Ireland, TO all to whom these present letters shall come, health.
KNOW ye, that we considering how our beloved, honest, and free men
of the Mystery of Barbers of our City of London, exercising the
Mystery or Art of Surgery, as well respecting wounds, bruises, hurts,
and other infirmities of our liegemen, and healing and curing the
same, as in letting blood, and drawing the teeth of our liege men,
have for a long time undergone and supported, and daily do undergo
and support, great and manifold applications and labours; and also,
how through the ignorance negligence and stupidity of some of the
men of the said Barbers, as well of the freemen of our said City,
as of other Surgeons foreigners and not freemen of the said City,
and who daily resort to the said City, and in the mystery of Surgery
are not sufficiently skilled, whereby very many and almost infinite
evils have before this time happened to many of our liegemen, in
their wounds, hurts, bruises, and other infirmities, by such Barbers
and Surgeons, on account of their defect in healing and curing;
from which cause, some of our said liegemen have gone the way of
all flesh, and others, through the same cause, have been by all
given over as incurable and past relief, and it is to be dreaded,
that similar or greater evils may in future arise on this head,
unless proper remedy is by us, speedily provided for the same. WE
therefore, heartily weighing and considering that such evils do
happen to our liegemen for want of the examinations, corrections,
and punishments by a due supervision of such Barbers and Surgeons
as are insufficiently skilled and instructed in the said mysteries
or arts as aforesaid; have at the humble request of our aforesaid
beloved, honest, and freemen of the said Mystery of Barbers in our
said city, granted to them that the said Mystery, and all men of the
said Mystery aforesaid, may be in deed and name one body and one
perpetual Community, and that two Principals of the said Community
may, with the consent of twelve persons, or at least eight of the
said Community who are best skilled in the mystery of Surgery, every
year elect and make out of the Community, two Masters or Governors
of the utmost skill, to superintend rule and govern the Mystery
and Community aforesaid and all men of the said Mystery, and of
the businesses of the same for ever. AND THAT the said Masters or
Governors and Community may have a perpetual succession and common
seal to serve for the affairs of the said Community for ever, and
that they and their successors for ever may be able and capable to
acquire and possess in fee and perpetuity lands, tenements, rents,
and other possessions whatsoever, to the value of five marks per
annum, besides reprises. And that they, by the name of the Masters
or Governors and Community of Barbers of London, may be able to
plead and to be impleaded before whatsoever Justices in Courts,
and actions whatsoever. And that the said Masters or Governors and
Community, and their successors, may lawfully and honestly assemble
themselves, and make statutes and ordinances for the wholesome
government, superintendence, and correction of the said Mystery,
according to the exigency of the necessity, as often and whenever
it may be requisite, lawfully and unpunishably, without leave or
hindrance of us, our heirs or successors, Justices, Escheators,
Sheriffs, Coroners, or any other Bailiffs, or servants of us, our
heirs or successors; provided that such statutes or ordinances are
not in any ways contrary to the laws and customs of our Kingdom of
England. WE FURTHER will and grant, for us, our heirs and successors,
as far as in us lies, that the Masters or Governors of the aforesaid
Community for the time being, and their successors for ever, shall
have the superintendence, scrutiny, correction, and government of
all and singular the freemen of the said City who are Surgeons,
exercising the Mystery of Barbers within the said City, and of
all other foreign Surgeons whomsoever, in anywise practising and
using the said Mystery of Surgeons in the said City and the suburbs
thereof, and the punishment of them, as well freemen as foreigners,
for their offences in not perfectly following, practising and using
that mystery, and also the superintendence and scrutiny of all kinds
of instruments, plaisters, and other medicines, and their recipes,
by such Barbers and Surgeons given, applied, and used for our liege
men, for curing and healing their wounds, bruises, hurts and such
kind of infirmities, when and as often as shall be requisite for the
convenience and utility of our liege men; so that punishment of such
Barbers exercising the said mystery of Surgeons, so offending in the
