J. Moore (1597–1603).

# T. Fisher (1604).

# R. Manning (1604).

Sir W. Cokayne (1609–1626).

# C. Martyn (1612).

Sir R. Deane (1620–1635).

# W. Paine (1621).

# R. Morley (1625).

# J. Meredith (1627).

# T. Smyth (1629).

# R. Aldworth (1629).

# Robert Bateman (1629).

J. Highlord (1634–1642).

# T. Keightley (1641).

# W. Methold (1647).

# Z. Highlord (1648).

# Richard Bateman (1648–1649).

# N. Wright (1649).

# J. Massingberd (1649).

# G. Price (1649).

Sir R. Tichborne (1649–1660).

Sir R. Chiverton (1649–1679).

# W. Ridges (1651).

# T. Heryott (1651).

N. Temse (1655–1658).

# R. Burdett (1656).

# W. Bateman (1657).

Sir A. Bateman (1657–1667).

# E. Bolte (1657).

# J. Jolliffe (1658).

# W. Crowe (1659–1660).

# R. Richbell (1661).

# Sir T. Bateman (1662–1664).

Sir G. Waterman (1664–1682).

# S. Frewen (1664).

# E. Bilton (1664).

# I. Lyte (1666).

# T. Blackerby (1666).

# B. Albin (1668).

Sir T. Pilkington (1680–1682, 1689–91).

# Sir W. Russell (1686–1687).

Sir H. Edwin (1687–1707).

# J. Gardner (1687–1688).

# Sir J. Wildman (1690–1693).

Sir J. Cass (1711–1718).

Sir G. Mertinns (1712–1727).

Sir C. Asgill (1749–1777).

Sir R. Kite (1756–1772).

J. Hart (1774–1784).

E. Pugh (1777–1784).

# J. Prinsep (1804–1809).

Sir J. Causton (1867–1871).

Merchant Taylors.

(Tailors and Linen Armourers before 1503.)

J. de Northampton (–1286).

P. le Taillour (–1292).

R. Holland (1435–1444).

(fn. 5) J. Derby (1444–1454).

R. Colwyche (1474–1480).

# R. Nailer (1482–1483).

J. Swan (1483–1492).

Sir J. Percyvale (1485–1503).

H. Pemberton (1491–1500).

Sir S. Jenyns (1499–1523).

J. Wilforth (1500–1511).

N. Nynes (1501–1504).

W. FitzWilliam (1504–1511).

Sir J. Skevynton (1521–1525).

# J. Nechylls (1525–1526).

# H. Dacres (1526–1528).

# P. Wythypool (1527–1528).

R. Paget (1532–1541).

Sir H. Huberthorn (1536–1556).

# R. Lesse (1537–1538).

J. Wylford (1538–1550).

Sir T. Whyte (1544–1567).

# S. Kyrton (1549–1553).

Sir T. Offley (1549–1557).

Sir W. Harper (1553–1574).

# R. Buttle (1555).

Sir T. Rowe (1557–1570).

J. Oliff (1567–1577).

W. Kympton (1574–1585).

# G. Gore (1574).

A. Ratcliff (1586–1596).

# J. Robynson (1592).

Sir R. Lee (1593–1605).

Sir L. Halliday (1594–1612).

Sir R. Hampson (1597–1607).

# P. Collett (1599).

Sir W. Craven (1600–1618).

Sir J. Swynnerton (1602–1616).

G. Elwes (1605–1616).

# H. Corbett (1608).

# F. Evington (1612).

# Sir H. Lee (1614).

W. Gore (1615–1624).

Sir J. Gore (1615–1636).

R. Herne (1618–1625).

Sir R Decye (1620–1634).

# T. Massam (1622).

# M. Bedell (1622).

# T. Francklyn (1622).

# Sir S. Leech (1625–1626).

# J. Parker (1626).

# Sir J. Hanbury (1626).

# G. Buswell (1626).

# E. Cotton (1627).

Sir W. Acton (1628–1643).

# Sir G. Elwes (1629).

Sir H. Pratt (1633–1641).

Sir A. Reynardson (1640–1649, 1660–1661).

# G. Benson (1640).

# I. Jones (1644).

S. Avery (1645–1653).

Sir R. Browne (1648–1649,1660–1669.

# W. Pell 1648).

# R. Draper (1649).

# J. Viccars (1649–1650).

# J. Stint (1649).

# W. Baker (1649).

# T. Ivy (1650).

# O. Neve (1651).

# W. Dudley (1651).

# R. Grymes (1651).

# S. Gunson (1651).

# J. Stone (1651).

# J. Ellis (1651).

# W. Gore (1651).

# R. Turner (1652–1653).

W. Bigg (1653–1658).

T. Milner (1653–1662).

# R. Turner, jun. (1653–1654).

# R. Holt (1656).

# F. Cleaver (1656).

# G. Gore (1656–1657).

# R. Lant (1656).

# N. Herne (1657).

# S. Lewis (1658).

Sir W. Bolton (1659–1668).

# W. Antobus (1659).

# A. Fox (1659).

# T. Reading (1659).

# G. Thomas (1659).

Sir W. Turner (1660, 1662–1693).

# N. Delves (1661).

# B. Honywood (1661).

# G. Hanger (1661).

# J. Hallett (1662).

# Sir H. Parker (1663).

# G. Nodes (1663).

# J. Orlibeare (1663).

# H. Hampson (1664).

# J. Woolnough (1664).

# J. Mellish (1667).

# E. Lewen (1667).

# E. Nash (1667).

# W. Moore (1667).

# A. Cliffe (1668).

# W. Bainbridge (1668).

# H. Ashhurst (1668).

# T. Plampion (1669).

# T. Polhill (1669).

# T. Wardall (1670).

# J. Forster (1670).

Sir P. Ward (1670–1696).

# B. Andrewes (1671).

# K. White (1672).

Sir W. Prichard (1672–1705).

# Sir P. Paravicini (1683–1687).

# J. Paige (1687).

# J. Lee (1687).

# R. Ingram (1687).

Sir W. Ashhurst (1687–1720).

Sir E. Clarke (1689–1703).

# Sir H. Ashhurst (1688–1689).

# T. Darwin (1693–1696).

Sir J. Smart (1694–1703).

Sir R. Bedingfeld (1697–1711).

Sir J. Ward (1709–1726).

Sir J. Salter (1730–1744).

Sir R. Westley (1737–1745).

Sir N. Nash (1758–1767).

# W. Lushington (1795–1799).

J. Ansley (1800–1835).

Sir C. S. Hunter (1804–1851).

J. Atkins (1808–1838).

C. Magnay (1809–1826).

Sir W. Heygate (1812–1843).

Sir J. W. Ellis (1872–).

Sir R. Hanson (1880–1905).

W. M. Guthrie (1902–).

F. S. Hanson (1905–).

Haberdashers.

Sir R. Billesdon (1471–1492).

W. Bacon (1480–1482).

W. Welbecke (1492–1504).

R. Aldernes (1511–1521).

# J. Brown (1523–1526).

J. Cawnton (1523–1528).

J. Hardy (1524–1535).

Sir S. Pecocke (1524–1536).

Sir W. Forman (1529–1547).

# R. Baxter (1536).

# T. Blanke (1542).

Sir G. Barne (1542–1558).

