The Curriers Company – The first 500 years
The earliest surviving record of currying in England is in the City of London Coroner’s Roll for 9 February 1276. This covers an inquest into the death of a Currier’s wife living off Newgate Street. She apparently died as a result of a broken leg after falling down drunk in the street!
However, the book “The Curriers’ Company – A Modern History”, by Donald Adamson , lists 1272 as the date when the Mistery of Curriers obtained separate working regulations, thus becoming an exclusive trade association. It seems likely, however, that such working regulations were not the first in Europe nor in London, but followed the experiences of other artisans’ organizations in France, Italy, Spain and in other London trades.
The earliest rules of the trade in London were recorded circa 1300. These laid down the maximum prices a Currier could charge a skinner for the dressing of skins. Four ‘searchers’ were empowered to enforce these rules, one of whom was a Currier. Any Currier charging too much would have a fine imposed. As an example, the Currier could not take more than 5s6d for dressing the skins of a thousand roskyn (fur of the squirrel in summer).
However, even with Ordinances in place, the leather artisans continually challenged the boundaries for their respective trades. Even the definitions of the various artisans became confused. For a century these trade boundary rules and ordinances were continually challenged and, as with many other inter-trade disputes of those times, street fights and rioting were regular occurrences between apprentices.
By the 14th century, Curriers were men of importance in towns and cities in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Until 1367, London Curriers had no sanctioned trade guild. In that year, however, the Curriers constituted themselves into a guild and religious fraternity in the “conventual church of the Carmelites” (White Friars) in Fleet Street.
English and especially London’s Curriers’ prosperity was due in part to the royal supply contracts for leather for soldiers engaged in wars with France and Scotland. Leather was used to link plates of armour, as well as for many items of soldier’s clothing and for tack for the horses used to move heavy war supplies.
In 1415 The Mistery of Curriers received grant of its First Ordinances by the act of Common Council of the City. These were further strengthened in 1488 by another act of Common Council. The penalties for disobeying these ordinances were huge. For instance, leather discovered improperly ‘tanned, sealed and curried’ could result in the Currier facing five days in jail and a 20-shilling fine - 10 for the King and 10 to the wronged party. If a Currier should carry out the tanning of a skin, he faced a fine of 6 shillings and 8 pence for each skin so treated. Today, 6s8d would be about £300.
By 1483, the wealth of the Curriers’ guild had grown substantially and their first hall had been acquired in the parish of St. Mary Axe by the Pappey, now London Wall in Aldgate.
During the period of the House of Tudor (1485-1603) the struggles between the leather artisans were intense and acts restricting and permitting the activities of workers in the leather trades were clearly a continuing battleground. The Curriers buying from tanners and selling to a whole variety of trades effectively made them the leather wholesalers, and they used this position to increase their profitability substantially. This resulted in many protests, with the result that the Mayor and Council acted through legislation to prevent Curriers from also acting as wholesalers. The effect of this was to squeeze smaller and poor workmen out of business as they could not afford to buy larger quantities of leather that the other purveyors of leather required. Again more protests, and the rights of Curriers to act as wholesalers were restored
In 1559, Parliament passed an Act affecting the leather industry, designed to improve standards and stop some improper practices. Curriers were forbidden the use of ‘stale uryne or any other deceipfull or subtill mixture’ to cure hides. No leather was to be stripped too thinly or sold with a blemish. Fines and forfeits were entered on the statute books.
The Curriers had to wait until 1583 before they were granted arms3, which, not surprisingly, featured the curry knife as the centrepiece.
The Guild continued to grow in strength and authority. In 1503, they obtained the rights of search and seizure; 1516 saw the rights of the Guild extended by Act of Parliament; Royal licence was granted by Henry VIII in 1517; Extension beyond the city was first licensed to the Guild in 1567; around 1580 the Guild was first recognized as a livery company. This all led to the granting of the first Charter of Incorporation4 in 1605. This lays down rules and regulations for Curriers belonging to the Livery Company, including such statutes as a ‘fine of 4 pence a day with meat and drink from the Master, if a Journeyman be unemployed through the Master’s default’ and a fine of 6 pence from the journeyman if he should absent himself from work.
