Chapter III: Preface (3)

It is probable, however, that trade in former times was separated
into main divisions, the staple and the miscellaneous, now known as
mercery. Silk, when first imported, fell in England into the latter
division, hence the combined appellation “silk mercers”; but on the
Continent the word was applied to the vendors of all goods carried
about for sale. Cervantes, speaking of the original history in
Arabic of Don Quixote, says he purchased it of a book mercer; and
Guicciardini, in his description of the Netherlands, speaks of
merceries as well of silk as of other materials, and in another
place says that mercery comprehends all things sold by retail or by
the little balance or scales. Skinner, in his _Etymologicon_,
published in 1671, says “that a mercer was _mercator peripateticus_”
or an itinerant merchant.

The master and wardens superintended the taking of apprentices by
their members, searching the weights and measures of shopkeepers
belonging to the Company, and otherwise regulating their commercial
dealings. The Company appointed brokers of mercery wares, under the
first charter to the City by Edward II., by which it was declared
that there should be no brokers in the City but those chosen by the
merchants in the mysteries in which they exercised their office, and
under the charter of Edward III., which declared that none should
exercise the office of broker in foreign merchandise in London
unless chosen by the merchants of the mysteries in which they should
act. The Company also appointed a common meter of linen cloth and
silk, a common weigher of raw silk, and tackle porters to do their
work at the waterside. The Company no longer appoint to any of these
offices, because of the different methods of carrying on business
which have obtained in modern times.

In the 13th year of Edward II. the Companies had advanced towards
the phase of “Livery Companies.” “_Moultz des gens de Mesters en
Loundres furent vestus de suite._”

The Company seem to have exercised some supervision over the
retailers of silk and other mercery wares previous to the reign of
Queen Elizabeth; but such supervision was probably not founded on
any legal basis, as a petition to the privy council at the
commencement of that queen’s reign, praying that these rights should
be recognised, was unsuccessful.

The numbers of the Company have been recruited by the admission of
apprentices, and from the sons of mercers, who have from very early
times been always entitled to the freedom; and one reason for the
smallness of the Company may probably have been the old custom,
established so long ago as 1347, that no strangers should be
admitted to the freedom without the consent of the generality. The
Company has never been very numerous. In 1347, when it was
refounded, 103 persons paid their entrance fees; in 1527 the Company
numbered 144; in 1707, when most numerous, 331; and on December 31,
1880, 166.

The earliest date of which there is a record in the Company’s books
is the year 1347, when it was reorganised, if not refounded.

The statement that no one should take as an apprentice one who had
carried packs through the country, called pedlars, seems to show
that a mercer at this time had ceased to be, if he had ever been, a
pedlar.

Previous to the charter granted by Richard II., the mercers did not
pretend to be a corporation, but simply a member of the City. In
their petition to Parliament in 10th Richard II., against Nicholas
Brembre, then mayor, they call themselves “the folk of the mercerie,
a member of the city.” The Company, having at this time no hall of
their own, assembled either in the house of one of the wardens, or
in the hall or church of the hospital of St. Thomas of Acon, the
site of which is now occupied by their chapel and hall, and
subsequently occasionally at the Prince’s Wardrobe in the Old Jewry.
They had then no landed property, and their income was derived from
subscriptions, apprentice fees, and fines, and amounted to about £20
a year.

The Company’s first charter, enrolled at the Record Office (the
original of which has been lost), is dated at Westminster the 13th
January, 17th Richard II. (1393).

The most important event in the early history of the Mercers Company
was the appointment of the Company as trustees of the charities of
Sir Richard Whittington, several times master or principal warden of
the Company, and four times Lord Mayor of London. He died in the
year 1422-23. It is not necessary to enumerate precisely the
munificent works of charity which were carried out by Sir Richard
Whittington in his lifetime, or by his executors after his death;
suffice it to say that he, or they by his direction, rebuilt the
parish church of St. Michael Royal, rebuilt the prison of Newgate,
built or repaired the City conduits, contributed very largely to the
building of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and of the Guildhall, to the
library of the Corporation of London, and the library of the
Greyfriars, and established a chaplain at St. Paul’s. Whittington
appointed John Coventry, John White, John Carpenter, and William
Grove to be executors of his will, which was proved in March
1422-23. On the 12th November, 3rd Henry VI. (1424), his executors
obtained a charter from the King to found Whittington college and
almshouses. Of both these foundations the Mercers Company were made
trustees.

The Company’s second charter was granted by Henry VI. at the prayer
of the executors of Whittington.

On the accession of Edward IV. it became necessary for the quieting
of men’s titles that the grants made by the Lancastrian kings should
be confirmed, and accordingly the statute 1st Edward IV. cap. 1 was
passed, by which it was enacted that all liberties and franchises
granted by Henry IV., Henry V., and Henry VI., to counties or
corporations, and among others to the wardens and commonalty of the
Mystery of Mercers of the City of London, should be of the same
force and virtue as if they had been granted by kings reigning _de
jure_. The Mercers Company is the only company named in the Act, the
others being included in general words.

MERCERS’ HALL
]

1463. This year is a most important one in the Company’s annals, as
in it the court of assistants was first established. The business of
the Company having very much increased, both on account of their
connection with the Merchant Adventurers Company and also from the
management of the trusts of Whittington, Abbot, and Estfield, it was
felt that the whole burden of the Company’s affairs should not be
cast upon the wardens, and that it was not desirable that the
generality should be constantly called together. For many years
previous to this date it had been the practice that the wardens, and
the aldermen free of the Company, and their peers, should hold
assemblies for the devising of ordinances or other matters, their
deliberations being afterwards submitted to a general court for
approval. On the 23rd of July 1463, at a general court of the
Company, the following resolution was passed: “It is accorded that
for the holding of many courts and congregations of the fellowship
it is tedious and grievous to the body of the fellowship, and
specially for matters of no great effect, that hereafter yearly
shall be chosen and associate to the custoses for the time being, 12
other sufficient persons to be assistants to the said custoses, and
all matters by them, or most part of them, finished, to be holden
firm and stable, and the fellowship to abide by them.”

