Talk:Worshipful Company of Pewterers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	This article is part of WikiProject London, an attempt to expand, improve and standardise the content and structure of articles related to London. If you would like to participate, you can improve the article attached to this page or sign up and contribute in a wider array of articles.
Stub	This article has been rated as stub-Class on the quality scale.
Low	This article has been rated as low-importance on the importance scale.

[edit] Philanthropy

i can't imagine how this comes to be described as a 'philanthropic or charitable organization', when the article on 'livery companies' quite clearly states that they are trade associations.Toyokuni3 (talk) 03:51, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

They began life in the middle ages, purely for the regulation of trade. Their initial forays into philanthropy were to provide alms houses for retired and distressed members. Gradually this extended into the foundation of schools.

The modern guilds have little to do with trade - although most members would have some association with the trade, but membership of a guild is a route to obtaining Freedom of the City of London. Generally, this comes with a high price tag - which is then devoted to the charitable purposes of the guild. Perhaps the article should reflect this change over time. Kbthompson (talk) 09:02, 16 April 2008

point taken. but the pewterers were, historically, very active in the 'regulation of trade', with numerous controversies.e.g.,composition of the product, pseudohallmarks, etc.Toyokuni3 (talk) 16:06, 16 April 2008 (UTC)