Large merchant companies had great halls for trade, such as the
mercers, grocers, drapers, fishmongers, and goldsmiths. The other
great guilds were the skinners, merchant tailers, haberdashers,
salters, ironmongers, vintners, and clothworkers. Smaller guilds
were those of the bakers, weavers, fruiterers, dyers, Thames
watermen and lightermen, carpenters, joiners, turners, and parish
clerks. The guilds insured quality by inspecting goods for a fee.
About 1571, mercer and Merchant Adventurer Thomas Gresham
established the Royal Exchange as a place for merchants and
brokers to meet for business purposes. It became the center of
London's business life. Its great bell rang at midday and at 6
p.m. Its courtyard was lined with shops that rented at 50s. yearly
and became a popular social and recreational area. Gresham
formulated his law that when two kinds of money of equal
denomination but unequal intrinsic value are in circulation at the
same time, the one of greater value will tend to be hoarded or
exported, i.e. bad money will drive good money out of circulation.
The work-saving knitting frame was invented in 1589 by minister
William Lee; it knit crosswise loops using one continuous yarn and
was operated by hand. The stocking knitters, who knitted by hand,
put up a bitter struggle against its use and chased Lee out of the
country. But it did come into use. Some frame-work stocking
knitters paid frame rent for the use of their knitting frames.
Pages:
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622