The rest of the history of the Mercers Company is mainly occupied by
a recital of charities which were placed in their hands to
administer. It is sufficient to call attention to the many and
splendid endowments which have been placed in the hands of the
Company.

The general court appoint three trustees of the Prisons’ Charities
Trust, decide when the corporate seal shall be affixed, and
determine the amount of fees which shall be paid for attendance at
general courts, courts of assistants, and committees. The fee paid
to a member for his attendance at general courts and courts of
assistants is £4 : 4s., and to a member attending a committee, £2 :
2s.

(1) A freeman is entitled from Lady Campden’s legacy for loans, and
from the money legacies for loans, to have the loan of not more than
£500 without interest for not more than five years, giving approved
security.

He is entitled, if his circumstances warrant it, and within the
limits of the Company’s nominations, to have his sons placed in
Christ’s Hospital under Daniel Westall’s gift, and clothed, boarded,
and educated there from eight years old to fifteen, and perhaps to
nineteen; and his daughters educated out of the Company’s funds at
an expense not exceeding £50 per annum, from nine years of age to
fifteen, and if they show reasonable proficiency and ability to
seventeen, under regulations approved by the general court.

He is also entitled in case of old age, misfortune, or infirmity to
receive relief proportioned to his circumstances out of the
Company’s or out of Sir Richard Whittington’s estate, which was left
to the Company specially for that purpose; and his widow and
daughters are entitled to relief under similar circumstances.

(2) Liveryman.—A liveryman is entitled to the same advantages as a
freeman, and in addition is invited to three dinners in the course
of the year. He has the right to attend common hall, and to vote at
elections of lord mayors and sheriffs and of such other officers of
the Corporation of London as are elected by the livery; and if
resident within a radius of twenty-five miles from the City, to vote
at elections of members of Parliament for the City of London.

He is eligible, and if of sufficient position and standing he is
generally called in rotation by the court of assistants, to be a
member of their body.

(3) Master, Warden, or otherwise a member of the governing body.—A
member of the court of assistants is summoned to general courts as
well as to meetings of the court of assistants (which are held
weekly, except during Christmas and Easter weeks and six weeks in
August and September). He is also eligible to be placed on
committees appointed by the court and on the Gresham committee.

He is invited to dine at all dinners in the Company’s hall.

He recommends in rotation to appointments to Mercers’ School, and to
out-pensions on the Whittington estate, and to the Whittington
almshouses.

The court of assistants appoint nine governors of St. Paul’s School
under the provisions of the scheme, and also governors and members
of the council and of the executive committee of the City and Guilds
of London Institute for the Advancement of Technical Education.

The master and wardens are members of every committee appointed by
the Company. They distribute Alderman Walthall’s and Lady
Hungerford’s gifts, appoint preachers in Mercers’ Chapel under
various gifts, and are _ex officio_ governors of St. Paul’s School.

They also receive under various wills of benefactors to the Company
certain small annuities, and are entitled to the surplus of
Blundell’s estate, which surplus amounted in 1880 to £205 : 9 : 9.

A member of the Company will probably come on to the court of
assistants when he is about forty-five years of age, and he remains
a member for life.

The Company does not carry on any trade or occupation whatever.

The Mercers’ Hall is interesting as standing on the site of the
ancient House of St. Thomas Acon. On the dissolution the Mercers
purchased the buildings of the House.

The Mercers had occupied a house adjoining for more than a hundred
years before this acquisition. The Religious House itself was
undoubtedly on the site of the house where Thomas was born. The
buildings were destroyed in the Great Fire. The second hall was
built on the same site with another chapel in which service is held
every Sunday evening. Fragments of the ancient buildings can still
be seen. The present hall is said to have been designed by Wren. The
entrance in Cheapside was built in 1879.

Among the more distinguished members of this great Company have been
Whittington, Caxton, and Sir Thomas Gresham, Sir Henry Colet, Sir
Baptist Hicks. The present number of the livery is returned in
_Whitaker_ as 187; the Corporate Income as £48,000; the Trust Income
as £35,000.

For an account of the Hospital of St. Thomas of Acon, which at first extended from Ironmonger Lane to Old Jewry, see _Mediæval London_, vol. ii. p. 262.

=King Street= was constructed after the Fire, in order to give a nobler approach to the Guildhall. Pepys refers to the ground having been already bought in December 1667. Strype says that “it is well inhabited by Norwich Factors and other wholesale dealers of wealth and reputation.” He calls it New King Street.

=Trump Street= or =Trump Alley= is not named in Agas, Stow, or Ogilvy; Strype calls it Duke Street.

The mention of John Carsyl, Tromppour, Trumper or Trumpet-maker (1308), also of William Trompeor (1321) and William le Trompour, gives Riley occasion for the following notes:

“The persons who followed this trade mostly lived, in all probability, in Trump Street, formerly Trump Alley (a much longer street then than it is now), near the Guildhall; their principal customers not improbably being the City waits, or watchmen; each of whom was provided with a trumpet, also known as a “wait,” for sounding the hours of the watch, and giving the alarm. In reference to this trade it deserves the remark, that the only memorial that has come down to us of the Chapel of St. Mary the Virgin, and of St. Mary Magdalen and all Saints, formerly adjoining the Guildhall, is a massive stone coffin (now in the Library at Guildhall) with its lid, whereon is sculptured a cross between two trumpets, and around its margin the following inscription: Godefrey le Trompour: gist: ci: Deu: del: ealme: eit: merci. ‘Godefrey the Trompour lies here, God on the soul have mercy.’ In Trump Alley, close adjoining, he probably lived, sold trumpets, and died—if we may judge from the character of the writing, in the latter half of the fourteenth century” (Riley’s _Memorials_, p. xxi).

