Conditions
of medieval apprenticeship in Bridgwater
Niall
C.E.J. O’Brien
On 11th
November 1424 Michael, son of John Laleye of Ireland made an indenture of
apprenticeship with John Davy, tanner, of Bridgwater and his wife Joan Davy. I
have written before about apprenticeships, on this blog and with articles in
published historical journals. In most cases the information on these
apprentices comes from edited manuscripts where the essential information about
the apprenticeship is given, such as, name of the apprentice; name, occupation
and address of the apprentice’s father; name and occupation of the master and
the name of his wife; the term of the apprenticeship in years (7 years is the
usual basic term); the end of term payment and possibly the fee for gaining
freedom of the borough. Sometimes an indenture will also say that the apprentice
was to have “one tool of every kind for the said craft”.[1]
West Quay at Bridgwater - highest point of navigation on the River Parrett
It was with delight,
therefore, that I recently came across the fully transcribed indenture giving
the conditions of the apprenticeship between Michael Laleye and John Davy.
These conditions are outlined below.
1.
The first condition of the
apprenticeship was that Michael Laleye agreed to “put himself servant and
apprentice to the aforesaid John and Joan [Davy] according to the use and
custom of the city of London”.[2]
2.
The second condition was that for the
full term of the apprenticeship (10 years) Michael Laleye would keep for the
“master and mistress in all things well and faithfully shall serve, their
secrets and counsel shall keep, [and] their lawful and honest commandments
everywhere gladly do”.[3]
The modern phrase of “industrial espionage” is clearly an ancient activity and
John Davy desired to protect his business from competitors.
3.
The apprentice then agreed that “From
his service by day and night he shall not unlawfully absent himself”.
4.
This was followed by further conditions
that the apprentice “shall do them no damage or dishonour, nor see it done of
other but that so his power shall hinder, or forthwith give warning thereof to
his master and mistress”.
5.
The apprentice “shall not waste their
goods, nor lend them to any one without their leave or special mandate”.[4] In
1648 Richard Hunt tried to use a similar condition to be quitted of his
apprentice, Joseph Griffin, by falsely accusing him of stealing money.[5]
6.
The apprentice will with “all goods and
chattels of his aforesaid master and mistress which are in his care to guard he
shall give good and faithful account, whenever and as often as he may be
suitably required to do”.
7.
“Matrimony with any woman within the
aforesaid term without licence of his aforesaid master and mistress he shall
not contract”.
8.
“Fornication or adultery within or
without their premises with any domestic of theirs he [the apprentice] shall
not commit”. If Michael Laleye did commit such crimes and was convicted he
“shall double his whole service aforesaid in the service of the master and
mistress aforesaid, or shall make them some reasonable amends according to the
decision of trustworthy men such as the parties shall decide to choose between
them”.[6]
This condition could also apply to family
members of the master, if John Davy had children in 1424. In his will made in
1461 John Davy mentioned two of his daughters, Joan and Katherine. There may
have been other daughters who were deceased by 1461. There is no indication of
the age of the two daughters but Katherine was married to Thomas Eyre. This
would make Katherine Davy at least 20 years old yet there is no evidence that
she was alive in 1424.[7]
9.
If Michael Laleye quitted his
apprenticeship before the end of term then he should will and agree “that the
aforesaid master [John Davy] and mistress [Joan Davy] or their attorney in this
behalf by virtue of the present indenture may seek him in whosesoever service
he may be found and bring him back to his former service without contradiction
made of the aforesaid apprentice or the same detainer of him”.[8]
Although not stated as a condition of this
indenture it is noted in other cities and towns that if a master died or if
master and apprentice both agreed to a change then an apprentice could be
“turned over” to another master of the same trade. Some commentators stated
that an apprentice could be bought and sold to another master but the right of change
was controlled by the trade guild or town council and if any money was
transacted it would go to these governing bodies.[9]
10.
For all of these conditions the master,
John Davy and his wife, Joan, were to “practice, teach and instruct” Michael
Laleye “in the arts and goods they use, by the best means they can”.
11.
