The Masters, Wardens, and Assistants of the Gild of Barber-Surgeons of Norwich, from the year 1439 to 1723 : second series / by Charles Williams.

  • Williams, Charles, 1827-1907.
Date:
1900
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The Masters, Wardens, and Assistants of the Gild of Barber-Surgeons of Norwich, from the year 1439 to 1723 : second series / by Charles Williams. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    then as this howse shall further think god therein.”* The regulations assigned very absolute powers to the master and wardens over the members of the gild. The next Set of Ordinances, which had increased from six in 1561 to thirty-three, appeared in 1684, and affords ample evidence of the great power and influence that the officers possessed. An assembly was directed to be held quarterly: every member, unless ill, was compelled to be present, under a penalty of three shillings. If a master or warden refused office, a penalty of forty shillings was exacted. Two feast-makers were appointed yearly; refusal to accept the post entailed a fine of three pounds, and the member who absented himself from the feast, was fined. All members were required to be freemen of the city, and were then allowed to take an apprentice, and no one was admitted to freedom unless he had been apprenticed to a freeman, otherwise he must pay a fine of twelve pounds ten shillings.t At this period (1684) the gild was a large one, and the duties of the Master and Wardens numerous as well as onerous ; so much so, that it became necessary to appoint yearly four Assistants, whose duties werO to assist the Master and Wardens in their visits to the shops of the Barber- Surgeons, “ to search at their will and pleasure.” A searcher had been appointed in 1624, but now four were necessary. A “Bedale” (Beadle) is mentioned for the first time in the Assembly Book in 1605. He was unquestionably a very important officer, and delivered messages to the different members of the craft, summoned them individu- ally to the feasts and to the meetings. There was no postal service in those days. Small crafts were compelled to group themselves. In Norwich, the wax-chandlers were united to the Barber- Surgeons, the Mercers to the Grocers, in some places the * It was the ordinary custom for the Master and Wardens of all the crafts to lie sworn before the Mayor and Aldermen yearly, in June or July, and to have the feast in August. + The Antiquary, September, 1900.