=St. Lawrence Lane.=—“Antiquities in this lane I find none other, than that among many fair houses, there is one large inn for receipt of Travellers called Blossoms inn, but corruptly Bosoms inn, and hath to sign St. Laurence the Deacon, in a border of blossoms or flowers” (Stow’s _Survey_).

Cunningham adds as follows:

“When Charles V. came over to this country in 1522, certain houses and inns were set apart for the reception of his retinue, and in St. Lawrence Lane, at ‘the signe of Saint Lawrence, otherwise called Bosoms yn, xx beddes and a stable for lx horses’ were directed to be got ready. The curious old tract about Bankes and his bay horse (_Maroccus Extaticus_) is said to be by ‘John Dando, the wier-drawer of Hadley, and Harrie Runt, head ostler of Besomes Inne.’”

The inn was also called “Bossamez” Inn and Boscham’s Inn.

=Honey Lane Market= was established soon after the Fire. Strype thus speaks of it (vol. i. p. 566):

“Adjoining to this street, on the north side, is Honey Lane, being now, as it were, an alley with a Freestone pavement, serving as a passage to Honey Lane Market; the former Lane, and other buildings, being since the fire of London converted into this market. Among which buildings, was the Parish Church of St. Allhallow’s, Honey Lane; and, because it was thought fit not to rebuild it, the parish is united to St. Mary-le-Bow. This Market is well served, every Week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with Provisions. The Place taken up by this Market is spacious. In the middle is a large and square Market-house, standing on pillars, with rooms over it, and a bell-tower in the midst. There are in the market one hundred and thirty-five standing stalls for butchers, with racks, blocks, and others necessaries, all covered over, to shelter them from the injury of the weather; and also several stalls for fruiterers. The west end of the market lieth open to Milk Street, where there is a cock of conduit water for the use of the market. There are two other passages into it, that is, one out of St. Lawrence’s Lane, besides that which comes out of Cheapside; which passages are inhabited by grocers, Fishmongers, Poulterers, Victuallers, and Cheesemongers.”

Complaints are found in the wardmote book of people making fires in the market; of butchers killing sheep and lambs there; and of the annoyance caused by the farmers letting soil and refuse lie about the place. Honey Lane, which led to it, is said by Stow to be so called, being a dark and narrow place, on account of the constant washing required to keep it clean—a far-fetched derivation. The name is indeed very ancient. In a grant, dated 1203-15, made by the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s to one Richard de Corilis mention is made of “Huni” Lane, and in another grant of the same period the house in question, “a stone built house,” is mentioned in between Milk Street and “Huni” Lane. There was one Elias de Honey Lane in 1274.

The market was closed in 1835 and the City of London School built on its site. The school has now been removed to the Embankment and the place is let out in offices.

=The Church of Allhallows, Honey Lane=, stood on the north side of
Cheapside in Honey Lane. It was burnt down in the Great Fire and the
parish was then annexed to St. Mary-le-Bow. Honey Lane Market was on
the site of the church. The earliest date of an incumbent is 1327.

The patronage was in the hands of: Simon de Creppyng, citizen, who
presented in 1327; several private persons, among whom was Thomas
Knoles, Mayor of London, 1399; the Grocers Company, 1471-1666, when
it was annexed to St. Mary-le-Bow.

Houseling people in 1548 were 150.

CITY OF LONDON SCHOOL, MILK STREET
]

Chantries were founded here for John Fourneys, citizen, and
Katherine his wife, at the Altar of Blessed Virgin Mary, August 22,
1396 (Pat. 20 Rd. II. p. i. m. 21), and by Alexander Speat, Thomas
Trompington, John Downe, and Henry Edelmeton. Sir John Norman, Mayor
of London, 1453, was buried in this church. No bequests or
charitable gifts are recorded in Parish Clerk’s Summary of 1732.

Among the notable rectors were Thomas Garrard, who was burnt at
Smithfield, and John Young, Bishop of Gallipoli.

=Milk Street= is one of the streets of Cheapside which peculiarly recalls the site of the old market by its name. There is not much recorded of this street. Sir Thomas More was born here, “the brightest star,” says Fuller, “that ever shone in that _via Lactea_.” In the Calendar of Wills the street is repeatedly mentioned as containing shops. The earliest date on which it occurs is 1278. In Riley’s _Memorials_ we find a cook living here in 1351; in 1377 the sheriff has “his own Compter” in this street; in 1390 one Salamon Salaman, a mercer of Milk Street, gets into trouble for having putrid fish in his possession; and in 1391 one William of Milk Street, no name or trade given, is falsely imprisoned by means of a conspiracy.

Milk Street in the thirteenth century was the residence of certain Jews. Thus in 1247 Peter the Jew had a house there; and in 1250 leave was granted to John Brewer to build a chapel in his house, formerly that of Benedict the Jew; and in 1285 Cresse the Jew had a house there. In 1294 Martin the Arbalestin lived in Milk Street; and in 1285 the mayor had his residence there, his house being rented of the Prior of Lewes.

=The Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Milk Street=, formerly stood on
the east side, towards the south end of Milk Street, Cheapside. It
was burnt down in the Great Fire and not rebuilt, its parish being
annexed to that of St. Lawrence, Jewry. The earliest date of an
incumbent is 1162.

The patronage of the church was in the hands of the Dean and Chapter
of St. Paul’s continuously from 1162, until it was burnt down, when
the parish was annexed; the Dean and Chapter now share the alternate
patronage of the amalgamated parish (see Hist. MSS. Rept. ix. p.
18^{bc} 19^a as to a lawsuit concerning the patronage).

Houseling people in 1548 were 220.

