London City Guilds in 1900

Taking them in alphabetical order, the list of City Companies possessing Halls in 1900 commenced with the Apothecaries' Company in Water Lane, near Printing House Square, Blackfriars, whose premises were built in 1670, and included warehouses, laboratories, and a retail establishment for the sale of drugs.

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In their old Hall were some good portraits of Royalties, one said to be by Van Dyck.

Next came the Armourers and Braziers, at 81 Coleman Street, where was some rare old plate, including apostle spoons of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and in whose Banqueting-chamber were some splendid specimens of coats of mail.

The Bakers were at 16, Harp Lane, in Great Tower Street, an old building on the site of an ancient mansion.

Over the entrance in gilt letters was inscribed their motto, "Praise God for all."

Their wainscoted Hall with its old pictures was very quaint.

This Worshipful Company claimed to be one of the oldest of the City Guilds.

Although there was no authentic record of its incorporation earlier than the twelfth century, proofs were forthcoming that it existed long anterior to that date.

There is no doubt that bluff King Hal granted it a charter as "a guild of freemen and freewomen of the City of London and the suburbs thereof," but the "freewomen" would seem to have quite disappeared from view.

In the olden days there were "white" and "brown" bakers, but the two sections were drawn into one fraternity by Queen Elizabeth I, to be separated again in the reign of James I, and finally reunited by James II.

Barber-Surgeon Hall in Monkswell Street, E.C., with the exception of its Theatre of Anatomy, was destroyed by the Great Fire, but was rebuilt, its semi-circular end resting on a portion of the city wall.

In the Court-room was Holbein's celebrated picture of Henry VIII presenting the Company with its charter.

The two professions separated in 1745, the Surgeons removing to a Hall of their own; but the Barbers still continued to bleed people (an explanation of the pole which sometimes even now is seen outside barbers' shops), and also to draw teeth.

In Addle Street, Wood Street, was the modern Hall of the Brewers, whose Company dates back to 1438; and at 87-88, Bartholomew Close, was that of the Butchers.

Carpenters were housed in Throgmorton Avenue.

Their Hall escaped the Fire, and was rich in bas-reliefs of technical subjects, while the Great Hall had a beautiful ceiling and some curious fresco paintings.

The Company possessed some interesting old books with entries of work compulsorily done for the Crown, and some very quaint caps then still used by the Master and Wardens, and besides many other curiosities, a few ancient silver drinking-cups that on election days were borne round the Hall.

The Clothworkers' Hall in Mincing Lane was a splendid example of the modern reproduction of an ancient red-brick Jacobean mansion.

Its banqueting-room was of stately proportions, 80 by 40 feet, and 40 feet high in the centre, beneath the domed roof.

On the first floor were the Court and Livery drawing-rooms, approached by a very handsome staircase-hall.

Included in the Company's treasures was a cup presented by Samuel Pepys.

The Clothworkers distributed yearly on St. Stephen's Day, December 26, through their Master Wardens and Clerk, in the presence of the City Chamberlain and Town Clerks, "Lamb's Charity," in the form of money, boots, and blankets, to forty poor men and women, agreeably to the bequest of one William Lamb, citizen and clothworker of four centuries ago.

Coachmakers were in Noble Street, Foster Lane, in a Hall which they purchased from the Scriveners, who could not afford to keep it up.

Charles II incorporated this Company as the Coach and Coach-Harness Company.

Coopers' Hall, a modern building, was in Basinghall Street, No. 71.

In its old Hall (taken down to enlarge the Guildhall offices) the State lotteries used to be drawn up to the year 1826, when the last of these functions was thus alluded to in the Diary of a well-known professional man of that day:

"October 17, 1826 - I went to London in the stage. The drawing of the State lottery closes tomorrow. I was disposed to try my luck, and purchased a ticket. It came up a blank."

The Cordwainers, originally incorporated as "Cordwainers and Cobblers" (the latter, in Henry IV's day, meaning dealers in shoes, and not menders thereof), were at 7, Cannon Street, where they had some old plate and a document in which Shakespeare's name as an interested party occurs.

At No. 6, London Wall, the Curriers were located in a small Hall, erected in the nineteenth century.

The Guild goes back to 1363, and at their dinners a custom prevailed of serving wine in magnums placed upon carved vineleaf stands, each toast being announced by a long whistle from a small pipe that emitted but one note.

Cutlers were at 4, Warwick Lane, Newgate Street.

They used to be makers of swords, daggers, spears, blades, etc, and were called "bladers."

At the back of Throgmorton Street was Drapers' Hall (a fragment of the large Hall sold by the Company for building purposes), plain outside, but splendid within, possessing a staircase of coloured marble, and a grand banqueting-room with pictures and statues, some of the former by Beechey and Zucchero.

At 10, Dowgate Hill were the Dyers, in a modern Hall.

This Guild was one of the two City Liveries - the other being the Vintners - possessing the right of preserving swans on the river Thames, a privilege which they had enjoyed for several centuries past; and the ancient custom known as "swan-upping," which took place annually for the purpose of "upping" or marking the bills of the young birds, was carried out in August.

