London City

by Walter Besant

THE PATTENMAKERS

Incorporated by Charles II., 1670, for a Master, 2 Wardens, 22 Assistants, and 46 Liverymen. The Livery at present consists of 40; its Corporate Income is £50; its Trust Income is £13. It has no Hall.

One of the smallest of the City Companies. The Pattenmakers are a branch of the Pouchmakers, who (Riley, Memorials, p. 554) petitioned the mayor and aldermen for powers to look after the trade of making galoches, i.e. pattens, as a thing invented or introduced by themselves. This power was duly granted to the pouchmakers. Very shortly after the Pattenmakers appear as a separate Fraternity. Probably the trade assumed large proportions. The protection of the feet from the mud, garbage, and filth, then lying about the streets, caused a great demand for the new kind of shoe. The quarter where the pattenmakers lived is marked, according to Stow, by the name of St. Margaret Pattens Church.