Worshipful Company of Pewterers

Manuscript letter, dated 22 February, 1643, containing an Order of the Committee of Revenue to Thomas Fauconbridge, Receiver of Crown Revenues, to pay 'the poore Pewterers or Hammer men' of London the sum of £100, due to them by virtue of an Act of Parliament. The letter is signed by members of the Committee for Revenue, including Sir Henry Vane, Sir Henry Mildmay, Francis Rous, William Ashhurst, Thomas Hoyle and Dennis Bond. With a receipt dated 27 February 1643, bearing 56 signatures or marks and the signature of Robert Leeson, Warden of the Worshipful Company of Pewteres.

The Worshipful Company of Pewterers is one of the oldest livery companies in the City of London. The earliest reference to it dates from 1348, though the members of the craft had probably formed a guild some time before this. The Company's own records are extant from 1451, and its first Royal Charter was granted by King Edward IV on 20th January 1474. In the Middle Ages, the use of pewter was unrivalled as a material for plates, dishes and drinking vessels. The height of its popularity was the late seventeenth century, after which the trade slowly declined.

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Bought from Myers & Co., March, 1953. Shelved with MS.324.

Collection level description.

Manuscript folio.

Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project.

The records of the Worshipful Company of Pewterers, 1307-1934, are held at the Guildhall Library (Ref: 7086-7125, 8695-8715, 10298).

Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.