The History of the Worshipful Company of the Drapers of London

conclusion that a few of them were conducting at least the final processes of shearing, dyeing, fulling, and stretching.' But there is at least no definite mention of their conducting or superintending the early process of weaving as the foreign Draper did. And if John of Northampton had a Dye house, his chief residence was close to the Steelyard, which would be conveniently situated for conducting business as a general merchant with the men of the Hanse.

Now all this evidence seems to me to prove conclusively that the London Drapers did not in the later fourteenth and fifteenth centuries take a serious part in superintending the making of cloth. It may be that, at the date of the Charter, the exact

1 Cf. Record Office, Exchequer Accounts, 1376-80, 340 ff. A very large number of persons are named as paying the subsidy which Edward III had been granted in return for a remission of the fine arising out of aulnage, and also for some years of the aulnage fee. The professions of the payers are not given, but I have found four, who were certainly important Drapers, besides John of Northampton, namely, John Bures, who was Sheriff in 1358-9; John Hende, who was Mayor twice, in 1391-2 and 1404-5; John Gedney, the first Master, 1439, and twice Mayor; and John Fisshe.

The question is whether it was the maker or the seller who had to get his cloth measured and sealed by the Aulnager. On this point we may gain some information from the Petition of 1350-1, given in Rot. Parl. ii. 230, 40; the Statute of Cloth of 25 Ed. III. 4, c. 1 (1351–2); and the Proclamation of 1369, Cal. Close Rolls, 1369, p. 87.

The petition demands that aulnage should be insisted upon because of frauds as to the length and breadth of cloths made in England and elsewhere. The statute orders that 'all cloths vendible in whose hands of the merchants of England or others of the realm they be found' shall be measured. The Proclamation of 1369 ordains that no Draper or Clothworker shall deliver any cloths out of their keeping till the subsidy be paid. Now from this it would appear that where the cloth was offered for sale by the maker in its finished state he would have to submit it to the Aulnager and pay the subsidy. But that where a merchant or a Draper bought it in an unfinished condition and had it dressed, sheared, fulled, and stretched (and dyed, if that was to be done), he would be the person to have it sealed and pay the subsidy, more especially as the length and breadth might be fraudulently extended in stretching on the tenter, which is a necessary process after fulling. If this conclusion is correct we may take it that the Drapers mentioned above had bought unfinished cloth, and having finished it, had to have it aulnaged and sealed, and paid the subsidy, and would do the same with regard to foreign cloth which they imported. See York Memorandum Book, Surtees Soc., 120, p. xxix.

2 Patent Rolls, 1385, p. 581.

functions of the Clothmakers and the Drapers had not yet been differentiated. But in any case it is incredible that, if the Drapers had been engaging to any extent in the manufacture of cloth, there would be no definite mention of it in their records, nor any notice of any quarrels of the Drapers with the handicraft Gilds on any question concerning the making of cloth, while there are many concerning their privileges of buying and selling and the right of search. The Drapers of London then were for the most part exclusively traders. The more opulent of them bought home-made cloth at Blackwellhall and at the fairs, and, when it was permitted, foreign cloth. Probably some of them bought the cloth unsheared and undyed, and superintended those processes. They prepared it for the market and then sold it by wholesale abroad, and by wholesale and retail at home.

But they did not confine themselves to the trade in cloth. Not only did they make liveries, and subsequently enrol Kytters and Hosiers in their Fellowship, but they dealt at times in other goods and were also money-lenders.' When, therefore, at the close of the fifteenth century there was a remarkable expansion in the export trade of English-made cloth, the 'Merchant Draperi was ready to engage as a Merchant Adventurer' in this profitable business. To this point we shall return later.

Meanwhile, the more humble members of the Craft dealt more especially by retail in their shops. As the division between those in the livery and the ordinary freeman arose, those in the clothing would mostly be Merchant Drapers, those out of the livery smaller shopkeepers. It is just possible that some few Drapers may have employed members of other Crafts engaged in the various processes of clothmaking. But the admissions to the Drapers' Gild of Weavers, Dyers, Shearmen, and Fullers with which we meet in the fifteenth century should not be taken

e. g. in 1468 Henry Waver is given licence to export wools, woolfells, and other goods quit of customs to recoup himself for a debt of £500 owed him by the King. Patent Rolls, 1468, p. 85. In 1476 W. Henryot and Wm. Stocker have licence to export wools, woollen cloths without grain, and other merchandise. Ibid., 1476, p. I. In 1481 Ed. Brampton exports wool. Ibid., 1481, P. 248.

as any proof of this. The translations are not confined to members of these Gilds, but include Taylors and others. Far more probably these men wished to become members of the Drapers' Gild because they preferred the more profitable business of trading to that of making.

The earliest instance of a translation is that of 1425-a Linen Armourer. Between 1425 and 1452 a Weaver, two Taylors, one Dyer are translated. Letter Book K, fos. 29 b, 135 b, 174, 227, 256 b.

CHAPTER IV

THE RELATIONS OF THE DRAPERS'

(1)

GILD OR FRA

TERNITY TO THE POLITICAL EVENTS OF THE
REIGNS OF HENRY V, HENRY VI, EDWARD IV,
RICHARD III, AND HENRY VII.

OR the sake of clearness we have followed the internal history of the Drapers up to the reign of Edward IV. We must now retrace our steps.

On the relations of the Drapers to the stirring events of Henry V, Henry VI, and Edward IV, the scanty records which we have give us very little light. The ordinances naturally are not concerned with these national affairs, while the accounts for some of

the years between 1413 and 1442 are not much more helpful. This may at first sight appear strange, yet, after all, if we were to take the accounts of any friendly society or commercial company to-day, we should only expect to find notices that bear on the special business in hand. Any other matters would only be mentioned incidentally, as they affected the receipts and disbursements or other interests of the society. Again, it should be remembered that these early accounts are fragmentary and often desert us in critical years. To public events accordingly we have only two references. We hear of ridings to meet the King,

The initial comes from the Ordinance Book of the Bachelors.

Taxation of

the property in land be

longing to the Livery Companies

by Henry IV

and Henry

Henry V, and the Queen-Mother in 1413, and of three expeditions by water to take the oath to the young King Henry VI, before, and when he was crowned in November 1429,' and that is all.

We must therefore go elsewhere for our information. In 1413 the necessities of the French War led Henry V to follow the precedent of Henry IV in 1403-4 and to impose another tax on land. Henry IV had only levied it at the rate of is. on the pound's worth of land, Henry V demanded 6s. 8d. An Exchequer Roll at the Guildhall gives a return of the owners of landed property in the City. The return is of great interest as informing us of the relative wealth of the leading Livery Companies. The Goldsmiths are returned as possessing the largest rental, £46 10s. old. The Taylors stand next with a rental of £44 35.7d., the Saddlers next with £19 6s. 8d., while the Mercers, now one of the wealthiest, had only £13 8s. 4d. These are strange figures as compared with their rentals to-day, it has been well pointed out, although no doubt there were many wealthy men who held no freehold or leasehold property.

No return is given of the rental of the Drapers, but we have the names of ten Drapers recorded on the Exchequer Roll, and fortunately the accounts of 1413-14 inform us that the rentals of the Drapers in that year stood at £22 135. 6d. They were therefore the third richest in City property. Again,

1 Earliest Wardens' Accounts, Appendix, vol. i, No. XVIII. The word is written 'terment' (internment) on pp. 313, 320. But it should probably be cerment' or 'serment' (oath), as it is on p. 301.