premisses, be executed by fines, amerciaments, and imprisonments
of their bodies, and by other reasonable and suitable means; and
that no Barber exercising the said mystery of Surgeons in the said
City and suburbs thereof, or any other foreign Surgeon whatsoever,
shall in future be admitted to follow, practise and exercise the
said mystery of Surgeons, in anywise, within the said City or the
suburbs thereof, unless he be first approved by the said Masters or
Governors, or their successors, for this purpose able and sufficient
as skilled in the said Mystery, and for his plenary approbation in
this behalf, by the said Masters or Governors to the Mayor of the
said City for the time being, presented. WE ALSO will and grant,
for us our heirs and successors, as far as in us lies, that neither
the said Masters or Governors and community of the said Mystery of
Barbers, nor their successors, nor any of them shall hereafter, in
anywise be summoned or appointed on any assizes, juries, inquests,
inquisitions, attainders, or other recognizances, within the said
City or suburbs thereof for the time to come, before the Mayor or
Sheriffs or Coroners of our said City for the time being, by any
summoning officer or his servant, or summoning officers or their
servants, although the said juries, inquisitions, or recognizances
should be summoned by a writ or writs of right, of us or our
heirs, but that the said Masters or Governors and Community of the
aforesaid Mystery and their successors shall, from henceforth for
ever, be peaceably and entirely exonerated towards us, our heirs and
successors, and towards the Mayor and Sheriffs of our said City for
the time being, and every of their officers and servants, by these
presents. AND FURTHER, we, in consideration of the premisses, do of
our special grace, for us and our successors, grant to the said
Masters or Governors and Community of the said Mystery of Barbers,
and their successors, this liberty, to wit, that they in all future
times may admit and receive persons apt and sufficiently skilled
and informed in the said Mystery of Surgery, and by the Masters or
Governors for the time being of the said Mystery, in manner aforesaid
approved, and presented to the Mayor of the said City for the time
being as aforesaid, into the said Mystery of Barbers to the fredom of
the said City, to be held and enjoyed according to the custom of the
said City; and no other persons whomsoever, nor in any other manner,
any mandate or requisition of us, our heirs or successors, by written
letters or otherwise howsoever made or to be made to the contrary
notwithstanding. AND ALTHOUGH the said Masters or Governors and
Community and their successors should contumaciously use this liberty
in future against any mandate or requisition of us, our heirs, or
successors, or any others whomsoever to be made in form aforesaid,
neither they nor any of them shall in anywise incur any fine,
contempt, or loss towards us, our heirs or successors, or any damage
or punishment in their goods or bodies, or towards any other persons
whatsoever, on that account; AND this without fine or fee for the
sealing of these presents, to be done paid or otherwise rendered unto
us; any statute, ordinance, or any act to the contrary, before this
time published made ordained or provided notwithstanding IN WITNESS
whereof, we have caused these our letters to be made patent. WITNESS
myself at Westminster the twenty-fourth day of February in the first
year of our reign.
PEKHAM.
By writ of privy seal, and of the date aforesaid, by authority of
Parliament, and for ten pounds paid into the hanaper.
(Endorsed.)
Inrolled in the Court of the Lord the King, in the chamber of
the Guildhall of the City of London in the book marked with the
letter l. folio thirteen in the third year of the reign of King
Edward the Fourth from the Conquest.
The chief point which strikes us on reading the foregoing Charter is,
that it contains a great deal relative to Surgery, and little, indeed
nothing, concerning Barbery, and yet it is granted ostensibly to the
Barbers!
Now the Surgical side being the more important one of the craft, and
the _raison d’être_ of the Charter being in a great measure to provide
for the regulation of Surgery and the correction of abuses in that
profession, this silence as to Barbery and recognition of Surgery would
seem to be an evidence that the practice of the latter, more or less,
was the rule rather than the exception with members of the Company
of Barbers; and, as the Masters or Governors were empowered to make
“statutes and ordinances” (by-laws) for the governance of the mystery,
it was doubtless considered unnecessary to descend into any details
concerning shaving and the like in a Royal Charter.
