The Wilford Archive
1662 Charter of Incorporation
The Charter
The Charter of 1662, granted by King Charles II, is one of the most important documents in the history of the Merchant Taylors of York. It established the Company of Merchant Taylors in the City of York and remains its governing document.
The Charter itself is the most magnificent document still in the Company’s possession. It is a large three-page document, inscribed on vellum, which is lodged with the Borthwick Institute for Archives at the University of York, along with the rest of the Merchant Taylors’ archives. It still bears fragments of the King’s seal.
It is this Charter which, following the union of the Tailors and Drapers of York, sets out that there:
…shall be from henceforth and for ever hereafter one ffellowship and one body corporate and politique in deed and in name, by the name of the Master wardens Assistants and ffellowship of the Company of Merchant Taylors in our Citty of Yorke… and that they shall have perpetual succession.’
The terms of the Charter enabled the York tailors, in theory, to regulate most aspects of the clothing industry within and around the City in minute detail.
A framed photo of the first page of the Charter hangs in the Entrance Hall, which was photographed by Art-to-Art Reproductions in 2008. The full text of the Charter is reproduced in Bernard Johnson’s book The Acts and Ordinances of the Company of Merchant Taylors in the City of York.
Before the Charter of 1662, the Company existed under numerous Licences, the most important of which were
• The Civic Licence of 1386 granted to 128 tailors and scissors to form a Gild – the ‘Ordinances Des Tailliours’,
• The Royal Licence of 1453 granted by King Henry VI
The 600th Anniversary of the former was celebrated in 1986 with a Dinner in the Hall.
Expenses of Obtaining the Charter
In the Small Hall, immediately to the right as you enter from the Great Hall, there is a framed record of the £186 of expenses incurred by the Merchant Taylors Company when its representatives had to be present in London to obtain the grant of the Charter.
The framed board was created in 1905 in a similar style to the earliest Masters’ Board, giving an
‘Account showing the Cost incurred in procuring the Charter of the Company in the Reign of King Charles II’. The wording on the Board records ‘This Copy Presented to the Company by Mr George Potter-Kirby JP April 1905 Sheriff of York 1901-2 Master of Merchant Taylors Company 1888-9 &1899-00’. The Board were created by H C Camidge.
Interestingly, the ‘Account’ Board also records an extract from the Mins December 9th 1665 – ‘John Tomlinson Master- ‘Lastly that Mr Henry Rirson have nothing allowed for his paines [sic] for going to London to get the Charter – but thanks.’
The Masters of the Company
The Company continues to be headed by a Master, who remains in office for one year.
The Master, together with four Wardens and four Searchers, are sworn in at the Charter Day Meeting of the Merchant Taylors – known as the Court – which is held annually in June. In the Blue Hall there are three framed boards, listing the names of the Masters from 1641 to date; the two listing the most recent Masters being beautifully illuminated.
Anniversaries
The 300th Anniversary of the granting of the Charter was marked with the Coat of Arms of King Charles II, carved by Dick Reid OBE, D.Univ, the well-known York wood and stone carver and which hangs in the Great Hall.
The 350th Anniversary was marked by the commissioning of the new Counting Table made by Peter Thompson, the wood craftsman of Sutton on the Forest.
GAW – 12/1/13 & 7/9/20