Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1774-2003 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
52 volumes; 5 boxes; 1 file
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
The governing body of the Carpenters' Company is the Court of Assistants, with the Master, who holds office for one year, being the head of the Company. The Company's earliest ordinances of 1333 stated that the Brotherhood was to be governed by four wardens elected annually. The ordinances of 1455 were more specific: the Company was to be governed by a Master and three Wardens who were to be elected annually on the Feast of St Lawrence (10 August) and hold office for one year. In order to help them manage the Company's business, which had increased, particularly in attempting to control the carpentry trade, the Master and Wardens were permitted to appoint eight Assistants who formed the Court of Assistants. They were to be former Master or Wardens of the Company, or 'most honest persons', and the Court was to meet once a week on Fridays. The ordinances of 1455 and the election of Master and Wardens were confirmed by the Company's charter of 1477. The work of the Court covered two areas, as a committee of management dealing with ordinary Company business, managing property and organising regulations for its conduct, and as a judicial court dealing with breaches of regulations, overseeing differences between freemen of the Company, and settling trade disputes between freemen and their employers outside the Company. As the Company's control over the trade declined, the Court's role as a judicial court was also diminished, and the Court's principal role became that of the governing body of the Company. The Court now meets once a month. A number of Standing Committees comprising members of the Court and Liverymen report to the Court on a regular basis.
Repository
Archival history
Created by the Carpenters' Company. Some records were transferred to the Guildhall Library in 1948.
GB 2812 B 1774-2003 Sub-fonds of the Carpenters' Company 52 volumes; 5 boxes; 1 file Carpenters' Company , Worshipful Company of Carpenters
The governing body of the Carpenters' Company is the Court of Assistants, with the Master, who holds office for one year, being the head of the Company. The Company's earliest ordinances of 1333 stated that the Brotherhood was to be governed by four wardens elected annually. The ordinances of 1455 were more specific: the Company was to be governed by a Master and three Wardens who were to be elected annually on the Feast of St Lawrence (10 August) and hold office for one year. In order to help them manage the Company's business, which had increased, particularly in attempting to control the carpentry trade, the Master and Wardens were permitted to appoint eight Assistants who formed the Court of Assistants. They were to be former Master or Wardens of the Company, or 'most honest persons', and the Court was to meet once a week on Fridays. The ordinances of 1455 and the election of Master and Wardens were confirmed by the Company's charter of 1477. The work of the Court covered two areas, as a committee of management dealing with ordinary Company business, managing property and organising regulations for its conduct, and as a judicial court dealing with breaches of regulations, overseeing differences between freemen of the Company, and settling trade disputes between freemen and their employers outside the Company. As the Company's control over the trade declined, the Court's role as a judicial court was also diminished, and the Court's principal role became that of the governing body of the Company. The Court now meets once a month. A number of Standing Committees comprising members of the Court and Liverymen report to the Court on a regular basis.
Created by the Carpenters' Company. Some records were transferred to the Guildhall Library in 1948.
Records of the Carpenters' Company relating to the governing of the Company, 1774-2003, (note that the older records of these series, from 1533, are held at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts section, see Related material for details) comprising Court minute books, 1882-2003, recording elections of officers, freedom admissions, apprenticeship bindings, some quarterage payments and minutes (to 1926, only elections, admissions, bindings and quarterage are recorded, all other proceedings are entered in the report and order books); rough Court minute books, including agenda papers, notes, ballot papers, 1856-1877, 1880-1883, 1899-1944; report and order books, 1859-1926; rough report and order books, 1856-1877; Court agenda books, 1903-1928, 1950-1961; Court attendance register, 1883-1927; Court papers, 1774-1775, including poor lists; standing orders, 1939, 1951, 1967, 1980, 1993; minutes of the Master and Wardens' Committee, 1928-1981; minutes of the General Purposes Committee, 1926-2003.
As outlined in the scope and content.
Access to the archives is at the discretion of the Company. The records are available for consultation by prior appointment only. Contact the Archivist, Carpenters Hall, Throgmorton Avenue, London EC2N 2JJ.
Copies of material can be supplied, subject to copyright restrictions and suitability of the item for copying.
English
Catalogue available at Carpenters' Hall.
For transcripts see Publication note.
