Innholders' Company apprenticeships

The Innholders' Company was probably founded in the 13th century. Its first surviving charter dates from 1515.

The records of this company are deposited at the Guildhall Library. Guildhall Library Ms 6649/1 contains court minutes 1642-43 and 1654-65, which include details of apprenticeships during this period. GL Ms 6648A is a clerk's memorandum book for the period 1655, 1659-70. The beginning of the volume is very badly faded and partially illegible. Strangely, despite overlapping the court minutes in GL Ms 6649/1, entries do not appear in both volumes, indeed the only exception is one which, by being struck through in one, emphasises that apprenticeships were only entered in one or the other, but it is not clear whether there was a system as to which volume recorded them. After a further short gap, the main series of court minutes resumes with GL Ms 6648/1 covering 1673-81. GL Ms 6648/2 partially overlaps GL Ms 6648/1 starting in 1678 and ending in 1688. Succeeding volumes used in this index are GL Ms 6648/3 (1688-1714); GL Ms 6648/4 (1714-52); GL Ms 6648/5 (1752-76); GL Ms 6648/6 (1777-94) and GL Ms 6648/7 (1794-1818 copied to 1800 only). A few dubious entries were elucidated using an index to the period 1673-1726 (GL Ms 6654).

In some records of this court the meeting is only dated as "Lord Mayor's Day"; entries thus dated have been rendered in the form '.. Nov [year]' in the abstracts.

The records of 1,516 Innholders' apprenticeships have been abstracted.