Chantries were founded here by: Robert de Kelsey, about 1334, for
himself, Julian his wife, Hen. de Galeys, and Sara de Eldham, to
which Hen. de Kelsey was admitted chaplain, September 5, 1336; the
above Robert de Kelsey endowed it with the “Caufare” in Westcheap,
which fetched £3 : 14 : 8 in 1548; John Offam, whose endowment
fetched £14 : 9 : 6 in 1548, when William Baker was priest; Thomas
Kelsey, whose endowment fetched £12 : 13 : 4 in 1548.

A great number of the monuments in this church had been defaced by
Stow’s time. He records the interment of Thomas Knesworth, mayor in
1505; Sir John Langley, mayor in 1576. No names of benefactors are
recorded by him.

Lawrence Bothe, Bishop of Durham 1457, of York 1476, was rector
here; also John Bullingham (d. 1598), Bishop of Gloucester.

=Wood Street= or Lane is the next important thoroughfare westward. It is supposed by Stow to have been so called because it was built wholly of wood; but Stow suggests also an alternative derivation, that it may have been named after one Thomas Wood, sheriff in 1491. The latter suggestion must be ruled out, because in 1394 a testator bequeathed his “mansion” in Wood Street. It is worthy of note that the first mention of the street is of houses, rents, and tenements, and so it continues until the end of the thirteenth century, when we begin to hear of shops; in 1349 a brewery is spoken of—the water, as in the case of Mugwell Street, must have been furnished by one of the numerous City wells. There were many inns in Wood Street: the Bell, the Coach and Horses, the Castle, and the Cross Keys. The Castle is still commemorated in a stone slab.

=The Church of St. Michael, Wood Street=, was sometimes called St.
Michael Hogge or Huggen from one of that name who lived in the lane
which runs down by the church. It was destroyed by the Great Fire
(with the exception of the steeple) and rebuilt by Wren, who
completed it in 1675, when the parish of St. Mary Staining was
annexed. It was repaired in 1888, and taken down at the end of the
nineteenth century. The earliest date of an incumbent is 1150.

The patronage of the church was in the hands of: The Abbot of St.
Albans before 1150; Henry VIII., who seized it in 1540 and sold it
in 1543 to William Burwell; John Marsh and others in trust for the
parish—it so continued up to 1666, when St. Mary Staining was
annexed and the patronage was alternately in the Crown and
parishioners.

Houseling people in 1548 were 317.

The latest church was very plain and measured 63 feet in length, 42
feet in breadth, and 31 feet in height. The east front had four
Ionic pilasters supporting a pediment, and in the spaces between the
columns there were three circular-headed windows. The tower, which
was connected with the church by a porch, contained three stories,
terminated by a parapet which was surmounted by a narrow spire with
a vane; the total height was 130 feet.

Richard de Basingstoke founded a chantry here before 1359, probably
at the Altar of St. John Baptist. Amongst those buried in the old
church was Alderman John Lambarde, sheriff, 1551, who was father to
Stow’s great friend William Lambard, the antiquary; he died in 1554.
The church contained a monument to Queen Elizabeth.

The legacies of charity left to the parish were: 8s. per annum, of
which Lady Read was donor; 5s. per annum, of which Mr. Hill was
donor; £2 for 20 years, of which Mr. Longworth Cross was donor; £1
per annum, of which Mr. Bowman was donor. There were also
ground-rents amounting to £36 : 4s. leased for 61 years.

Anthony Ellis or Ellys (1690-1761), Bishop of St. David’s, was a
rector here; also Thomas Birch (1705-66), Secretary to the Royal
Society, 1752-65.

The modern =Wood Street=, for a considerable distance after Gresham Street, is one series of immensely high warehouses, on which the vertical lines of bricks between the plate-glass windows are the most prominent feature. The effect of these lines is rather neat and workmanlike; horizontally beneath the windows are carved stone designs of flowers and fruit in very heavy relief. On the other side of the street are the entries into Pickford’s Yard under an old eighteenth-century house of the plainer sort.

The Church of St. Alban, Wood Street, is too far north to fall within our present section; but as it belongs to this street it must find a place here.

ST. ALBAN, WOOD STREET

The Church of St. Alban, the only one remaining in this street, is
on the west side, in the Cripplegate Ward. In 1632 it was pulled
down, but was rebuilt in 1634, probably by Inigo Jones, but was
destroyed by the Great Fire, and the present building is the work of
Wren, who completed it in 1685. The earliest date of an incumbent is
1244.

The patronage of the church, as far as can be traced, was in the
hands of: St. Alban’s Abbey, who exchanged it in 1077 to Westminster
Abbey; St. James’ Hospital, Westminster, presented before 1244;
Provost and Fellows of Eton, 1477, with whom it remained up to 1666,
when the parish of St. Olave, Silver Street, was annexed and the
patronage shared alternately with the Dean and Chapter of St.
Paul’s.

Houseling people in 1548 were 300.

The church is in a quasi-Gothic style and somewhat after the model
of the church destroyed by the Fire. It measured 33 feet in height,
66 feet in length, and 59 feet in breadth, and has two side aisles
divided from the central portion by clustered columns and flat
pointed arches. The church terminates at the east in an apse,
containing three stained-glass windows. It has been greatly altered
and modernised, the most striking alteration being the formation of
the apse and the substitution of three smaller windows for the
original large east window. The tower attains a height of 85 feet
and terminates in an open parapet; it is surmounted by eight
pinnacles of 7 feet each, giving a total altitude of 92 feet. On the
north side there is a small churchyard, separating the church from
Little Love Lane.

There was a chantry founded here by Roger Poynel before 1366. The
church formerly contained monuments to Sir John Cheke (1514-57),
tutor of Edward VI. and others.