Records in the series held at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section, Aldermanbury, London, EC2P 2EJ: Court minute books, 1533-1594, 1600-1674, 1676-1689, 1691-1882, including a calendar of freedom admissions, 1544-1577 (from 1737 minutes etc are entered in the Report and Order books) (ref: 4329/1 - 4329/24); Report and Order books, 1739-1858 (ref: 4329c/1 - 4329c/5); rough Report and Order books, 1741-1754, 1830-1855 (ref: 4329b/1 - 4329b/2); Court papers, including agenda papers, petitions for the relief of the Company's poor, lists of fines, notes relating to apprentice bindings and freedom admissions, abstracts of covenants between members of the Company for binding purposes, mayoral precepts, papers relating to the Company's granaries, licences issued by the Chamberlain of London, memoranda concerning viewings of work and orders relating to faulty workmanship, sundry correspondence, 1600-1603, 1609-1616, 1619-29, 1631-1632 (ref: 7784/1 - 7784/15); Court papers, 1749-1752, giving details of fines received for apprenticeship bindings and freedom admissions, with names, 1749-1754, and lists of pensioners, with amounts paid, 1749-1750 (ref: 7782).
Printed transcript and index in Records of the Carpenters' Company, vol.III (Oxford University Press, 1915) for Court minutes 1533-1573; printed transcript and index in Records of the Carpenters' Company, vol.VI (Oxford University Press, 1939) for Court minutes 1573-1594.
Sources: A History of the Carpenters' Company, Jasper Ridley (Carpenters' Company & Unicorn Press Ltd, 1995); Records of the Worshipful Company of Carpenters Vol III Court Book 1533-1573 (Oxford University Press, 1915).
Compiled by Julie Tancell and Alison Field as part of the London Signpost Survey Project. Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997. December 2003 Administration Administrative structure Associations Carpenters' Company , Court of Assistants Carpenters' Company x Worshipful Company of Carpenters Carpenters' Hall Carpentry City of London England Europe Guilds London Organizations UK Western Europe Wood technology Woodworking Organisation and management
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Records of the Carpenters' Company relating to the governing of the Company, 1774-2003, (note that the older records of these series, from 1533, are held at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts section, see Related material for details) comprising Court minute books, 1882-2003, recording elections of officers, freedom admissions, apprenticeship bindings, some quarterage payments and minutes (to 1926, only elections, admissions, bindings and quarterage are recorded, all other proceedings are entered in the report and order books); rough Court minute books, including agenda papers, notes, ballot papers, 1856-1877, 1880-1883, 1899-1944; report and order books, 1859-1926; rough report and order books, 1856-1877; Court agenda books, 1903-1928, 1950-1961; Court attendance register, 1883-1927; Court papers, 1774-1775, including poor lists; standing orders, 1939, 1951, 1967, 1980, 1993; minutes of the Master and Wardens' Committee, 1928-1981; minutes of the General Purposes Committee, 1926-2003.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
As outlined in the scope and content.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Access to the archives is at the discretion of the Company. The records are available for consultation by prior appointment only. Contact the Archivist, Carpenters Hall, Throgmorton Avenue, London EC2N 2JJ.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies of material can be supplied, subject to copyright restrictions and suitability of the item for copying.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Catalogue available at Carpenters' Hall.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
For transcripts see Publication note.
Related units of description
Records in the series held at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section, Aldermanbury, London, EC2P 2EJ: Court minute books, 1533-1594, 1600-1674, 1676-1689, 1691-1882, including a calendar of freedom admissions, 1544-1577 (from 1737 minutes etc are entered in the Report and Order books) (ref: 4329/1 - 4329/24); Report and Order books, 1739-1858 (ref: 4329c/1 - 4329c/5); rough Report and Order books, 1741-1754, 1830-1855 (ref: 4329b/1 - 4329b/2); Court papers, including agenda papers, petitions for the relief of the Company's poor, lists of fines, notes relating to apprentice bindings and freedom admissions, abstracts of covenants between members of the Company for binding purposes, mayoral precepts, papers relating to the Company's granaries, licences issued by the Chamberlain of London, memoranda concerning viewings of work and orders relating to faulty workmanship, sundry correspondence, 1600-1603, 1609-1616, 1619-29, 1631-1632 (ref: 7784/1 - 7784/15); Court papers, 1749-1752, giving details of fines received for apprenticeship bindings and freedom admissions, with names, 1749-1754, and lists of pensioners, with amounts paid, 1749-1750 (ref: 7782).
Publication note
Notes area
Note
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English