Fishmongers' Company

“ The demand on the Ironmongers’ for men alone in the forty years previous to 1600 was something like 300, besides their full equipments, and when we reckon the money lent, the powder provided the other calls upon their purse, it will be fully understood that the good old times with this Company were none of the happiest. ”

“ By ordinance dated 1657 no person is to change the copy of his freedom, and by an order of Court made November 21, 1878, “no person who is free of any other Company can be admitted to the freedom of the Ironmongers’ Company, nor can he become free of another Company after being admitted to the freedom of this Company.” This order necessarily makes the Ironmongers a select body corporate, and unlike the other Companies of the City. ”

“ The Commissioners, being unable to decide, referred the matter to three of the City Companies, the Ironmongers, Blacksmiths, and Carpenters. The record books of the Ironmongers contain many interesting details of the inquiry made by that company into the question in dispute, and two of the most active members in the debate were two of the Chamberlyn family—George (then Master, in 1612) and Richard (who had been Master two years previous) . The Nailmakers reminded the Commissioners, “as the fathers of the Commonwealth,” that a private patent deprived the poor of their trade and labour ”

“ A company was formed, which, however, seemed more desirous of misusing its privileges than of fostering the fisheries, if we may judge from a petition of the burghs to the Lords of the Exchequer, praying that the company might be restricted to import nothing but what was necessary for the fishing trade. ”

“ It is needless to say that the Company declined to pay this (in our opinion) extortionate demand, and so to this day (as it has exercised from a period long before this century dawned) the Ironmongers bear their supporters, as only true citizens should. ”

“ Twenty persons only were to form the company; to “dig open and work for any mines, owers, and things whatsoever.” Sundry sums of 100l. each were subscribed by Burleigh, Smith & Co., but “the concern” did not prosper. The assay master at the Tower mint was sent to “the works,” and so was Robert Denham, a relative, by the way, of the Sir Wm. Denham who had been seven times Master of the Ironmongers’ Company; but somehow or other we fail, as Strype failed with all the papers before him, to learn “the wind up” of what was thought to be “a most splendid investment.” ”

“ The oyster farm at Whitstable is co-operative in the best sense of the term, and has been in operation for many years. The Company possesses large oyster grounds, and a fine fleet of boats kept for the purpose of dredging and planting the beds; it is established under the Joint Stock Companies Act, but there is no other way of entrance into it but by birth, as none of the free dredgermen of the town can hold shares. "When a man dies his interest in the Company dies with him, but his widow, if he leaves one, obtains a pension. ”

“ We have not exhausted, by a very long way, our list, but we think the selection will prove that the Ironmongers have had many good and true citizens in their roll. Our wish is this: May they increase as years roll on, and, as the toast is periodically given by the Master of the Company, so do we echo it three times three—“The Worshipful Company of Ironmongers, Root and Branch, and may it Flourish for Ever!” ”

“ In addition they owned a pick-up gasoline schooner which plied between the fishing villages on the bay buying fresh fish, and the company also bought the fares of the motor-boat fishermen running out of Anchorville. The fish handled by them was shipped to market fresh and in a cured state; the mainstay of the business being the marketing of the famous “Morning-Glory Brand of Finnan-Haddies and Fillets, Kippered Herring and Bloaters.” To market their products, the company had sales agencies throughout the country. ”

“ The chief opening establishments are owned by a London syndicate of jewellers, who employ in their service as many aborigines, coolies, and Japanese as may care to offer themselves. This syndicate is always willing to purchase "on chance" any shipment of shell that may come into port, and have a large fleet of their own luggers constantly on the waters during the season. As might be expected, this organised company is not liked by the independent pearlers, who—rightly or not—imagine that a monopoly of the trade is the real object in view. ”

“ And here we cannot omit to mention one of the bequests made by a worthy benefactor to the Ironmongers’ Company. Margaret Dane, the wife of Alderman William Dane (Sheriff 1569, and twice Master of his Company) , by her will, dated in 1579, left in trust to the Company (among other munificent [29] bequests) sufficient money to provide every year 12,000 faggots to be distributed among the poor of each of the twenty-four City Wards, to be used by such poor persons “as fuel to keep them warm.” ”

“ In the West front of the said house are two places, occupied as well by Butchers as by Fishmongers; but the certain amount of the rents of these cannot be ascertained, because any of the aforesaid places may be occupied or not, and thus a larger or a smaller sum may appear upon the [270] account-rolls of the gate-keepers of the place aforesaid, in different weeks and years. Without the Stocks, at the West front, are five places for Fishmongers, where, on Fish-days, they sell their fish; and, on Flesh-days, three of them are occupied by the Butchers. ”

“ John Fuller, for the education of twenty boys and upwards, for the support of which he bequeathed the sum of 1600l. to be laid out in a purchase. Maitland.
Ironmongers, one of the twelve principal companies, was incorporated by letters patent granted by King Edward IV. in the year 1464. This corporation is governed by a Master, two Wardens, and the whole livery, which consists of eighty-four, who are assistants, and whose fine upon admission is 15l.
This company has a very great estate, out of which is annually paid, according to the direction of the several donors, about 1800l. ”

“ To him resort to purchase stock those innumerable purveyors of fried fish who make our courts and bye-streets redolent with the oleaginous perfumes of their hissing cauldrons. For the convenience of small dealers, who cannot afford to buy an entire double, stands are erected at different parts of the market for “bumbarees.” We may ask in vain, undè derivatur, for the meaning of the term, though it is probably of Dutch origin. Any one can be a bumbaree: it requires neither apprenticeship, diploma, nor license, and it is the pons asinorum of the “mystery of fishmongers.” ”