The preamble of this Charter is exceedingly quaint and interesting,
reciting how through the “ignorance, negligence and stupidity” of
various Barbers and other practitioners in Surgery, many of the King’s
lieges had “gone the way of all flesh.” Then at the request of “our
beloved, honest and free men of the said Mystery of Barbers,” the King
grants to them, to be one body perpetual, etc., that two of the chief
men of the Company (no doubt the two then existing Masters “exercising
the faculty of Surgery”) may with twelve or at least eight other
skilled Barber-Surgeons, elect two Masters annually: this provision
in itself is singular, as it would seem to imply that the body then
incorporated was to be ruled by two Masters only; but a reference to
our list of Masters and Wardens will shew that from the year 1448
the Company has been ruled by four Masters, and so on in unbroken
succession to the present time[48]; these other two Masters therefore
were Masters of the Barbers proper, about whom nothing was said in
the Charter, but who were chosen annually in accordance with ancient
custom, the Chief or First Master being alternately a Barber, and a
Barber-Surgeon.
[48] The term “Wardens” is a more modern designation used for
convenience sake; the Master and the three Wardens are, strictly
speaking, the four “Masters or Governors.”
The Corporation was to have perpetual succession, and a Common seal,
to hold lands of a certain value, to be able to plead and to be
impleaded, to make by-laws, to have the scrutiny and correction of
(apparently _all_) Surgeons in the City and suburbs, as also the
oversight of all their instruments and medicines, etc., and to have the
power of inflicting punishment, by fine or imprisonment, on offenders.
None were to practise Surgery until examined and approved by the
Masters and presented to the Mayor, and authority was given for the
freemen of the Company to be admitted into the freedom of the City.
Another clause in the Charter was one which, whilst it conferred a
valuable privilege upon the Company, was a source of continual strife
and conflict with the Civic authorities, for by it _all_ our freemen
claimed to be exempted from serving on Juries and inquisitions, and
this immunity, though constantly disputed, was as often asserted and
maintained, with various qualifications.
In _The Times_, November 26, 1839, is an account of the exemption of
certain freemen of the Company from serving on Juries at the Central
Criminal Court. In this instance neither the claimants nor the Recorder
knew much about the matter--for one of the applicants said, in reply to
the Recorder, “I rest my claim on the Charter of _Henry VIII_”_!!_ And,
further on in the discussion, the same bold Barber had the effrontery
to declare that “the privilege was confirmed by an Act passed in the
reign of George II.” This was the Act which separated the Surgeons from
the Barbers, and which did _not_ confirm to the latter the exemption
claimed, but our freeman gained his point, and the Recorder only
grumbled.
As recently as 1868, a case was submitted to Sir J. D. Coleridge (now
Lord Chief Justice) as to the legality of the exemption, and he gave
his opinion in favour of it. However, since then the Jury Act has,
alas! swept away this cherished immunity, and thus let the Barbers down
to the level of their fellow citizens.
With the possession of their Charter the Company were now in an
unassailable position, and we hear no more of their molestation by the
Guild of Surgeons.
[Illustration: _Grant_ by RICHARD THORNBURY, Citizen and Draper of
London, to Robert Ferbras, Citizen and Surgeon, John Dagvile, Surgeon,
William Sipnam, Grocer, and Walter Bartlot, Fishmonger, Citizens of
London, for ever, of all his title in two shops and solars with their
appurtenances, in the parish of Saint John upon Walbroke, formerly
belonging to John Blounde of Braughyng in the County of Hertford, and
which had been already conveyed to the Grantees by John Thornbury,
gentleman, and Walter Thornbury, Clerk, which shops were situate
between the tenements of William Horn, Citizen and Draper, towards
the north and south, and the tenement of the Prior and Convent of the
Blessed Mary without Bishopsgate towards the east, and the King’s
highway leading from Walbroke to Dowgate towards the west. Dated 11th
May, 2 Edward IV (1462).]
