A Short History of the Worshipful Company of Horners

by H. G. Rosedale

Charters of little value in determining dates of origin.

Like many other City Companies, the Horners have been accustomed to believe that this Charter, which in its preamble for obvious reasons takes for granted no previous Charter, was the first and only legal instrument authorizing them to carry on their work as a Gild. Very little reliance, however, is to be placed on the statements of the Charters of this period, which were often little more than a temporary instrument of protection against further encroachments on their resources and powers by the ruling monarch. For this very uncertain privilege large sums had to be paid, sums wrung again and again from the unfortunate City Gilds by threats of suppression.

It is mere than probable that at all times Charters were freely purchasable by those who could afford to pay for them, and, having served their particular purpose, were as easily lost or mislaid. For all practical purposes, however, until the sixteenth century at least, they offer no indication whatever of the antiquity of any Company, even where they seem to state in the preamble that there has been no previous Charter, a statement which should be taken only to indicate that the Sovereign granting the Charter wishes it to be supposed that he, and he alone, is the person to whom the Company is indebted for its privileges, privileges which often existed only in name. In many cases the Charters were really encroachments by the State on the ancient privileges which had been inherited from the earliest times, and which were supported by Municipal law, against which State law waged continuous warfare.

Previous Incorporations.

It is widely held by students who are not satisfied to be merely superficial that in very early days aggregate bodies were deemed to have perpetual succession without being “incorporated.” When the King granted to a set of men to be a mercantile community, assembly, or meeting, this was considered sufficient to incorporate them. As illustrating this virtual “incorporation” we may note the words of the eminent jurist, Dr. Williams, in his “Law of the Universities,” published only last year. He says:—“A corporation, the creature of the Crown, may exist by Charter or ‘prescription,’ which presumes a Charter, even in cases where historical evidence makes it morally certain that no Charters ever existed.” Consequently, in the Charters of Edward III (which meant little and were but a receipt for moneys loaned or given), there is no provision for a common seal, liberty to accept or buy land, or to sue and be sued, etc., all these being naturally taken for granted in the case of Gilds or similar organizations then existing. It is no doubt true that in the reign of Edward III Craft Gilds were generally chartered, i.e., had their privileges confirmed by Letters Patent; yet, in still earlier days, as well as after the death of Edward III, it would seem that these bodies exercised their functions under special protection or on suffrance, probably always in return for their “fermes” or annual payment to the King.

Horners never an adulterine Gild.

If further illustration were required, to demonstrate how great is the right of the Horners’ Company to rank amongst the earliest of the acknowledged Trade Gilds, that proof is to be found in the study of what are known as “Adulterine” Gilds. These were unwarranted or unlicensed Gilds, and from time to time were heavily fined. There is no mention, however, of the Horners having been among such Gilds thus swooped down upon by the King, though lists are given of those who were mulcted from the twelfth century. The Horners could not have escaped had they been unwarranted at the time, and must, therefore, have possessed indisputable rights.

Reference has been made to Richard Baroun and William Karlile.

Royal Grants must have existed.

Richard Baroun, we read, was one “whom the King retained to serve him with Horns & other things pertaining to his Mistery, & to whom was granted the King’s livery of clothing every year, in the great wardrobe, as other Horners of his condition had been wont to receive.” Thus William Karlile was a man of considerable importance in his own time, and a man of great wealth. To suppose that so important a Craft Gild, under the patronage of such influential persons, would neglect to arm itself with every possible weapon of defence, such as Grants and Charters, is to suppose the impossible, and, indeed, in the year 1455, towards the end of the reign of Henry VI, on petitioning to have further powers of administration conferred upon it, this Gild is expressly mentioned as having been already “enfranchised in the City of London,” a proceeding which could not possibly have been accomplished without something in the nature of a Royal grant. It would seem that owing to the very great antiquity of the Horners’ Company it held certain prescriptive privileges originally obtained by it or its “Guardianus” in exchange for certain goods from time to time supplied to the Royal household, and on this point further light may still be thrown. One such instance has come to light. Either the Company or the Guardianus in his official capacity as Horner to the King, would provide the Horn Comb used at the Coronation of every Sovereign until the time of Charles II. We have evidence that amongst the Coronation relics connected with Charles I which were sold, was a “Horn Comb.” This, in accordance with the practice even now in vogue at the Consecration of Roman Catholic Bishops, was used ceremonially after anointing the King’s head with oil.