The Company published bye-laws on 4 June 1605. These imposed fines for poor workmanship, and standardised regulations for premises where currying may be carried out. They should be ‘fitting and convenient for the use of the said art.’ Work on leather had to cease at noon on Saturday and the afternoon had to be employed in cleaning houses, sharpening tools and ‘grayning and shaving of boote legges against the next working day’.
On the overthrow of the Monarchy in 1649 the Royal charters were of little value throughout the Commonwealth period, except that the Court of Common Council supported the rules and regulations that the charters implied. With the restoration of Charles II in 1660, the Curriers' original Charter was reinstated.
As with so many of the Livery Companies, the Great Fire in 1666 wreaked havoc within the core of the City. In the process, it destroyed the Curriers' Hall and most of its treasures and archives. As far as treasures are concerned, silver that was not lost was sold to help pay for the reconstruction of the Hall. It took 4 years for the Curriers to move into their new Hall (their third). The impact of the fire was huge. Curriers who lost homes and places of work had to move out of the core of the City while reconstruction took place, and many set up their businesses in their new locations, never to return.
James II recalled the James I Charters of all the Livery Companies in 1686, issuing new charters in 1687 which included powers that were distasteful to the Companies. The powers were granted for “the Profitt, Comoditie and Reliefe of the good and honest, and for ye Terror and Correiction of the evill, naughty and dishonest”. The interpretation of these categories left the Freemen with much concern, as did the requirement to be in “Communion with the Church of England”. Moreover, the appointment of officers and Clerk were subject to the approval of the King and they could be removed at the King’s pleasure. With the accession of William and Mary, the James II Charters were revoked and the earlier charters reinstated.
The Last 300 Years
After years of wealth and prosperity, the Company experienced money woes at the end of the 17th century, due to the dispersal of Curriers to the evolving suburbs of the City. The hall was let out to others for religious purposes, and the level of activity declined substantially. Later, the Company leased the hall for 7 years to the Pattenmakers.
Financial woes and problems of control over apprentices and journeymen continued. It became difficult to find members willing to serve on the Court. Even the imposition of substantial fines - £25 (about £2500 today) for the Renter and Upper Warden - was only just sufficient to prevent the problem continuing.
It was clear that the power of the craft guild was under increasing pressure with the emergence of the Trades Unions and the aggressive business practices of the growing number of capitalists benefiting from the industrial revolution and the industrialization of the leather making processes.
Within the leather trade in London, the Curriers and the other Leather Livery Companies fought to maintain their control and, as they paid their journeymen well, they were well supported by their employees. However, the other leather trades continued either to curry themselves or buy from cheaper curriers in the rest of the country and overseas. While fighting to maintain their position in the City, the Cordwainers started a prosecution of Curriers for cutting their leather into smaller pieces and wholesaling them to the smaller end-product makers. This dispute ended in the successful quest for an act of Parliament that permitted London curriers to cut leather for sale. However, at the cost of almost £2000, the company became heavily indebted and it was years before those debts could be paid off. In doing so, the Court allowed admission of members who were not involved in the currying trade (although they were not allowed to engage apprentices).
Edward Mayer asserts in the original history of the Curriers that the loss of power and fortunes of the company was actually due not to the Trades Unions, nor the capitalists, but to the problem of attracting enough journeymen and the huge growth in the demand for leather which outstripped the production capacities of the members. With a lack of will to change their processes, other producers gained substantial advantage by changing their production methods, thus generating lower pricing and greater profitability.
The trade steadily declined in the early part of the 19th century. At the start of the century, the financial woes of the Curriers continued. For instance, they declined to participate in the funeral cortege of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson because of lack of funds. This was compounded with the repeal of the Great Statute of Leather (1606) in 1808 and the consequent loss of power over the artisans and journeymen of the trade. In addition, the various properties that had been donated under the wills of several wealthy Curriers had become dilapidated, but the Company obtained sufficient funds from the Leather Companies' enforcement of the Flaying Acts (1801&1808) to be able to rebuild some of its properties.
With the repeal of the Flaying Acts (1824) the future of the Company was again thrown into question. Having little control over currying and no income from the quality control of leather, the Company was essentially left with its social and charitable functions only. In 1834, the Court of Common Council of the City officially recognized the loss of most of the Companies' function of industrial control and reduced the fee for admission to the freedom from £25 to £5.
