Meaning
A young person bound by legal agreement to learn a trade or craft from a master craftsman over a set number of years.
Description
Apprenticeships were a formal legal arrangement, usually lasting seven years, in which a young person lived and worked with a master craftsman in exchange for training. The indenture document recorded the names of both parties, the trade being learned and the terms of the agreement. Apprentices were common across almost every skilled trade from blacksmithing to tailoring. Many parish apprentices were pauper children placed by the overseers of the poor.
Also Known As
Bound Apprentice, Parish Apprentice, Indentured Apprentice
Commonly Found In
- Apprenticeship Records
- Parish Registers
- Poor Law Records
- Census Returns
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