Sir W. Garrarde (1547–1571).

D. Woodruffe (1548–1560).

# T. Wylkes (1558–1559).

E. Bankes (1560–1565).

H. Beecher (1567–1571).

W. Bonde (1567–1576).

Sir N. Woodruffe (1571–1588).

Sir T. Blanke (1573–1588).

Sir G. Barne (1542–1558).

Sir G. Bonde (1578–1592).

Sir H. Billingsley (1585–1606).

R. Gourney (1589–1597).

Sir W. Ryder (1591–1611).

Sir J. Garrarde (1592–1625).

R. Taylor (1592–1596).

Sir T. Lowe (1594–1623).

# C. Hoddesdon (1598–1600).

Sir T. Smyth (1599–1601, 1604).

Sir W. Romency (1602–1611).

# L. White (1604).

# Sir W. Bonde (1605).

# W. Peart (1607).

# J. Cullimore (1610).

Sir F. Johnes (1610–1622).

# G. Huxley (1611).

Sir H. Hammersley (1619–1636).

Sir G. Whitmore (1621–1643).

Sir N. Rainton (1621–1646).

# W. Palmer (1625,1626).

Sir R. Fenn (1628–1639).

# R. Jefferies (1629).

H. Andrewes (1634–1638).

# R. Hudson (1640–1641).

J. Fowke (1642–1662).

# W. Berkeley (1643–1645).

S. Edmonds (1644–1652).

# J. Trott (1649).

# W. Adams (1649).

# T. Barnes (1649).

# H. Mimpriss (1649–1650).

# H. Smithson (1949).

# W. Bond (1649–1650).

# W. Cleve (1650).

# N. Dickins (1651).

# A. Biddulph (1651).

# T. Bromfield (1651).

# T. Arnold (1651).

# R. Fenn (1651).

# R. Gale (1651).

# Sir J. Clayton (1651).

# R. Maudit (1651).

# D. Taylor (1651).

# M. Hearing (1651–1653).

# W. Boothby (1652).

# D. Andrewes (1653–1655).

# A. Whatman (1656).

# T. Stubbins (1657).

# W. Hobson (1657).

# G. Arnold (1657).

# T. Blackhall (1657, 1661).

# J. Wainwright (1657).

Sir J. Lawrence (1658–1692).

# Sir A. Ingram (1661).

# M. Jones (1661).

# H. Prymatt (1661).

# W. Justice (1662–1664).

# T. Hayford (1663).

# J. Hoby (1666).

# R. Aske (1666).

# R. Chandler (1667).

# J. Athy (1667).

# F. Asty (1667–1668).

# F. Townley (1668).

# J. Wilding (1668).

# J. Prestwood (1668).

# D. Farrington (1669).

# W. Salmon (1669).

# J. Roberts (1670).

# W. Daniel (1670).

H. Cornish (1680–1683).

Sir P. Daniel (1682–1700)

# Sir J. Sambroke (1687).

# R. Bodington (1687).

# A. Groning (1687).

Sir John Eyles (1687–1688).

Sir R. Levett (1690–1711).

Sir W. Lewen (1708–1722).

Sir F. Eyles (1711–1716).

Sir F. Forbes (1713–1727).

Sir John Eyles (1716–1745).

Sir H. Master (1718–1745).

Sir W. Billers (1722–1745).

R. Alsop (1726–1737).

M. Perry (1728–1746).

Sir H. Hankey (1728–1737).

Sir G. Champion (1739–1754).

# Sir J. Hankey (1737–1769).

Sir Joseph Eyles (1739–1740).

# G. Arnold (1740–1751).

# W. Cracraft (1766–1767).

W. Lee (1775–1780).

T. Skinner (1785–1806).

Sir B. Hammett (1785–1798).

Sir S. Langston (1793–1797).

# E. Eagleton (1855–1857).

D. H. Stone (1864–1890).

Sir W. J. R. Cotton (1866–1892).

Sir F. W. Truscott (1871–1895).

Sir D. Evans (1884–).

Sir J. C. Bell (1894–).

Sir G. W. Truscott (1895–).

Salters.

R Bassett (1461–1484).

Sir W. Horn (1480–1496).

R. Chawry (1481–1509).

J. Long (1528–1538).

Sir T. Pargeter (1528–1532).

Sir J. Cotes (1534–1547).

# T. Colyns (1536).

# R. Rede (1544–1546).

# L. Wythers (1550–1556).

Sir A. Nicholas (1566–1578).

R. Hardyng (1567–1568).

# J. Hardyng (1576).

Sir W. Webbe (1581–1599).

# J. Dent (1589).

R. Clarke (1597–1605).

# M. Awbery (1607).

# H. Smith (1609).

# B. Hide (1614).

# W. Smyth (1621).

# G. Bennett (1621).

# W. Cater (1621).

# W. Martyn (1622).

# R. Bright (1622).

E. Crispe (1625).

# J Hobson (1627).

Sir J. Garrard (1637–1648).

E. Radge (1638–1640).

# J. Hayes (1619–1651).

# J Brand (1650).

# J. Pettiward (1650).

# J Smith (1650).

# J. Beauchampe (1651).

# G. Dent (1653).

Sir W. Thomson (1653–1661).

# J. Baker (1657).

# J. Gregory (1659).

# A. Plumpton (1661).

# † R. Taylor (1661).

# † R. Tyler (1663) [probably the same].

# N. Skinner (1666).

# J. Jermyn (1667).

# J. Steele (1668).

Sir J. Smith (1668–1673).

# H. Grey (1668).

# R. Hassell (1687).

Sir O. Buckingham (1696–1713).

Sir C. Peers (1708–1757).

Sir G. Conyers (1711–1737).

G. Heathcote (1735–1749).

Sir W. Rous (1737–1743).

E. Davies (1745–1749).

Sir R. Glyn (1750–1773).

Sir T. Chitty (1750–1762).

# J. Porter (1752–1756).

W. Nash (1766–1772).

F. Bull (1772–1784).

# H. Smith (1775–1777).

Sir R. C. Glyn (1790–1835).

Sir J. Eamer (1795–1823).

Sir J. Duke (1840–1873).

Sir S. J. Gibbons (1862–1875).

Sir R. N. Fowler (1878–1891).

Ironmongers.

G. Maghfeld (1382–1383, 1392–1397).

# W. Reinwell (1397–1403).

J. Warner (1397–1412).

R. Merlawe (1403–1420).

N. Jamys (1420–1433).

R. Gosselyn (1423–1429).

J. Hatherle (1434–1460).

R. Flemyng (1460–1464).

# N. Marshall (1463–1465).

T. Breteyn (1483–1485).

R. Grey (1513–1515).

Sir W. Denham (1531–1542).

T. Lewen (1539–1546).

Sir C. Draper (1556–1581).

Sir A. Avenon (1558–1580).

Richard Chamberlyn (1560–1566).

W. Dane (1568–1573).

Sir J. Harvye (1571–1583).

A. Gamage (1573–1579).

Sir W. Rowe (1581–1593).

# G. Garton (1588–1589).

# Robert Chamberlyn (1506).

# R. Cambell (1597).

Sir T. Cambell (1599–1614).

Sir S. Harvey (1609–1621).

# Richard Chamberlen (1611).

Sir J. Cambell (1620–1642).

