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The numbers of factory apprentices declined following the Health and Morals of Apprentices Act in 1802. This stopped any work at night and specified that, when three of more apprentices were employed, their working day should be a maximum of 12 hours, between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., excluding mealtimes. They were also to be taught reading, writing and arithmetic, and to have new clothes yearly. | The numbers of factory apprentices declined following the Health and Morals of Apprentices Act in 1802. This stopped any work at night and specified that, when three of more apprentices were employed, their working day should be a maximum of 12 hours, between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., excluding mealtimes. They were also to be taught reading, writing and arithmetic, and to have new clothes yearly. | ||
Improvements were slow in coming. In 1816 another Act restricted the distance to which the children could be sent to a 40-mile radius of their homes and they to be at least nine years old. The maximum number of hours worked in a day was reduced to 10 in 1847. When in 1834 one poor law commissioner asked an assistant overseer how the long-distance apprentices turned out after they were bound, his brutal answer was, "We have nothing to do with them afterwards". | Improvements were slow in coming. In 1816 another Act restricted the distance to which the children could be sent to a 40-mile radius of their homes and they to be at least nine years old. The maximum number of hours worked in a day was reduced to 10 in 1847. When in 1834 one poor law commissioner asked an assistant overseer how the long-distance apprentices turned out after they were bound, his brutal answer was, "We have nothing to do with them afterwards". | ||
Another Act in 1802 had again said that registers of those apprenticed should be kept by the home parishes. They survive unevenly in the appropriate county record offices. A good example is that of apprentices in St Peter and St Paul parish, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, which has been printed for 1720-1848 by the Mansfield & District Family History Society. | Another Act in 1802 had again said that registers of those apprenticed should be kept by the home parishes. They survive unevenly in the appropriate county record offices. A good example is that of apprentices in St Peter and St Paul parish, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, which has been printed for 1720-1848 by the Mansfield & District Family History Society. | ||
Many of these registers end in 1834 but the great changes in the poor law that year did not altogether put an end to parish apprenticeship. Many pauper children were bound out by the Poor Law Unions after 1834, but the parishes continued to take an interest and to raise money for the apprenticeship of individuals on whom they took pity, perhaps because the father had been transported or the children left destitute by some tragedy. In these cases the cost might be raised by a one-off collection, which would be easier to organise than an increase in the poor rate. The vestry minutes or churchwardens accounts should then provide the details. | Many of these registers end in 1834 but the great changes in the poor law that year did not altogether put an end to parish apprenticeship. Many pauper children were bound out by the Poor Law Unions after 1834, but the parishes continued to take an interest and to raise money for the apprenticeship of individuals on whom they took pity, perhaps because the father had been transported or the children left destitute by some tragedy. In these cases the cost might be raised by a one-off collection, which would be easier to organise than an increase in the poor rate. The vestry minutes or churchwardens accounts should then provide the details. | ||
'''3. Charity apprentices''' | '''3. Charity apprentices''' | ||
Some parishes that had charitable funds spesifically for that purpose continued to arrange apprenticeship for suitable children after 1834. From early times a few benefactors bequeathed money to parishes with which to apprentice children. At Ardeley in Hertfordshire in 1655 Edward Head left £20 for the purchase of a piece of land, still called Apprentice Land, the income from which was to be used to apprentice children. For a while in the 1730s the vestry rather typically agreed that this should only be done if the boys were settled outside Ardeley itself. | Some parishes that had charitable funds spesifically for that purpose continued to arrange apprenticeship for suitable children after 1834. From early times a few benefactors bequeathed money to parishes with which to apprentice children. At Ardeley in Hertfordshire in 1655 Edward Head left £20 for the purchase of a piece of land, still called Apprentice Land, the income from which was to be used to apprentice children. For a while in the 1730s the vestry rather typically agreed that this should only be done if the boys were settled outside Ardeley itself. | ||
Fees for the more exclusive trades increased with time and it became difficult for parents to find means to apprentice their children. In some towns there were borough charities and other charitable institutions which helped. | Fees for the more exclusive trades increased with time and it became difficult for parents to find means to apprentice their children. In some towns there were borough charities and other charitable institutions which helped. | ||
