The date of the foundation of the Company was probably about 1300.
By the 27 Edward III. c. 23, the Company had the right of appointing licencemen to wind wools. The Company possesses a book of ordinances allowed and confirmed to the Company of Woolmen of the City of London by the Lord Chancellor of England and the two chief justices of either bench in the year 1587. Sixteen of the ordinances regulate the election of the governing body and the clerk, etc. The Company also possesses an order of the Court of Aldermen for granting a Livery to the Woolmen’s Company, and in the report made by the Committee of Privileges and subsequently approved and confirmed by the said court. The Company has existed under various names, such as Woolpackers, Woolwinders, and Woolmen; it was designated by all these titles in a proclamation of Charles II., but for the last three hundred years it has been known chiefly by the style of the Company of Woolmen.
The right of the Company to appoint and license duly qualified persons, having previously examined them, to wind wools has long ceased to exist; the last person licensed was in the year 1779. By proclamations in the reign of Charles II., woolcombers were obliged to be licensed by the Company.
The Master of the Woolmen’s Company has the right to nominate to the Court of Assistants of the Merchant Taylors Company two poor members of the Company as pensioners under Vernon’s Charity.
The Company lost its charter and most of its documents in the Fire of London, when the Company’s Hall was burnt down.
Their members number 20. Their Corporate Income is £376; they have no Trust Income, and no Hall. Considering that the staple trade of England for many centuries was that of wool, there can be little doubt of the extreme antiquity of this Company.
APPENDIX II
MAYORS AND LORD MAYORS OF LONDON FROM 1189 TO 1900
(Lord Mayors since 1354)
1189. Henry FitzAylwin. 1190. Henry FitzAylwin. 1191. Henry FitzAylwin. 1192. Henry FitzAylwin. 1193. Henry FitzAylwin. 1194. Henry FitzAylwin. 1195. Henry FitzAylwin. 1196. Henry FitzAylwin. 1197. Henry FitzAylwin. 1198. Henry FitzAylwin. 1199. Henry FitzAylwin. 1200. Henry FitzAylwin. 1201. Henry FitzAylwin. 1202. Henry FitzAylwin. 1203. Henry FitzAylwin. 1204. Henry FitzAylwin. 1205. Henry FitzAylwin. 1206. Henry FitzAylwin. 1207. Henry FitzAylwin. 1208. Henry FitzAylwin. 1209. Henry FitzAylwin. 1210. Henry FitzAylwin. 1211. Henry FitzAylwin. 1212. Henry FitzAylwin. 1213. Roger FitzAylwin. 1214. Serle Le Mercer. 1215. William Hardel. 1216. Jacob Alderman, for part, and Salomon De Basinges, for part. 1217. Serlo Le Mercer. 1218. Serlo Le Mercer. 1219. Serlo Le Mercer. 1220. Serlo Le Mercer. 1221. Serlo Le Mercer. 1222. Serlo Le Mercer. 1223. Richard Renger. 1224. Richard Renger. 1225. Richard Renger. 1226. Richard Renger. 1227. Roger Le Duc. 1228. Roger Le Duc. 1229. Roger Le Duc. 1230. Roger Le Duc. 1231. Andrew Bukerel. 1232. Andrew Bukerel. 1233. Andrew Bukerel. 1234. Andrew Bukerel. 1235. Andrew Bukerel. 1236. Andrew Bukerel. 1237. Andrew Bukerel. 1238. Richard Renger. 1239. William Joynier. 1240. Gerard Bat. 1241. Richard De Bungeye. 1242. Ralph Eswy. 1243. Ralph Eswy. 1244. Michael Thovy. 1245. John Gyseorz. 1246. John Gisors. 1247. Peter FitzAllan. 1248. Michael Thovy. 1249. Roger FitzRoger. 1250. John Norman. 1251. Adam Basing. 1252. John Tulesan. 1253. Nicholas Bat. 1254. Ralph Hardel. 1255. Ralph Hardel. 1256. Ralph Hardel. 1257. Ralph Hardel. 1258. Ralph Hardel. 1259. William FitzRichard. 1260. William FitzRichard. 1261. Thomas FitzThomas. 1262. Thomas FitzThomas. 1263. Thomas FitzThomas. 1264. Thomas FitzThomas. 1265. Thomas FitzThomas. 1266. William FitzRichard (Warden). 1267. Alan De La Souche (Warden). 1268. Sir Stephen De Edeworthe(Warden). 1269. Sir Hugh FitzOtes (Warden). 1270. John Addrien. 1271. Walter Harvy. 1272. Walter Harvy. 1273. Henry De Waleys. 1274. Gregory De Rokesle. 1275. Gregory De Rokesle. 1276. Gregory De Rokesle. 1277. Gregory De Rokesle. 1278. Gregory De Rokesle. 1279. Gregory De Rokesle. 1280. Gregory De Rokesle. 1281. Henry Waleis. 1282. Henry Waleis. 1283. Henry Waleis. 1284. Gregory De Rokesle.