# A. Skinner (1621).

R. Heylin (1624–1632).

Sir C. Clitherow (1626–1641).

# F. Pember (1626).

R. Cambell (1631–1638).

# Sir H. Windham (1642–1643).

# H. Norris (1652).

# F. Whorwood (1653).

# C. Thorold (1654).

# Sir J. Lewis (1656).

# G. Poyner (1661).

# E. Honywood (1664).

# J. Breedon (1667).

Sir R. Geffery (1676–1704).

Sir C. Thorold (1704–1709).

Sir W. Humfreys (1707–1735).

Sir G. Thorold (1709–1722).

Sir R. Godschall (1732–1742).

Sir S. Pennant (1742–1750).

R. Alsop (1745–1785).

W. Beckford (1752–1770).

J. Shakspeare (1767–1775).

Sir C. Price (1798–1818).

J. J. Smith (1803–1831).

W. Thompson (1821–1854).

Vintners.

H. de Coventre (–1281).

R. de Conduit (1321–1339, 1346–1347).

J. de Oxenford (1324–1342).

H. de Gisors (1330–1334).

R. de Rothyng (1333–1346).

H. Picard (1348–1361).

J. de Stodeye (1352–1376).

# W. Tonge (1377–1386).

# G. Newenton (1377–1381).

# J. Clyvele (1378–1379).

W. Doget (1380–1381).

W. More (1382–1400).

H. Vanner (1383–1394).

# H. Short (1397–1399).

J. Wakele (1400–1403).

S. Seman (1422–1433).

W. Abraham (1446–1456).

Sir J. Spencer (1516–1544).

Sir C. Buckle (1582–1594).

H. Prannell (1586–1589).

# R. Wythens (1590).

# Sir H. Brawne (1599).

# R. Humble (1601).

Sir C. Scudamore (1604–1614).

# W. Williamson (1612).

# C. Woodward (1622).

# J. Muscott (1625).

# W. Ives (1626).

W. Abell (1636–1642).

R. Wilson (1648–1650).

# J. Beadle (1649).

# W. Hancock (1649).

# M. Hildesley (1649–1651).

# Sir T. Rich (1650).

# T. Russell (1651).

# J. Marshall (1651).

# R. Terry (1656).

# G. Taylor (1656–1657).

# W. Wormewell (1657).

Sir T. Bludworth (1658–1682).

# Sir W. Wale (1659–1661).

# J. Barford (1660, 1668).

# T. Lewis (1661).

# S. Foote (1661).

# P. Dallow (1663).

# W. Wells (1664).

# R. Spencer (1667).

# T. Harley (1668).

# E. Midwinter (1668).

# H. Chitty (1668).

Sir S. Dashwood (1683–1705).

Sir T. Kinsey (1685–1697).

Sir T. Rawlinson (1680–1687, 1696–1708).

# W. Mart (1687).

Sir B. Firebrace (1687–1688).

Sir G. Heathcote (1702–1733).

# E. Noble (1710).

# Sir J. Lawrence (1713–1718).

Sir J. Tash (1725–1735).

Sir J. Thompson (1726–1750).

# T. Preston (1727–1729).

Sir D. Lambert (1737–1750).

F. Cokayne (1744–1767).

B. Kennett (1767–1782).

J. Bates (1784–1785).

Sir W. Herne (1796–1802).

Sir W. Plomer (1808–1812).

M. P. Lucas (1821–1848).

C. Farebrother (1826–1858).

J. K. Hooper (1840–1854).

Sir F. W. Truscott (1871–1895).

*Sir G. W. Truscott 1895–).

Clothworkers.

J. Tolos (1538–1548).

A. Hynde (1546–1554).

Sir W. Hewet (1550–1567).

J. Machell (1553–1558).

J. Altham (1556–1561).

J. Hawes 1556–1565).

# R. Foulkes (1556–1560).

Sir R. Heyward (1560–1593).

Sir J. Hawes (1565–1582).

Sir E. Osborne (1573–1592).

Sir J. Spencer (1583–1610).

R. Howse (1587–1591).

T. Skinner (1587–1596).

Sir N. Mosley (1589–1602).

# R. Staper (1594).

Sir J. Watts (1594–1616).

# J. Eldred (1604).

# Sir W. Stone (1605).

R. Farrington (1607–1610).

# H. Chapman (1611).

# R. Beale (1621).

R. Freeman (1622–1634).

Sir R. Parkhurst (1624–1636).

Sir A. Abdy (1631–1640).

Sir R. Gurney (1634–1642).

# T. Austen (1641–1642).

# E. Claxton (1648).

# J. Beale (1650).

# T. Jennings (1650).

# T. Andrewes (1650).

# R. Brent (1651).

# R. Reander (1651).

# W. Blucke (1651).

Sir J. Ireton (1651–1660).

# E. Trussell (1651).

# D. Waldoe (1653).

Sir J. Robinson (1655–1680).

# J. Butler (1656).

# Sir R. Austen (1656).

# W. Pennoyer (1657).

# S. Baseley (1658).

Sir W. Peake (1659–1676).

# H. Bainbrigg (1661).

# E. Chard (1661–1662).

#R. Browne (1663–1664).

# T. Browne (1664).

# N. Bonfoy (1664–1666).

# M. Davison (1666).

# R. Beckford (1667).

Sir D. Gauden (1667–1676).

# J. Baron (1667).

Sir F. Chaplin (1668–1680).

# J. Lane (1668).

# F. Dorrington (1668–1669).

# Sir E. Waldoe (1670).

# J. Birkin (1672).

Sir T. Beckford (1679–1685).

Sir T. Lane (1688–1709).

Sir R. Beachcroft (1703–1721).

# W. Andrew (1709).

Sir R. Knipe (1721–1728).

# L. Skinner (1721–1724).

W. Bernard (1742–1746).

T. Winterbottom (1745–1752).

W. Whitaker (1746–1752).

Sir S. Fludyer (1751–1768).

S. Turner (1762–1775).

B. Trecothick (1764–1774).

R. Peers (1765–1772).

Sir J. Perring (1798–1831).

# G. Hibbert (1798–1803).

J. Humphery (1835–1863).

Sir J. Musgrove (1842–1872).

Sir W. A. Rose (1854–1881).

Sir S. H. Waterlow (1863–1883).

E. J. Gray (1883–1891).

Dyers.

Sir W. Glover (1601–1603).

Sir R. Jones (1604–1605).

(fn. 6)Sir C. Hackett (1616–1631).

# W. Wagstaffe (1625).

# J. Mayo (1650–1653).

# C. Searle (1650).

# R. Hodges (1657).

# J. S,ith (1662–1664).

# H Cliffe (1663).

# Sir T Bonfoy (1664–1666).

# G. Mayo (1666).

# P. Ducane (1666).

# A. Stanlake (1667).

# S. Dennis (1667).

# P. Delaney (1668).

# J. Jurin (1668).

Sir C. Lethuillier (1687–1690).

# Sir J. Houblon (1692–1700).

# E. A. Wilde (1827–1829)].

Brewers.

(fn. 7) Sir R. Dodmer (1521–1536).

