ROLLCO is a collaboration between a number of London’s Livery Companies and the Centre of Metropolitan History/Institute of Historical Research. It provides free access to the historic membership records of the Worshipful Companies of Bowyers, Clothworkers, Drapers, Founders, Girdlers, Goldsmiths, Mercers, Musicians, Salters and Tallow Chandlers. The online database currently contains the details of 75,000 apprenticeship bindings, 49,000 admissions to the freedom, and over 350,000 named individuals from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. These records constitute a uniquely comprehensive resource for the history of the Livery Companies as well as for a range of historical questions about the social and economic role they played in London since their creation.

The ROLLCO database is designed to accommodate a variety of research interests, with search tools to serve researchers looking for information about specific individuals.The results of searches can be downloaded and saved, either in a print-ready format or as structured data for subsequent analysis. In the near future  a rich suite of tools will be available for the querying of quantitative trends across the records of multiple Companies. 

Website

www.londonroll.org

Blog posts

Planet Predictors, Action Heroes and Free-Speakers

Project details

Director: Professor Matthew Davies, M.A., D.Phil.  

Project Manager:  Dr Mark Merry, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.

Funded by:

• The Bowyers' Company
• The Clothworkers' Company
• The Drapers' Company
• The Founders' Company
• The Girdlers' Company
• The Goldsmiths' Company
• The Mercers' Company
• The Musicians' Company
• The Salters' Company
• The Tallow Chandlers' Company