An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of England

by Edward Potts Cheyney

Hall of Merchants' Company of York.
(Lambert: Two Thousand Years of Gild Life. Published by A. Brown & Sons, Hull.)

Interior of Hall of Merchants' Company of York.
(Lambert: Two Thousand Years of Gild Life. Published by A. Brown & Sons, Hull.)

As against outsiders the gild merchant was a protective body, as regards its own members it was looked upon and constantly spoken of as a fraternity. Its members must all share in the common expenditures, they are called brethren of the society, their competition with one another is reduced to its lowest limits. For instance, we find the provision that "any one who is of the gild merchant may share in all merchandise which another gildsman shall buy."

Earliest Merchant Gild Roll of the Borough of Leicester.
(Bateson: Records of the Borough of Leicester. Published by C. J. Clay & Sons, Cambridge.)

The presiding officer was usually known as the alderman, while the names given to other officials, such as stewards, deans, bailiffs, chaplains, skevins, and ushers, and the duties they performed, varied greatly from time to time.