Master Saddler

[Jeanette Scott]

My Gt Gt Grandfather was a Master Saddler how can I find out more about this trade please?

Regards Jeanette

[Rod Neep]

A master saddler was a person who owned his own business and employed people..... making saddles.

Regards
Rod

[Geoffers]

My Gt Gt Grandfather was a Master Saddler how can I find out more about this trade please?
Any reasonably large library should have a reference section and this is often a good place to begin looking for books on country trades and crafts. Good bookshops also have similar reference titles; second-hand bookshops are well worth browsing for books on crafts.

One such book, 'Made in England' by Dorothy Hartley (forst publ. 1939, reprinted by Century Hutchinson ISBN 0 7126 1750 7); describes some of the goos made and repaired by a Saddler: "saddles and harnesses of all sorts such as wheel horse tracery, canal barge harness, and all makes of plough and drag gear, including a great variety of special work-gear for hill famrs, bands for threshing and churning, leggings and anklets for horse and man, gloves for the hedger and ditcher, bags, braces, wrist-straps, leather cases.............."

The book continues on for several pages looking at specific work on horse collars.

Another book you might try to find is, 'The Forgotten Arts' by John Seymour which was published by Dorling Kindersley in association with the National Trust - ISBN 0 86318 052 3.

[Fulhamster]

Hiya!
You may be able to get some more info from the following:

The Worshipful Company of Saddlers
Saddlers' Hall
40 Gutter Lane
London
EC2V 6BRClerk: Gp Capt W S Brereton Martin CBE: Partners Name DianaTel: 020 7726 8661Fax: 020 7600 0386Email: [email protected] ([email protected])Web: www.saddlersco.co.uk (http://www.saddlersco.co.uk/)

[Thisby]

Hello,

My great grandfather is listed as either a harness maker and/or saddler along with some of his brothers. It looks as though there were a few generations who were too and passed down their trade .

Hope this isn't a silly question but is there a difference between a saddler and a master saddler? There's no mention of master on any of my records. I don't know if they employed anyone.

Thanks
Thisby

[ChristineR]

Putting "master saddler" in quotes into Google brought up "The Society of Master Saddlers (UK) Ltd."

http://www.mastersaddlers.co.uk/

A Master Saddler appears to be the only one who can take on apprentices - so perhaps that was the same in your chap's day. You would have had to have completed a full apprenticeship and perhaps then been a saddler for a number of years and perhaps been judged by ones peers before being made a master saddler.

There a plenty of links on that web site, so you may find some history of the profession.

Christine :)

[harfin]

Hope this isn't a silly question but is there a difference between a saddler and a master saddler? There's no mention of master on any of my records. I don't know if they employed anyone.Thisby

Hi

I assume the same principle applies to Saddlers as it does to Bakers (which some of my lot were). The terms I came across were:

Journeyman Baker
One who has fully served an apprenticeship in a trade or craft and is a qualified worker in another's employ.

Master Baker
One who after becoming a Journeyman Baker, subsequently operated business in his own right and employed one or more persons.

Alan

[Thisby]

Putting "master saddler" in quotes into Google brought up "The Society of Master Saddlers (UK) Ltd."

http://www.mastersaddlers.co.uk/

A Master Saddler appears to be the only one who can take on apprentices - so perhaps that was the same in your chap's day. You would have had to have completed a full apprenticeship and perhaps then been a saddler for a number of years and perhaps been judged by ones peers before being made a master saddler.

There a plenty of links on that web site, so you may find some history of the profession.

Christine :)

I've had another look through my notes and see that one of my Tillers is down as a saddler employing 1 man and 1 boy. So perhaps he was a master.
Thank you for the link, I'll pop over there and have a look.

Thanks
Thisby