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Apprentices Index 1599-1903

An index to Parish Apprentices indentures from 1599-1903.

If your ancestor was a tradesman, a craftsman or professional person, the chances are that he or she would have been an apprentice. The 1563 Statute of Apprentices forbade anyone to practice a trade or craft without first undergoing a period of apprenticeship. This usually lasted seven or eight years, commencing at the age of twelve or fourteen, unless sponsored by a parish or charity when it might begin much earlier, and continuing until twenty-one or marriage.

From 1601, parish officers were given the power to put orphans and pauper children out as apprentices, to relieve the parish from the cost of supporting them. The children were often very young and apprenticeships were arranged with masters in other parishes, as this gave them settlement elsewhere. An apprenticeship indenture or entry in a register of parish apprentices normally includes the name of apprentice, date of indenture, age, parents' names, name of person to whom they were assigned, their trade and term of apprenticeship. We do not hold many records of ordinary trade apprentices because this was a private arrangement between parents and master, although some private agreements can be found in the Archive Catalogue Index.

To search the catalogue please click the link to Hertfordshire Names Online on the right hand side.