THE DERBY COMPANY OF MERCERS. 1 53 



Then they were held at the house of the Steward for the time 

 being. All meetings after 1691, and ordinary meetings before 

 that year, were held either at houses which may have been inns 

 (the householder's name only being given), or at inns. The 

 Angel and the George were the most frequently used. Others 

 were the Bell, the Dolphin, the Talbut, the Royal Oak, and the 

 Crane. 



The Records end abruptly in 1740, and there is nothing to 

 indicate the reason. Four pages are missing, and we cannot tell 

 whether they contained any records or not. The same Steward 

 and Wardens served for the last four years, and two new Inethren 

 were elected during the last year. The Company probably died 

 out, as many others did in England, in the eighteenth century. 



The powers of such companies were taken awaj- by the 

 Mnnici|)al Corporations Act of 1835, which provided that "every 

 person in any Borough may keep any shop for the sale of all 

 lawful wares and merchandises by wholesale or retail, and u.se 

 every lawful trade, occupation, mystery, and handicraft for hiic, 

 gain, sale, or otherwise within any Borough." 



The following lists of officers are extracted from the minute.s. 

 The apprentices I have arranged according to the dates on which 

 they were bound, instead of alphabetically as they occur in the 

 book. 



List of Stewards. 



1675 John Taylor, Mercer. 



1676 George Fletcher, 



Apothecary. 



1677 Francis Marshall. 



1678 John Dunnidge, Grocer 



^Mayor 1660, 1684] . 



1679 John Taylor. 



1680 William Parker. 



1681 Nathaniel Douglitye. 



1682 Thos. Gery, Apothecary. 



1683 Samuel Fletcher [Mayor 



1684 Samuel Cheshire [Mayor 



1690J . 



1685 Henry Holmes [Mayor 



1694J. 



1686 Thos. Widdoson. 



1687 Thos. Bott [Mayor 



1705]- 



1688 Thos. Ward. 



1689 William F franc is 



(Apoth.) [Mayor 1697, 



1691J. I 1699, & 1700]. 



