IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 CLC/L/ME
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF MUSICIANS
Date(s): 1689-2009
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 200 production units
Name of creator(s): Worshipful Company of Musicians
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Musicians were employed in the City from 1334, with charitable ordinances from 1350, but the first charter to City minstrels was in 1469 (applying to the whole of England, except the City of Chester, and open to women as well as men). The charter was renewed in 1604, giving the Company protection against foreign and itinerant minstrels, and again in 1950. The text of the 1469 charter is given in Rymer's 'Foedera', available in the Printed Books Section of Guildhall Library, and an 18th century copy of the 1604 charter is contained in Guildhall Library Ms 3101.
The Company now provides a number of grants to students of the major music colleges in London, and membership includes a number of well known professional musicians.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, including charter and ordinance books; bye laws; Court minute books; signature book; livery lists; registers of freedom admissions; registers of apprentice bindings; financial accounts including cash books; press cuttings; clerk's correspondence and papers; letters from composers including Richard Strauss, Sir Edward Elgar and Herbert Howells; manuscript music scores including Elgar and Howells; concert and event programmes; photographs; papers relating to scholarships; and papers relating to company property and estates.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
To assist the user, the catalogue has been arranged in sections each with an archival classification code as follows: A Constitutional records; B Court records; C Membership records; D Financial records; F Clerk's records; G Charities and estates.
Conditions governing access:
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries. For further information please see LMA Research Guide "Consulting Archives at Guildhall Library", available at http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Records_and_archives/Visitor_information/free_information_leaflets.htm
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright: Depositor.
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
The records of the Company were transferred to the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library in 1933 and 1993. The Manuscripts Section merged with London Metropolitan Archives in 2008. The records were catalogued by various members of staff over many years. A further accession was deposited in 2010.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Related material:
The charter of 1950 is still held by the Musicians' Company.
Publication note:
Translations and editions of all 3 charters, as well as the company's bye-laws of 1606, are given in H.A.F. Crewdson's The Worshipful Company of Musicians: A Short History (1950).
For further information relating to Livery Companies, particularly using the company records for family history, please see Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section "Livery Company Membership Guide" and Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section "Leaflet Guides to Records: Searching for Members or those apprenticed to Members of City of London Livery Companies" (both available online).
For a general introduction to the history of the City of London Livery Companies please see entry in The London Encyclopaedia, ed Ben Weinreb and Christopher Hibbert.
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: Oct-09