(1)The Company of

MERCHANT ADVENTURERS

In 1357 a group of York traders began building te Merchant Advventurers' Hall, as a meeting place and almshouse.                                

Later incorporated as the Guild of Mercers (dealers in imported textiles) their name changed to the present one in the 1500's to reflect the greater diversity of their members trades.

For the next 300 years it held a virtual monopoly on trade in York.

Although it lost its trading privileges in the 1830s its members continued to be among the foremost citizens, concerned then as now with the welfare of the poorest.

It is actively interested in education, in business enterprise, and in the public understanding of science, as well as in advancing the economic well-being of the City

The Company of Merchant Adventurers

(3) The Company of

BUTCHERS

The first reference to the York Butchers Guild appears in the Freemen's Rolls of 1272, when two citizens were registered as Freemen Butchers.

The Guild Hall lay behind the Shambles - the street of butchers- in Gell Garth, an area now occupied by the market.

The Butchers were for centuries a leading guild in terms of numbers and had an important role to play in the provision of food for the City. It held sway in such matters as hygiene, weights and measures, and fast days.

In modern times the Company is primarily an organisation representing master butchers and those involved in associate trades and businesses. It remains therefore one of the few surviving craft guilds in the country. The guild is an active supporter of civic and church life in the City.

The Company of Butchers

(6) The Guild of

BUILDING

The builders of Mediaeval York included masons, glaziers, plumbers, plasterers and tilers and, largest of all, the "wood craftsmen" - carpenters, sawyers, joiners and carvers. Of these only four crafts became organised into guilds; the carpenters, masons, tile-thatchers and plasterers - though their guilds came to an end in the early 19th century.

The York Guild of Building is their heir; founded in 1954 its aims are to encourage the advancement of design, management, science and craft in building - aims which the original guilds would surely have applauded.

Meetings are held regularly in Bedern Hall, and each year the Guild awards silver and bronze medals in the shape of its emblem to students attending York College Building Department who have achieved in their subject.

Membership is restricted to those working in the building and associated trades and it is therefore classed as a craft guild.

The Guild of Building

THE ROYAL DRAGOON GUARDS

The Regiment is born of four historic British cavalry regiments raised in 1685-89 during William of Orange's contest with James II for the English throne. These are the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards and the 7th Dragoon Guards - which in 1829 helped fight a fire in York Minster (afteer 1922 the two became the4th/7th Dragoon Guards) as well as the 5th Dragoon Guards and 6th Inniskilling Dragoons (after 1922 the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards).

The two post 1922 regiments were further amalgamated in 1992 to form the present regiment.

Its long list of battle honours over more than 300 years include Blenheim, Waterloo, Balaklava, Boer War, Ypres 1914-15, Dunkirk, Normandy and Korea. The regiment, equiped with challenger II tanks, presently serves as part of NATO.

In 1999 it received the Freedom of the City.

It is presently based at Catterick 4th Mechanized Brigade (The Black Rats).

The Royal Dragoon Guards

(2)The Company of

MERCHANT TAYLORS

The Company has its origins in the religious confraternity of St John the Baptist, which built the present half-timbered Hall in Aldwark during the earlier part of the 15th century.

A those involved in the clothing trade were required to be a member. In 1386 these included taylors, drapers, clothiers, clothmakers, hosiers, embroiders, milliners and others.

These were amalgamated into the present Company which in 1662 received a Royal Charter from Charles II. The regulatory role of the Company lasted until 1835.

Today membership has been widened to include many trades and professions in and around the City. Its primary aim is now to maintain the Hall, to support local causes, and to help local people suffering disability or hardship.

The Company of Merchant Taylors

(5) The Company of

CORDWAINERS

Originally cordwainers were workers in Cordwan, a type of shoe leather which takes its name from Cordoba, in Spain, the main source of such leather in mediaeval times. In 1272, in the first Freemen's Rolls, there were 200 in york.

The eldest surviving references to the Company appear circa 1395, and the first references to an incorporated company towards the end of the 16th century.

Like other guilds, the Cordwainers exercised significant power in the City; senior officers, known as Searchers, inspected all leather shoes coming into York and were entitled to reject any they regarded as being of inferior quality.

In 1808 the Company ceased to function but was revived in 1977; today it numbers some 60 members associated with the footwear and leather trades and is therefore classed as a craft guild.

It is active in promoting with other guilds the civic life of York and in supporting charities in both the industry and the City. It has also, with the other guilds, regularly participated in York Mystery Plays.

The Company of Cordwainers

(7) The Guild of

SCRIVENERS

In an age when most people could not read, the Scriveners were responsible for copying out and decorating books, and for writing letters and other documents.

The earliest reference to the Guild was in 1415. Some 70 years later, in 1487, the Company of textwriters, illuminators,annotators, writers of musical scores, translators and those who embellished writing with flowing curves came before the Lord Mayor to register ordinances and become incorporated as with other crafts.

The Guild was revived in 1991 and is now composed of accountants, lawyers and notaries. It has also reinstated the ceremony of the 'Assize of the Ale', formerly a procedure for checking the quality of ale sold in the city - though now all 'levies and bribes' go to charity. As with other guilds, charity is one of its prime endeavours.

(4) The Gild of

      FREEMEN   

The Gild (this is the original spelling of the word guild) of Freemen is a guild made up of Freemen of the City. Originally anyone wishing to trade or stand for election to the council had to first become a freeman of the City. Freemen held great power and controlled everything pertaining to the running of the City until the Municipal Corporation Act of 1835 swept away their power.

Today the gild is made up of Freemen who have obtained their freedom through birthright or apprenticeship. New Freemen are admitted to the Freedom each year at a ceremony in the Guildhall and can then become members of the gild.

The Gild of Freemen

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