1470. The Company about this period came into possession of some
freehold houses in St. John the Baptist upon Walbrook, to be held
both for trust and corporate purposes. These houses are stated in our
books to have been devised to us by Will (dated 2nd Dec., 1470) of
Robert Ferbras. There are three old title deeds of the period still
at the Hall, relating to these houses, and in the Court of Husting at
Guildhall are two Wills of Robert Ferbras, Surgeon, both proved, one
dated 4th Nov., 1470, and the other 17th April, 1472--but neither of
these contain the bequest to the Barbers. It is, therefore, probable
that Robert Ferbras conveyed the houses to the Company in his lifetime,
and this fact being overlooked in course of years, it came to be said
that they passed by his Will.
1482. 26th April.--The Company applied to the Court of Aldermen,
presenting a set of ordinances for the government of the craft and for
the regulation of apprentices, praying that the same might be allowed
and ratified, which was done. The official entry under this date is in
_Letter-Book L._ 174, and the following are the Ordinances:--
[Sidenote:
Ordinacio }
BarbitonsoꝜ}]
Memorand qˀd sexto decimo die Aprilis Anno regni Regis Edwardi quarti
post conq̃m vicesimo scᵭo pˀᵬi hõies Artis sive mistere BarbitonsoꝜ
Civitatis london venˀ hic in Curˀ dc̃i Dnĩ Regis in Camˀa Guyhald
Civitatꝭ pˀdcĩ coram Willm̃e Haryot milite ac maiore & Aldr̃is
ejusdem Civitatis et porrexer̃nt eisdem maiore & Aldr̃is quand{a}m
billam sive supplicacõem Cujus tenor sequitur in hec verba.
TO THE RIGHT hono{r}able lord the Mair And the right wirshipful
Sovˀaignes the Aldermen of the Citee of London Mekely besechen your
goode lordship̃ and maistershippes all the pˀsones enfraunchesed in
the crafte and mistere of Barbours w{t}in the Citee of london That
it wold pleas the same your lordshipp and maistershippes for the
Wirship̃ of the said Citee And for the goode Rule to be had w{t}in
the saide Craft to graunte and establissh thise articles folowyng And
theym to be entred of Recorde in the Chambre of the said Citee before
your said lordship and maistershippes hereafter for to be observed
and executed.
FFIRST that there shall no ffraunchesed Barbo{r.} w{t}in the said
Citee take any man or Child to be his Apprentice before that he hath
pˀsented the same man or Child unto the maister and Wardeyns of the
said Craft for the tyme being, to thentent that the same maister and
Wardeyns may duely examyne ovˀsee serche and behold by the Colour and
complexion of the said man or Child if he be avexed or disposed to be
lepur or gowty maymed or disfigured in any pˀties of his body Whereby
he shall fall in disdeyn or lothefulnesse unto the sight of the Kingꝭ
liege people And also to be examyned of his birth and of his kynrede
or if there be on hym any bonde claymed, And if he be founde defectif
in any of thise poyntꝭ that than no fraunchesed Barbo{r.} of the
saide Citee shall take hym to his Apprentice uppon payn to pay v{li.}
Whereof that one half shall Remayn unto the Chambre of the said Citee.
ALSO that evˀy enfraunchesed barbour that taketh any apprentice shall
pay to the almes of the said Craft for the same Apprentice iij{s.}
iiij{d.} to be paied in fourme folowyng that is to sey, at the first
pˀsentacion of the Appˀntice xx{d.} and that other xx{d.} in the same
yeere When he shall be enrolled And the names of the maister and
appˀntice and the yeres of appˀntishode of the same appˀntice shalbe
writen in a book by the said maistˀ & Wardeyns And he that disobeith
this article or orden{a}nce shall pay unto ye almes of the said Craft
of barbours xiij{s.} iiij{d.} that one half thereof to be applied to
thuse of the said Chambre and that other half to the almes of the
said Craft. And if it so be that the said Apprentice Dye w{t}in the
first yere, or voide so that the said maistˀ take none avauntage
by the same Appˀntice, that than the same money stonde for the
next Appˀntice, And if it hapne the said maister to take any pˀfet
[_profit_] for the said Appˀntice by way of Sale or sˀvice and that
so pˀved before the said maister and Wardeyns that than the saide
maister of the said Appˀntice to be charged for the said iij{s.}
iiij{d.}
Then follows the usual Ratification (in Latin) of the above Articles.
