What were haberdashers and vintners?

You can find simple definitions for “haberdasher” which tell you that he was one who sold men’s clothing, or hats and capes; but in London of the 1500s and 1600s, a haberdasher sold a fascinating variety of odds and ends, many of them imported:

“Among the wares which consituted a part of the Haberdashery of that period [Elizabeth’s days], were, ‘ daggers, swords, owches, broaches, aiglets, Spanish girdles, French cloths, Milan caps, glasses, painted cruises, dials, tables, cards, balls, puppets, ink-horns, tooth-picks, fine earthern pots, pin and points, hawk’s bells, salt-cellars, spoons, knives, and tin dishes.’ ¹

You can read more about haberdashers by clicking here. ¹

A vintner was a wine merchant, and the Vintners’ Company originally included importers, wholesalers and retailers of wine. By the time Roger Terrill apprenticed (1609 to 1616) the London French Merchants’ Company had usurped the importing and wholesaling functions, leaving only retailing to the vintners. So most vintners of Roger’s time owned and ran taverns. What they were allowed to sell changed with the times (at the whim of Parliament and at the whim of the King). Originally, they could sell victuals (food); but occasionally (especially during the reign of Charles I) they were restricted to certain kinds of victuals, and for a while they could sell only bread, in addition to wine. Beer was sold by Brewers, but there were periods when vintners could get away with selling beer too. Coopers, who made casks, encroached upon vintners’ territory from time immemorial, and sold casks filled with wine—vintners (and other traders) were forever defending their turf. Wine porters were not members of the Vintners’ Company, but were hired by the Company or its members (or anybody else) to move “tuns” (casks which actually weighed about a ton each) from the ships of the wine fleet to wherever they needed to go, the price depending on the distance and difficulty. ²

You can read more about vintners in The Beauties of England and Wales. ¹

As you’ve read before, members of the Vintners’ Company were not all vintners: A poll tax return of 1641 illustrates this: Of 51 members of the livery of the Vintners’ Company at that time, 32 were tavern-keepers (vintners), five were haberdashers, two were linen drapers, one a silk dyer, one a salter, and ten did not give their trade. ²

References

1. The Beauties of England and Wales: or, Original Delineations, ..., by Edward Wedlake Brayley, vol. X, part II (London: 1814), p. 385 (Haberdashers’ Co.) and 395 (Vintners’ Co.).

2. A History of the Vintners’ Company, by Anne Crawford (London: Constable, 1977), pp. 127-128.