S. Cranmer (1632–1640).

J. Bide (1645–1649).

# Sir J. James (1650–1651).

# R. Jaques (1651).

# J. de Greate (1651).

# L. Hamond (1651).

# E. Lawrence (1657–1658).

(fn. 8) Sir S. Starling (1661–1674).

# W. Greene (1661).

# J. Hickson (1664).

# Sir W. Bucknell (1667).

# P. Jemmott (1667).

# W. Dashwood (1667).

# H. Knight (1667).

# J. Ferrer (1667–1668).

# G. Lynch (1667).

J. Forth (1668–1676).

# T. Young (1668).

# E. Hill (1668–1669).

D. Forth (1669–1676).

Sir J. Raymond (1681–1696).

(fn. 9) Sir J. Parsons (1687–1717).

Sir B. Greene (1709).

Sir W. Calvert (1741–1761).

Sir C. Gascoyne (1745–1761).

H. C. Combe (1790–1817).

Leathersellers.

J. de Poyntel (1319–1330).

# H. Goodyere (1546–1549).

(fn. 10) Sir W. Aleyn (1558–1586).

(fn. 11) Sir R. Pype (1570–1587).

H. Offley (1588–1594).

# R. Pratt (1607).

# N. Blinco (1607).

(fn. 11) Sir E. Barkham (1611–1634).

# T. Overman (1624).

(fn. 12) Sir E. Bromfield (1626–1642).

# T. Morley (1627).

Sir T. Andrewes (1642–1659).

Sir J. Bunce (1642–1649, 1660).

# G. Witham (1645–1648).

# S. Beale (1650).

# R. Henley (1650–1651).

# (fn. 13) A. Holt (1651).

# Sir W. Humble (1651).

# T. Merry (1652–1653).

# Sir R. Prince (1653).

# T. Vincent (1654–1655).

# R. White (1657).

F. Warner (1658–1664).

# R. Staughton (1660–1661).

# J. Hayes (1664).

# J. Niccoll (1670).

# J. Ash (1672).

# W. Kyffin (1687–1688).

T. Smith (1802–1823).

Sir C. Whetham (1871–1885).

Sir J. Staples (1876–1888).

Sir J. Pound (1892–).

Pewterers.

(fn. 14) Sir T. Curtes (1551–1559).

J. Catcher (1588–1596).

# R. Glover (1625).

J. Phillips (1651).

(fn. 14) Sir J. Fryer (1710–1726).

Sir J. Staples (1876–1888).

Barber-Surgeons

(fn. 14) Sir J. Ayliffe (1550–1556).

(fn. 14) Sir P. Probie (1614–1625).

# J. Coghill (1621).

# G. Pitts (1649).

# M. Browne (1652–1653).

(fn. 15) Sir J. Frederick (1661–1683).

# E. Arris (1663).

Sir N. Herne (1676–1679).

Sir J. Lethuillier (1676).

(fn. 16) Sir H. Edwin (1687–1707).

(fn. 17) Sir W. Stewart (1711–1723).

Barbers.

Sir T. Challenor (1760–1766).

Sir W. H. Wilkin (1888–).

Cutlers.

S. le Coteler (1294–1309).

# J. Berry (1653).

# I. Ash (1656).

# T. Hopkins (1658).

# J. Manningford (1658).

# R. Evans (1663).

# J. Greene (1667).

(fn. 18) Sir R. Hopkins (1724–1736).

W. Bridgen (1754–1779).

H. Winchester (1829–1838).

Sir R. W. Carden (1849–1888).

Sir W. V. Morgan (1892–).

Bakers.

# H. Goodwyn (1651).

# G. Benson (1653).

J. Paterson (1873–1875).

S. C. Hadley (1875–1884).

Sir W. H. Wilkin (1888–).

Sir J. T. Ritchie (1891–).

Waxchandlers.

R. Elys (1377–1396).

(fn. 19) H. Parsons (1721–1741).

Sir W. Smith (1746–1752).

N. Thomas (1773–1781).

Sir J. Cowan (1831–1842).

Sir W. A. Rose (1854–1881.

Tallow-Chandlers.

(fn. 20) R. Choppyn (1532–1536).

# R. Price (1651).

# R. Hickes (1662).

# T. Shipton (1664).

(fn. 21) Sir J. Sheldon (1666–1681).

# J. Man (1669).

# W. Fluellen (1669–1670).

W. Alexander (1753–1762).

J. Humphery (1835–1863).

T. Farncomb (1841–1859).

W. S. Hale (1856–1872).

D. H. Stone (1864–1890).

# S. Green (1897–1901).

Armourers & Braziers.

S. Wynchcombe (1382–1386).

(fn. 22) J. Warner (1503–1511).

# J. Rychemond (1536–1538).

G. Hayley (1774–1781).

Girdlers.

# (fn. 23) W. Reinwell (1397–1403).

(fn. 24) Sir S. Soame (1589–1619).

R. Chambers (1642–1649).

# A. Chambers (1649).

S. Estwick (1650–1657).

# J. Harris (1650).

# M. Bard (1651).

# H. Wrigley (1655).

# W. Strode (1661).

# H. Scarborough (1666).

# J. Cudworth (1668).

# T. Allen (1669).

# G. Clark (1801–1804)

T. Sidney (1844–1880).

D. W. Wire (1851–1860).

Sir A. J. Newton (1890–).

Butchers.

# M. Scales (1831–1832).

T. Challis (1843–1874).

Sir P. De Keyser (1882–1892).

H. J. Waterlow (1882–1887).

Saddlers.

H. Pountfreyt (1403–1411).

# T. Smithsby (1651).

# E. Smith (1652, 1667).

# F. Dashwood (1658).

# J. Lee (1664).

Sir P. Rich (1683–1692).

Sir P. Laurie (1826–1861).

Sir W. J. R. Cotton (1866–1892).

Carpenters.

(fn. 25) Sir J. Cass (1711–1718).

Sir W. Staines (1793–1807).

W. Lawrence (1848–1855).

Sir W. Lawrence (1855–1897).

Sir J. C. Lawrence (1860–1897).

G. S. Nottage (1875–1885).

H. C. Morris (1901–1906).

Cordwainers.

# R. Hill (1654).

# H. Beane (1667).

# W. H. Hughes (1832, 1843–1848)

*F. P. Alliston (1895–).

Painter-Stainers.

# (fn. 26) J. Brown (1523–1526).

# J. Aleyn (1658–1659).

# J. E. Saunders (1887–1888).

Curriers.

H. Kitchin (1779–1786).

W. Newman (1786–1802).

# R. C. Halse (1896–1897).

# J. E. Saunders (1887–1888).

Masons.

E. Conder (1859–1864).

Plumbers.

# W. Mott (1628).

Sir S. Knill (1885–1898).

*Sir J. Knill (1897– ).

*Sir T. V. Strong (1897– ).

Inn-Holders.

# W. Hinde (1649).

# J. Glasbrooke (1651).

# R. Vallence (1651).

# N. Cooke (1657).

Sir C. Marshall (1832–1859).

D. W. Wire (1851–1860).

Sir H. Muggeridge (1853–1862).

Sir T. S. Owden (1868–1889).

Sir P. De Keyser (1882–1892).

*Sir J. C. Bell (1894–).

Founders.

# J. Usshe (1547).

Poulters.

Sir P. De Keyser (1882–1892).

Sir J. Savory (1883–).