It was very fortunate that Samuel Jackson, a master currier, bequeathed £800 to the Company in 1825, the interest from which was to be used for charitable disbursement, thus reaffirming the Company’s role in providing charity.
The wealth of the Company continued to be a concern as funds remained tight and money management depended on the aspirations of the officers and assistants. Possibly the only true example of consistent financial management was in the charities provided by William Dawes and Samuel Jackson. However, with the regular leasing of the Hall, which guaranteed a consistent income, and with other ground rents from properties in Curriers’ Hall Court and elsewhere, the fourth Hall was built in 1820, the fifth5 in 1874 and the sixth in 1876.
The 20th century started with continuing fluctuating financial uncertainty even though some large legacies were provided by former Masters and Liverymen. After the First World War, the resources of the Company were at a very low ebb, and, in 1920, the Court resolved to accept an offer of £30,000 by Imperial Continental Gas Association for the freehold of the Hall. It was sold in 1921, when the Company moved in with the Cordwainers, using their hall for livery dinners and with the use of ancillary rooms in Cannon Street as their offices. These arrangements placed the Curriers on a much sounder footing and the Court set about expanding the Livery, which had dwindled to less than 40.
The membership of the Company also changed dramatically. Many of the members were in the legal profession, and with more than 30 members in legal practice, no less than 10 were judges. Both the Court and the Dinners started to look like clubs for lawyers. There were very few practising curriers in the Company at this time.
The blitz and other air attacks during the Second World War destroyed much of the Company’s properties in Curriers’ Hall Court and also destroyed the Cordwainers’ Hall. Fortunately, most of the Company’s silver and other treasures were saved. Compensation for these losses was received and the Company put in place an investment portfolio which was originally intended as a holding pattern until ground rentable properties could be purchased. After the loss of the Cordwainers’ Hall, the Company contracted with the Tallow Chandlers for office space and meetings.
Issues of ownership of or partnership in ownership of a Hall have arisen numerous times, but, without the core resources to make such an investment, no such initiative has taken root. A major partnership was proposed in 1956 between the Coopers, Cordwainers, Curriers and Painter-Stainers but this was never carried though. This followed approaches from the Company of Secretaries in 1942, 1945 and 1948 and preceded approaches by the Company of Fan Makers in 1983.
In the absence of any linkage or trade activity, the Company's activities and purpose, like those of many Livery Companies, became social and charitable. Without the wealth and legacies of many of the other Companies, the charitable activities were limited and so the membership was essentially determined by the benefits of the social activities. The success of social activities depended extensively on the enthusiasm and creativity of the Court Executive and its Assistants. In 1965, the lack of people eligible, through service as executive officers, to serve as Assistants caused the Court to seek Assistants directly from its core of Liverymen. This new route to the Court brought in some enthusiastic new Assistants who were influential in rejuvenating the Company.
The 1970’s again raised the question of the future direction of the Company. Go for an expanded high profile membership of eminent men as a form of exclusive London club or remain family-line oriented and a smaller, less wealthy organization. The latter was chosen.
The sale of some of the remaining properties at Helmet Court (from the Dawes legacy), due to road-widening, produced funds in 1969 that were sufficient to pay for the building of a paediatric wing at the Brook General Hospital as a family care centre and also to purchase and upgrade a house in Lymington for up to seven lonely people. This was named Dawes House after the original donor. The Brook Hospital wing was opened in 1972 and Dawes House in 1973.
The Company Today
The Company’s Livery is now around 100 and includes a wide range of professional men and women involved in academia, accountancy, brokerage, finance, industry and law. Notably there are two practising curriers of leather. In addition to supporting the work of the City of London, its Mayoralty and its corporate governance, the Company provides support to leathercraft in its widest sense, and conducts an annual program of educational and charitable financing. It operates two charities.
The Company also maintains close links with 3 Military units: 101 (City of London) Engineer Regiment, 7 Squadron RAF and the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing.
The Company has arrangements with the Worshipful Company of Tallow Chandlers and hold Court Meetings and various other functions at the Tallow Chandlers’ Hall. Other events are held at the Apothecaries’ Hall, the Cutlers’ Hall, and the Saddlers’ Hall.
Company Comment - June 2010
The Unique City
The City Livery Companies
Freedom of The City
The Constitution of Company