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Online Resources
- 1916 London 1916 Kelly's Post Office Directory at MyHeritage — index & images ($)
Industries
Livery Companies
108 livery companies have operated in London. Wikipedia maintains a list of The City Livery Companies, along with links to company websites.
- The Livery Companies Database is a helpful resource that supplies contact details for each active company.
Histories
Histories have been written on many London livery companies. The British Library has compiled a detailed list. Most of those published before 1923 are available for free online at Hathi Trust, Google Books, or Internet Archive.
Medieval Londoners identifies several histories, as well as published records, available online.
Sources
A bibliography of original sources pertaining to London Livery Company members was published in 1982. It is available online.
A bibliography of surviving land records from each company was published in 1985.[1] The list is available online.
Apprenticeship records are one of the most valuable genealogical sources created by London livery companies. They often name the following information about an apprentice's father: name, residence, and occupation. Cliff Webb has abstracted the records of many companies:
- London Apprenticeship Abstracts 1442-1850 at Findmypast (£); also available in book form (48 vols.): FS Library Books 942.1/L1 U25w v. 1-48.
The website Records of London's Livery Companies Online: Apprentices and Freemen 1400-1900 offers free indexes to The Bowyer's Company (1680-1900), The Clothworkers' Company (1545-1900), The Drapers' Company (c.1400-1900), The Girdlers' Company (1654-1900), The Goldsmith's Company (1600-1700), The Mercers' Company (1339-1900), and The Salters' Company (1599/1600, 1678-1900).[3]
For the period 1524-1553, a register of London freemen, created independently from the company records, has survived. Welch's abstracts are available online. He reports that other freemen records burned in a fire in 1786.
In 1641, a list of members of City Companies was compiled:
- The Members of the City Companies in 1641, As Set Forth in the Return for the Poll Tax. 5 vols. FS Catalog books 942.1/L1 X3da v. 1-5
1641 Poll Tax of Drapers.
In 1651, signatures of members of 22 City Companies were taken:
- London Citizens in 1651, Being a Transcript of Harleian MS. 4778. 1910. Digital version at Internet Archive - free.
- London, England, Freedom of the City Admission Papers, 1681-1930. Digital version at Ancestry.
In 1696, oaths from livery company members were recorded. This source acts as a census of liverymen:
- Association Oath Rolls for City of London Livery Companies, 1696at British Origins (£)
City of London Haberdashers, Apprentices and Freemen, 1526-1933 at Findmypast (£).
Records of the Worshipful Company of Carpenters Volume I: Apprentices' Entry Books 1654-1694 at British History Online. Abstracts of apprenticeship entry books.
Gunmakers' Company Freedoms and Admissions, 1656-1936 at Findmypast] (£).
Walcot, Cynthia. 'Artists - 1823. A List of names and addresses of Artists in London,' The Hampshire Family Historian, vol. VIII, no.4 (Feb. 1982), 148-149, FamilySearch Library Ref. 942.27 B27h
Inventories and information about the heirs of London freemen are included in Common Serjeant's Books at the London Metropolitan Archives. A partial index is available online.
Peter Wilson Coldham's Child Apprentices in America from Christ's Hospital, London, 1617-1778 at Ancestry (£). Lists orphans of citizens of London whose transportation to the colonies was paid for (£).
Physicians and Irregular Medical Practitioners in London 1550-1640 at British History Online.
Clothworkers' Company Archive Catalogue .
Clockmakers' apprentices (PDF).
1631-1732 - "List of Members of the Clockmakers' Company of London" online
1518-present - Index to Fellows of Royal College of Physicians also known as Munk's Roll online.
1496-1515, 1547-1694 - "Skinners' Company: Apprenticeships," 'Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica,' Ser. 3, Vol. I (1896), communicated by G.E. Cokayne:
- A and B Surnames
- C Surnames
- D, E, and F Surnames
- G, H, and I Surnames
- J, K, L, and M Surnames
- N, O, and P Surnames
- P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, Y, and Z Surnames
Guildhall Library
The original records of most London livery companies are deposited at the Guildhall Library. A guide to their collection is available online:
Manuscripts on Microfilm
Inns of Court
Lawyers from all over England and Wales were trained at London's four inns of court.
- Main article: Lawyers in England and Wales
For a useful guide, see:
- Brooks, Brian G.C. and Mark D. Herber. My Ancestor was a Lawyer. London: Society of Genealogists, c2006. FS Library Book 942 D27bbg.
Notes on English Medieval Genealogy maintains a useful list of online Inns of Court records.
Gray's Inn
See also Staple Inn.
Inner Temple
Lincoln's Inn
See also Thavie's Inn.
Middle Temple
Websites
- Livery Company records and furthering your ancestry virtual lesson
- London Metropolitan Archives - Search for Research Guide 14 - City Freedom Archives
- London Metropolitan Archives - Search for Research Guide 17 - The Membership Records of the Merchant Taylors Company
- London Metropolitan Archives - Search for Research Guide 18 - Records of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen
- London Metropolitan Archives - Search for Research Guide 16 - Searching for Members or Those Apprenticed to Members of City of London Livery Companies
- London Metropolitan Archives - Search for Research Guide 37 - Sources for Tracing Apothecaries, Surgeons, Physicians and Other Medical Practitioners
References
- ↑ 'Sources: London Livery Companies', A Survey of Documentary Sources for Property Holding in London before the Great Fire: London Record Society, 22 (1985), pp. 12-36. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=64577 Date accessed: 03 January 2012.
- ↑ About London Apprenticeship Abstracts 1442-1850 (Wayback Machine), British Origins, accessed 31 December 2011.
- ↑ Belinda Griffin, 'Records of London's Livery Companies Online,' Family Tree Magazine, 21 June 2012, http://family-tree.co.uk/2012/06/records-of-londons-livery-companies-online/, accessed 22 June 2012.
- ↑ Cliff Webb, "Association Oath Rolls - Background to the Documents" (Wayback Machine), British Origins, accessed 3 January 2012.
- ↑ Joseph Foster, The Register of Admissions to Gray's Inn, 1521-1889, Together with the Register of Marriages in Gray's Inn Chapel, 1695-1754 (London: The Hansard Publishing Union, Limited, 1889). Digitized by Google Books.
- ↑ The Records of the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn. Vol. I. Admissions from A.D. 1420 to A.D. 1799 (Lincoln's Inn, 1896). Digitized by Google Books.
- ↑ H.A.C. Sturgess, Register of Admissions to the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple (from the Fifteenth Century to 1944). 3 vols. (Butterworth and Co., 1949).
- ↑ Charles Henry Hopwood, Middle Temple Records (London: Butterworth and Co., 1904). Digitized by Google Books.