THE DERBY COMPANY OF MERCERS. 149 



was " agreed that who ever shall have the Companys mony 

 shall give four p' cent p' ann & give double security for the 

 same." ^53 was lent to Mr. Joseph Pike, of which sum he 

 owed ;^ 1 8 7s. in April, 1735. This is the last mention of any 

 accounts in the records of the Company, which end in the year 

 1740. The Company seems never to have been very rich, nor to 

 have had any donations from " Generous Benefactors," though 

 pages were provided for entering them in the records. The 

 largest income was probably during the first year of the Com- 

 pany, it amounted to over sixty-nine pounds. The wardens do 

 not seem to have had more than about seventy pounds in hand at 

 any one time. Their object was not to amass funds, but to obtain 

 enough money to carry on prosecutions, in order to protect the 

 interests of the various trades united into the Company. Tiiey 

 were not altogether successful in their loans to members, as the 

 case of Mr. Fletcher shews. 



Nathaniel Prime, Mercer, owed them ten pounds in 17 14, and 

 on July 28th, 1714, it was "ordered that whereas Mr Nathaniell 

 Prime is indebted to the said Company the summ of tenn pounds, 

 y' the Steward & Wardens do receive of him, the s*^ M' Prime, 

 three pounds six shillings & eight pence, & he to be discharg"*." 

 In 1693-4 he was Churchwarden of All Saints', and the third 

 Bell at that church has his name upon it. He was elected a 

 Brother of the Company in 1699, was twice Steward, and twice 

 Warden, the last time being in 1720; so that his inability to 

 pay his debt to the Company did not preclude him from office 

 afterwards. 



Very few fines seem to have been levied for non-attendance 

 at meetings. On February 3rd, 1676, John Dunnidge, Thos. 

 Widdowson, and Rich'' Piggin, Brethren of the Company, were 

 amerced and fined twelve pence for not being at the meeting. 

 The remaining ten officers were present, and signed their names. 



On March 28th, 1676, being Tuesday in Easter Week, the 

 day for the Election of Steward, there were present, the Steward, 

 one Warden, and seven Brothers who signed the book, making 

 nine out of the thirteen officers who would have signed it if 