Cooks.

S. Birch (1807–1839).

Coopers.

# R. Cheslyn (1649–1650).

# H. Partridge (1666).

(fn. 27)Sir J. Fleet (1688–1712).

(fn. 28) Sir G. Champion (1729–1754).

Sir R. Willimott (1736–1746).

(fn. 29)Sir D. Lambert (1737–1750).

R. Scott (1752–1760).

Sir J. Esdaile (1767–1793).

T. Johnson (1833–1844).

Sir D. Salomons (1835, 1844, 1847–1873).

E. Breffit (1877–1882).

D. H. Stone (1864–1890).

Tylers and Bricklayers.

(fn. 30)Sir S. Fludyer (1751–1768).

Sir W. Plomer (1772–1801).

C. Hamerton (1797–1800).

Bowyers.

T. Sainsbury (1778–1795).

G. M. Macauley (1786–1803).

T. Q. Finnis (1848–1883).

Fletchers.

W. Benn (1740–1755).

# E. Gibbon (1743–1745).

# W. Jacob (1809–1811).

Blacksmiths.

J. Abbiss (1859–1867).

# J. E. Saunders (1887–1888).

Joiners.

J. Wilkes (1769–1797).

Sir W. Lewes (1772–1821).

R. Clark (1776–1798).

Sir S. Langston (1793–1797).

Weavers.

# J. Hawkins (1626).

# J. Lamotte (1648).

# Sir W. Baker (1739–1770).

# R. Lea (1803–1808).

S. Wilson (1831–1871).

J. White (1835–1841).

Woolmen.

T. de Basyng (–1281).

M. Box (1285–1301).

J. Priour (1322–1335).

R. de Hakeneie (1322–1343).

H. de Combemartyn (1327–1338).

# T. Perle (1348–1364).

# W. Wotton (1387–1392).

Scriveners.

# H. Best 1627.

# R. Morgan (1627)

# P. Blore (1641)

# M. Holtman (1651)

# [..] Shallcross (1651)

# J. Pierce (1653)

# W. Wilkinson (1653)

# [..] M. Noell (1657)

# J. Bentley (1659)

# T. Colwall (1661).

# J. Smith (1663).

# R. Shelbury (1664–1666).

# J. Blackwell (1668).

# J. Morris (1669).

(fn. 31)Sir R. Clayton (1670–1707)

Sir J. Shaw (1798–1831)

Fruiterers.

J. Paterson (1873–1875).

Sir H. E. Knight (1874–).

Sir J. Whitehead (1882–1896).

Sir J. Renals (1888–1907).

Sir J. Pound (1892–).

Plaisterers.

T. Kelly (1830–1855).

Sir J. Pirie (1834–1851).

Stationers.

# B. Norton (1607).

# G. Bishop (1609).

# J. Norton (1611).

# R. Garford (1656).

# M. Flesher (1661).

# J. Owen (1666).

(fn. 32)Sir T. Davies (1667–1680).

(fn. 33)J. Barber (1722–1741).

Sir S. T. Jannsen (1748–1765).

Sir F. Gosling (1756–1768).

T. Wright (1777–1798).

W. Gill (1781–1798).

John Boydell (1782–1804).

T. Cadell (1798–1802).

# Josiah Boydell (1804–1809).

Sir M. Bloxam (1803–1821).

Sir W. Domville (1806–1821).

C. Magnay (1809–1826).

W. Venables (1821–1840).

Sir J. Key (1823–1853).

J. Crowder (1823–1830).

Sir W. Magnay (1838–1857).

Sir F. G. Moon (1844–1871).

W. F. Allen (1858–1877).

Sir S. H. Waterlow (1863–1883).

Sir F. W. Truscott (1871–1895).

J. Figgins (1873–1882).

H. J. Waterlow (1882–1887).

Sir G. R. Tyler (1887–1897).

Sir F. Green (1891–1902).

*Sir G. W. Truscott (1895–).

*Sir T. V. Strong (1897–).

Broderers.

# T. Carleton (1382–1389).

(fn. 34) J. Thurston (1515–1519).

# Sir R. Ratcliff (1668).

(fn. 35) J. Shakspeare (1767–1775).

S. C. Hadley (1875–1884).

Sir D. Evans (1864–1907).

P. Cowan (1885–1892).

Sir W. H. Wilkin (1888–).

Upholders.

# J. Hodgson (1624).

# S. Ravenscroft (1653).

# T. Pepys (1656).

# S. Swain (1787–1790).

W. Hunter (1843–1856).

Musicians.

(fn. 36)B. Crosby (1765–1793).

# T. Wooldridge (1776–1783).

Sir B. Turner (1781).

Sir B. Watson (1784–1807).

Turners.

Sir W. J. R. Cotton (1866–1892).

Sir A. J. Newton (1890–).

*Sir T. B. Crosby (1898–).

*Sir C. C. Wakefield (1908–).

Glaziers.

Sir F. Green (1891–1902).

Farriers.

(fn. 37) F. Cokayne (1744–1767).

Loriners.

(fn. 38)Sir J. Bateman (1708–1718).

Sir J. Duke (1840–1873).

Sir F. G. Moon (1844–1871).

Sir W. A. Rose (1854–1881).

J. J. Mechi (1858–1866).

R. Besley (1861–1876).

Sir T. S. Owden (1868–1889).

Sir H. E. Knight (1874–).

[Sir J. Bennett (1877)].

Sir R. N. Fowler (1878–1891).

Sir H. A. Isaacs (1883–1891).

E. Hart (1888–1894).

Sir H. D. Davies (1889–).

Sir J. V. Moore (1889–1902).

Sir A. J. Newton (1890–).

Sir W. V. Morgan (1892– ).

Sir W. P. Treloar (1892–).

Sir J. C. Bell, Bart. (1894–).

*Sir D. Burnett (1902–).

*Sir T. V. Bowater (1907–).

*Sir C. C. Wakefield (1908–).

Apothecaries.

# G. Delaune (1626).

# J. Lorymer (1652).

# W. Bell (1652–1653).

Shipwrights.

# E. Brent (1668).

# T. James (1669).

Sir R. Hanson (1880–1905).

Sir J. Savory (1883–).

# J. E. Saunders (1887–1888).

Sir H. D. Davies (1889–).

Sir J. T. Ritchie (1891–).

Spectaclemakers.

J. Harmer (1833–1840).

J. Lainson (1835–1843).

J. Johnson (1839–1848).

Sir G. Carroll (1839–1860).

Sir J. Dyke (1840–1873).

Sir W. A. Rose (1854–1881).

Sir B. S. Phillips (1857–1888).

Sir T. Dakin (1861–1889).

Sir A. Lusk (1863–1895).

D. H. Stone (1864–1890).

Sir W. M'Arthur (1872–1887).

Sir H. E. Knight (1874–).

G. S. Nottage (1875–1885).

[Sir J. Bennett (1877)].

Sir R. N. Fowler (1878–1891).

Sir R. Hanson (1880–1905).

# J. Walker (1881–1882).

Sir P. De Keyser (1882–1892).

Sir J. Renals (1888–1907).

Sir G. F. Faudel-Phillips (1888–).

Sir H. D. Davies (1889–).

Sir M. Samuel (1891–).

*Sir C. C. Wakefield (1908–).