At Harrow in Middlesex, for instance, over 600 children, including girls in the 19th century, were helped by a chaity between 1648 and 1871. They are listed in Jim Golland's The Harrow apprentices (1981). The Bear Club at Devizes in Wiltshire was a social club which met at the Bear Inn and in addition to other charitable work, paid from its subscription fees for the apprenticeship of local boys, between 1765 and 1875. These have also been printed. | At Harrow in Middlesex, for instance, over 600 children, including girls in the 19th century, were helped by a chaity between 1648 and 1871. They are listed in Jim Golland's The Harrow apprentices (1981). The Bear Club at Devizes in Wiltshire was a social club which met at the Bear Inn and in addition to other charitable work, paid from its subscription fees for the apprenticeship of local boys, between 1765 and 1875. These have also been printed. | ||
A small number of charities even recognised the difficulties that an apprentice would face at the end of his term if he wished to set up as a master on his own. Some early indentures specified that the master give assistance to the apprentice at that time, with tools or even stock, but that became unusual. Webb's charity at Warwick even provided £5 at the end of the apprentice's term if the master certified that the boy had been satisfactory. | A small number of charities even recognised the difficulties that an apprentice would face at the end of his term if he wished to set up as a master on his own. Some early indentures specified that the master give assistance to the apprentice at that time, with tools or even stock, but that became unusual. Webb's charity at Warwick even provided £5 at the end of the apprentice's term if the master certified that the boy had been satisfactory. | ||
Some charities provided interest-free loans. One founded by Sir Thomas White in the Midlands in 1542 required that the loans be repaid after nine years. It still flourishes and in 1990 the charity distributed over £600,000 to apprentices from Coventry, Northampton, Leicester, Nottingham and Warwick. | Some charities provided interest-free loans. One founded by Sir Thomas White in the Midlands in 1542 required that the loans be repaid after nine years. It still flourishes and in 1990 the charity distributed over £600,000 to apprentices from Coventry, Northampton, Leicester, Nottingham and Warwick. | ||
'''The tax on Apprenticeship Indentures 1710-1811''' | |||
The discovery of the main record of apprentices in the past, that of the tax on apprenticeship indentures between 1710 and 1811, was due to the professional genealogist Gerald Fothergill (1870-1926). He was active in lobbying for the preservation of records and one of his hobbies was to read acts of parliament and then consider what records would have resulted from them. Some time in the 1920s he found the Act imposing this tax and went to the Inland Revenue Office at Somerset House and asked if the records still survived. They did, and he then persuaded the authorities to tranfer them to Public Record Office (now The National Archives, at Kew). | |||
Between 1710 and 1811 a stamp duty of sixpence had been levied on each apprenticeship indenture, but more importantly the premium itself had been taxed at sixpence for every £1 of the premium and a shilling (twelve pence) for every £1 above £50. The resulting centralised record shows the name of the apprentice and of his or her father or guardian, the name and place of residence of the master, the trade to be learned, the term of years, and the premium paid. The entries do not, however, show the name of the apprentice's father or guardian after about 1752. The books record the money received until 1811 but the last indentures recorded were signed in 1808. | |||
The record if extremely important but far from complete. No tax was payable on the premiums of parish and charity apprentices or on those nominal premiums of a shilling or less which were common when an apprentice was bound to his father or to some other relative. Many others seem also to have avoided the tax for reasons which are not altogether clear. For the first 50 years or so of the record it appears reasonably reliable, but later the volumes were maintained irregularly. | |||
The Society of Genealogists raised a fund to have the entries in the period 1710-74 transcribed and indexed in two series, 1710-62 and 1762-74, all the index slips being sorted by the artist Duncan Moul. Separate indexes to the masters for both series have also been prepared. They enable a master to be traced from place to place if he takes a series of apprentices. | |||
The typescript transcripts and indexes are also available at The National Archives at Kew and at the Guildhall Library. They have all been published and are widely available on microfiche. Users should note that there is a large appendiz of extra entries after the letter "Z" at the end of the first series, and that the deadline for payment of tax was ayear after the expiry of the indenture, so an entry might well be seven or eight years later than expected. | |||
The early entries for five counties (Bedfordshire, Surrey, Sussex, Warwickshire and Wiltshire) have been rpinted and typescript abstracts of those for Cambridgeshire for 1763-1811 are available. After 1774 the large unindexed volumes naturally take time to go through. They have been microfilmed to 1811 by the Genealogical Society of Utah. | |||
A very miscellaneous collection of 1,525 original apprenticeship indentures brought together from a wide variety of places and covering the years 1641-1888 is to be found at the Society of Genealogists. The first six volumes were collected by Frederick Arthur Crisp and purchased in 1923. The other eleven were given by Mr H. Clench in 1924. The first part consists mainly of indentures of parish paupers, including some from Westminster between 1667 and 1750 and others from the Girls Orphan Asylum at Lambeth from about 1764 to 1780 ad then again from about 1802 to 1833. The series is recorded in several textbooks as "Crisp's Bonds" but the separate series of bonds do not relate to apprenticeship.There is a typescript index and the volumes have been microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah. | |||
'''Apprenticeship in London and Borough Towns''' | |||
'''1. London''' | |||
to be continued | to be continued | ||