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                           PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE 
                    RECORDS INFORMATION Leaflet No: 44
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  [Note: this and all other PRO Records Information leaflets are (c)
  Crown Copyright, but may be freely reproduced except for sale or
  advertising purposes.  Copies should always include this Copyright
  notice -- please respect this.]   Crown Copyright November 1993.

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               APPRENTICESHIP RECORDS AS SOURCES FOR GENEALOGY
                        IN THE PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

INTRODUCTION

The Statute of Apprentices in 1563 forbade anyone to enter a trade who had
not served an apprenticeship.  Whilst the full rigour of this statute was
modified by subsequent Acts of Parliament and by legal judgments, it
remained on the statute book until 1814.

Until the Statute 8 Anne c.5 (1710) made stamp duty payable on indentures
of apprenticeship, no central register of apprentices was kept in England
and Wales, and evidence of apprenticeship must therefore be sought locally,
in the surviving papers of firms, parishes, charities and individuals. 
(See, for example, W.B. Stephens, Sources of English Local History (1981.)

APPRENTICESHIP BOOKS, 1710-1811

For the years 1710 to 1811 the Commissioners of Stamps kept registers of
the money they received from the duty on indentures.  These now form the
Apprenticeship Books (IR 1) at the Public Record Office, Kew.  Duty was
payable by the master a the rate of 6d for every œ1 under œ50 which he
received for taking on the apprentice, and 1s for every œ1 above that sum. 
The deadline for payment was one year after the expiry of the indenture; it
may therefore be necessary to search the records of several years' payments
in order to find a particular entry, even when the date of the indenture is
known.

The Apprenticeship Books record the names, addresses and trades of the
masters, the names of the apprentices and dates of their indentures.  Until
1752 the names of apprentices' parents are given, but after that year
rarely.  Copies of indexes of masters' names from 1710 to 1762, and of
apprentices' names from 1710 to 1774 will be found in the class IR 17: 
these were made on behalf of the Society of Genealogists and copied from
the originals in the guildhall Library, London.

Where the stamp duty was paid in London, entries will be found in the
`City' registers in this series; where it was paid elsewhere, entries will
be found in the `Country' registers.

APPRENTICESHIPS NOT RECORDED IN THE APPRENTICESHIP BOOKS

Formal indentures involved some trouble and expense.  By the eighteenth
century apprenticeships were often undertaken without any formal indenture,
especially in common trades such as weaving.  In many trades it was
expected that men would bring up their sons or nephews to the trade. 
Further, it was ruled that the Statute of Apprentices did not extend to
trades which did not exist when it was passed in 1563; this excluded many
18th century industries, most notably the cotton industry.  In many areas
the Statute was not enforced, and in the Yorkshire woollen industry formal
apprenticeship hardly existed by the end of the eighteenth century.

A large proportion of those who were formally indentured were taken on by
masters at the expense of the parish or a public charity.  These indentures
were exempt from stamp duty (8 Anne c.5) and the apprentices are thus not
included in the registers.  In such cases, local or charity records, if
they survive, are likely to be the only source of information.


SOME OTHER APPRENTICESHIP RECORDS IN THE PRO

Apprenticeship is touched on in the records of a number of other
departments.  The following notes indicate some of the records which yield
names of individual apprentices.

WAR OFFICE:  The Alphabetical Guide to War Office and other Materials (PRO
Lists and Indexes, liii) gives several references, particularly to letters
and Law Officers' Opinions on the recurrent controversy of the 18th and
early 19th centuries whether apprentices might enlist in the army or be
recruited against their masters' wishes.  A list survives of recruits
surrendered for this reason between 1806 and 1835 (WO 25/2962).

ADMIRALTY:  Correspondence on the subject of Apprentices will be found by
means of the Digest and Indexes (ADM 12), under headings such as `Boys'
(code 13) and `Apprentices in Dockyards' (code 41.61).  References from
this source must be keyed up with the lists of correspondence of the
Admiralty (ADM 1) and Navy Board (ADM 106).  The Miscellaneous Registers of
Greenwich Hospital include apprenticeship registers (ADM 73/421, 448). 
Marks and results of examinations for dockyard and artificer apprentices
from 1876 will be found among the records of the Civil Service Commission
(CSC 10).

REGISTRAR GENERAL OF SHIPPING AND SEAMEN:  Under the Merchant Seamen Act of
1823, ships of over 80 tons had to carry apprentices, whose names were to
be enrolled with local customs officials.  Under the Merchant Seamen Act of
1835 registration of apprentices on London was to be by the Registrar
General, to whom also returns of regional registration (still made by local
customs officials) were to be submitted quarterly.  Compulsory
apprenticeship was abolished in 1849, but registers were still maintained
of those who were apprenticed after that date.  Indexes of Apprentices
registered in the merchant service between 1824 and 1953 will be found in
the class BT 150, where the earlier volumes give the apprentice's name,
age, the date and terms of his indenture, and the name of his master. 
Later volumes (BT 150/15 et seq.) include also the port where he signed on
and the name of the ship.  Samples of the original indentures, including
some for fishing vessels, will be found in BT 151 and 152.

BOARD OF TRADE:  The Indexes to Papers retained (BT 19) include references
to Apprenticeship, which may be keyed up with the correspondence of the
various departments of the Board as explained in the Guide on the Reference
Room shelves.

POOR LAW UNION PAPERS:  The Index of Subjects (MH 15) includes mention of
Apprenticeship, mainly to questions of policy and precedent.  The
references there given may, in some cases, be keyed up with the papers of
the individual Poor Law Unions in MH 12, which may yield further records
not mentioned in the Index.

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  The records described in this leaflet may be seen only at the PRO, Kew.

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  Public Record Office, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1LR.
  Public Record Office, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU.
  Tel: +44 (0) 181 876-3444

  Opening hours: 9.30am - 5.00pm, Monday to Friday. Closed on public
  holidays and for annual Stocktaking (normally the first two full weeks
  in October). 

  Admission is by reader's ticket which will be issued on production of
  proof of identity, such as a (UK) driving licence or passport.
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