ABSTRACT
At the opening of the nineteenth century the Company's Officers were greatly concerned about the state of Weavers' Hall. Evidently the cheap job done by Mr Benson in 1798 had been no more than superficial, which was only to be expected since the cost was but £35. Scarcely had he completed his work than it became necessary to call in three surveyors, who found that the north-east wall of the Court Room was in a dangerous state and still sinking, despite a certain amount of shoring up. 'Many other defects and unsound parts, particularly in the south wall', were discovered. Indeed, the Clerk's apartments were so bad that the Company permitted him and his family to move out in April 1800, allowing him £60 (?per annum) towards the rent of alternative accommodation. Meantime, the anxiety having spread to the Livery, a full meeting of Liverymen was convened to consider the best course of action. Finally it was decided that the Hall and the two houses facing Basinghall Street should be advertised to be let by auction, unless previously let by private contract. The Company wished to get £300 a year in rent for the Hall and two houses; the lessee to spend at least £500 upon repairs. No extensions were to be built upon the garden, and 'no trade usually deemed a nuisance' to be carried on upon the premises. But when the lease was put up for auction at Garraway's Coffee House on 3 April 1800 not a single bid was f0rthcoming.l
An alternative scheme for a partial letting of the premises was then substituted, with the result that the lower part of Weavers' Hall, the Clerk's office and apartments, and the two houses were let on lease for fourteen, twenty-one or thirty years to Mr Jacob Osborne, a Hamburg and Russia m e r ~ h a n t , ~ at a rental of £110 plus all taxes and costs of repairs, provided that the Company undertook to rebuild the south wall. This work, together with repairs to the Court Room and rooms adjoining, and the construction of a water closet, was put in hand by the Company in the summer of 1800.3 By this
arrangement the Company retained the use of the main Hall and the Court Room (with the kitchen and cellar) for meetings and social functions. In August 1800 the Court resolved 'that Mr Osborne [the new tenant] may alter the front of the houses a t the Hall Gate in any way he thinks fit reserving a sufficient Space to place the Company's Arms over the outer Gate a t his expence'.*
The Company's finances a t this time were in a somewhat muddled state, and there is evidence not only of overspending, but of general slackness and apathy among the members, except when some big issue, such as the fate of Weavers' Hall, temporarily stirred them. Indeed, it was sometimes impossible to form a quorum, and not always easy to fill the office of Upper Bailiff. By the spring of 1818 the falling away was such that the idea of reviving non-attendance fines was seriously c~nsidered.~ However, no positive action was taken and attendances a t meetings dwindled still further. At the General Court or Common Hall held on St James's Day, 1825, only the four Officers, one Assistant and three Liverymen were present, and similar very poor attendances are recorded in 1826 and 1828. Meantime, a special committee was set up to consider the best means of securing an income equal to the necessary and proper expenditure of the Company. One change which resulted from the work of this committee was the introduction in 1811-12 of lump-sum payments in lieu of annual quarterages. New freemen were to pay 10s. 6d. in lieu of all quarterages, and new Liverymen, one guinea. It was also resolved 'that this Court do recommend to the Livery a t large the propriety of redeeming the quarterage payable by them of two shillings per annum, as a means of increasing the Funds of the Company . . . and that . . . the sum of 21s. be accepted from each Person in lieu of all quarterage.' Shortly afterwards this resolution was amended (4 February 1812) to read: 'Every Freeman admitted as a Master shall pay 21s., and every Journeyman 10s. 6d. in lieu of quarterage, and 10s. 6d. more if admitted, afterwards, to the Livery. Applicants for the Freedom and Livery at the same time, to pay 21s. in lieu of q~arterage. '~
Additional income was produced, after 1810, by letting the ground floor under the Hall to a firm of factors for office and storage purposes; and when, in 1820, 'the basement storey formerly used as the Kitchen of the Hall' was let to the same tenants, the kitchen utensils were sold. The holding of major social functions in Weavers' Hall was discontinued. In 1822, the Association of the Silk Trade wanted to call a meeting a t Weavers' Hall of 'such silk manufacturers as employ not less than 20 looms', but the Company was obliged to say that although they would gladly allow the Association the use of Weavers' Hall for small committees, it was probably unsafe for large meetings.
