Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices’ Indentures, 1710-1811

The 1709 Stamp Act extended stamp duty to cover apprenticeship indentures. The duty or tax was payable on the fee charged by a master for an indentured apprentice. Until the act was repealed in 1811 apprenticeships were listed in a register to enable the Board of Stamps to

keep track of the fees and taxes.  The registers are compiled in the date order in which the tax was paid, which is not always the date of the apprenticeship

Until 1752, the apprentice’s parents’ names were included, but afterward are rare.  At a minimum, the records usually include:

• Date of registration
• Name of master
• Address of master
• Trade
• Name of apprentice
• Date of articles of apprenticeship
• Sum received
• Tax payable

The stamp duty was levied at 6d (sixpence) for every £1 of apprenticeship fee up to £50 and 1s (one shilling or twelvepence) for every £1 above £50. The masters did not have to pay stamp duty on the apprentices that were assigned by the common or public charge of any township or parish. This means a lot of apprentices won’t be included in these records. Local or charity records are the best place to find records of these types of apprenticeships.

Apprenticeships in Staffordshire, potters

Staffordshire apprenticeships – Ancillary trades
Engravers

Staffordshire apprenticeships – Ancillary trades
Other

Explanatory notes
* prior to the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1752, the first day of the year was Lady Day, 25 March, the last day was 24 March.  I have therefore chosen to express years associated with the calendar moths of January, February, and March prior to 1752 with two years separated by a forward slash, the first being transcription of the original, the second being the year in the modern Gregorian system, e.g. 1716/17 means the record states 1716, but in modern calendar this would be 1717.

NB In 1704, for reasons that are not immediately obvious, a number of men in the north Staffordshire pottery industry were indicted for not having served a proper apprenticeship.  The indictments can be found in the Sessions Roll – Michaelmas 1704 held by Staffordshire County Record Office.  The men listed below are charged with carrying on the occupation of potter not having served an apprenticeship in accordance to a statute of 12 January 5 Elizabeth.
Richard Glasse, of Hanley Green
John Ellis senior, of Hanley Green
William Jackson, lately of the parish of Burslem
William Addams, yeoman, of Burslem
John Tynsley, gentleman, of Burslem