WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF COOPERS OF LONDON

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0074 CLC/L/CI
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full title	: WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF COOPERS OF LONDON
Date(s)	: 1440-1978
Level of description	: Collection
Extent	: 169 production units
Name of creator(s)	: Worshipful Company of Coopers

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

A guild of coopers, or makers of barrels for beer, wine and spirits, existed before 1396, and five charters were granted to the Company between the years 1501 and 1685. The Company had a hall in Basinghall Street from 1547 until 1666; rebuilt in 1670, it was pulled down in 1865; rebuilt in 1869, and eventually destroyed in 1940. Their present hall is in Devonshire Square.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of the Worshipful Company of Coopers, 1440-1978, including Court minute books; mark books (alphabetical lists of members practising the trade of a cooper with a representation of their marks); financial accounts; title deeds and other papers relating to property; lists of freemen; registers of freedom admissions; registers of apprentice bindings. There are also records relating to the charities of William Alexander, Nicholas Gibson and Henry Strode.

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 & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English and Latin.

System of arrangement:

As the archive is large and complex, and to assist the user, the catalogue has been arranged in sections each with a code as follows:
CLC/L/CI/A Constitutional records
CLC/L/CI/B Court records
CLC/L/CI/C Membership records
CLC/L/CI/D Financial records
CLC/L/CI/E Trade records
CLC/L/CI/F Clerk's records
CLC/L/CI/G Charities and estates.

Conditions governing access:

These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information may be subject to access restrictions.

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 archives of the Company have been deposited in the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library at various dates since 1949. The Manuscripts Section merged with London Metropolitan Archives in 2008. The records have been catalogued by various members of staff over many years.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

See The Coopers: company and craft by George Elkington (1933). (Guildhall Library reference: L 37:C 778).

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

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Oct-09