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| Tracing Watermen and Lightermen in your Family History |
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Have you come across an ancestor who was a Watermen
or Lighterman of the River Thames? |
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There are several sources of information, but in each case your first step should be to assemble all the facts you already have available, names, dates, birthplaces, places where your ancestor worked or lived. All this will help these other sources to assist you.
Register of Apprentices Register of Apprentices and Freemen of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen of the River Thames The Company keeps records of the names of apprentices listed by the date they were apprenticed at the Court of Bindings. Similarly there is a record of Freemen recorded by the date they became free of the Company. The Company also has records of Court Members, Wardens and Masters (or Rulers as they were originally known.) The Company has given its earlier records from 1514 - 1890 to the Guildhall Library in the City of London to facilitate greater public access and proper conservation of the archives. The Guildhall Library has placed many of the records onto micro-film. The more recent records are here at Watermen's Hall, and we will our best to assist you in your searches, but there maybe a charge for a detailed search. Please always send as much information as you have already in your possession as this will narrow our search. Some of the Company records, the name indices of Apprentices between 1692 - 1908 and Apprentices' affidavits from 1759, have been assembled on micro-film by R J Cottrell He charges £5.00 to search under one surname in the index, and £1.00 to search for an individual name in the affidavits' index. He asks for a large stamped address envelope with your request. He also has the Freemen Register's between 1692 and 1926. Further he has recorded the Parish Baptism, Marriages and Burials for many of the Thames Riverside Parishes. Searching using Mr Cottrell's facilities may well be quicker than asking us to conduct a search through the paper Registers. For up to date information go to
http://hometown.aol.com/rjcindex/trueflare.html
Books and Leaflets The Company has available for purchase four Volumes of its History from 1514 - 18. This gives much detail about the lives of Watermen and Lightermen and their Company. Each Volume costs £18 or £75 per set. There is a leaflet describing some of the historical highlights of the Watermen's Company, with other leaflets describing the history of the Hall itself, Doggett's Coat and Badge Wager, the Knolly's Rose Ceremony. These leaflets are available free of charge on receipt of a stamped addressed envelope. The Company also has a library accessible by appointment. The National Archive at Kew, London has a large online catalogue of historical manuscripts. Help with tracing births, marriages and deaths can be obtained from:
FamilyRecords.gov.uk The Guildhall Library has many books and other records on life in the City of London and those who worked and lived in the City alongside the River Thames. There are several Museums which have archive material relating to the River, the London Museum specialising again in London life, The Museum in Docklands specialising in the Port of London, and the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, specialising in naval life. GENUKI has a wealth of information on the City of London at http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/genuki/LND and it links to other pages about London Parishes and Boroughs.
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