The donors of charitable gifts were: William Peel, of St. Mary
Savoy, who bequeathed an annuity of £10 in 1623 for the use of the
poor; Gilbert Keat; Susan Ibel, £40 for providing coals for the
poor; Richard Wynne, £20 to be distributed among eight poor people,
at 2s. 6d. apiece; Thomas Savage, citizen and goldsmith, donor of
premises in Holborn Bridge; Mr. Londson, £1 : 6s. per annum for
bread for the poor, through the Company of Embroiderers.

There was a charity school for fifty boys and twenty-five girls,
supported by voluntary contributions from the Church of St. Alban
and others, from which the boys were apprenticed and the girls
placed out to service. The parish had in 1732 a workhouse hired in
the parish of St. Giles, Cripplegate.

The following are some of the notable vicars of the church: William
Watts (d. 1649), chaplain to Charles I.; John Adams (1662-1720),
chaplain to William III. and Queen Anne.

=Foster Lane= was originally St. Vedast’s. It is mentioned in a document of 1281 as St. Fauster’s, which was actually a corruption of St. Vedast’s. It was, before the Fire, a neighbourhood much frequented by goldsmiths and jewellers; William Fleetwood, Recorder of London in 1571, dated some of his letters to Lord Burleigh from Foster Lane.

=St. Vedast’s= Church, commonly known as St. Fauster’s or
Foster’s. It was severely damaged by the Fire, and rebuilt by
Wren; the steeple was erected in 1697, the old one having been
retained until then. The parish was united after the Fire with St.
Michael-le-Querne, and St. Matthew, Friday Street, to which St.
Peter, Westcheap, had been annexed. The earliest date of an
incumbent is 1291.

The patronage of the church was in the hands of: The Prior and
Convent of Christ Church, Canterbury; the Archbishop of Canterbury
before 1396, in whose successors it continued up to 1666, when the
parish of St. Michael-le-Querne was annexed and the patronage was
alternately shared with the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s up to
1882, when St. Matthew, Friday Street, with St. Peter, Westcheap,
were annexed; the patronage is now in the hands of the Bishop of
London for two turns, the Duke of Buccleugh for one turn.

Houseling people in 1548 were 460.

The church measures 69 feet in length, 51 feet in breadth, and 36
feet in height, and consists of a nave and south aisle separated by
arches supported on four Tuscan columns. The steeple, which rises at
the south-west, consists of a tower, surmounted by three stages, the
lowest of which is concave, the second convex, and the third an
obelisk-shaped spire; the total height is about 160 feet.

Chantries were founded here: By Galfridus atte gate for himself and
his wives Joan and Alice, about 1447, when Edmund Brennyng was
admitted chaplain—the lands fetched £8 : 6 : 8, which was augmented
by Christopher Tury and yielded in all £14 : 10s. in 1548, when John
Markehame was priest, “of the age of 59 years, of mean qualities and
learning”; by William de Wyndesore for himself and Tolonia his wife;
by John de Wyndesore, brother of the above William; by Mr. Cote in
1530, who gave £160 to purchase lands for the endowing of it, which
were not purchased, but one Mr. Hayton, in 1548, finds a priest; by
William Tryston, who endowed it £6 : 14 : 4, which was augmented by
Simon Atwoll to £18 : 5 : 2 in 1548, when Albert Copeman was priest,
“of the age of 39 years, of mean qualities and mean learning.”

John Longson, Master of the Mint, was buried in this church in 1583.
Among the later interments Stow records those of: William Fuller,
D.D., Dean of Durham, who suffered imprisonment for his loyalty in
the times of the rebellion; Sir John Johnson, Alderman of the City,
who died in 1698; and William Hall, deputy of this ward, who died in
1680; Robert Herrick was baptized here in 1591. No legacies or gifts
are recorded by Stow.

_Drawn by G. Shepherd._

CHURCH OF ST. VEDAST
]

Thomas Rotherham (1423-1500), afterwards Archbishop of York, was
rector here; also Isaac Maddox (1697-1759), Bishop of St. Asaph and
of Worcester; Adam Moleynes (or Molyneux, d. 1450), LL.D., Bishop of
Chichester, who was slain by the marines at Portsmouth, incited by
Richard, Duke of York; Thomas Blage (d. 1611), Dean of Rochester;
Nathaniel Marshall (d. 1730), Canon of Windsor.

In Gresham Street, between Foster Lane and Gutter Lane corners, is the Goldsmiths’ Hall.

THE GOLDSMITHS COMPANY

The Goldsmiths Company is mentioned in the year 1180, when it
appears to have been a voluntary association. It doubtless had its
origin in a combination of goldsmiths, for their mutual protection,
and to guard the trade against fraudulent workers. In the year 1300
the existence of the Company is recognised by a statute, viz., the
28th Edward I., cap. 80, which provides for the standards of gold
and silver, and enacts that all articles of those metals shall be
assayed by the wardens of the craft, to whom certain powers of
search are also given.

The first of the Company’s charters was granted to them by Edward
III., in the first year of his reign (1327).

It states that it had been theretofore ordained that all those who
were of the goldsmiths’ trade should sit in their shops in the High
Street of Cheap (Cheapside), and that no silver or plate, nor vessel
of gold or silver, ought to be sold in the City of London, except at
the King’s Exchange, or in the said street of Cheap amongst the
goldsmiths, and that publicly, to the end the persons of the said
trade might inform themselves whether the sellers came lawfully by
such vessel or not; that no gold or silver shall be manufactured to
be sent abroad but what shall be sold at the King’s Exchange, or
openly amongst the goldsmiths, and that none pretending to be
goldsmiths shall keep any shops but in Cheap.

By two subsequent charters Edward III. confirmed and extended the
privileges before granted, and he gave the Company licence to
purchase and hold tenements and rents to the value of £20 per annum,
for the relief of infirm members.