Clockmakers.

(fn. 39) Sir G. Mertuns (1712–1727).

J. Carter (1851–1878).

R. H. Kennedy (1854–1858).

Sir J. Savory (1883–).

Glovers.

(fn. 40)Sir J. Barnard (1728–1758).

J. Barnill (1780–1790).

Sir J. W. Anderson (1789–1813).

Sir J. C. Bell (1894–).

Feltmakers.

# [..] J. Rosseter 1769-1773

Sir T. White (1871–1883).

Framework Knitters.

J. Sawbridge (1769–1795).

Sir C. Flower (1801–1834).

R. Waithman (1818–1833).

T. Wood (1835–1847).

Sir J. V. Moore (1889–1902).

Sir J. Renals (1888–1907).

Sir A. J. Newton (1890–).

Needlemakers.

S. Goodbehere (1809–1818).

# J. E. Saunders (1887–1889).

Gardeners.

Sir J. Savory (1883–).

Sir M. Samuel (1891–).

*Sir C. C. Wakefield (1908–).

Wheelwrights.

R. Peckham (1773–1786).

(fn. 41)Sir W. Leighton (1799–1821).

G. Bridges (1811–1826).

E. Conder (1859–1864).

J. E. Saunders (1887–1888).

Distillers.

# J. Green (1718–1721).

R. Blunt (1761–1763).

G. Scholey (1805–1839).

Pattenmakers.

# T. Rowcroft (1802–1808).

(fn. 42)J. J. Smith (1803–1831).

Glass Sellers.

F. Howse (1906–).

Coachmakers.

Sir W. H. Wilkin (1888–).

Sir G. F. Faudel-Phillips (1888–).

Gunmakers.

# R. Dyer (1710).

Gold And Silver Wyre Drawers.

(fn. 43)S. Plumbe (1767–1782).

Sir D. Evans (1884–1907).

P. Cowan (1885–1892).

Sir J. Renals (1888–1907).

Sir H. D. Davies (1889–).

Sir A. J. Newton (1890–).

H. C. Morris (1901–1906).

*Sir C. C. Wakefield (1908–).

Playing Card Makers.

J. Crowder (1823–1830).

*Sir C. C. Wakefield (1908–).

Fanmakers.

Sir J. Whitehead (1882–1896).

Sir A. J. Newton (1890–).

Sir J. Pound (1892–).

(fn. 44)Sir J. C. Bell (1894–).

# R. C. Halse (1896–1897).

*Sir H. G. Smallman (1898– ).

H. C. Morris (1901–1906).

Tin Plate Workers.

*Sir C. C. Wakefield (1908–).

Woodmongers.

# M. Snelling (1625).

(fn. 45) Sir R. Browne (1648–1649, 1660–1669).

(fn. 46) Sir R. Howe (1668, 1682–1683).

Corders.

T. Box (1285–1293).

# J. Vyvyen (1321).

J. de Prestone (1321–1339).

(?)J. de Rokele (1343–1347).

B. Deumars (1343–1352).

Bladers.

W. Neel (1338–1346).

Note.—I have omitted, deliberately, and with full conviction of my correctness in doing so, the name of John de Prestone (Alderman, 1321–1339, Mayor, 1332–1333), from the list of Aldermen who belonged to the Girdlers' Company, although I am aware that he has the designation "Girdler" appended to his name in the MS. List of Mayors at the end of Letter Book F (Calendar p. 284), and that the Girdlers' Company claim him as a member of their Guild. Dr. Sharpe has pointed out in a footnote on the preceding page (283) of his Calendar that "the name of the mistery to which the Mayor or Sheriffs for the time being belonged is now frequently added by a later hand" (the Italics are mine). This addition cannot therefore be taken as contemporary and authoritative. The evidence against its accuracy is as follows: There were two John de Prestones, one a Corder and the other a Girdler, contemporary with each other. The future Mayor, when elected Alderman, is described as a Corder (Letter Book E, fo. 124). The wills of both were enrolled in the Court of Husting in the course of the same year (1339), that of the Corder being dated, October 27, 1339, whereas that of the former had been enrolled in the preceding January. [Calendar of Husting Wills, vol. i., pp. 431, 435]. A comparison of the wills would naturally suggest that the Corder was the more important and substantial man of the two. But there is much stronger evidence than any such inference. The Girdler names his wife, Matilda, and his son, Thomas; the Corder names his late wife, Johanna, and his son, John, to whom, he being then under age, he appoints John de Oxenford, Vintner (who was Mayor, 1341–1342), to be guardian. Now, in December, 1346, "John, son of John de Prestone, late Mayor of the City" appeared before the Mayor and Aldermen to claim delivery of the goods left him by his father, he being now of full age. (Letter Book F, fo. 132, Calendar pp. 157, 158). This clearly establishes the identity of the Mayor with the Corder.

At p. 136 of this work I have described John de Preston as "Corder (afterwards Draper)." In these lists I have not included his name among those of Draper-Aldermen, being not fully satisfied as to the weight to be attached to my authority. That authority is a list of Mayors and Sheriffs arranged under their respective Companies (Guildhall MS. No. 482), compiled early in the 17th century by William Smith, Rouge Dragon Pursuivant-at-Arms. I have been unable to find any other evidence except that of Herbert (History of the Twelve Great Livery Companies, vol. i., p. 435), whose authority is not by itself convincing, of his belonging to the Drapers' Company, and his designation as "Corder" in his will suggests the contrary.

Note A.

The Companies and the Aldermen, temp. Richard II.

A tradition has grown up, and is now generally accepted, resting mainly on an assertion of Herbert (History of the Twelve Great Livery Companies, vol. i., p. 307), which itself is due to an unfortunate, but not altogether inexcusable, misunderstanding of an entry in the records of the Grocers' Company, that at a certain date (which Herbert correctly transcribes as 1383), that Company numbered no less than 16 Aldermen, which number of course would constitute an overwhelming majority of the whole Aldermanic body, then comprising 24 members in all. This legend has, or appears to have, the support of the high authority of Bishop Stubbs, who writes (Constitutional History of England, vol. iii., p. 575) that the Grocers numbered at that time—he dates 1386, which is not correct—"no less than 16 Aldermen in their Company," which implies, if it does not actually assert, that they were then acting Aldermen of Wards, and is obviously so understood by the writer. Mr. J. H. Round also, whose own careful accuracy is hardly less marked than his keen eye for inaccuracy in others, in his article on Sir N. Brembre in the Dictionary of National Biography (in the course of which he points out that Stubbs' date is wrong), states that at the Mayoral election of 1383, that worthy was "one of the 16 Aldermen belonging to the great Grocers' Company." (It happens that at the time of the Mayoral election of 1383, Brembre was not an Alderman at all, but that is a detail.) Mr. G. M. Trevelyan also in his excellent work on England in the Age of Wycliffe, which contains an admirable resumé of the political history of the civic factions of the period, states (p. 278), that "one year sixteen of the twenty-five Aldermen were Grocers," giving in a footnote as his authority Dr. Cunningham's Growth of English Industry and Commerce, Early and Middle Ages, p. 341, where that author writes (of the Grocers): "During the first forty years of their existence they attained to overweening proportions . . . . they had immense influence in the government of the City. No fewer than sixteen of their body were Aldermen."Mr. Wheatley, also in his Story of London, writes at page 236 "at one time sixteen of the Aldermen belonged to the Grocers' Company," and at page 304 "in one year sixteen of the twenty-five Aldermen were Grocers." (At the period indicated, the number of Aldermen was not twenty-five but twenty-four.) It is curious to note that the original list in the Grocers' records contains (not sixteen but) seventeen names described as those of Aldermen; Herbert accidentally omits one of them, and everyone who has written on the subject, Bishop Stubbs and Mr. Round included, with the single exception of Mr. Kingdon, has blindly followed Herbert.

