THE IRONMONGERS COMPANY
The earliest notice of the craft is in 1351. The first charter incorporating the Company was granted by Edward IV. in the year 1463, but it appears that a voluntary company or fraternity of members of the iron trade had existed for many years previous to that date.
There followed an Inspeximus Charter of Philip and Mary, dated June 20, 1558, which confirmed the charter of Edward IV.; Letters Patent of the second year of Queen Elizabeth, dated November 12, 1560, by which the charter of Edward IV. was further confirmed. James I., by Letters Patent dated June 25, 1605, confirmed the privileges and possessions of the Company. He also, in 1620, confirmed the Company in the possession of certain lands and tenements therein mentioned, in consideration of £100 paid to him. James II., by charter dated March 18, 1685, confirmed all their privileges and granted new and additional privileges, and by Letters Patent, dated November 19, 1688, he confirmed the last-mentioned charter.
Stow merely mentions the Hall, which occupied the area between Fenchurch and Leadenhall Streets. It existed in 1494 and was rebuilt in 1587. The present Hall was erected in 1748-50 on the site of an Elizabethan house which had escaped the Fire.
The number of liverymen varies; it is now thirty-seven. The Corporate Income is £12,000; the Trust Income is £11,000.
IRONMONGERS’ HALL IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
1. Freemen are invited to two dinners yearly, and they, their wives, and children are entitled to the benefit of the various charities bequeathed for their use by members of the Company or others, particulars of which are furnished to them on admission to the freedom.
2. Liverymen form the court and receive fees for their attendance on courts and committees for transacting the business of the Company and the charities. The amount of fees paid to members of the Company for their attendances at courts and committees during the last ten years averages £735 for each year. No fees are paid out of the trust estates.
3. The master and wardens have no privileges beyond the other liverymen, and no liveryman receives any money from the charities.