You signed on as a boy, but left as a man and a master craftsman
Retired leather worker Michael Doyle looks back at the hey-day of Craft Guilds and apprenticeships
THE main purpose of the Craft Guilds was to establish a complete system of control over all who were associated in the pursuit of a common calling.
The Merchant Guilds had organised the leather business as a whole, Craft Guilds broke it up into specialities, so that tanners, saddle makers, harness makers, bridle makers, shoe makers etc. had their own fraternity.
Craft Guilds provided mutual aid and protection for all members. Membership of a guild was considered an honour as its members were recognised as skilled workers who had respect in the town. Most guilds were involved in welfare responsibilities for members and their families, including such things as sickness and funeral expenses.
Power
The power exerted by the guilds was strong enough to ensure that anyone not maintaining the prescribed high standards would be exluded from following the trade.
Apprenticeships in the leather industry usually started around the age of 12 or 14 years and lasted for a period of seven years. There would have been a signed indenture, one copy for the parents of the apprentice, the other for the master.
These were personal contracts, which were similar to the one I signed in 1960, following a long tradition in the leather trade under the Statute of Apprentices 1583; anyone practising a trade without having served an apprenticeship could have been fined.
An apprenticeship deed was a legal document whereby a master, in exchange for a premium, agreed to instruct the apprentice in his or her trade for a set term of years which for most trades was between four and seven, depending upon the speciality. The provision of food, clothes and lodging was part of the agreement. An Act of Parliament in Queen Anne’s reign ruled that from 1st May 1710, a tax was to be paid on all apprenticeship indentures, excepting those where the fee was less than one shilling, or those arranged by parish or public charities.
Progression within the guild started when the indenture was completed. The apprentice graduated into the ranks of the journeyman, becoming thereby a fellow of the craft, entitled to its liberties and privileges on equal terms with all of the others. Passing to a higher grade was obtained by proof of his skill through a ‘masterpiece’, or in some cases by an examination before the wardens.
A journeyman hired himself out to some masters for two to three years for wages, then with a little money of his own, set up in his own shop, hired journeymen, indentured apprentices and became a master in his own right.
The system worked well in regards to the training of apprentices, and was suitable for that time in history.
My Deeds of Apprenticeship are enclosed, written in the language of Victorian England, which gives a great insight into the social class structure.
The apprentice would prove he had learned his trade by producing a ‘masterpiece’