Richard II., by letters patent of the sixteenth of his reign, after
reciting that Edward III. had allowed the Company of the said craft
to accept charitable donations, and to purchase estates as
aforesaid, and that they might retain a chaplain to celebrate Mass
amongst them every day, confirmed the liberties granted by Edward
III. and granted and licensed the men of the craft that thenceforth
they may be a perpetual community or society amongst themselves.

Henry IV., by letters patent of his fifth year, recited and
confirmed the preceding charters of Edward III. and Richard II.

Henry VI., by letters patent of his first year, also recited and
confirmed the charter of Henry IV.

Edward IV., by letters patent of his second year, recited and
confirmed the charters of his predecessors.

Moreover, he granted that the said then wardens and their successors
may be a corporation or body corporate to consist of and be called
the Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City
of London. That they may be capable in law to purchase, take, and
hold in fee and perpetuity lands, tenements, rents, and other
possessions whatsoever of any persons whomsoever that shall be
willing to give, devise, and assign the same to them. That they may
have perpetual succession and a common seal.

Henry VII., by letters patent of the twentieth year of his reign,
confirmed the whole of the preceding charters, and on account of the
Company being opposed in their trade search and assay, granted by
Edward IV., gave them the additional power to imprison or fine
defaulters in the trade at their discretion; to seize and break
unlawful work; to compel the trade, within three miles of the City,
to bring their work to the Company’s common hall, to be assayed and
stamped; and gave them power for ever, when it was not standard, to
utterly condemn the same, without rendering account to the Crown.

The whole of the liberties and franchises granted to the Company by
the preceding charters are set forth and confirmed by inspeximus
charters of 1st of Henry VIII., 1st of Edward VI., 1st of Mary, 3rd
of Elizabeth, 2nd of James I., and 18th of Charles II.

The Company also received a charter from James II. dated 4th of May
in the first year of his reign, whereby, amongst other things, that
monarch reserved to the Crown a right of control over the
appointment of the wardens and clerk. The statute was made void by
the Act of Parliament 2nd William and Mary, cap. 8.

The Company have also a copy of that part of the following patent
which relates to their property, viz. 4th of Edward VI. The King to
Augustine Hynde, and others.

The Company have also an exemplification under the great seal of
letters patent granted to them by James I., in the seventeenth year
of his reign (July 24, 1619), confirming to them the possession of a
large quantity of property in the City of London.

The powers of the Company are exercised at the present time chiefly
under the Acts of 12th George II., cap. 26, and 7th and 8th
Victoria, cap. 22.

As before stated, it appears that the Company was at first a
voluntary association, and had for its chief objects the protection
of the mystery or craft of goldsmiths; but it was evidently also
formed for religious and social purposes, and for the relief of the
poor members.

_From a drawing by Thos. H. Shepherd._

GOLDSMITHS’ HALL, 1835
]

The powers exercised by this voluntary association over the craft
were subsequently confirmed to them by their charters. The wardens
fined workmen for making wares worse than standard, entered their
shops and searched for and seized false wares, settled disputes
between masters and apprentices, and frequently punished rebellious
apprentices by flogging, levied heavy fines upon members for slander
and disobedience of the wardens, and for reviling members of the
livery; and generally exercised a very powerful and absolute
control, not only over the members of the fellowship, but also over
all other persons exercising the goldsmiths’ trade.

For the purpose of the assay they had an assay office in the early
part of the fourteenth century. The statute of 28th Edward I. enacts
that no vessel of gold or silver shall depart out of the hands of
the workman until it is assayed by the wardens of the craft, and
stamped with the leopard’s head; the leopard being at that time part
of the royal arms of England.

The Company and its members, even at this early period, appear to
have acted as bankers and pawnbrokers. They received pledges, not
only of plate, but of other articles, such as cloth of gold and
pieces of napery.

The London goldsmiths were divided into two classes, natives and
foreigners. They inhabited chiefly Cheapside, Old Change, Lombard
Street, Foster Lane, St. Martin’s-le-Grand, Silver Street,
Goldsmiths’ Street, Wood Street, and the lanes about Goldsmiths’
Hall. Cheapside was their principal place of residence; the part of
it on the south side, extending from Bread Street to the Cross, was
called “the Goldsmiths’ Row.” The shops here were occupied by
goldsmiths, and here the Company possess many houses at the present
time. The Exchange for the King’s coin was close by, in what is now
called Old Change.

The native and foreign goldsmiths appear to have been divided into
classes, and to have enjoyed different privileges. First, there were
the members of the Company, who were chiefly, but not exclusively,
Englishmen; their shops were subject to the control of the Company;
they had the advantages conferred by the Company on its members, and
they made certain payments for the support of the fellowship. The
second division comprised the non-freemen, who were called
“Allowes,” that is to say, allowed or licensed. There were the
“Allowes Englis,” “Allowes Alicant,” “Alicant Strangers,”
“Dutchmen,” “Men of the Fraternity of St. Loys,” etc. All these paid
tribute to the Company, and were also subject to their control. The
quarterage paid by the members, and the tribute so paid by the
“Allowes,” constituted the Company’s original income. We find
frequent mention of efforts made by the English goldsmiths to
prevent foreign goldsmiths from settling in London, but they did not
succeed. The wise men of the craft probably knew that the best
artists were foreigners, and were willing to profit by observation
of their works and mode of working. In 1445, thirty-four persons,
who were strangers, were sworn, and paid 2s. a head. In 1447 Carlos
Spaen paid £8 : 6 : 8 to the alms of St. Dunstan, to be admitted a
freeman, and in 1511 John de Loren paid £20 for the same object.

The wardens also frequently obliged foreigners applying for the
freedom to produce testimonials from the authorities of the towns
abroad where they had resided.

The government of the trade under the Company’s charters continued
up to the reign of Charles the Second. But some time before this
period, and in the interval between it and the passing of the Act of
the 12th George II., cap. 26, the powers which had been granted to
the Company began to be questioned, and the Company experienced
difficulty in putting them into force. In 1738 the Company
considered it expedient to obtain an Act of Parliament.

