ABSTRACT

The history of the Mercers’ Company did not end in 1578, but the exigencies of this book require that a conclusion must be made at this point. It is not an inappropriate point, for not only was it the date at which the company knew that the Gresham estate would come to them and the city after the death of Lady Anne Gresham, but also the financial state of the company had necessitated a survey and firm resolutions for the future. It was also a time when the livery companies reached what has been rightly described as a plateau in their development.1