1487. The next notice which we have of the Barbers in the City books,
indicates that there had been quarrels and dissensions among them, and
that the rules of the Craft had been set at nought by its members,
whereupon a Book of Ordinances was presented to the Court of Aldermen
for approval and ratification and the same is entered at this date, 20
July 2 Hen vij, in _Letter-Book L._ 235{B.} as follows:--
MEMORANDUM qˀd xx{o.} die Julij Anno regni Regis Henrici septum
secundo, Gardiani & aɫ pˀᵬi hõies Artꝭ sive occupacõis de Barbours
Civitatꝭ london venerˀ hic in Curˀ dc̃i dñi Regis in Camˀa Guilhald
ejusdem Civitatꝭ coram Henrico Colet milite maiore & Aldr̃is Civitatꝭ
pˀdc̃i & porrexˀunt eisdm̃ maori & Aldr̃is quandã billam sive
supplicaõem Cujus tenor sequit{r.} in hec verba,
TO the right honourable lord the maire and fulle discrete sovˀaignes
thaldˀmen of the Citee of london Shewen mekely unto yo{r.} good
lordeship and maistˀshippes the maister and the Wardeyns and the
good ffolke of the Crafte or Science of Barbours Surgeons of the
said Citee that Where as they of longe tyme have been in discorde
and not of oon conformite, but evˀy man in effect of the said Crafte
or Science hathe taken and folowed his own singuler way and apetite
as menne be[49] under no Rule nor obedience, contrarie to all godly
policie for lacke of good Rules and orden{a}ncꝭ hadde and used within
the same Crafte or Science, and in especiall for takyng of over
many appˀnticꝭ and settyng a werk of money[50] fforeyns comyng oute
of Seint Martyns, Westmynster, Suthwerk and other placꝭ nere unto
this Citee to the distruccion of the good ffolke enfraunchised of
the said Crafte or Science, but if[51] a remedie by yo{r} noble and
grete wisdomes the rather be pˀvided in that behalf. That it wold
pleas yo{r.} good lordeship and maistershippes for the good Rule
and sadde[52] guydyng hereafter to be hadde amongꝭ the good ffolkꝭ
of the said Crafte within the same Crafte to graunt to yo{r.} saide
besechers certeyn Articles hereaftˀ ensuying from hensforth to be
obsˀved and kept and afore you here in this hono{r}able Court to be
establisshed and entred of Record for ever to endure.
[49] Being = living.
[50] Many.
[51] But if = unless.
[52] Wise.
FFIRST that no pˀsone of the said Crafte or science ne none other
enfraunchised within the saide Crafte and kepyng open shoppe of the
same Crafte or Science within the same Cite from hensforth in any
wyse pˀsume to take uppon him to sette a werke within his house or
Shoppe any sˀvaunt or sˀvauntꝭ or allowes[53] or other beyng fforeyns
or estraungiers, but[54] evˀry suche pˀsone so enfraunchised in the
saide Crafte or science or in any other and occupie the same Crafte
or Science within the Citee aforesaid present any such sˀvaunt or
sˀvauntꝭ allowes and other before the maistˀs and Wardeyns of the
same Crafte or Science of Barbours for the tyme beyng within iij
daies next after his comyng to his saide maister to thentent that
the saide maister and Wardeyns have knowledge of their habilitie and
cunyng[55] before they be sette any lenger in occupac̃ion in the
saide Crafte or Science, And what manˀ pˀsone[56] aforesaid hereafter
be founde doyng the contrarie of this orden{a}nce shall forfeit and
pay at evˀy tyme that he is so founden defectif xl{s.} the oon half
thereof to be applied to thuse of the Chambre of this hono{r}able
Citee and the other half to the Coẽn boxe of the said Crafte.
