Barbers Company Crest
The Barbers' Company

On this day

A look through the Barbers' Company archive and library to highlight important and interesting events during the Company's history.

For more information about any of the posts below please contact the Archivist


On this day – 8 June

  On this day in 1558 the Company procured an Inspeximus Charter from Philip and Mary. It confirms the rights and privileges granted to the Company by previous monarchs going back to our first Charter of 1462 granted by Edward IV. A booklet summarising of rights and privileges of the first Charter, together with a […]

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December 9, 2022

On this Day

On this day – 2 June

On this day in 1749 the Court ordered that the Company’s Arms be “cast in lead and affixed upon the several houses” it owned. The Company had Barber-Surgeons’ Hall and several houses on Monkwell Street together with  property in other parts of London.  Account books in the Company’s archive record the rents collected by the […]

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September 26, 2022

On this Day

On this day – 22 May

On this day in 1604, the Clerk and the Middle Warden were each ordered to bestowe 4d worth of herbs and flowers every Court day. From the middle ages herbs and sweet smelling flowers were strewn on floors of houses and other buildings along with reeds, rushes, or straw, to mask the unpleasant smells emanating […]

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September 26, 2022

On this Day

On this day – 19 May

On this day in 1637, £10 was paid towards the ransom of the surgeon Thomas Wright who had been captured by the Turks. Presumably Wright was a surgeon on board a ship. The charter granted to the Company in 1629 stated that all surgeons for the Navy were to be examined and approved by the […]

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September 26, 2022

On this Day