FEATHERBEDDS AND FLOCK BEDDS
A HISTORY OF THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF
UPHOLDERS
OF THE CITY OF LONDON
BY
J.F. HOUSTON, JP, FSA (Scot)
COURT ASSISTANT & ARCHIVIST
1999
"Sustine Bona" or Uphold the Good is the motto on the Company’s arms.
First Published 1993
Revised Edition 1999
ISBN 0-9521608-6-2
Published by The Three Tents Press,
15 Cambridge Road, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 1JE
![[Upholsterers slip knots]](images/knots.gif)
My thanks are due to a large number of people who were generous in their time and in the assistance granted. Special thanks are due to the following :
Mr.J.C.F.B. Byllam-Barnes, Past Master, for the transcription of the Company's charter of 1668 and the Byelaws of 1679;
Mr.A.V. Kinsey, Past Master, for the details of the Company's plate;
Mr.D.S. Austin, Past Master, for his sustained support and interest in this project;
Mr.B.E. Chapman, MBE, Warden to the Trade, for information on the upholsterer's knots;
Mr.J.H. Leicester, Citizen and Basketmaker, Johnsonian, for the literary references;
The Clerks of other City of London Livery Companies and especially the Skinners' and the Drapers' for information on dealings with the Upholders' Company;
Mr.A.F.P. Barnes, MA, the Remembrancer, Corporation of London;
Mr.J.R. Sewell, MA, FSA, City Archivist, Corporation of London Records Office;
Mr.M.P.K. Barnes, OBE, DMA, ALA, FBIM, FRSA, Guildhall Librarian and Director of Libraries and Art Galleries, and his staff, especially Mr.S. Freeth, Keeper of Manuscripts, Corporation of London;
Fr.Josef Metzler, OMI, Prefect, Archivio Segreto Vaticano.
Dr. G. Beard, FSA for the preface to the current edition.
Grateful thanks are acknowledged to the following publishers who have given permission for their publications to be quoted :
Frank Cass & Co. Ltd. - "The Gilds and Companies of London" by G. Unwin,
Oxford University Press - "The History of the Worshipful Company of the Drapers of London" by Rev. A.H. Johnson,
J.H. Haynes & Co. Ltd. - "The Story of the City Companies" by P.H. Ditchfield,
Worshipful Company of Skinners - "Records of the Skinners of London : Edward I to James I" edited by J.J. Lambert,
Random House UK Ltd. (published by Hutchinson) - "The Triple Crowns : A Narrative History of the Drapers Company " by Tom Girtin,
Worshipful Company of Fletchers - "The Fletchers and Longbowstringmakers of London" by James E. Oxley,
James B. Sherwood and Ferry and Port Holdings Ltd. - The Illustrated London News of 15 November 1851,
Dr.P. Kirkham (Furniture History Society) - "The London Furniture Trade 1700-1870",
B.T. Batsford Ltd. - "London Furniture Makers 1660-1840" by Sir Ambrose Heal,
Karin M. Walton (Furniture History Society) - Vol IX 1973 Article "The Worshipful Company of Upholders of the City of London".
This account belongs to a long line of those concerned with the history of the London livery companies, all of which can be seen in the Guildhall Library in the City of London. That record repository is also the home of many of the large treasure troves of archives which inform about the doings of many officers and liverymen in the various Companies across the years. And so an immediate advantage is available to those who write about or pursue the history of any Worshipful Company. That is to all except those concerned about the Upholders, for the Great Fire of London in 1666, and a fire on 4 July, 1812 at the premises of its members, Say and Kay, where archives were, perhaps unwisely, stored, has denied present researchers many of the essential evidences. This means, for example, we do not know how the members of the Company reacted to the influx of, particularly, French upholsterers after the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. It is to the credit of the present Archivist to the Worshipful Company of Upholders, J.F.Houston, that this record, ‘Featherbedds and Flock Bedds’, has been attempted against such shortcomings and is now in its second, revised edition.