[53] Hired servants.
[54] Unless.
[55] Skill.
[56] Manner of person.
ALSO that no manˀ pˀsone[57] enfraunchised in the saide Crafte or
in any other kepying an open Shoppe and occupieth the same Crafte
within the Citee from hensforth take or set a Werke within his house
or shoppe or ellꝭ where within the same Citee any moo[58] Sˀvaunts
allowes at oones[59] beyng fforeyns or Straungiers but oonly ij
pˀsones and the same ij pˀsones to be pˀsented by their maister
before the maister and Wardeyns of the said Crafte or Science of
Barbours for the tyme beyng within iij daies next comˀyng in to
suche sˀvice to their suche maistˀ And that the same fforeyns or
straungiers shall take or have of their saide maister suche wages
for their suche sˀvice as it shalbe thought by the saide Maister and
Wardeyns of the said Crafte of Barbours that they canne desˀve and
none other, And what maner of pˀsone aforesaid hereafter be founde
doyng contrarie to this orden{a}ncꝭ shall forfeit at evˀry tyme that
he is founde defectif v{li.} to be divided and applied to suche uses
as be aforeherced.[60]
[57] Manner of person.
[58] More.
[59] Once.
[60] Afore rehearsed.
ALSO if it fortune hereafter any pˀsone enfraunchised in the saide
Crafte of barbours or in any other occupying the same Crafte of
barbours within the Citee to take any mo sˀvauntꝭ allowes at oones
beyng fforeyns or straungiers than onely ij as is aforeherced[61]
Wherethurgh[62] he renneth in the forfaiture of the said penaltie of
v{li.} for the saide offence, and than that the maister and Wardeyns
of the saide Crafte of Barbours for the tyme beyng havyng knowleche
therof put not the said penaltie of v{li.} in execucion accordyng to
the teno{r.} of the saide Acte thereof made, within xiiij daies after
that the said maistˀ and Wardeyns have knowleche thereof, that than
the said maistˀ and Wardeyns for the tyme beyng so founden defectif
shall forfeit and lose at evˀy tyme xiij{s.} iiij{d.} to be divided
and applied to suche uses as be aforeherced.
[61] Afore rehearsed.
[62] Wherethrough = whereby.
ALSO that no manˀ pˀsones enfraunchised in the said Crafte or in any
other occupying the same Crafte within the said Citee from hensforth
take any moo appˀntices at oones than iij uppon payne of forfaiture
of v{li.} at evˀy suche tyme as he is founde defectif doyng contrarie
of this Article, to be divided and applied to suche uses as be afore
reherced Savyng allway that it shalbe lefull to evˀy suche pˀsone
oon yeere before the tˀme of appˀntishode of any his appˀnticꝭ be
expired to take a nother appˀntice in the stede of hym that is nygh
com̃yng oute of his tˀmes of appˀntishode to thentent that the same
newe appˀntice may have his due erudicion and lernyng in the said
Crafte or Science of Barbours before the tˀmes and [63] of the rather
appˀntice.
[63] A blank in the original.
ALSO if any pˀson of the said Crafte or Science selle away his
appˀntice to a nother manne within his tˀmes of appˀntishode that
than it shalnot be lefull to any suche pˀsone so silling away his
appˀntice to take any newe in his stede duryng the tˀme to come of
appˀntishode of that appˀntice so sold Nevertheles if it fortune any
appˀntice to dye within the tˀmes of his appˀntishode that than it
shall be laufull to the mastˀ of that appˀntice so dying to take a
nother in his stede when so evˀ it shall lyke hym.
