Kenelm Winslow, joyner

a look at some 17th century records

From time to time I’ve been posting short (or not-so-short) articles culled from the research I’ve done for years on 17th-century joinery. Many of these I lump under the heading “period records” - in that the main content in these writings is taken from documents of the time. These can range from probate court records like wills and inventories, writings from old and New England, “guild” or company records from England and court records - in my case, most of the court records are from New England. This entry is drawn from an article I wrote about a joiner named Kenelm Winslow (1599-1672) - I’ll break it into 2 parts, this first one mostly involved with apprenticeship records.

Some details about apprenticeships in general. I’ll start with England - “An Act touching divers orders for artificers, laborers, servants of husbandry and apprentices” is the title given to the act that has come to be known as the Statute of Artificers. Dated 1563, this Act established several guidelines detailing the various aspects of apprenticeship arrangements. One important distinction is the length of an apprenticeship and the minimum age at which the apprentice can finish his term:

  …after the custom and order of the city of London for seven years at the least so the term and years of such apprentice do not expire afore such apprentice shall be of the age of 24 years… 

[Margaret Gay Davies, The Enforcement of English Apprenticeship: A Study of Applied Mercantilism 1563-1642 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1956) pp. 271-74]

This act continued to function as the guidelines for apprenticeships in sixteenth and seventeenth-century England, and that practice, with some adaptations, carried over to New England. Typically a contract, or indenture, was drawn up between the apprentice’s parents or guardians, and the craftsman taking on the apprentice. These indentures usually outlined the arrangement between the parties; and were filed with either the trade “Company” or guild, or the local courts. The first record in New England of a joiner training an apprentice is that of Kenelm Winslow and Samuel Jenny, both of Plymouth. 

apprenticeship contract, Plymouth Colony Records, 1633