Apprentices - from Leicestershire to London

 

Coat of arms of the Worshipful Company of Musicians

Records show that in the 18^th and early 19^th century, a handful of Holyland men left their families and villages and went to London to work as apprentices. Their fathers were farmers and butchers in the Leicestershire villages from whence they came; the Holylands who sought apprenticeship in London took up very different trades.

First of these was Christopher, whose father (also Christopher) was born in Desford but worked as an innkeeper in Market Bosworth.  1n 1746, Christopher completed his apprenticeship in London and joined the Company of Musicians! However, Christopher ultimately followed in his father’s footsteps and became an innkeeper in the Bell tavern on Friday St, near to St Pauls Cathedral, and in 1757 “translated” to the Company of Vintners, where he remained (and took on apprentices) until his death in 1769.

            

William Holyland was the next to make the move to London. William’s (deceased) father was Francis, a grazier who had lived in Normanton Turville (from the Botcheston line of the family). In 1749, William was apprenticed to be a carman. From his will it is clear that he prospered in his trade, and left a large amount of property and money to friends and to an adopted son John Holyland.

Next to follow was Thomas Holyland, son of John, a baker from Dunton Bassett. Thomas was Christopher’s first cousin, and it was to Christopher that he was bound as an apprentice vintner in 1759. This apprenticeship seems to have broken down, and Thomas moved to a different master in 1763 (whilst Christopher took on other apprentices). Thomas’s new master was a glover rather than a vintner, but nonetheless Thomas was admitted into the Worshipful Company of Vintners in 1773. He went on to run a coffee house and hotel on the Strand; I will write more about Thomas’s “adventures” in a future post.

Coat of arms, Vintners company

 

How and why would a lad from a village in Leicestershire join the London Company of Musicians? Did they show an aptitude for music? Had they entertained their families and friends at village celebrations? Did they have to pass an audition? I would like to know more about this – not least because another Holyland followed in Christopher’s footsteps! In 1774, William Holyland was admitted into the Company of Musicians. William also came from Dunton Bassett and was possibly Thomas’s brother, or maybe more likely his nephew. Sadly, so far I’ve been unable to find what course William’s life subsequently took.

I’ve found one more apprentice record relevant to this post—in 1808, John Holyland, son of Francis, a farmer of Sharnford, was apprenticed to a goldsmith in London, to become an engraver. John was a nephew to our first-mentioned William, who nearly 60 years earlier had started his apprenticeship as a carman. Unfortunately John, who had a severe hunchback and was less than 5’ tall, was twice convicted of theft, and for the second offence was transported to New South Wales, where he died in 1864.

It seems that at least some of the Leicestershire Holylands were not only ambitious for their children, but had the wherewithal to pay for their apprenticeships, and were able to spare them from the family to seek their fortune elsewhere.