What are the London Apprenticeship records?

The records of the Livery Companies of London are one of the greatest archival treasures of the world. Dating from the early medieval period to the present, they provide a mass of information for a variety of historians of innumerable subjects. For the family historian, they can provide an immense amount of genealogical and biographical details about their members.
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Description

Featherstone Joseph, son of William, St Sepulchre, London, tobacconist, to Samuel Bownas, 19 Jun 1760 turned over to John Fry, citizen and clothworker, 17 Dec 1762, Woolmen's Company 

Featherstone Richard, son of Alexander, Alston Moor, Cumberland, (? Ms has 'Orstone Moore, Nbl'), farmer (deceased), to Samuel Blanckley, 6 Apr 1738, Gunmakers' Company 

Featherstone Robert, son of Thomas, Bucknall, Lincolnshire, husbandman, to John Herring, 7 Mar 1671/2, Gunmakers' Company 

Featherstone William, son of William, London, to Daniel Harris, 24 Mar 1764, Tinplate Workers' Company 

In early records, persons who belonged to a given livery company would generally practice the trade to which that Company referred, but after about 1650, it became more and more common (until in some companies virtually universal) that members practised another trade altogether. Searchers, therefore, even if they know the occupation of the subject of interest, may not be able to find the right livery company to search at all easily.

The London Apprentices Abstracts provide information from the records of apprenticeship of a number of the livery companies selected because their apprenticeship records generally give good genealogical detail, principally, the name, parish and occupation of the apprentice's father. For a given livery company, the abstracts will generally end about 1800 or later, depending on the coverage of the manuscript volume containing that year. In some cases records cease before 1800. A total of over 64,000 abstracts are contained in the database, with 190,000 names indexed: names include apprentices, parents (usually the father), and masters. Which livery companies are included in the abstracts?
The table lists all of the livery companies whose apprentice records have been abstracted and indexed. Further details on any Companies' record can be obtained by clicking on a name of that Company.
The source records and what they tell you
A large proportion of the records of the London Livery Companies are now deposited at the Guildhall Library, where they may be freely and conveniently consulted. From the genealogical viewpoint, the two most important series of records tends to be those where people were apprenticed to a master, and those where individuals were admitted as freemen of the company in question.

There are two alternate general sources for limited periods for London apprenticeships. Firstly, the original papers supporting a granting freedom from apprenticeship survive in the Corporation of London Record Office from 1681. Though often very difficult to use - they were strung together through a hole in the middle - they are invaluable for companies whose records do not survive, or for which only un-detailed records are extant.

From 1710 until 1814, there was a duty on apprenticeship, and the records of this are preserved in the Public Record Office: until about 1750, the father's name, parish and occupation are given in these records, and there are a series of indexes for the period 1710 to 1774 at the Society of Genealogists. There were, however, a large number of exemptions under this act, and naturally as many people as possible sought this exemption and so many apprenticeships that might be expected to be found in this index are not there. It is again, however, an invaluable, if partial, substitute for lost records and as a general index and lucky dip.

Further details on the sources used for the apprenticeship abstracts, with brief historical information about the Companies

Additional detail in the source records, but not abstracted, include the street in which the master lived, the term of apprenticeship (usually seven years, but occasionally shorter or longer) and the premium paid.

The following books may also be of interest. All are available from the Society of Genealogists Bookshop.

City Livery Companies and related organisations, 3rd edition, 1989
Discovering London's guilds and liveries, John Kennedy, 5th edition, 1995
My ancestors were Freemen of the City of London, Vivian Aldous, 1999