And the 12th George II., cap. 26, passed in 1739, was prepared by
the officers of the Company, brought into Parliament by them, with
the assent of the government of the time, and all the cost of
soliciting it and getting it passed was paid for by the Company,
although it is a public Act.

Under this Act the Assay Office is regulated. The Company are
empowered thereby to make charges for the assaying and marking plate
sufficient only to defray the expenses of the office, and are
prohibited from making any profit thereby or deriving any pecuniary
advantage therefrom.

It may here be mentioned that at a very early period we find members
of the governing body of the Company, both wardens and assistants,
who were not of the craft. Amongst others, the leading bankers,
themselves the descendants in trade of the old goldsmiths, from the
time of the Stuarts to the present time, have been some of the most
conspicuous members of the body. Amongst them we find the names of
Sir Martin Bowes, who was Master of the Mint in the reign of
Elizabeth; Sir Hugh Myddelton, the enterprising founder of the New
River; Sir Francis Child, of Temple Bar; Sir Charles Duncombe, Sir
James Pemberton, Sir Robert Vyner; and in the 19th century, Robert
Williams and Thomas Halifax, Henry Sykes Thornton, William Banbury,
John Charles Salt, Herbert Barnard, William Newmarch, William
Cunliffe Brooks, Robert Ruthven Pym, Arthur B. Twining, Charles
Hoare, and Robert Williams, jun.

It remains to mention the connection of the Company with the coinage
of the realm in what is called the trial of the Pyx, an office which
has been performed by the Company ever since the reign of Edward I.
Its object is to ascertain that the metal of which the gold and
silver money coined by the Mint is composed is standard, and that
the coins themselves are of the prescribed weight.

This duty was performed in ancient times at uncertain intervals, and
usually had for its immediate object the giving an acquittance to
the Mint Master, who was bound to the Crown by indentures to coin
money of the prescribed fineness and weight. But the Coinage Act of
1870 provides for and establishes an annual trial, and since that
date the Pyx has been brought to Goldsmiths’ Hall and tried
annually.

In 1900, for the first time, at the request of H.M.’s Treasury, a
Pyx from each of the Colonial Mints coining Imperial Coinage was
tried.

Formerly a jury of competent freemen, summoned by the wardens, was
charged by the Lord Chancellor, who subsequently received their
verdict.

The jury is sworn by the Crown Remembrancer, who, the trial having
been made and the verdict of the jury reduced to writing, attends at
the Hall and receives them; after which their names are published in
the _Gazette_.

The number of the livery is 150. The Hall is in Foster Lane.

Privileges of membership:

A freeman of the Company has no advantages as such, except that if
he be a deserving man and in need of pecuniary assistance he is
eligible to receive, and would certainly receive, aid from the
Company, either by pension or donation.

When the Guild first had a Hall we know not, but the Hall has stood
on its present site for upwards of 550 years.

About 1340, land and a house at St. Vedast Lane and Ing Lane[2]
corner, formerly belonging to Sir Nicholas de Segrave, was bought.
This land still underlies part of the present Hall, and was in the
midst of the gold- and silver-smiths’ quarter. In 1407, Sir Dru
Barentine built the Goldsmiths a second Hall, wherefrom a gallery
led to his house. Within the great hall were arras hangings,
streamers, banners, tapestried benches, worked cushions, and a
screen bearing their patron’s (St. Dunstan’s) silver-gilt statue
bejewelled. There were chambers, parlour, ‘say-house, chapel with
coloured hangings, great kitchen, vaults, granary, armoury, clerk’s
house, beadle’s house, assayer’s house. This Hall decayed. Borrowing
money, they built a third and larger, 1635-40, Stone being surveyor.

After the Great Fire they repaired and partly rebuilt their Hall,
1666-69, raising money slowly. Jarman was architect. The buildings,
brick and stone, surrounded a paved quadrangle entered through the
Doric archway in Foster Lane.

The great hall was “magnificent” with marbled floor, moulded
ceiling, pillared screen, high wainscot, painted banners, costly
plate. Within 140 years they found this Hall decaying. They pulled
it down and built the present (fourth) Hall in 1830-35, Philip
Hardwick being architect.

Like the Drapers, the Goldsmiths Company has taken up the cause of
Technical Higher Education.

* * * * *

On the west side of Foster Lane stood also =St. Leonard’s Church=,
which was the parish church for St. Martin’s-le-Grand. It was burnt
down in the Great Fire and its parish annexed to that of Christ
Church, Newgate Street. The earliest date of an incumbent is 1291.

The patronage of the church was in the hands of: the Dean and Canons
of St. Martin’s-le-Grand, 1291; the Abbot and Convent of
Westminster, 1509; Henry VIII., who seized it in 1540; the Dean and
Chapter of Westminster, 1553-54, in whose successors it continues,
they being the alternate patrons of Christ Church, Newgate Street.

Houseling people in 1548 were 452.

A chantry was founded here by and for William de Wyndesore, at the
Altar of Virgin Mary, before 1368, when his endowment fetched £3 :
13 : 4. There are few charities recorded by Stow.

The church of =St. Mary Staining= was situated on the north side of
Oat Lane, Foster Lane, and derived its name Staining from Painter
Stainers dwelling there; or, according to some from _stein_, the
Saxon for stone, other churches being built of wood. It was repaired
and redecorated in 1630, and was burnt down in the Great Fire, but
not rebuilt, its parish being annexed to that of St. Michael, Wood
Street; the site of this church was made a burying-ground. The
earliest date of an incumbent is 1270.

The patronage of the church was in the hands of: The Prioress and
Convent of St. Mary, Clerkenwell; Henry VIII., and so continued in
the Crown till the Great Fire, when the parish was annexed to St.
Michael, Wood Street.

