Does anyone have any info on Cordwainers in and around Devonport? In London there was a charter/Guild did anything like that exist in Plymouth or was it totally unregulated?
As a second string to your bow you might like to post your query on the Devon F H S "www board". It is open to non members.
I've no idea but I would think it very unlikely that Plymouth would have had any such guild/organisation. They existed in London of course, and a few larger cities such as Bristol or Norwich, but I think elsewhere they were fairly unregulated. What period are you looking at?
Hi Steve, I'm looking at 1740 -1840. I'm guessing that there was not much demand for leather goods before the Dockyard was built.
Devonport was in the parish of Stoke Damerel which a contemporary directory describes as "adjoining the Borough of Plymouth". So any guild there may have been in Plymouth would not have any jurisdiction outside the borough. Have you checked the apprenticeship records ("Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures, 1710-1811")?
Hi Peter, I have found some cordwainers around Plymouth who had apprentices, but no mention of a guild.