“ We are very sorry it is so, because there are many of the freemen who are not only eligible by time service, but are in many other ways equally eligible by their devoted interest and their ability; while the peculiar order of the Guild prevents them being members of other Companies where their services, &c., would be more appreciated.
The Livery.—The introduction of liveries into the City Companies took place 600 years ago. The chief members wore a gown or cloak with hood, and for distinction sake each Company had its own colours; but we cannot learn what the Ironmongers’ were. ”

“ Hiram Ranger, manufacturing partner and controlling owner of the Ranger-Whitney Company of St. Christopher and Chicago, went on into the cooperage, leaving energy behind him, rousing it before him. Many times, each working day, between seven in the morning and six at night, he made the tour of those two establishments. A miller by inheritance and training, he had learned the cooper's trade like any journeyman, when he decided that the company should manufacture its own barrels. He was not a rich man who was a manufacturer ”

“ Ye'll be gittin' married some day——”
“You funny old scout!” cried Billy joyfully. “This ten thousand is what we need for the business. Let's get busy now and make our plans. The Port Anthony Fish Company is going to operate again, and like the Phœnix, it will arise anew, greater than ever, from the ashes of the old.”
VIII
CAPTAIN WILLIAM STREAM, senior, was holding a board meeting of the Stream Fish Company. ”

“ Doubtless the prospects of becoming a shareholder in a great speculative enterprise, and of being supported by the Company, must have seemed alluring to many people in difficult circumstances. At all events, some 500 people—men, women, and children—were got together. A fleet of nine ships, with ample supplies, was entrusted to Newport, and in his ship, the Sea Venture, were Gates and Somers, who were to take the colony under their personal supervision. Lord Delaware remained in London, planning further developments of the enterprise. ”

“ The success of their first modest little venture encouraged Hazen and Simonds to undertake a more ambitious project, namely the formation of a trading company to “enter upon and pursue with all speed and faithfulness the business of the cod fishery, seine fishery, fur trade, burning of lime and every other trading business that shall be thought advantageous to the company at Passamaquoddy, St. Johns, Canso and elsewhere in or near the province of Nova Scotia and parts adjacent.” ”

“ Capital is needed for the best success of any business. In a broad sense, the tools, implements, etc., of the shellfisherman are capital. In the future, if the shellfisheries are to become a great industry, money as working capital is indispensable. Blind objection to the employment of capital on the part of the fishermen works against the best interests of the shellfisheries.
Shellfish Monopoly. ”

“ And that it should be lawful for any person who should buy fish in the said market to sell the same in any other market or place in London, or elsewhere, by retail.” And because the fishmongers used to buy up great part of the fish at Billingsgate, and then divide the same among themselves, in order to set an extravagant price upon them, it was enacted, “That no person should buy, or cause to be bought, in the said market of Billingsgate, any quantity of fish, to be divided by lot among the fishmongers, or other persons, with an intent to sell them afterwards by retail ”

“ It was thought that trade might be encouraged, and revived, if it were worthier housed, so what is now, the Central Fish Market, was erected; but, before the vendors of vegetables could enter into possession, a great cry had arisen as to the supply of fish to London, and the monopoly of Billingsgate, and the market was given over to the fishmongers. But it is not a success in a monetary point of view; is a great loss to the City, and, as a fish market, a very doubtful boon to the public.
The Fleet Prison, which was on the east side of Farringdon Street, will be noticed in its place ”

“ In 1657 John Richardson, a pinmaker by trade and Ironmonger by Company, prayed to be translated to the newly-formed Company of Pinmakers; but as by his copy of freedom he was to hold chiefly of the fellowship of Ironmongers, the Court of the Company refused assent. This custom is a peculiar one to the Ironmongers, and has often proved a bar to progress to those desiring to join other Guilds where promotion is more rapid. ”

“ In the first place, we think it is not generally known that every member of a City Company is a citizen of London, but every citizen is not a member of a Company. There are two grades of citizens—one free of the City only; the other free of both City and Company, the latter freeman being designated as “citizen and ironmonger,” or whatever Company he may belong to. As the elections or admissions to all the Companies are the same, that describing the admission to the Ironmongers’ will be found in a subsequent chapter of our history. ”

“ There cannot be a doubt that, had the principle here indicated of localising the warehousing of the various classes of merchandise been more fully carried out, the working of goods would have been more efficient, more economical, and more satisfactory in every way to both merchant and Dock Company. In the monopolies granted to the earlier Dock Companies, the Government seem to have made an attempt in this direction ”

“ The owners of these fish had to pay three or four pounds a ton freight; and an agent in England, who charged a good commission for doing so, found a customer to buy them. The New Englanders saw that the vessel carrying the cargo made a profit for her owner. They saw, too, that an agent in a foreign country across the water would never have quite the interest in selling to advantage that they themselves would have if they were there to sell. In short, if the fish business were to be handled in the most profitable way possible, they must carry the cargo in their own ship direct to the consumer. ”

“ The solution of the very important question of providing a larger and cheaper fish supply for the masses rests mainly in the hands of the public. The present high prices are maintained in virtue of a monopoly which can be only successfully combated by the initiation of a healthy trade competition or a more open fish market. ”

“ The principal fish-staple, so to speak of the street-fishmonger, is soles, which are in supply all, or nearly all, the year. The next are herrings, mackarel, whitings, Dutch eels, and plaice. The trade in plaice and sprats is almost entirely in the hands of the costermongers; their sale of shrimps is nearer a half than a third of the entire quantity sent to Billingsgate; but their purchase of cod, or of the best lobsters, or crabs, is far below a third. The costermonger rarely buys turbot, or brill, or even salmon, unless he can retail it at 6d. ”