The master and mistress were to find the
apprentice “meat and drink, clothing linen and woollen and all other things
necessary for him as is suitable to be found for such apprentice during the
term [10 years] aforesaid, paying the same apprentice moreover at the end of
the above said term 6 shillings 8 pence [6s 8d] of lawful money of England”.
The indentured was
witnessed by at least five people from Bridgwater.[10] After
the indenture was made in 1424 Michael Laleye seems to disappear from the
records. We presume that he served the full ten years of his apprenticeship and
kept to the conditions outlined above. The nature of surviving documents is
that only bad news gets into the press and survives. If Michael Laleye appears
in no court proceedings at the borough court or elsewhere it is presumed that
he was a good apprentice who behaved himself and obeyed all the rules. As his
name does not appear in later records of the borough of Bridgwater it is likely
that Michael Laleye returned to Ireland after the ten years.
Of course the master
could also break the conditions of an apprenticeship. Later court documents
record cases in this regard. One example from Wiltshire, in 1637, recounts that
Edward Starkye was charged with abusing and beating his apprentice, John
Dracott.[11]
John Davy does not appear as that kind of master. Instead, after taking his
first apprentice, Michael Laleye in 1424, John Davy went on to accept other
apprentices in 1426, 1432, 1433 and 1437. The conditions of these
apprenticeships were on the same terms as outlined above for Michael Laleye.[12] If
John Davy was a bad master it is likely that he would not have been able to
receive these other apprentices.
John Davy went on from 1424 to have a
successful business as a tanner and died in 1461 leaving his second wife,
Matilda and the two daughters previously mentioned, Joan and Katherine.[13]
And it all began with an indenture of apprenticeship in 1424.
============
other articles on apprenticeships include:
Youghal apprentices at Bristol 1532-1565 = https://www.academia.edu/4116330/Bristol_apprentices_from_Youghal_1532-1565_in_Journal_of_the_Cork_Historical_and_Archaeological_Society_Vol._115_2010_
Wexford apprentices at Bristol 1532-1565 = https://www.academia.edu/3852259/Wexford_apprentices_in_sixteenth-century_Bristol_in_Journal_of_the_Wexford_Historical_Society_No._23_2011-12
Dublin apprentices admitted to freedom 1468-1470 = http://celtic2realms-medievalnews.blogspot.ie/2014/04/dublin-apprentices-admitted-to-freedom.html
============
End of post
============
[1]
Elizabeth Ralph & Nora M. Hardwick (eds.), Calendar of the Bristol Apprenticeship Book 1532-1565, part II,
1542-1552 (Bristol Record Society, vol. 33, 1980), no. 1391
[2]
Thomas Bruce Dilks (ed.), Bridgwater
Borough Archives 1400-1445 (Somerset Record Society, Vol. 58, 1945), no.
616
[3]
Thomas Bruce Dilks (ed.), Bridgwater Borough
Archives 1400-1445, no. 616
[4]
Thomas Bruce Dilks (ed.), Bridgwater
Borough Archives 1400-1445, no. 616
[5]
J.S. Cockburn (ed.), Western Circuit Assize Orders 1629-1648, a
calendar (Royal Historical Society, London, 1976), no. 1214
[6] Thomas
Bruce Dilks (ed.), Bridgwater Borough
Archives 1400-1445, no. 616
[7]
Rev. F.W. Weaver (ed.), Somerset Medieval
Wills 1383-1500 (Somerset Record Society, Vol. 16, 1901), p. 195
[8]
Thomas Bruce Dilks (ed.), Bridgwater
Borough Archives 1400-1445, no. 616
[9] D.
Hollis (ed.), Calendar of the Bristol
Apprenticeship Book 1532-1565, part 1, 1532-1542 (Bristol Record Society,
vol. 14, 1948), p. 7
[10]
Thomas Bruce Dilks (ed.), Bridgwater
Borough Archives 1400-1445, p. 81
[11]
J.S. Cockburn (ed.), Western Circuit Assize Orders 1629-1648, a
calendar, no. 501
[12]
Thomas Bruce Dilks (ed.), Bridgwater
Borough Archives 1400-1445, nos. 628, 655, 657, 673
[13] Rev.
F.W. Weaver (ed.), Somerset Medieval
Wills 1383-1500, pp. 194, 1955
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