The King, who claimed a certain proportion, had his own swanherd, whose uniform was bright scarlet, that of the Dyers' and Vintners' swan-masters being dark blue and red, respectively; and during the boat voyage, which lasted several days, the swans were carefully counted and their ownership correctly assigned.

The Fishmongers had a palatial Hall in Adelaide Place, London Bridge, overlooking the river.

Its Great Hall was elaborately ornamented with wood-carvings, and had in it some fine pictures, and interesting relics, which included Walworth's statue and dagger, and a marvellous embroidered pall, dating from the time of Henry VIII, also a chair made out of a pile from the old bridge that had been six and a half centuries under the water.

Banquets at the Fishmongers' were things to be remembered; the cuisine was perfect, and the vintages were of the rarest.

They always concluded by the Prime Warden proposing a hearty welcome to his guests, and pledging them in a splendid loving-cup, whose ingredients had never been divulged by the Company's butler, but which an irreverent native of the United States once declared was composed of burgundy, claret, and maraschino, with an infusion of treacle, Old Tom, ginger-wine and blacking!

As each guest left the Hall after these symposia, an elegant walnut-wood casket of candied fruits was presented to him as a souvenir.

Founders, who in olden times used to cast candlesticks, chafing-dishes, etc, were at 13, St. Swithin's Lane.

Their motto was, "God the Founder," and a glass cup on a silver-gilt stem, dating from the reign of Henry VIII, was one of their much-valued possessions.

With a small garden attached, where still lingered an old mulberry-tree that escaped the devouring flames of the Great Fire which raged around and destroyed their old quarters, was the Hall of the Girdlers, a little Guild of much antiquity.

They made girdles, and the girdle-iron or gridiron quartered on their arms was a rebus on the Company's name.

As with the Carpenters, when a Master was elected he was with much picturesque ritual crowned with a peculiar cap.

For many years previously, a large carpet of Persian manufacture had been used as a table covering at this Hall.

Its value and rarity were never suspected until it was discovered that it had been presented to the Company by one Robert Bell, "in remembrance of his love," in the year 1634.

The Company, of which the Lord Mayor was the Master, had the carpet (30 feet by 8 feet) framed in an oaken border, appropriately carved in a style belonging to the period of its date, and hung in the banqueting-hall.

The Goldsmiths were at Foster Lane at the back of the General Post Office, on a site occupied for nearly six centuries by their three successive Halls, the present one having been built by Hardwick about sixty-six years ago.

It was a magnificent City Hall, 180 feet by 100 feet, built in the Italian style, of selected Portland stone.

Inside it was most sumptuous.

There was a noble pillared banqueting-room, and a beautiful white-and-gold drawing-room panelled in crimson satin, while the hall and staircase were completely lined with a variety of costly marbles.

The Goldsmiths were about the wealthiest of the City Companies, and, naturally, the plate was superb.

This Guild assayed and stamped with its "Hall Mark" most of our gold and silver manufactures, charging a trifling percentage for so doing.

Its assay department, a perfectly plain business-like room, its roof supported by a single central column, was an attractive spot and full of interest to an expert, but admission to it was not easily obtained.

Facing the west side of the Bank of England, in Prince's Street, was the Grocers' Hall.

They used to be called the Pepperers, and dealt chiefly in that commodity.

Their present Hall, built upon an ancient site, was about a century old.

The drawing-room was a modern tasteful reproduction of an old English salon, but the feature of the Hall was the wonderful staircase, a specimen of the British workman's art in carving that could hardly be matched in the City.

The spacious Hall was graced by a music-gallery (a speciality of the Company being their orchestra), and contained some portraits, including one of Sir Thomas More.

In the Commercial Road, E., at No. 46, was the Hall of the Gunmakers.

Haberdashers' Hall, 33 Gresham Street, was a modern restoration, its predecessor having been the victim of a fire in 1864, which destroyed all the Company's relics, and left only the four walls standing.

Some pictures, however, chiefly portraits of Royalties and benefactors, were saved.

St. Katharine was the patron saint of this Guild, which possessed a small book of "ordinances" on vellum with an illuminated presentment of that interesting personage.

The Innholders, incorporated in 1515 and burnt out in the Great Fire, were stationed in College Street, Dowgate Hill.

On the north side of Fenchurch Street, No. 110, opposite Mark Lane, was the Ironmongers' Hall, a handsome building with Italian stone front.

The banqueting-chamber was not very large, but with its richly-framed pictures, its groups of old flags, its ornate ceiling, and wainscoted walls with plaques containing the arms of past Masters, was perfectly beautiful.

Izaak Walton, whose portrait was to be seen in the Hall, was made a freeman of this Company in 1618.

The Leathersellers were in St. Helen's Place, a modern Hall, built over a crypt of the ancient St. Helen's Nunnery.

The Mercers ranked first in precedence of the twelve great City Companies, of which it claimed to be the oldest and the wealthiest.

The entrance to the Hall was in Ironmongers' Lane, but there was a facade in Cheapside, No. 87.

The raised Hall, which was carved and wainscoted, was supported by Doric columns, the space below being open on one side, forming a kind of piazza, at the end of which was a chapel.

