RESOURCES
Our heritage tells a story connecting us to wider events of national significance and to the history of the City of London. Read, watch, and learn more about the people and artefacts that have made us who we are.
Publications & Websites
Publications
Other published resources, including the history of the Leathersellers’ Company, the histories of Colfe’s School and Prendergast School, and online publications.
Histories of the Leathersellers:
- William Henry Black, History and Antiquities of the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers, of the City of London; with fac-similes of Charters, and other Illustrations (London: The Leathersellers’ Company, 1871)
- Penelope Hunting, The Leathersellers’ Company: A History (London: The Leathersellers’ Company, 1994)
- Jerome Farrell, This Ghastly Affair: Great War letters from the Leathersellers’ Archives (London: The Leathersellers’ Company, 2016)
Publications relating to Abraham Colfe, his family and his connections to Lewisham, education and the Leathersellers:
- William Henry Black, ‘Memorials of the Family of Colfe, and of the Life and Character of the Reverend Abraham Colfe’, Bibliothecæ Colfanæ Catalogus: Catalogue of the Library in the Free Grammar-School at Lewisham, Founded by the Reverend Abraham Colfe, M. A. in the year 1652 (London, 1831), pp.ix-li
- Watson, J. (2018), ‘Abraham Colfe, Lewisham’s Benefactor and Protector’, Lewisham History Journal (26), pp.6-31
Publications relating to our associated schools:
- Leland L. Duncan, A History of Colfe’s Grammar School, Lewisham (1910)
- Leland L. Duncan, Colfe’s Grammar School, Lewisham, and the Great War, 1914-19 (1920)
- H. Beardwood (ed.), The History of Colfe’s Grammar School, 1652-1952 (1952)
- Vivian Anthony, 150 Years of Cricket at Colfe’s (1986)
- Vivian Anthony, Good Wit and Capacity: The History of Colfe’s School 1972-2002 (2012)
- Elizabeth Clark (ed), A History of Prendergast School 1890-1990 (nd)
Websites
Researchers searching for historic members of livery companies or City of London officials, or researching the history of London, might be interested in the following online resources:
- Records of London’s Livery Companies Online (ROLLCO). An online database, run by the Institute of Historical Research, containing apprenticeship and freedom data from 11 livery companies between c.1400-1900.
- Mayors and Sheriffs of London (MASL). An online database, run by the University of Toronto, containing details of all Mayors, Sheriffs and Wardens of the City of London, 1190-present.
- Past Masters’ archive. A downloadable spreadsheet of Livery Masters and Clerks, Lord Mayors and other City of London officials throughout history, compiled by Past Master Nigel Pullman.
- Medieval Londoners. A website, run by Fordham University, containing links to resources about medieval London and its people, together with the Medieval Londoners Database.
- Layers of London. A map-based history website, run by the Institute of Historical Research, providing access to free historic maps of London together with local social history information and the opportunity to contribute to this.
Masters
Note: this list is complete from 1535 onwards, but only some names of Masters before then are known. In the early 1400s there were two Masters per year, but by the end of the century one Senior, Upper or First Warden was elected each year – with the title Master from the 1560s onwards.
Spellings of surnames in the early period were not consistent and in many cases other spellings were used as well as those shown here.
Wardens
This list is complete from 1531 onwards, but there are gaps in the earlier period from 1468.
The spelling of surnames in the early period was not consistent and in many cases other spelling variations were used as well as those shown here.
The designation of M (Master), 2, 3 and 4 (Second, Third and Fourth Warden) reflects the order in which the names appear in our account books. The office of Master evolved in the early 1500s.
Clerks
The list of Clerks dates back to 1548.
Beadles
The Leathersellers’ Company has had a Beadle since its earliest days. The first one we know of by name is John Lambe, who had been appointed Beadle by 1472. From 1619 to 1788 there were two Beadles, an Upper Beadle and an Under Beadle. The list is complete from 1560 on; before that only a few names and dates are known, owing to gaps in our early records.
Butlers and Hallkeepers
The list of Butlers and Hallkeepers dates back to 1738.
View the list of Butlers and Hallkeepers of The Leathersellers’ Company
Undergraduate Student Grant Recipients
The list of recipients of university exhibitions (or student grants) 1602 – 1930.
Read more about fascinating objects, records, artefacts, and people that feature in our Archives.
"The Spreading of the Plague Which is Most Feared": London and the Leathersellers in 1665
In 1665 London was a compact but densely populated city of around 400,000 people – and a lot of rats.
Read moreLeathersellers' Close
The story of Leathersellers’ Close begins in 1543 and is tied up inextricably with the move into the second Leathersellers’ Hall, the former nunnery of St Helen’s.
Read more
Stories from the Archive
A video series connecting key artefacts and records in our Archives & Collections to stories of national history, from the Great Fire to WWII.
Watch now