PROVIDED all way that it shalbe lefull to evˀy pˀsone of the said
Crafte nowe havyng many appˀnticꝭ to reteyne and holde fulle as many
appˀnticꝭ as he hathe the day of makyng of this Acte or orden{a}nce
unto suche tyme as the tˀme of their appˀnticialite shalbe fully
accomplisshed So all way that no suche pˀsone take any mo appˀntices
unto suche tyme as the nuˀbre of the said appˀnticꝭ be reduced
and brought unto the said nuˀbre of iij appˀnticꝭ uppon payn of
forfaiture of v{li.} to be divided and applied to suche uses as been
afore reherced.
ALSO that no foreyn Barbour from this tyme foreward occupie the Craft
or Science of Barbours or Surgeon Barbo{r.} within the ffraunchise
of the said Citee but if he be lymytted and assigned therto by the
maister and Wardeyns of the same Craft for the tyme beyng uppon payn
of forfaiture of v{li.} as often as any suche pˀsone so be founde
defectif, to be divided and applied to suche uses as be aforeherced.
Provided allway that if it canne be thought for the wele of the kyngꝭ
people that if any foreyn Barbours or foreyn Surgeon be founden of
such habilitie and connyng of Surgerie or of that Crafte that it were
necessarie to have hym to occupie within the ffraunchise of this
Citee, that than he be admitted therto by the Chamᵬleyn of london and
by the Maister and Wardeyns of the said Crafte of Barbours for the
tyme beyng, With that the same fforeyn fynde suertie sufficient to be
bounde to the said Chamᵬleyn and Maister and Wardeyns for to do make
him self free of the saide Crafte or Science of Surgeon Barbours and
to obey and pˀfourme the Rules and ordenn{a}ncꝭ of the same Crafte
and to be under the correcion of the same Crafte, provided allway
that the kyngꝭ people be served in price of their Cure and shavyng in
tyme to come aswell and as safely as they have been in tymes passed.
Then follows the usual Ratification (in Latin) of the above Articles.
1490. A declaration made by one Bryan Sandford, dated 8th March, 1490,
was produced to the Committee of the House of Commons in 1745, in
which it was stated that the Company were at that time possessed of the
freehold of their Hall in Monkwell Street.
1493. On the 12th July in this year, an agreement was entered into
between the Barbers’ Company and the Surgeons’ Guild which would
indicate that the two bodies were now on amicable terms, working
harmoniously for the increase of the credit of the profession, and
for the correction of inexperienced surgeons and empirics. This
“Composition” is of so interesting a nature that it is here given in
full, as extracted from the fine old Book of Ordinances at the Hall; it
did not unite the two bodies in any way beyond this, that they agreed
to follow the same rules and practice with regard to the government of
all Surgeons; that each guild was to choose two Wardens, and that the
four so chosen were to act in a conjoint capacity as rulers or masters
in matters surgical, and thus comprehend all Surgeons, whether of the
Barbers’ Company, the Surgeons’ Guild, or “foreyns.”
This present wrytyng endentyd of copˀosicyons made the xij{th}
day of July iˀ the zere of owyr lord God M{t}CCCClxxxxiij and the
viij{th} zere of the reyne of kyng harry the vij{th} William Martyn
then beyng mayre of this cyte of london betwyxt the ffelishippis of
surgeons enfraunchesˀ w{t} in the cyte of london on that on p’ty
And the felishippis of barbours surgeons and surgeons barbours
enfraunchessid iˀ the seyd cyte on the other parte witnesyth that
the sayde felyshippys of ther comon assent and mere moc̃yons ben
c͠odescẽdyd and agreyd togethir the day and the zere aboue sayd, in
mañ and fourme folowyng. That is to sey that eũy pˀson and pˀsons of
the faculte or scyens of surgeons admyttyd and sworne to eyth̃ of the
sayde felyshippis from hens forward shall stond and a byde w{t} ther
felyshippis as they now do and dyd before thys present composicyon.