In this Hall, the Gresham Committees, who had charge of the Royal Exchange, held their sittings.

The Mercers possessed original portraits of the great Sir Thomas Gresham and of Dean Colet, founder of St. Paul's School, of which, together with Mercers' School, the Company were trustees.

The drawing-room was a beautiful apartment, wainscoted and lofty, its ceiling painted, and its great chandelier superb.

Some curious antique silver-gilt cups and flasks, and also a wagon and team of the same precious metal, were to be seen in the Hall, and some remarkable wood-carvings of flowers and fruits.

The Merchant Taylors were in Threadneedle Street, No. 30, near the City Bank.

Their Hall was larger than that of any other Company, and had a music-gallery, stately screen, and rich stained-glass windows; the arms of many notable Masters adorned the walls, and the plate was magnificent.

In the list of distinguished freemen of the Company were eleven sovereigns, as many royal princes, thirteen dukes, and two duchesses, thirty prelates, and fifteen abbots and priors.

The Guild had in trust great estates, in addition to the school that bore its name.

Painters' or Painter-Stainers' Hall was in Little Trinity Lane, No. 9, Upper Thames Street, on the site of the old Hall, burnt in the Great Fire.

Originally they were painters or stainers of glass and illuminators of missals.

In the great Hall were a good number of pictures by Verrio and Kneller, who were members of the Guild, as were also Thornhill and Reynolds.

Parish Clerks were at 24, Silver Street, E.C.

In Lime Street, with a modern approach to a modern kind of office, No. 25, the Pewterers could be found, whose Hall - a Charles I. period wainscoted old room - was rented to Townsend and Co., hatters, who used it as a warehouse, but would always show it to any one interested.

In the Company's office was a collection of antique pewter, astonishing to any one unacquainted with the adaptability of that alloy to decorated art - tankards, bowls, dishes, and platters, intricately decorated, and glistening like silver, alms-dishes not unworthy of Benvenuto Cellini, and a gigantic utensil of the seventeenth or eighteenth century, the use of which the clerk of the Company would doubtless explain to the very inquisitive.

At 141, Cheapside, north side, not far from the General Post Office, was the conspicuous gateway of Saddlers' Hall.

It was modern, and contained a portrait of Frederick, Prince of Wales, who was once the Master of the Guild.

Centuries before the Saddlers were undertakers and conducted funerals, and had preserved their remarkable ceremonial pall of crimson velvet; the centre being yellow silk with embroidery in raised gold; on each side at the head and foot were the Company's arms, and the whole was bordered by a deep golden fringe.

Salters' Hall, with courtyard and railed gate in front, was in St. Swithin's Lane, west side.

This was their fifth Hall, and was built in the nineteenth century.

The banqueting-room had a music-gallery hung with banners from the ceiling; their old plate was a treat to see, and included a silver punch-bowl over two hundred and fifty years old, and some loving-cups.

The Salters' is properly the Drysalters' Company.

The Skinners, a wealthy Company, and Trustees of Tunbridge Public School, were at 8, Dowgate Hill.

The drawing-room of their Hall was peculiar in its wainscoting, which was of richly-carved cedar-wood.

The dining-hall, of Italian style, with ornate ceiling, had an Ionic gallery for musicians.

Six kings, five queens, one prince, nine dukes, two earls, and a baron honoured the Company by becoming members, and more than thirty Lord Mayors have been elected from it.

In a courtyard at the back of St. Martin's Church, Ludgate Hill, where flourished the biggest plane-tree in London, was Stationers' Hall, where copyright in books, music, photographs, etc, had to be registered.

In its Court-room were fine carvings and a picture by Benjamin West, of King Alfred dividing a loaf with St. Cuthbert the pilgrim, also a portrait of Alderman Cadell, the famous publisher, who produced Gibbon's Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.

In the Stock-room and Hall were portraits of Dick Steele, Matthew Prior, Richardson (the novelist), John Wesley, and Bunyan, etc.

The Company publishes annually Old Moore's Almanack, which still has a large circulation.

At No. 4, Dowgate Hill, were the Tallow-chandlers, whose Hall, with Tuscan colonnade arches, was in Wren's style.

Vintners' Hall was in Upper Thames Street, near Southwark Bridge.

It was re-built by Wren after the Fire, and has since been re-fronted.

The Great Hall was richly carved and wainscoted, and in the Court-room were full-length portraits of King Charles II and James II, and a picture said to be a Van Dyck.

St. Martin was the tutelar saint of this ancient Guild.

Watermen and Lightermen were 18, St. Mary-at-Hill.

Between thirty and forty of the minor Companies not possessing Halls, were housed in various quarters, several in the Guildhall.

Amongst the most interesting of these were the Horners - one of the smallest, yet oldest, of the Companies - whose duty it was at one time to see that the principal thoroughfares were properly lighted with horned tin lanterns; the Joiners, who recently recovered their valuable corporate seal that had been missing for three-quarters of a century under very mysterious circumstances; the Plumbers, five hundred years old; the Playing-Card Makers; the Loriners (or bridle-cutters); and the Spectacle Makers.

Next: The City of London in 1900: Guildhall