Paviors' Company apprenticeships

Paviors' (sometimes Paviours') dealt with paving and highways. The Company's first surviving ordinances are dates 1479; from the 1840s the Company languished and was defunct from the 1860s until a revival in 1889.

There is at the Society of Genealogists a typescript copy of the apprentices of the Paviours' Company to 1783 compiled on slips by Gerald Fothergill, typed up by Joan Mary Masters in 1971. The last entry Fothergill copied was dated 15 Jul 1783. This abstract continues the work up to the end of 1800. Both Fothergill's work and this have been taken from the archives of the Company which are deposited at the Guildhall Library. Fothergill used Guildhall Library Ms 182/1 (Court Minutes 1565-1611), GL Ms 182/2 (Court Minutes 1611-56), GL Ms 182/3 (Court Minutes 1656-70), GL Ms 182/27 (Apprenticeship register 1657-65), GL Ms 182/24 (Apprenticeship register 1664-1713), GL Ms 182/19 (Freedom register 1669-1766), GL Ms 182/20 (Freedom register 1762-96). Cliff Webb continued to abstract from GL Ms 182/20 until its end in 1796, GL Ms 182/21 continues coverage from 1796 to 1806, although to the end of 1800 is all that has been copied.

One or two corrections have been made to Fothergill's work; some entries in a loose bundle of indentures 1627-87 (GL Ms 183A/1) have been included and many entries omitted by Fothergill from GL Ms 182/27, presumably inadvertently. On the other hand a few early entries from 1564-68 which do not give any details of parentage have been omitted. The entries have been rendered in the standard form for these abstracts, thus omitting, for example, the place and occupation of the master (given by Fothergill) and also a few references to freedom admissions entirely.

The records of 951 Paviors' apprenticeships have been abstracted.