The mistake as to the Grocers' majority in the Court of Aldermen arises from the use, which is by no means uncommon, of the word "Alderman" to denote, in addition to existing holders of the office, persons who had already held but had, temporarily or permanently, ceased to hold it. Such persons were accorded the designation "Alderman" in common parlance after ceasing to be technically entitled to it. This is a fruitful source of error, though the practice of assigning titles no longer strictly and legally applicable to those so designated is quite established and customary. (Thus, the great Englishman who explored the deserts of Australia and by his vigour saved the colony of Jamaica from massacre was always known as Governor Eyre to the end of his life, and I can well remember a local magnate in my native city of Bristol, whom I never heard mentioned otherwise than with the prefix Alderman, though he had ceased to hold that office more than eleven years before I was born.) If Mr. T. F. Henderson, the writer of the article on Edward Backwell in the Dictionary of National Biography, had grasped this not very recondite fact, he might have spared himself and students who refer to his article his wholly gratuitous speculations on the possible cause of a vacancy in the Aldermanry of Bishopsgate in 1681, which Backwell had not held for more than 20 year, before that date, and which was in fact due to the death of the fifteenth person who had been elected to it since Backwell vacated it, and who had himself held it for fifteen year.

The original source of the error as to the number of Grocer-Aldermen is to be found, as I have indicated above, in the records of that Company. These have been transcribed and printed in facsimile for the years 1345–1463 by the late Mr. J. A. Kingdom, sometime Master of the Grocers' Company. In this transcript will be found under date 1383 a list of Members of the Company for that year which is headed by a batch of 17 names, bracketed and distingnished by the designation "Aldermen," this word being in different handwriting and probably added at a later period. Herbert reproduces, with more or less (generally less) accuracy, 16 of these names, two of which are adorned with the prefix "Sir," which does not appear in the original, and to which, neither at that date, nor at any period of their lives, had either of them any claim.

The original entry (p. 58 of the MS. records) runs as follows:

1383.

Ceux sount les nouns des Grocers Vestuez en la Lyuere a Noel lan vije Richard Seconde, Johan Haddeley et Johan Chircheman mestres esluz pur le dit an.

Mr. Kingdon appends the following translation:

These are the names of the Grocers clothed in the Livery at Christmas the 7th year of Richard the Second John Haddeley and John Chircheman masters elected for the said year.

Then follow the names as under:

*Aldermen Monsieur Nichol Brembre Chevalier.
Johan Haddeley.
Johan Warde.
William Baret.
Adam Carlille.
Adam Chaungeour.
William Venour.
Johan Hoo.
Hugh Fastolf.
Geffrey Cremylford.
William Badby.
William Staundon.
Richard Aylesbery.
Johan Furneux.
William Eynesham.
Richard Preston.
Johan Chircheman.

*Mr. Kingdon appends the following note: "These names are bracketed together and the word 'Aldermen' written in the margin by the same hand seemingly that wrote the memoranda on pages 42, 44 and 399 of the MS. vol." We have therefore the evidence of Mr. Kingdon himself that this handwriting is apparently identical with writing on p. 399 (A.D. 1458). It cannot, therefore, be of earlier date than 1458, and it is possibly of still later date. Hence it will be seen that it cannot be taken as contemporary authority. Mr. Kingdon, however, in his introduction, takes it for granted that the seventeen persons named were all Aldermen contemporaneously; he writes: "Brembre, with seventeen Grocers for Aldermen, governed the City as its Mayor in 1383" adding with regard to Chircheman that he "was Sheriff and himself one of the fourteen Grocer-Aldermen during Brembre's Mayoralty in 1385."

Herbert reproduces the list in the following form, and it is his version which Bishop Stubbs, Dr. Cunningham, Mr. Round, Mr. Trevelyan and others have followed.

Aldermen in 1383.

Sir Nicholas Brembre

Sir John Haddeley

John Warde

William Barrett

Adam Caryl

Adam Chaungeor

John Hoo

Hugh Falstolfe

Geffrey Cremylford

William Badby

Sir William Standon

Richard Aylesbury

John Ferneux

William Evesham

Richard Prestor

John Churchman

It will be seen that Herbert, for no apparent reason and probably by pure accident, omits the name of W. Venour and hence gives the total as sixteen. (The knighthoods here attributed by implication to Haddeley and Staundon are fictions of the imagination. In no single entry in the various original records at Guildhall, nor in their respective wills proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury is either of them described as knight.)

Now at the date which the list of seventeen (Herbert's sixteen) represents (Christmas 1383), the actual number of Grocers who were members of the Court of Aldermen was eight, including the Mayor, who was not an Alderman of a Ward, but of course presided in the Court in virtue of his office. These were W. Baret (Cornhill), W. Venour (Castle Baynard), (J. Cremylford (Langbourn), W. Staundou (Aldgate), R. Aylesbery (Dowgate), J. Furneux (Bread Street), J. Chircheman (Bridge), and the Mayor, Sir N. Brembre, who had been Alderman of Bread Street Ward from 1372 to 1377 (fn. 47) and also 1378–1379, 1380–1381, 1382–1383 and was again elected in March, 1384.

[I have adopted the spelling of the Grocers' records, differing in some cases from that of the Letter Books at Guildhall, which I have generally followed in the body of this work]

Mr. Kingdon's assertion that there were "fourteen Grocer-Aldermen during Brembre's Mayoralty in 1385" (Introduction p. xx.), is equally incorrect. He finds a similar list (at the date which he means but here incorrectly states), bracketed as Aldermen, the names being (with some orthographical variations), those of Brembre, Haddeley, Carlille, Chaungeour, Venour, Hoo, Fastolf, Cremylford, Badby, Staundon, Furneux, Eynesham, Preston and Chircheman. Of the seventeen named in 1383, three, Warde, Aylesbery and Baret, are omitted. The two former were probably dead, as I know of no later reference to them, but Baret came back to the Court of Aldermen in 1390 and survived till 1411. Mr. Kingdon has made a very strange mistake here, though he has corrected it by anticipation on the preceding page (xix.), of his Introduction where he writes: "in 1386 there were fourteen." The date was not 1385 but 1386 ("Christmas the 10th year of King Richard" as Mr. Kingdon himself quite correctly translates the heading). At that time (Christmas 1386), the actual number of GrocerAldermen was eight, viz: Brembre, Haddeley, Chaungeour, Venour, Fastolf, Staundon, Preston and Chircheman.

The persons other than the above, who are named in these lists of 17 and 14 respectively, had held the office of Alderman in earlier years, but at the dates indicated had no claim beyond that of custom and courtesy to be so described.