Houseling people in 1548 were 98.

Two monuments only are recorded by Stow, one in memory of George
Smithes, goldsmith and alderman, who died in 1615, and the other of
Sir Arthur Savage, knighted at Cadiz in 1596, who was General of
Queen Elizabeth’s forces in France at the siege of Amiens; he died
in 1632.

The parish received three legacies, payable yearly, namely: 15s. 6d.
from Lady Read and Mr. Hill; £1 : 4s. from Mr. Lawne; and 1s. 6d.
from Mr. Dean.

What Gresham Street is on the north of our present section, so =Watling Street= is on the south. It runs roughly parallel with Cheapside and Poultry. Stow says of it:

“Then for Watheling Street, which Leland called Atheling, or Noble Street; but since he showeth no reason why, I rather take it to be so named of that great highway of the same calling. True it is that at the present the inhabitants thereof are wealthy drapers, retaillers of woollen cloths, both broad and narrow, of all sorts, more than in any one street of this city.”

How came Watling Street, the old country road, into the City? The old Roman road, as it approached the Thames, passed down the Edgware Road. Where is now the Marble Arch it divided into two, of which the older part crossed the marsh, and so over Thorney Island? The other ran along what is now Oxford Street and Holborn.

It then crossed the valley of the Fleet and entered the City at the New Gate. If now we draw a line from Newgate to London Stone, just south of its present position, we shall find that it passes the north-east course of St. Paul’s precinct, cutting it off, so to speak, and meets the present Watling Street where it bends to the south of Bow Lane; it then follows the old Budge Row as far as the Stone. That was the original Watling Lane of the City. The Saxons, however, who found the streets a mass of confused ruins, built over part of the old Watling, and continued it as far as the south-east course of St. Paul’s. The street has few antiquities apart from its churches.

There is no mention of Watling Street in Riley’s _Memorials_.

In the Calendar of Wills we find shops in this street in 1307, a brewery in 1341, a widow’s mansion in 1349, and shops in 1361, “lands, tenements, and rents” in 1373, a house called “le Strelpas” in 1397. The other references to Watling Street are those of “tenements” only.

The yearly procession of the City rectors with the mayor and aldermen started from St. Peter’s, Cornhill, marched along Chepe as far as St. Paul’s Churchyard, turning to the south and so to “Watling Street Close,” which was the eastern entrance to the churchyard.

After the Fire, while the rubbish was being cleared away, on the east of the street were discovered nine wells in a row. They were supposed to have belonged to a street of houses from Watling Street to Cheapside. But one hardly expects to find a well in every house.

In Watling Street and its continuation, Budge Row, were the following churches, beginning at the west end: St. Augustine’s; Allhallows, Bread Street; St. Mary Aldermary; St. Anthony’s. For St. Augustine’s see p. 62, and for Allhallows see p. 58.

ST. MARY ALDERMARY

The Church of St. Mary Aldermary stands in a triangle formed by Bow
Lane, Queen Victoria Street, and Watling Street. It is called Alder,
Older, or Elder, Mary, from its being the oldest church in the City
having that dedication. Sir Henry Keble, Lord Mayor in 1510, began
to rebuild it, and left at his death £1000 towards its completion;
this was augmented by William Rodoway and Richard Pierson in 1626.
The building was destroyed by the Great Fire, but rebuilt by Wren in
1681-82. For this purpose the legacy of £5000 was applied, which had
been left by Henry Rogers for the rebuilding of a church;
stipulation, however, was made that the new church should be an
exact imitation of Keble’s, so that Wren was forced to adopt methods
very different from his own. The building was greatly restored in
1876-77. The church now serves for four parishes—its original one,
that of St. Thomas the Apostle, of St. Antholin, and of St. John the
Baptist. The earliest date of an incumbent is 1233.

The patronage of the church was in the hands of Henry III., 1233;
the Prior and Chapter of Christ Church, Canterbury, 1288, who
exchanged it with the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1401, in whose
successors it continued up to 1666, when the parish of St. Thomas
was annexed; and thus the Archbishop shared the patronage
alternately with the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s.

Houseling people in 1548 were 400.

The church is in the Tudor style of architecture, and consists of a
nave, chancel, and two side aisles, separated from the central part
by clustered columns and slightly pointed arches. It is 100 feet
long, 63 feet broad, and about 45 feet high. The north side of the
chancel is longer than the south, which gives the church a somewhat
curious appearance. The tower, the upper portion of which was
rebuilt about 1701, contains four storeys, with an open parapet, and
is surmounted by four pinnacles. The total height is 135 feet.

Sir Henry Keble, the founder of the original church, was buried
here, and a monument erected to him in 1534; also Sir William
Laxton, mayor, 1556, and Henry Gold, one of the rectors here, who
was executed at Tyburn in 1534. “The Holy Maid of Kent” was also
buried here. The monuments in the present church are of little
interest. Over the west door there is a Latin inscription recording
the munificence of Henry Rogers. Mr. Garret gave £100 to the
lecturer of this church, to endure as long as the Gospel was
preached. The particulars of the numerous other gifts and charities
did not come into the possession of Stow. There were two almshouses
for the poor of the Salters Company, who are four in number, each of
whom has an allowance of 1s. per week.

Thomas Browne (d. 1673), chaplain to Charles I., was rector here;
also Robert Gell (1595-1665), Fellow of Christ’s College, Cambridge;
Offspring Blackall (1654-1716), Bishop of Exeter; White Kennett
(1660-1728), Bishop of Peterborough; Henry Ware, Bishop of
Chichester; Henry Gold, who was executed at Tyburn, 1534; George
Lavington, D.D. (1684-1762), Bishop of Exeter.

=Budge Row=, northward, was spelt Begerow in 1376. Of it Stow says: “So called of Budge fur and the Skinners dwelling there.”