19th century Trade Apprenticeships.

[MaecW]

I understand how apprenticeships worked but am not clear on the administrative processes involved. Was there a central registry for each trade, perhaps the appropriate Guild, or were records kept locally at County/City level.

I have a copy of the agreement covering my G-Grandfather's apprenticeship as a printer. It is an imposing formal legal document and dates from the late 1850s, suggesting that there was a well established system in place by that period.

I am now looking for any records or documents relating to an earlier ancestor (born 1818) who became a Master Painter & Decorator. The earliest mention of his trade is his entry in the 1841 census where he is described as a Painter J. , presumably the J stands for journeyman and would indicate that he had completed his apprenticeship by then. Would there be any record of him being qualified as a journeyman ?  And did a journeyman become a Master simply by employing others or did he have to have demonstrated his skills in some way ?

Maec

[youngtug]

Early on masters were elected by a guild, although  upon submitting a "masterpiece" for assesment and a payment to the guild.
To employ a man in a guild dominated trade you had to be a master.
Later the power of the guilds declined and master just came to mean employer in many cases.
 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/apprentices-and-masters/

[stanmapstone]

Official records of apprentices were kept in England and Wales between 1710 and 1811, when stamp duty was payable on indentures of apprenticeship. Registers of the duty paid were kept by the Commissioners of Stamps. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/apprentices-and-masters/

Stan

[stanmapstone]

After 1811 you'll be fortunate to find anything because apprenticeships would then be purely private agreements.

Stan

[MaecW]

Thank you, Stan and Youngtug, I had missed the information on the Nat. Archives site. It looks as if this is not a trail that will lead anywhere.
Still, worth a try 

Maec