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The
Worshipful Company of Glovers of London is one of the City's ancient Livery
Companies. A guild existed well before 1349 the date when the company's first
formal ordinances were made. These decreed that no one of the trade was to be
admitted to the Freedom of the City without consent of the Wardens, fixed the
price of sheepskin gloves at a penny per pair and ordained that gloves must
not be sold by candlelight as "folk could not tell whether they were of
good or bad leather or lawfully or falsely made". The latter, described
in another document as "naughtie and deceitefulle gloves" could be confiscated or
destroyed by order of the Wardens.
Owing to a decline in trade the Glovers amalgamated with the Pursers in 1501
only to be taken over by the Leathersellers a year later. However the changes
in fashion which occurred during the reign of Elizabeth I and in the 17th century allowed
the Glovers to prosper and become independent again their status being
confirmed by a new charter granted by Charles II in 1639. In 1662 a hall was
established in Beech Lane,
Cripplegate.
The next two centuries saw enormous social and economic changes. The
extension of the franchise, the move to the suburbs by the new middle classes
and above all the Industrial Revolution meant that the artisan workshops of
the City were being replaced by factories outside it. In the first half of
the 18th century the Glovers Livery still numbered 120; by the end of the
century it had fallen to 14 and the hall was given up for lack of funds to
maintain it.
This decline in fortune affected the great majority of Livery Companies and
in common with them the Glovers have survived and flourished by adapting to
modern times. They maintain strong links with their trade, support the City
by active participation in many of its projects, provide educational
bursaries, and carry out an extensive programme of
"Charity through Gloves". With all this, the Company has not
forgotten its debt to the past or its obligations to posterity. It maintains
a magnificent collection of 16th, 17th, and 18th century gloves and is now
embarking on an ambitious policy of expanding the Collections from 1800 to
the present day.
For further details of the history, see A
History of the Worshipful Company of Glovers
of London by Ralph Waggett (a Liveryman of the Company) published by Phillimore in 2000, 2nd Edition 2007, ISBN 1
86077 123
For details of the City of London, and of other Livery companies, visit www.cityoflondon.gov.uk
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