Merchant Adventurers York - 28th July 2020

Dr Alan Suggett

York Merchant Adventurers Hall

MORPETH ROTARY MERCHANT VENTURERS OF YORK

An informative talk was given to members on Zoom by Dr. Alan Suggett, Visiting Professor at York University. He has been a York Merchant Venturer for 25 years and was Governor for 2014/15. Their Hall in York, completed in 1361, is the oldest building in Europe to be run and occupied by the organisation that built it. At that time York was England’s second city with a population of 8000. The cash crop was wool and the city was at the centre of the biggest market in the North East. It had an excellent transport system for goods using boats on the many tributaries of the River Ouse, which at York is at its junction with the River Foss. York was a major port with ships being able to sail up on the flood tide and down on the ebb. It ceased to be a port when ships got bigger and the railway came. There were Merces (York merchant venturers) from the early 13th century but it was the middle of the 14th century when they set up as a legal entity. It was tightly bound up with the very strong religious ideals of the medieval Church of the time. York was a very religious place with 40 Parish Churches as well as the Minster. It was thought that on death a great deal of time was spent enduring the trials of purgatory before getting to heaven and that only prayer by others on your behalf could shorten this time. In return for saying prayers for the King and his Court, a royal licence was given by King Edward III in 1356 for a company of York Merchant Adventurers, with male and female members, who could elect a Master. They would be able to raise income, give charity to the poor and construct a hall. They got a deed of transfer from Sir William Fisk for land located west of the Fossgate. They still have that deed. It had a great hall to carry out business and feasting,  an almshouse and hospital in the undercroft and a chapel. It was built on the foundations of a Carmelite Priory of the 11th century and had eight bays and two aisles with a central row of oak pillars. The wood was taken from forests to the north of the city and it was constructed using wooden pegs. It would have been dark inside with only a small window in each bay. The members made money by trading, held feasts and carried out good works. The Holy Trinity Hospital ran from 1371 to 1905 when the company pensioners were moved out to other accommodation. The present chapel is not the original but was built in 1411. In the 14th century the woollen clothe trade dominated activities so members were not called traders but mercers. It was regarded as an important rank in the city and a number became Lord Mayor. As a commercial and not just a religious organisation, the members decided that they needed a royal charter which they got in 1430 from King Edward VI. The name of the company then became ‘The Mystery of Mercers’. Mystery meant trade or craft. In the 15th and 16th centuries the merchants often had their goods transported to the port of Hull for trade connections to Europe. A second royal charter with monopolies was granted in 1581 by Queen Elizabeth I at a time of greatly increased competition. There were over 50 merchants and they were still keen to keep the almshouse and hospital open to the deserving poor. Many of the female members were widows or wives of merchants although some were members in their own right. They became ‘The Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York’. Adventurers meant people who were venturing their own capital. It became a second golden age and the company began to collect art, furniture and silver, some of which is on display at the hall. By the mid 18th century the importance of York was in decline. It was the start of the Industrial Revolution and businesses needed a source of power which then was water from the hills. York does not have hills. West Yorkshire was a better location with the advantage that it did not have the restrictive practices of the city. In 1788 the company set up the first dispensary to provide medicine to the poor. By the 19th century the Merchant Adventurers was one of only two of the old guild companies to survive, the other was the Merchant Taylors. Both had ancient halls and by then hall maintenance was the major activity. Much money had been lost by the Merchant Adventurers in fighting legal cases and membership was below 12. 

In modern times the company founded a new charitable trust to support maintenance of the hall and ‘the decayed tradesmen of York.’ These were the pensioners of the medieval hospital. In 1948 a separate trust was set up to encourage enterprise education in the city and in east and west Yorkshire. The hall is open every day as a museum and venue to hire for events and now has a shop and a cafe. The company has 170 members from all businesses and professions who aim to support entrepreneurship. Lady members were again admitted from the 1990s. They still have 3 to 4 major feasts a year including the venison feast which has been running for 500 years. The hall is now 660 years old. Peter Scott gave the vote of thanks.

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