Apprenticeship in England: Difference between revisions

The child effectively became an extra worker in the master's household. He or she was subject to the absolute authority of the master and by the terms of their "indenture" could not gamble, or go to the theatre or a public house, and certainly could not marry.  

That indenture was nearly always a private arrangement between the master and the guardian of the child apprenticed. The chance of its survival is therefore relatively small. The written indenture bound the child to the master; an oral agreement was not sufficient. Under the 1563 Act a deed or written contract was essential, but parishes which apprenticed paupers were spared that additional expense until 1691. The Stamp Act of 1709 put a tax on the indenture which resulted in a centralised record until 1808 (described below) and after 1757 the indenture was generally replaced by a stamped deed, though most people still called the document their "indenture".  

Theodore Klepenican, who came from Russia to England with Peter the Great in 1718, was apprenticed in Birmingham to learn the trade of edge-tool making. He was charged £70 for five years, whereas the usual fee was about £5 to £10 for seven. Peter also arranged 15 apprenticeships in ship-building for between £30 and £120, when the going rate was £4 to £40. The masters feared that their skills would be taken back to Russia and others instructed to the prejudice of their own trade. There were language difficulties to contend with, other apprentices were not taken at the same time, and the masters may have lost some trade as a result of their foreign involvement.  

An appropriate master was usually found amongst one's friends and relations on personal recommendation. In some trades, like the London printing trade, there were complex networks of acquaintance and relationship. Some kept apprenticeship very much in the family and their whole expertise became a monopoly of a small handful of connected families, as it did in the Mint.  

The professional genealogist Alexander W.D. Mitton, of The Dungeon, Earl Court Road, London, who died in 1977, once advertised for an apprentice with a large premium. A good premium was always a welcome injection of capital into a business but, at a lower level, payments might sometimes go in the other direction. Chimney sweeps might offer two or three pounds to a mother to take her child. There are other instances where the father of an illegitimate child paid £5 for his unwanted son to be taken on and others where the fathers of illegitimate children were obliged to pay by the overseers of the poor.  

A seven-year term was usual and in the better trades, such as cabinet makers, saddlers and silversmiths, apprenticeship usually started at the age of fourteen. By the "custom of London" those apprenticed in the City had to be over 14 and under 21. In Surrey in the 18th century some 87 per cent of the apprenticeships were for seven years, the remainder ranging from one to 15 years.  

Some trades that required physical strength did not suit very small children, but in low-skilled occupations, such as nailing, ribbon weaving, framework knitting and cotton manufacture or with farm and house servants, work could begin at a much lower age. In Coventry it was usual to bind children aged seven to ten and even as young as four or five years old for 14 years as chimney sweeps. Some survived to become, themselves, masters.  

An apprentice who stole from his master might well abscond and, as he had not completed his term, he would not legally be able to work in his trade for another master. A livelihood of crime was then almost inevitable. The justices would punish bad work, staying out at night and disobedience, with a month's hard labour in the House of Correction. If the apprentice repeated the offence he could be discharged and his indentures cancelled. The premium that his parents had paid would then be lost.  

The number of apprentices who ran away was always higher during periods of foreign wars when some found refuge from uncongenial trades and masters in the army or navy. In Warwickshire, for instance, advertisements in the local newspapers by masters trying to trace their runaway apprentices reach a peak in 1810-11. Following an earlier peak during the Seven Years War, an Act in 1766 had required that time lost be added to the period of the indenture if the apprentice were found or returned to his master.  

In due course an industrious apprentice might marry his master's daughter or even the widow. The apprentice who married his master's daughter had several advantages. His livelihood was assured with an existing clientele. He needed no help from his parents in starting a separate business and with luck he might inherit that of his master who meanwhile had a new partner that he knew well, could rely on, and would not become a rival when he himself was perhaps not so active. The dowry too would be less. In the early 17th century some eight per cent of London aldermen were former apprentices who had married their masters' daughters. A strictly supervised apprentice would have little opportunity to meet girls of his own age other than the household servants who would probably be of a lower social class.  

There were advantages too in marrying the master's widow and thus acquiring the firm or shop. In 1775 Thomas Dawnsley, a barber's apprentice of 23 who had just finished his term, married his master's widow, Mrs Searles of Southwark, aged 74. He was her fifth husband; all had been barbers. Such marriages were quite common even into the 19th century. In dangerous but quite prosperous trades, like plumbing and farriery, women were often widowed young, and continued to manage the firm with the help of journeymen and apprentices. Indeed, women blacksmiths are often seen in 19th century trade directories. For them marriage was an obvious and practical solution.  

With the growth of population at the end of the 18th century and the greater demand for goods, opportunities for work became more widely available and the use of formal apprenticeship, except in some skilled trades, began to decline. Because the 1563 Act had carefully listed all the trades to which it applied the lawyers held that it did not extend to trades which had not existed when it was passed. In some trades the use of indentures, except for paupers, had become much less common and in many areas the Statute was clearly not enforced.  

Sections of the 1563 Act were therefore repealed in 1814 and it was no longer possible to prosecute anyone who practised a trade without having served a seven-year term. It is thought, however, that the number apprenticed was not immediately affected. Even as late as 1906, over 20 per cent of working males aged 15-19 were apprenticed and it was only the educational revolution of the 20th century that brought the system almost to an end. In 1993 the government, drawing on its best aspects, introduced Modern Apprenticeships, for teaching particular technical skills.  

== The tax on Apprenticeship Indentures 1710-1811  ==

In 2011 complete indexes to the names of the apprentices and their masters, the places involved, and the dates, were made available on the subsription website [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1851 Ancestry.com].