Livery company members and apprentices

1. About this guide

This guide explains how to find individuals who were either full members, or were apprenticed to members of City of London livery companies.

Livery companies are trade associations or guilds in the City of London. Members of the Livery Companies are known as freemen.

2. What do I need to know before I start?

Until about 1800, adult males practising a trade or craft in or around the City of London would have almost certainly belonged to a City of London livery company. After this date it is increasingly unlikely.

Until the early 1700s, most would have belonged to a company corresponding with their occupation. For example, a butchers would have joined the Butchers' Company. After this date, many joined companies unrelated to their actual occupation.

Methods of becoming a freeman of a City of London livery company are as follows:

• Apprenticeship - this would be gained by completing a seven year apprenticeship (usually between the ages of 14 and 21) to a freeman of a livery company. Apprenticeships were very common until about 1750. After 1856 very few tradesmen or craftsmen served an apprenticeship in a livery company.
• Patrimony - by virtue of their father's membership of a Livery Company.
• Redemption - by payment of a fee

After becoming a freeman, a member of a Livery Company could advance to become a 'liveryman'. A liveryman is a full member of a livery company.

3. Which livery company did a person belong to?

The following sources (charges may apply) can be used to identify which livery company an individual belonged to:

• Boyd's 'Inhabitants of London & Family Units', 1200 to 1946
• Freedom of the City of London - Admission Papers, 1681 to 1930
• Gunmakers' Company freedoms and admissions, 1656 to 1936
• Haberdashers Company, apprentices and freemen, 1526 to 1933
• Ironmongers' Company, Apprentices and Freemen, 1511 to 1939
• London Apprenticeship Abstracts, 1442 to 1850
• Records of London's Livery Companies Online, 1400 to 1900

4. Records held at Guildhall Library

Please browse the list of livery companies on our catalogue. You can sort the list by reference code. Changing the 'results per page' option to 100 enables you to see more results.

Select the appropriate livery company to see the list of the surviving records.

If you want to view original documents in this selection, you will need to do this at Guildhall Library.

5. Records held elsewhere

The following livery companies still retain their own records:

• Apothecaries
• Barbers
• Carpenters
• Clothworkers
• Drapers
• Fishmongers
• Goldsmiths
• Ironmongers
• Leathersellers
• Mercers
• Saddlers
• Salters
• Stationers

For contact details of the livery companies, please use the 'Find an archive' section of The National Archives website.