Cloth merchant
Encyclopedia
Cloth merchant is, strictly speaking, like a draper
, the term for any vendor of cloth. However, it is generally used for one who owned and/or ran a cloth (often wool
) manufacturing and/or wholesale import and/or export business in the Middle Ages
or 16th and 17th centuries. A cloth merchant might additionally have owned a number of draper's shops.
In England, cloth merchants might be members of one of the important trade guilds
, such as the Worshipful Company of Drapers
.
An alternative name is a clothier, but that tends to refer more to some one who organised the production and sale of cloth, whereas a cloth merchant would be more concerned with distribution, including overseas trade.
The largely obsolete term merchant tailor also describes a business person who trades in textiles. In England, the term is best known in the context of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors
, a Livery Company
of the City of London
which is also a charitable institution known for its Merchant Taylors' schools. (The Company preserves the antiquarian spelling "taylor".)
Draper
Draper is the now largely obsolete term for a wholesaler, or especially retailer, of cloth, mainly for clothing, or one who works in a draper's shop. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. The drapers were an important trade guild...
, the term for any vendor of cloth. However, it is generally used for one who owned and/or ran a cloth (often wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
) manufacturing and/or wholesale import and/or export business in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
or 16th and 17th centuries. A cloth merchant might additionally have owned a number of draper's shops.
In England, cloth merchants might be members of one of the important trade guilds
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
, such as the Worshipful Company of Drapers
Worshipful Company of Drapers
The Worshipful Company of Drapers is one of the 108 Livery Companies of the City of London; it has the formal name of The Master and Wardens and Brethren and Sisters of the Guild or Fraternity of the Blessed Mary the Virgin of the Mystery of Drapers of the City of London but is more usually known...
.
An alternative name is a clothier, but that tends to refer more to some one who organised the production and sale of cloth, whereas a cloth merchant would be more concerned with distribution, including overseas trade.
The largely obsolete term merchant tailor also describes a business person who trades in textiles. In England, the term is best known in the context of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors
Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors
The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors is one of the 108 Livery Companies of the City of London.The Company, originally known as the Guild and Fraternity of St...
, a Livery Company
Livery Company
The Livery Companies are 108 trade associations in the City of London, almost all of which are known as the "Worshipful Company of" the relevant trade, craft or profession. The medieval Companies originally developed as guilds and were responsible for the regulation of their trades, controlling,...
of the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
which is also a charitable institution known for its Merchant Taylors' schools. (The Company preserves the antiquarian spelling "taylor".)
Notable cloth merchants
- Sir William GardinerWilliam Gardner (knight)Sir William Gardner was a mercenary, warrior and knight during the Medieval Era who was noted for killing King Richard III of England on 22 August 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field.-Early life:...
- John KendrickJohn Kendrick (cloth merchant)John Kendrick was a prosperous English cloth merchant and patron of the towns of Reading and Newbury in Berkshire....
- Henry MachynHenry MachynHenry Machyn was an English clothier and diarist in 16th century London.Machyn's Chronicle, which was written between 1550 and 1563, is primarily concerned with public events: changes on the throne, state visits, insurrections, executions and festivities...
, diarist - Jack O'NewburyJack O'NewburyJack O'Newbury was the much-used nickname of John Winchcombe, otherwise John Smallwood, one of the richest and most influential English cloth merchants of the late 15th and early 16th century...
- William PatersonWilliam Paterson (banker)Sir William Paterson was a Scottish trader and banker.- Early life :...
- Sir Thomas WhiteThomas White (merchant)Sir Thomas White was an English cloth merchant, civic benefactor and founder of St John's College, Oxford.He was born in Reading, Berkshire, the son of William White, a clothier of Reading, and his wife, Mary, daughter of Henry Kibblewhite of South Fawley, also in Berkshire. He was brought up in...