Recently, Tricia repeats the often-spoken stuff about the Great Fire wiping out London records re: embroiderers:

“The lack of written records because of the Great Fire in London frustrates us because many of the answers to these questions would have been recorded or derived from the record.”

I’ve seen it before, here from The Magazine Antiques, “Seventeenth-century embroideries in the Burrell collection” (June, 1995) by Liz Arthur:

“Little is known about specific professional embroiderers in England, in part because the records of the Broderers’ Company were destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.”

But, as they say, “it ain’t necessarily so” – below is a listing of the records held at the Guildhall Library in London pertaining to the Broderers’ Company. Fragements to be sure. But still, might be something worth seeing. I read these sorts of records on microfilm at the Mormon Library (Family History Library) for me, the closest is Hingham. But they are all over the place…you have to go there, order the film for a few dollars, they send to Salt Lake City & call you when it’s in. then you go & read it there. I have had good luck using digital camera to shoot the images of the film & then take them home to transcribe…but the hours roll by…

The partial catalogue entry from the Family History Library website (I deleted much later stuff)
Title Broderers’ Company records, 1511-1908
Notes Microfilm of original records at the Guildhall Library, London.
Format Manuscript (On Film)
Physical on 6 microfilm reels ; 35 mm.
Film Notes
Note – Location [Film]
Minute books, 1679-1689 – FHL BRITISH Film [ 1068847 Item 7 ]
Minute books, 1689-1812 – FHL BRITISH Film [ 1068848 ]
Freedom admissions, 1694-1728 — Apprentice bindings, 1694-1713, 1763-1877 — Receipts, 1557-1640, 1699-1830 — Subscription list, 1695 — Apprentice indentures, 1812-1878 — Papers, 1683, 1714 — Court minutes, 1511-1710 — Receipts, 1542 – FHL BRITISH Film [ 1068861 ]
————
There/s also 2 short histories of the company, written in the 20thc.
From British Library catalogue:

[Broderers] A Chat about the Broderers’ Company. By an Old Boy and Past Master (C. Holford). George Allen & Sons, 1910. Shelfmark: 8225.p.22.
[Broderers] Plain dealing fellows: a second chat about The Broderers’ Company, Percy R. Levy. Worshipful Company of Broderers, 1986. Shelfmark: YC.1987.b.6025

SO, I’ve pestered people with this before, and who in heaven’s name has enough time to chase that stuff down…I’ve worked through scads of these records for joiners and carpenters, you need a few lives to do it justice.

ALSO, there’s lots of places to learn about the prices/values of these things…and court is the best place. textiles were stolen regularly. Thus there are good records available. Here’s a sample:

“17 August, 17 Charles I.—True Bill that, at St. Martin’s-in-theFields in the night of the said day, John Johnson alias Becom laborer, Peter Gilpine laborer, and Joan Parsons spinster alias wife of William Parsons taylor, all three late of the said parish, broke burglariously into the King’s dwelling-house called “St. James House,” and stole therefrom a coronett of beaten gold worth one hundred and forty pounds, four foetemens coates with rich cognizances worth thirty pounds, two hundred ounces of gold and silver lace worth fifty pounds, twenty ells of fine holland worth twenty pounds, twenty ells of linen cloth called damaske worth twenty pounds, fifteen ells of blacke and redd silke stuffe worth five pounds, a wastcoate imbrodered with silver and gold upon silke worth six pounds, a wastcoate imbrodered with silver and colors of silke uppon white taffetye worth five pounds, a velvett night-bagge richely imbrodered with gold and silver and colours of silke worth five pounds, three imbrodered scarfes worth six pounds, a damaske table-cloth worth five pounds, the bodye of a doublett richely laced worth three pounds, two hundred yards of ymbrodered millard lace worth four pounds, a payre of hangers . . . ., a silver chamber pott worth sixteen pounds, together with other articles (whose descriptions are imperfect from injury done to the parchment), of the goods and chattels of . . . . Found ‘Guilty’ John Johnson was sentenced to be hung. Peter Gilpine was at large. No clerical memorandum touching Joan Parsons. G. D. R., 20 April, 18 Charles I.”

From: ‘Middlesex Sessions Rolls: 1641′, Middlesex county records: Volume 3: 1625-67 (1888), pp. 75-79. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66033. Date accessed: 15 March 2008.

BUT WAIT – there’s more. Has anybody read all that Randle Holme has about emroiderers? He depicts a tradesman working at a frame that seems to be integral to a table…and he also describes & illustrates the tools to a degree. Plimoth Plantation has the CD from the British Library, N. W. Alcock and Nancy Cox, “Living and Working in Seventeenth-Century England: An Encyclopedia of Drawings and Descriptions from Randle Holme’s original manuscripts for The Academy of Armory (1688)” (London: The British Library, 2000) – it’s now an old CD, made to run as a stand-alone website, but configured to run on Netscape Navigator…works on other browsers, but a little clunky. Mine works on IE run by Windows XP, but not as smoothly as it used to…

So, just some research directions for anyone with too much time on their hands…
PF