Part I

, p. 286-87_], 1555.

Forasmuch as the weavers of this realm have, as well at this present parliament as at divers other times, complained that the rich and wealthy clothiers do many ways oppress them, some by setting up and keeping in their houses divers looms, and keeping and maintaining them by journeymen and persons unskilful, to the decay of a great number of artificers which were brought up in the said science of weaving, their family and household, some by ingrossing of looms into their hands and possession, and letting them out at such unreasonable rents as the poor artificers are not able to maintain themselves, much less their wives, family and children, some also by giving much less wages and hire for the weaving and workmanship of [cloth] than in times past they did, whereby they are enforced utterly to forsake their art and occupation wherein they have been brought up: It is therefore, for remedy of the premises, and for the avoiding of a great number of inconveniences which may grow (if in time it be not foreseen) ordained, established and enacted, by authority of this present parliament, that no person using the feat or mistery of clothmaking and dwelling out of a city, borough, market town or corporate town, shall from the feast of St. Michael the Archangel now next ensuing, keep, retain or have in his or their house or possession any more or above one woollen loom at one time, nor shall by any means directly or indirectly receive or take any manner profit, gain or commodity by letting or setting any loom, or any house wherein any loom is or shall be used and occupied, which shall be together by him set or let, upon pain of forfeiture for every week that any person shall do contrary to the tenour and true meaning hereof 20s.

And be it further ordained and enacted by like authority, that no woollen weaver using or exercising the feat or mistery of weaving, and dwelling out of city, borough, market town or town corporate, shall after the said feast have or keep at any time above the number of two woollen looms, or receive any profit, gain or commodity, directly or indirectly as is aforesaid, by any more than two looms at one time, upon pain to forfeit for every week that any person shall offend or do to the contrary 20s.

And it is further ordained and enacted by like authority, that no person which shall after the said feast, use, exercise or occupy only the feat or mistery of a weaver, and not clothmaking, shall during the time that he shall use the feat or mistery of a weaver, keep or have any tucking mill, or shall use or exercise the feat or mistery of a [tucker] or dyer, upon pain to forfeit for every week that he shall so do 20s.

And it is further enacted by like authority, that no person which after the said feast shall use, exercise or occupy the feat or mistery of a tucker or fuller, shall during the time that he shall so use the said feat or mistery, keep or have any loom in his house or possession, or shall directly or indirectly take any profit or commodity by the same, upon pain to forfeit for every week 20s.

And it is further ordained and enacted by like authority, that no person whatsoever, which heretofore hath not used or exercised the feat, mistery or art of clothmaking, shall after the said feast, make or weave or cause to be made or woven any kind of broad white woollen cloths, but only in a city, borough, town corporate or market town, or else in such place or places where such cloths have been used to be commonly made by the space of ten years next before the making this act; upon pain of forfeiture for every cloth otherwise made five pounds.

Provided always and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall not be lawful to any person or persons being a weaver, or that doth or shall use the art or mistery of a weaver or weaving, dwelling out of a city, borough, town corporate or market town, to have in his and their service any more or above the number of two apprentices at one time; upon pain to forfeit for every time that he shall offend or do contrary to this branch or article the sum of ten pounds.

And further be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall not be lawful to or for any person or persons to set up the art or mistery of weaving, after the said feast of St. Michael, unless the same person or persons so setting up the same art or mistery of weaving, have been apprentice to the same art or mistery, or exercised the same, by the space of 7 years at the least; upon pain of twenty pounds to be forfeited to the King and Queen's Majesties, her Grace's heirs or successors, the one moiety of all which forfeitures shall be to the King and Queen's Highnesses, heirs [and] successors, and the other moiety to him or them that will sue for the same in any court of record by action of debt, bill, plaint or information, wherein no wager of law, essoigne or protection shall be admitted or allowed for the defendant.

... Provided always, and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that this act or anything therein contained shall [not] in any way extend or be prejudicial to any person or persons that doth or shall dwell in the counties of York, Cumberland, Northumberland or Westmoreland; but that they and every of them shall and may have and keep looms in their houses, and do and exercise all and every thing and things for or concerning spinning, weaving, cloth working and clothmaking in the said counties, as they or any of them might have done or exercised lawfully before the making of this statute; anything contained in this statute to the contrary in any way notwithstanding.

[Footnote 276: This Act suggests that something like a factory system may have been growing up in the sixteenth century: See Ashley, _Economic History_, Vol. II, The Woollen Industry.]

4. ENACTMENT OF COMMON COUNCIL OF LONDON AS TO AGE OF ENDING APPRENTICESHIP[277] [_Arber, Stationers' Records, I, p. xli_],[278] 1556.

For as much as great poverty, penury, and lack of living hath of late years followed, ... and one of the chiefest occasions thereof, as it is thought, ... is by reason of the over hasty marriages and over soon setting up of households of and by the youth and young folks of the said city [of London], which hath commonly used, and yet do, to marry themselves as soon as ever they come out of their apprenticehood, be they ever so young and unskilful, yea, and often times many of them so poor that they scantily have of their proper goods wherewith to buy their marriage apparel ... and forasmuch as the chiefest occasion of the said inconveniences, as it is very evident, is by reason that divers and sundry apprentices, as well of the said artificers as also of other citizens of the said city, are commonly bound for so few years that their terms of apprenticeability expireth and endeth oversoon, and that they are there upon incontinently made free of the said city; ... for remedy, stay, and reformation whereof it is ordained ... that no manner of persons ... shall be any manner of ways or means made free of the said city ... until such time as he and they shall severally attain to the age of 24 years.

[Footnote 277: This enactment is interesting as offering a precedent followed in the Statute of Artificers (No. 6 of this section), and as showing one of the social reasons for compulsory apprenticeship, which probably somewhat postponed the age of marriage. (See No. 11 of this section.)]

[Footnote 278: Quoted Dunlop and Denman, _English Apprenticeship and Child Labour_, pp. 52-3.]

5. WILLIAM CECIL'S INDUSTRIAL PROGRAMME[279] [_Hist. MSS. Com. MSS. of the Marquis of Salisbury,