THE FISHERMEN

Incorporated by James II. in 1687. There is no history of the Company so far as I know. They were the Free Fishermen of the Thames. They had neither Hall nor a Livery. I suppose that the rights of the Thames Conservancy were such that the Fishermen had none left for them. In other words, their trade was regulated by the City authorities, which ordered times and seasons, the size of the nets, etc., while the Fishmongers Company regulated the sale of the fish. The reckless destruction of the young fry, for instance, the pulling up of weirs, and the use of narrow nets were practices denounced by the City on many occasions. In the ordinances of 1528 concerning the Thames fishery there is no mention of any Company or Fraternity of Fishermen. In 1698, eleven years after the Company was incorporated, an Act of Parliament ordered that these bye-laws should be submitted to the mayor and aldermen, that the water bailiff of the City should retain the power of granting licences for fishing in the river, and that he should have the right of being one of the Wardens of the Company. And in the year 1741, when other ordinances were made for the protection of the fishery, no mention is made of the Company at all.