The history of the Company goes back at least into the early fourteenth century, with an entry, for example, in the Patent Rolls for 1346 acknowledging what was, alas, common practice - the bringing in to England from ‘the realm of France and many others from beyond the seas’ - of work in which the wool coverings were adulterated with inferior animal hair, so deceiving the purchaser. Any searcher of archives knows this story all too well. The problems the "searchers" had on behalf of any Company lay in insisting on certain standards and quality of work against the temptation to some of gaining an easy profit by using unsuitable materials. When records survive of the details of such searches the researcher rejoices at a possible source for establishing names, jobs and places. What happens, all too frequently, is of a story emerging when even the Master of the Company was not free of the taint of bad workmanship. A useful record thus dies out by reason of its being difficult to apply and maintain. The Upholders tried to ‘sell nothing but good wares’ but it was an uphill struggle. In 1425, many ‘members of the mystery of upholders’ were accused of ‘being habitual receivers of stolen goods’. While that case is not proven there were many who, across the Tudor years, helped the cause of all good upholsterers - to ease the ‘quest for comfort’ with good, reliable wares. And what is perhaps surprising they had an advanced ability for the setting-out of attractive schemes of interior decoration, of which yellow panes of fabric on black was a colourful example, repeated many times. It has not proved possible to prove, although within the bounds of likelihood, that members of the Company were involved in the lavish provision of tents, banners an accoutrements at the meeting of kings Henry VIII and Francis I in 1520 at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Professor T.F.Tout in his studies of the administrative history of medieval England (1920-34), has shown that the Great Wardrobe, for whom upholsterers worked, had the task of servicing some of these material needs of the sovereign. So we might assume their presence, along with many other craftsmen, in the fashioning of that great, tented city.
The history, here set out, moves on to facts which are known or more easily provable. The Company’s incorporation and growth, with citation of a royal charter in 1626, ratified and confirmed by one of 1668, petitions of 1680 and 1689, details of charitable bequests and of members’ activities are set out with nine appendices giving exact texts and details of the pre-1900 possessions of the Company. These include a William III silver-gilt Salt, and two George III silver Cups and Covers. The account is concluded with a careful Bibliography, which covers many of the sources for establishing the history of a livery company.
It is of course regrettable that the Company has no surviving hall, for of those left to us beyond the Second World War there is little doubt that they compare with the best of those in Oxford and Cambridge colleges. Wingfield House, the Company’s seventeenth century home, was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, and the Court Minutes ‘do not support the existence of any hall after the Great Fire’. There has thus been cooperation with other bodies more fortunate in seeing that a Company, bearing the proud device of three Sparvers (a form of conical tent), should, in recent years at least, be able to observe its due ceremonials with dignity.
John Houston has compiled an intriguing story from the evidences and has set it out with commendable clarity. I recommend it warmly to all readers, in the belief that many such accounts of what Englishmen are good at - the practising of a craft - are needed for our better understanding.
Geoffrey Beard
Bath, January 1999Dr Geoffrey Beard, FSA, is a former Chairman of the Furniture History Society.
The writing of any history of a City of London livery company is no easy task. The Worshipful Company of Upholders has a history stretching from before 1346 but lacks the voluminous archives of many other companies. Unusual amongst old established livery companies, the Company is without any previous, definitive published works on its history. The 1666 Great Fire of London destroyed many Halls and Company archives including those of the Upholders' Company. A fire on 4 July 1812 which destroyed the premises of Messrs. Say and Kay on Ludgate Hill also consumed the "Box of trophies and chest of writings" belonging to the Company. The Company originated in a not very definite class of commerce and moreover the focus of the fraternity has shifted quite radically over the centuries. The difficulty is compounded by the company not fitting neatly into the "craft" or "merchant" categories into which most other companies slot with ease. There are the usual conflicts of evidence, some of which are difficult to resolve as the distance in time is so great. The names of both the trade and of the craftsmen in it have been variously spelled through the centuries and sometimes there are different spellings within the same document.
In 1934 Mr. J.L.R. Robinson, Beadle, and a Certified Accountant, wrote a financial history of the Company. The Court Minutes mention the possibility of publishing the history. Sadly, the manuscript is now lost, possibly in the Blitz, and if it was published then no trace of it can be found in current library catalogues.
These obstacles have inevitably shaped the writing of this history. The ascertainable history of the Company has been set out up to the beginning of the present century although the list of Masters has been continued up to the present. Some of the sources quoted are secondary sources but sufficient details are given for those interested to follow up the references for research or for further information. Those interested in the history of the upholstery trade will find much interesting information in the recent book by Geoffrey Beard, "Upholsterers and Interior Furnishing in England 1580-1840".
"Upholder, upholsterer, or undertaker, i.e., one who upholds or undertakes to ‘furnish’ either your house or funeral."
(Calendar D, footnote)
"Or Upholsterers; dealers, for the most part, in second-hand furniture. Literally, an up-holder = an under-taker - the one undertaking to furnish your house when alive, and the other your funeral when dead. Riley, ‘Memorials,’ p.282n. An upholder is also said to have acted as auctioneer, a business not infrequently associated with that of an undertaker at the present day. See Skeat’s Glossary to ‘Piers the Plowman,’ p.456." (Calendar L, footnote)
Upholder. A dealer in small wares or second-hand arcicles (of clothing, furniture, etc.); a maker or repairer of such things. Upholsterer. An undertaker.
