The London Chamberlain's Court and Apprenticeship, 1800-1900

The City of London's Chamberlain was the city official with the power to hear disputes between apprentices and masters. The records of his Court offer a unique insight into labour, training and youth in the nineteenth century city.

The Chamberlain's Court online project is a digital history project by LSE students in the Department of Economic History. It is making a selection of the Chamberlain's Court records available for the first time in a digital edition. 

The Complaint Books are important source on the economic and social history of nineteenth-century London. The Chamberlain received complaints from masters about disruptive, absent, violent and troubled apprentices. He had the power to punish them by committing them to hard labour in London's notorious Bridewell Prison.  Occasionally, apprentices complained about the treatment they received from their masters. In the information recorded for each case, we have a rare chance to see into the workplaces of London's apprentices in the nineteenth century.

To read the Court's records follow the Transcriptions link. You can see images of the original documents now held at the London Metropolitan Archive if you follow the Images link.