25th August, 1681. A short set of By-Laws was this day enacted. It is on a single skin of parchment, and imposes penalties upon such persons, as, being elected, should refuse to serve as Masters or Stewards of Anatomy. It is signed by Heneage, Earl of Nottingham, Lord Chancellor, and Sir Francis Pemberton and Sir Francis North, the two Lords Chief Justices, all of whose seals are pendant to the document.
1684. This was indeed a troublous year for the Corporation and for the guilds of London. Charles having interfered with the privileges of the City by thrusting in his nominees for Sheriffs, had met with considerable opposition from the citizens, and being assured that this resistance would be continued and maintained by the City, he determined to strike a blow at the root of its franchise, by getting into his hands the Charter of the City, as also the Charters of the several Companies. It was not difficult to procure a venal tribunal which would be prepared to pronounce an iniquitous judgment upon any fictitious statement submitted to it by the King. Sir Robt. Sawyer, the Attorney-General, thereupon undertook, on behalf of the Crown, to prove that the City Charters were forfeited, and contrived the celebrated quo warranto, upon which judgment was (as a matter of course) obtained against the City, on the 12th June, 1684.
The Companies seem to have unanimously anticipated this decision, and by so doing and by “surrendering” their Charters and liberties before the delivery of the judgment, hoped to ensure the favour of the King.
The original of the “surrender” of the Barber-Surgeons is very neatly engrossed on extra thick parchment, but the seal was of course removed when it was returned to the Company. The text is as follows:—
To all to whom these prsents shall come. The Masters or Governors of ye Mystery and Coĩaltie of Barbrs & Surgeons of London send Greeting. Know yee yt wee considering how much it imports the Governmt of our company to have men of known Loyalty & approved integrity to bear offices of Magistracy & places of Trust. The sd Mars or Governrs have granted surrendred and yielded up, and by these prsents do grant surrendr and yield up unto his most gracious Majesty Charles ye second by the Grace of God King of England, &c., his Heires and Successors. All and singular ye Powers Franchises liberties priviledges and authorities whatsoever and howsoever granted to or to bee used or exercised by ye said Masters or Governors by vertue of any right Title or Interest vested in them by any Charters Letters Patents Custome or Prescripc͠on in force of or concerning the electing nominating constituting being or appointing of any person or persons into or for ye severall and respective offices of Mastr Wardens Assistants and Clerk of ye said Company. And ye said Masters or Governors do hereby humbly beseech his Matie to accept of this their surrendr and do with all submission to his Majesties good pleasure implore his grace and favor to regrant to ye said Masters or Governors the nameing and Chusing of ye said Officers and the said libertie and ffranchises or so many of them and in such mannr as his Majesty in his great wisdome shall judge most conducing for ye governmt of ye said Company, And with and under such reservacc͠ons restricc͠ons and qualificac͠ons as his Majestie shall bee pleased to appoint. In Witnes whereof the said Mastrs or Governors have hereunto affixed their Com̃on seal the sixteenth day of Aprill in ye Thirty sixth year of ye reign of or or sovˀaign Lord Charles ye second, &c., and in ye year of or Lord Christ 1684.
Similar forms of surrender were adopted by other Companies. I am unable to say whether or no the King interfered with the franchises of the Barber-Surgeons, but think not, as no record of such meddling is to be found in our books, though, doubtless, the Court took care, remembering the rod in pickle, to govern in accordance with the wishes of the King.
Some time in this year (1684) certain unquiet spirits, Surgeons of our Company, got up a petition to the King, setting forth that the union of Surgeons with Barbers hindered rather than promoted the end for which the two bodies had been united, and praying the King to incorporate the Surgeons a distinct and separate body. Nothing came of this application beyond a reference (ordered by the King, 15th May, 1684) to the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and the Lord Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, who were directed to examine and report upon the petition, but whether they ever did so or not, I don’t know.
27th February, 1685. James II, in the first year of his reign, granted us a Charter, which is contained on seven skins of parchment, all of which have handsomely designed head-pieces and borders, the first one having a fine portrait of the King as well; only a fragment of the great seal remains, and the charter itself is considerably damaged, apparently by rats. It is in Latin, of great length, and, like others granted to other companies at the period, is an “unreal mockery.” The Charter recites the “Surrender,” and proceeds to grant another charter in which, inter alia, the appointment of any Master, Warden, Assistant, or Clerk should be subject to the approval of the King, that all members of the Company should take the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance, be in the Communion of the Church of England and receive the Sacrament, and that no person who frequented a conventicle should be eligible for the Livery.
4th April, 1687. The King having published a declaration, allowing liberty of conscience to all his subjects, suspending and dispensing with the penal laws and tests, and even with the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance on admission into offices civil and military, numerous addresses of thanks for this liberty were presented to the King, among others the following one from our Company, which is preserved in the “London Gazette” of 20th October, 1687.
The Humble Address of the Masters Governors Assistants and Members of the Mystery and Commonalty of Barbers and Surgeons of London.