(The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, vol.XIX 1989)
The history of the City of London is inextricably linked with that of its guilds and livery companies who are the successors of the religious, trade and social fraternities which date back to the 11th century. Originally, there were two classes: the craft and the merchant guild. First came the craft guilds and the earliest was the Weavers’ Guild whose original charter survives and is dated 1155. By grouping together in such guilds craftsmen achieved mutual support and protection in their various trades and prevented strangers to the City settling and establishing themselves in competition with existing enterprises. At the start of the 14th century the merchants began to form their guilds in order to safeguard their supply of goods and so protect their profits. As they prospered they became the leading citizens of the City and played a vital part in the development of local government.
During the 15th century the guilds came to be called livery companies from a custom originating in the 14th century when members of the more prosperous companies wore distinctive clothing or livery on ceremonial occasions. The first livery company to be formed was the Mercers’, who were importers and exporters of fabrics, and whose first charter was dated 1394. These days livery robes are worn by Masters and Wardens of the companies on formal occasions such as the annual United Guilds Service held at St Paul’s Cathedral. Each company has its own distinctive style and colour of gown, the collars and cuffs of which are usually trimmed with fur.
Today, many companies remain linked with their original crafts or trades or have re-established such links more recently and help maintain high standards of workmanship. Those companies whose trades have substantially reduced in size or have ceased to exist now dedicate themselves to charity and the support of education. Many companies manage to both support their trade and engage in charitable and educational work.
Guilds and livery companies continue to be formed; for example, the Guild of Firefighters was formed in 1988 and the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists became the 100th livery company in 1992. To belong to a guild or livery company one must first become a Freeman of that company and this can be achieved in one of three ways: by servitude where one has to serve as an apprentice to a freeman, by patrimony through the father of the candidate having been a freeman before the son or daughter was born, and, by rememption which is to say by purchase. Having been accepted the Freeman may aspire to become in time a Liveryman of his livery company (which requires him to first become a Freeman of the City) and then to become Warden and then Master (sometimes called Prime Warden) of his company. The City Freedom is achieved in the same three ways as a Company Freedom. The last bars to non-Freemen trading in the City were removed in the middle of the 19th century although it is still necessary to be a Freeman of the City to be elected to Common Council, the local authority. The Liverymen form the electorate for the Sheriffs and for the Mayor. The pinnacle of achievement for a Liveryman is for him to serve the citizens of the City as their Mayor for a period of twelve months. To do this he will have previously served as an Alderman and as a Sheriff.
The Lord Mayor represents the City not just within the United Kingdom but overseas as well. His many duties include the entertainment of monarchs, presidents and politicians and the promotion of the financial services industry which is largely based in the City.
The Hall was originally the hub of each company but since the Great Fire many Halls have ceased to exist. Some which were replaced, sometimes more than once, after the 1666 fire were finally destroyed in the Blitz. The surviving Halls have been rebuilt many times for the most part.
1258 first recorded mention of a member of the trade: "Henry le Uphelder"
1346 petition of the upholders to the King and Parliament seeking the power to search for badly made goods
1360 the Upholders of London recognised as a Mistery by the Mayor and Aldermen
1465 first grant of arms by the College of Arms
1474 successful petition to the Mayor and Aldermen for additional powers to control the trade
1494 Act of Parliament successfully petitioned for
1498 Civic ordinances awarded to the craft by the City
1552 Act of Parliament passed to control the materials used in the stuffing and filling of "... Featherbedds Bolsters pillows Mattresses Cusshions and Quylts..."
1606 the Upholders along with other London companies helped to finance the Virginia Colony
1609 the Company together with other London companies helped to raise capital for the Plantation of Ulster
1626 first Royal Charter granted by Charles I
1646 property purchased for use as Upholders’ Hall in what is now Peter’s Hill
1666 Great Fire destroys the Hall and contents
1668 second Royal Charter granted by Charles II
1679 oldest surviving Bylaws of the Company passed
1680 Parliament petitioned by the Company to support the trade
1689 Parliament petitioned by the Company to prohibit the making and selling of cane chairs etc. in competition with upholstery goods
1707 Peter Jackson Charity established
1750 Act of Common Council passed seeking to force all those working as upholsterers in London to become Freemen of the Company
1801 William Rawlins elected Sheriff and was knighted the next year and subsequently went on to become Master
1812 premises of Say & Kay, upholsterers, in Ludgate Hill burned in a fire which destroyed the Company’s possessions
1851 Alderman William Hunter (Master in 1845/46) was elected Lord Mayor
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