The following table shows the number of representatives of the various Companies returned each year during the period of annual elections (1377–1394). The number of wards at that time was 24, one of which (Portsoken), did not take part in these elections and was not represented by a member of one of the Companies, its Alderman ex officio being the Prior of Holy Trinity; hence the number of elective Aldermen was 23. As the period includes that of the struggle for civic supremacy between the victualling guilds represented by the Fishmongers and Grocers and Vintners on one side and the non-victualling guilds represented by the Drapers, Mercers and Goldsmiths on the other, (the former under the leadership of Brembre and Philipot and the latter under that of Northampton and Twyford), this list may not be without interest to the historical student.

Mercers. Grocers. Drapers. Fishmongers. Goldsmiths. Skinners. Ironmongers. Vintners. Woolmongers. Waxchandlers. Armourers. Broderers. Company not known. Election not recorded.
1377 3 3 3 8 1 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0
1378 6 7 1 3 3 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
1379 2 6 5 5 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
1380 4 7 1 5 3 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
1381 4 4 3 6 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0
1382 3 4 3 6 1 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
1383 7 7 2 0 4 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
1384 4 9 1 2 3 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
1385 5 7 1 3 1 1 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 1
1386 6 8 1 2 1 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
1387 5 8 1 2 1 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
1388 4 6 2 2 3 1 0 2 1 0 0 1 1 0
1389 4 6 2 2 4 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1
1390 4 6 2 3 4 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0
1391 5 5 1 3 3 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 2 0
1392 6 5 1 2 4 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
1393 7 6 2 1 2 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
1394 6 4 3 3 3 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0

(The increased total of 24, exclusive of Portsoken, in 1394, is due to the division, which then took effect, of Farringdon into two Wards.)

To these should be added the following Mayors, who at the dates indicated were not Aldermen of Wards, but ex officio presided in the Court:—

March, 1377 to March, 1378 N. Brembre, Grocer.
March to October, 1379 J. Philipot, Grocer.
October, 1379 to March, 1380 J. Hadle, Grocer.
March to October, 1381 W. Walworth, Fishmonger.
October, 1381 to March, 1382 J. de Northampton, Draper.
March to October, 1383
October, 1383 to March, 1384 Sir N. Brembre, Grocer.
March to October, 1392 J. Heende, Draper.
October, 1393 to March, 1394 J. Hadle, Grocer

The strength of the respective Companies in the Court of Aldermen was modified in the course of certain Aldermanic years by the following changes at bye-elections to fill vacancies from death or other causes:

1382–1383 An Ironmonger succeeded a Fishmonger.
1384–1385 A Skinner succeeded a Grocer.
1385–1386 A Vintner succeeded a Grocer.
1387–1388 Two Goldsmiths and a Woolmonger succeeded a Mercer, a Draper and a Grocer.
1389–1390 A person whose Company does not appear succeeded a Skinner.
1391–1392 A Grocer succeeded a Woolmonger.

[The substance of the foregoing note has already appeared in the issue of the English Historical Review, for July, 1907. I have now corrected the numbers assigned in that article to the Mercers and Drapers respectively for the years 1378, 1380, 1382, 1384, 1386, 1387, in which John Estone was one of the Aldermen. He appears to have been a Mercer [Letter Book H, fo. 45b], whereas I had erroneously reckoned him as a Draper, confounding him with a later personage of the same name, probably his son. The error is only incidental, and not material to the subject of the article, which deals mainly with the Grocer-Aldermen of the period under review]

Footnotes

  • 1. . The Letter Books appear to distinguish between the mercatores aluta and the alutarii. I have the appear of the excellent authority of Dr. Sharpe in regarding this distinction as definite and not accidental, in which case the former designation denotes Leathersellers and the latter Cordwainers. It is, however not improbable that the permanent organization of the two crafts into distinct Guilds was not finally effected until a later date.
  • 2. . The number is eight, exclusive of John Derby (Candlewick), who is described in his will (1479) as "late Alderman and Draper" and whom I have therefore included among the Drapers. He appears, however, to be identical with the John Derby who was Master of the Guild of Tailors and Linen Armourers in 1461–2.
  • 3. Sir G. Champion was next in seniority for the Lord Mayoralty but was rejected by the Liveries in 1739 owing to his parliamentary support of Sir R. Walpole's ministry, which was then unpopular in the City, although its adherents in the Court of Aldermen were in a majority.
  • 4. . Alexander Holt, elected Alderman of Bridge Ward, August 27, 1651, is described as "Leatherseller" in the minute of his election (Rep. 61, fo. 197 b) and as "Goldsmith" in that of his discharge three days later (Rep. 61, fo.206). Alexander Holt, "Goldsmith," was elected Alderman of Vintry Ward. May 30, 1665 (Rep. 70, fo. 122 b), but the same person, when elected Sheriff, August 17, 1666 (Journal /[..] f.100 b is described as "Leatherseller." A person of this name was Master of the Leathersellers' Company, 1652–53, and was doubtless identical with the Alderman of Bridge: whether the Alderman of Vintry was the same man is not clear, but if they were distinct, it is strange that both should be named as belonging to two different Companies.
  • 5. . See footnote, page 330.
  • 6. . Translated to the Drapers.
  • 7. . Translated to the Mercers.
  • 8. . Translated to the Drapers.
  • 9. . Translated to the Fishmongers.
  • 10. . Admitted to the Mercers.
  • 11. . Translated to the Drapers.
  • 12. . Translated to the Fishmongers.
  • 13. . See footnote, page 343.
  • 14. . Translated to the Fishmongers.
  • 15. . Translated to the Grocers.
  • 16. . Translated to the Skinners.
  • 17. . Translated to the Goldsmiths.
  • 18. Translated to the Fishmongers.
  • 19. . Translated to the Grocers.
  • 20. . Translated to the Grocers.
  • 21. Translated to the Drapers.
  • 22. Translated to the Grocers.
  • 23. . Translated to the Ironmongers.
  • 24. . Translated to the Grocers.
  • 25. Translated to the Skinners.
  • 26. Translated to the Haberdashers.
  • 27. Translated to the Grocers.
  • 28. Translated to the Haberdashers.
  • 29. Translated to the Vintners.
  • 30. Translated to the Clothworkers.
  • 31. Translated to the Drapers.
  • 32. Translated to the Drapers.
  • 33. Translated to the Goldsmiths.
  • 34. Translated to the Goldsmiths.
  • 35. Translated to the Ironmongers.
  • 36. Translated to the Goldsmiths.
  • 37. Translated to the Vintners.
  • 38. Translated to the Fishmongers.
  • 39. Translated to the Skinners.
  • 40. Translated to the Grocers.
  • 41. Translated to the Fishmongers.
  • 42. Translated to the Ironmongers.
  • 43. Translated to the Goldsmiths.
  • 44. Translated to the Haberdashers.
  • 45. Admitted to the Merchant Taylors.
  • 46. Translated to the Fishmongers.
  • 47. Mr. J. H. Round's usual accuracy forsakes him when he writes (Dict. Nat. Biog., vol. vi., p. 255, that Brembre "first appears as an Alderman in 1376." His first election on September 21, 1372 is duly recorded in Letter Book G (fol. 293 b). [Some mischievous sprite seems to have guided the pens of the most accurate writers, even Bishop Creighton and Mr. Round, when they contributed to the D.N.B.]