Our Heritage
The Worshipful Company of Glovers’ Company is one of the City's ancient Livery Companies. A guild existed well before 1349 when the company's first formal Ordinances were made. These decreed that no one of the trade was to be admitted to the Freedom of the City without consent of the Wardens; fixed the price of sheepskin gloves at a penny per pair; and ordained that gloves must not be sold by candlelight as "folk could not tell whether they were of good or bad leather or falsley made". The latter, described in another document as "naughtie and deceitefulle gloves' could be confiscated or destroyed by order of the Wardens.
In 1498, the Company merged with the Pursers when both were “sorely decayed in numbers”, and was then incorporated into the Leathersellers in 1502. In 1638, with trade improving, the Glovers left the Leathersellers and set up on their own again under a Charter from King Charles I. In 1662, a Hall was established in Beech Lane, Cripplegate.
The next two centuries saw enormous social and economic changes. The extension of the franchise, the move to the suburbs by the new middle classes and, above all, the Industrial Revolution meant that the artisan workshops of the City were being replaced by factories outside it. In the first half of the 18th century the Glovers' Livery still numbered 120; by the end of the century it had fallen to 14 and the Hall was given up for lack of funds to maintain it. This decline in fortune affected the great majority of Livery Companies and, in common with them, the Glovers have survived and flourished by adapting to modern times.
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For more detail, see A History of the Worshipful Company of Glovers of London by Ralph Waggett (a Liveryman of the Company)
The Glovers are proud possessors of a pair of the finest Sterling Silver Salts found anywhere. They are dated 1680 and 1681 and are an extremely rare pair of Octagonal Salts from the reign of...
The Glovers' Silver Steward, Peter Maxwell-Aylwin tells of how they came to be "I was approached by Past Master John Spanner about the possibility of designing and manufacturing a new piece of...
When The Glovers Company was formed it was essentially a trade association; by the 20th century the connection with the trade had all but disappeared, and separate organisations fulfilled this role,...
The Glovers Company posseses some remarkably fine silver, some of which is on permanent display in the Private Dining Room of the Guildhall.
The coat of arms was first granted in 20th October 1464 by John Smert, Garter, and the supporters were added in 1986. The description, or blazon, survives on a scroll of 1654, and the Arms are...
We thought you might like to see what the Glovers' charter looks like. To be precise this is the 17th century equivalent of a carbon or photo-copy of the charter. It is our entry in the patent roll...
With thanks to Liveryman Belinda Donovan who sent in these pictures relating to her Great Grandfather Sir Alfred Mosely who was Master Glover 1913-14. The picture on the left contains...
Robert Spence Arguably, the jewel in the Glovers’ crown is the Robert Spence glove collection, in the custody of the Fashion Museum in Bath. But who was Robert Spence? Why did he collect gloves?...
The Clerk was lucky enough to get a call from a Mrs Margaret Pipe who had been cleaning out her attic when she came across some belongings of her husband John who had died 10 years previously. She...
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