24 November 2016

The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers opens its archives to the public online via Rollco

Thousands more records of apprentice liverymen and freemen of one of London's largest livery companies, the Stationers Company, can now be traced online. More than 75,000 names going back centuries are now available at the click of a button to anyone researching the history of those who made their livings in the paper, publishing and communications trades many years ago.

In September the Stationers added their archive to those available at Rollco - the Records of London's Livery Companies Online. Organised by the Institute of Historical Research, Rollco is open to any member of the public who wants to trace the important role played throughout the centuries by livery companies, London's ancient trade guilds that go back to medieval times. 

With the addition of 76,433 apprentices and freeman of the Stationers' Company, Rollco now comprises 11 livery companies. Including also the Goldsmiths, Drapers, Clothworkers, Mercers, Bowyers, Girdlers, Founders, Salters, Musicians and Tallow Chandlers, these companies kept meticulous records for centuries - although some were destroyed by the Great Fire of London and gaps appeared during periods of political or economic turmoil.

Rollco now has an archive of hundreds of thousands of names of the craftsmen, traders, dignitaries and lord mayors between 1400 and 1900 who made up the leading livery companies that played such a large role in the prosperity and development of the City of London. Many livery company records are full of the kind of biographical detail that researchers crave - places, occupations, and career information are available for a high proportion of individuals mentioned in the registers. Many inter-generational and family connections can be traced in the records.

Over the course of the centuries - for some earlier, others later - the role of most Companies became detached from their original craft foundations, and instead shifted their energies into the realm of charitable and educational endeavour. This development is clearly evident in the changing nature of their membership over time.

The Stationers are confident that the Company has one of the most comprehensive archives of all its freemen and apprentices. Only around 300 names are incomplete, ie there are around 300 people for whom there is no clear record of when they became apprenticed or were made free, although their names are found elsewhere in the database. But what the records do show is the impressive strength of the Stationers' Company in the 19th century, a time when many of the other ancient livery companies were in the doldrums as they lost immediate contact with the trades on which they were based.

Of those companies taking part in the Rollco project, the Clothworkers have the largest number of names, with more than 140,000 entries. The Musicians have the fewest, at 6,828. The detailed records drawn from Company archives allow users to reconstruct individual careers, families and trade connections, whilst providing fascinating insight into the social and economic roles of the Livery Companies, and by extension, the history of London's development.

The Stationers' decision to add the names to Rollco, after paying a fee to the Institute of Historical Research, comes as the Company is in the process of digitising its vast and valuable archive. This will prove one of the most important sources to historians researching everything that was published at a time when the Stationers controlled copyright. 

Since July 2016, the bulk of the Stationers' records have been available online for use by members of the Company and the general public at www.londonroll.org.   

For further information please contact: Deborah Rea

The Stationers' Company,

Stationers' Hall

Ave Maria Lane

London      EC4M 7DD

www.stationers.org