Introduction
Trade in Early Modern London brings together documents from six of London’s principal livery companies, spanning the years 1450 to 1750. The rich and varied records document the central role that these wealthy and powerful institutions played in the commercial, financial, political and cultural activity of the city. They provide fascinating insights into life in early modern London, covering a broad variety of themes as well as reactions to key historical events such as the Reformation, the English Civil War, the Great Plague, and the Great Fire of London.
Details on how content was selected for this resource can be found in the Selection Criteria.
Introduction
Trade in Early Modern London brings together documents from six of London’s principal livery companies, spanning the years 1450 to 1750. The rich and varied records document the central role that these wealthy and powerful institutions played in the commercial, financial, political and cultural activity of the city. They provide fascinating insights into life in early modern London, covering a broad variety of themes as well as reactions to key historical events such as the Reformation, the English Civil War, the Great Plague, and the Great Fire of London.
Details on how content was selected for this resource can be found in the Selection Criteria.
Contributing Archives
Trade in Early Modern London includes material from three UK archives:
- The Drapers' Company
- The Goldsmiths' Company
- The London Archives, from which source is included:
- The Fishmongers' Company collection
- The Merchant Taylors' Company collection
- The Skinners' Company collection
- The Vintners' Company collection
More information about the individual company collections included in Trade in Early Modern London can be found in the Guide to the Archival Collections.
Contributing Archives
Trade in Early Modern London includes material from three UK archives:
- The Drapers' Company
- The Goldsmiths' Company
- The London Archives, from which source is included:
- The Fishmongers' Company collection
- The Merchant Taylors' Company collection
- The Skinners' Company collection
- The Vintners' Company collection
More information about the individual company collections included in Trade in Early Modern London can be found in the Guide to the Archival Collections.
Document Types
Trade in Early Modern London contains full runs of all extant court minute books and wardens' account books from six of the Great Twelve livery companies, up to the year 1750. These records are the heart of the companies' day-to-day business and contain a wealth of information about London between 1450 and 1750.
Some supporting records have also been selected from each company, including ordinances, charters, ledgers, and other financial records. Where indexes or handwritten transcripts exist for the court minutes or wardens' account books, these have also been included and can be viewed alongside the original document using comparison functionality. See the Guide to Reading Early Modern Records for more information.
For more information about what the records can tell us please see the What is a Livery Company? page.
Handwritten Text Recognition technology has been applied to all documents in this resource, but computer-generated transcription is inherently challenging due to the diversity of scripts, abbreviations, and idiosyncracies in individuals' handwriting, so errors in the transcripts frequently occur. Please note that these are automatically generated and have not been edited. Researchers are free to download the images and run them through their own HTR models, and to download the transcript to use it as a starting point for studying the palaeography. For more information on tools available to assist with interpreting early modern handwriting please see the Guide to Reading Early Modern Records.
Document Types
Trade in Early Modern London contains full runs of all extant court minute books and wardens' account books from six of the Great Twelve livery companies, up to the year 1750. These records are the heart of the companies' day-to-day business and contain a wealth of information about London between 1450 and 1750.
Some supporting records have also been selected from each company, including ordinances, charters, ledgers, and other financial records. Where indexes or handwritten transcripts exist for the court minutes or wardens' account books, these have also been included and can be viewed alongside the original document using comparison functionality. See the Guide to Reading Early Modern Records for more information.
For more information about what the records can tell us please see the What is a Livery Company? page.
Handwritten Text Recognition technology has been applied to all documents in this resource, but computer-generated transcription is inherently challenging due to the diversity of scripts, abbreviations, and idiosyncracies in individuals' handwriting, so errors in the transcripts frequently occur. Please note that these are automatically generated and have not been edited. Researchers are free to download the images and run them through their own HTR models, and to download the transcript to use it as a starting point for studying the palaeography. For more information on tools available to assist with interpreting early modern handwriting please see the Guide to Reading Early Modern Records.
Thematic Areas
The following themes represent areas of study that the livery company records can be used to explore. Each record is so rich in content and broad in scope that all of these themes might apply, so documents have not been tagged with specific themes in the metadata. For more information about these themes and examples of how they can be found in the documents please see the Thematic Guides.
• Charity and Philanthropy
• Citizenship
• Civic Ceremonies, Music, Drama and Pageantry
• Civic Government
• Commerce
• Craft and Regulation
• Education
• Immigration
• Politics
• Prices and Wages
• Property and Estates
• Religion
Thematic Areas
The following themes represent areas of study that the livery company records can be used to explore. Each record is so rich in content and broad in scope that all of these themes might apply, so documents have not been tagged with specific themes in the metadata. For more information about these themes and examples of how they can be found in the documents please see the Thematic Guides.
• Charity and Philanthropy
• Citizenship
• Civic Ceremonies, Music, Drama and Pageantry
• Civic Government
• Commerce
• Craft and Regulation
• Education
• Immigration
• Politics
• Prices and Wages
• Property and Estates
• Religion
Languages
The majority of documents in Trade in Early Modern London are written in English, although French and Latin are also present in some of them. Use the Language filter on the left-hand side of the documents list page to find all the volumes that contain a particular language.
Languages
The majority of documents in Trade in Early Modern London are written in English, although French and Latin are also present in some of them. Use the Language filter on the left-hand side of the documents list page to find all the volumes that contain a particular language.
Research and Teaching
A variety of research tools provide further contextual information or guidance for teaching and research. From essays and video interviews to digital humanities resources and maps, explore the options under Research Tools or view the full list in Teaching Tools.
Research and Teaching
A variety of research tools provide further contextual information or guidance for teaching and research. From essays and video interviews to digital humanities resources and maps, explore the options under Research Tools or view the full list in Teaching Tools.