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| A short history of the Society of Merchant Venturers |
| The Society of Merchant Venturers has had an important influence on
the history of Bristol for more than 450 years, for much of that time
performing a vital role in the maritime history of the City, although
today it is primarily involved in educational work and as Trustee of a
number of charities particularly associated with the City of Bristol.
Nevertheless many of its members also play a prominent part in the commercial
life of the City. The headquarters of the Society are at the imposing Merchants' Hall in Clifton Down, which was adapted from a pair of handsome Victorian houses shortly after the Second World War in 1953. The original Merchants' Hall in Marsh Street, a 17th century building enlarged in 1701, suffered irreparable damage in the blitz in 1940. Fortunately the archives, pictures, plate and furnishings had been removed to places of safety. In common with many London livery companies the Society is headed by a Master and two Wardens, who are elected annually from among the members. |
| Royal Charters |
| The origins of the Society are not clearly documented although it appears
to have evolved from a Guild of Merchants which existed in the13th century.
In 1467 the Corporation of Bristol drew up Ordinances for a Fellowship
of Merchants providing that 'the Mayor and Sheriff choose a worshipful
man that hath been Mayor or Sheriff to be master of the fellowship
of merchants'. At that time the Guild and Corporation were effectively
one. The prime role of the Guild was to regulate all trade with the city
and to ensure that outsiders did not benefit at the expense of Bristolians.
This role the Society carried out in one form or another until the end
of the eighteenth century. As early as 1497 the Guild financed John Cabot's
epic voyage in the 'Matthew' which led to the discovery of Newfoundland. The Society attained independent corporate existence in 1552 when Edward VI granted a royal charter to 'The Master, Wardens and Cornmonalty of Merchant Venturers of the City of Bristol'. Four subsequent monarchs, Elizabeth 1, Charles 1 and Charles II and recently Elizabeth II confirmed the Society's power by the granting of fresh charters. All the charters can still be seen in the Merchants' Hall as well as the Grant of Arms to the Society in 1569. The present constitution was set forth in the charter granted by Charles 1, by which the Master and two Wardens were given "ten of the gravest and discretest' men as Assistants. This court of 13 members, increased to 15 by the Charter of 1989, still forms the executive body and is elected annually on the 10th November, the date laid down in the Charter. |
| The Age of Exploration |
| From the granting of its first Charter for the next three centuries
the annals of the Society reflect the history of Bristol, a major port,
which for much of that time was second only to London in importance. In
an age when exploration was taking hold of the nation's imagination, the
Society's members played a leading part in the discovery of new lands. Following on from its discovery by John Cabot the early development of Newfoundland was a notable Society venture. John Guy, the first Governor of the colony in 1610, was Master of the Society in 1622. Before the Treaty of Paris in 176 3, the Board of Trade and Plantations sought the views of the Society and its members over boundary divisions affecting French Canada and Newfoundland. A direct result of the Society's advice was the decision in 1763 to transfer from the province of Quebec to the government of Newfoundland the area then known as Labrador and the appointment that year of Thomas Graves as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Newfoundland and all the coast of Labrador, from the entrance to Hudson Bay to the mouth of St John's river. In 1965 these historic connections were celebrated with the presentation by the Society to the Mayor of St John's of a gold mayoral chain embodying the arms of the City of St John's with those of the Society, the Company of Newfoundland and of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who took possession of Newfoundland for the Crown. The design for this can be seen in the Hall. Another ambitious venture was the equipping of an expedition in 1631 under Captain.James in the Henrietta Maria of 70 tons in the hope of discovering the North West Passage. During the 18th century Africa became an increasing source of profitable trade, and the Society fought a long and successful battle with the merchants of London, who were striving to establish a monopoly there. In 1708 the Bristol African fleet numbered nearly 60 vessels. By 1750 when a new African Company was formed, 237 of its freemen were registered in Bristol as compared with 147 in London and 89 in Liverpool. |
| War with France |
| During the war of 1756 against France, members of the Society fitted out 60 privateers, some carrying as many as 36 guns, and many prizes were gained. The Admiralty placed warships in Bristol to convoy the local West Indian fleets on their outward and homeward voyages and gave the Society authority to direct the naval commanders as to the date, direction and duration of each voyage. Trade increased with the Levant, the West Indies and the American colonies. |
| Bristol Docks |
| From the beginning of the 16th century the Society, through a wharfage lease, had been virtually responsible for managing the Bristol docks and the lower estuary of the Avon to Steep Holm. In return for the privileges the Society had kept the Avon clear of mud and fallen rocks from the Gorge, and had been responsible for the licensing, training and discipline of pilots in the Severn estuary and the Bristol Channel from Gloucester south to Barnstaple and westwards to Tenby. In 1803 a Docks company was formed, which, pressed by the Society, created the Floating Dock in Bristol through the construction of the locks at Cumberland Basin and the new cut, a fresh channel for the river Avon, at a cost of £600,000. The development of South Wales trade and the increase in the size of ships led the Society in 1848 to surrender control of the Docks and pilotage to the new Docks Committee of Bristol Corporation although the Society kept its wharfage lease until 1861. Support was given later to the construction of the railway line to serve Portishead Docks and to the subsequent creation of Avonmouth Docks. |
| Great Western Railway |
| Seeing the benefits to local commerce of railways the Society allowed the inaugural meeting of the Great Western Railway Company to be held in the Hall in 1832. The Society and many of its members subscribed liberally to the share capital of the new company. |
| Clifton ad Durdham Downs |
| In 1676 The Society acquired the Manor of Clifton, then open country, which included 220 acres of Clifton Down. Almost 200 Years later when the neighbouring Manor of Henbury, which included Durdham Downs, was placed on the market the Society agreed with the Corporation of Bristol that if the, Corporation would buy the Manor of Henbury, the Society would join with the Corporation in dedicating 440 acres for the use and enjoyment of citizens in perpetuity. This happened and the Downs are still administered by a Downs Committee appointed in equal number by each body, under the provisions of the Clifton and Durdham Downs Act 1861. |
| Suspension Bridge |
| Following the death of William Vick in 1 754 the Society received a bequest of £1,000 with the direction to accumulate the interest until the sum reached £10,000 and then to build a bridge over the Avon Gorge at St Vincent's Rocks. A bridge bill received Royal Assent in May 1830 and Vick's fund, by then £8,700, was handed to trustees, together with a loan and gift from the Society and other donations, amounting in all to £32,000. After a melancholy 30 years of costs exceeding estimates, the Suspension Bridge, designed by the great Victorian engineer, Brunel, was opened in 1864. |
| Hotwells |
| Towards the end of the 18th century hot springs gushing out from the Society's land at Hotwells made it a fashionable spa with visitors from all over the country coming to take the waters. Dowry Square was developed to accommodate visitors and musical breakfasts were held in the Pump Room. The water was popular overseas and the Society appointed licensees who exported thousands of bottles of the creamy water to Europe, particularly to Amsterdam. As Bath's popularity as a spa grew, Hotwells dwindled and the trade died altogether when the widening of the river Avon caused the spring to well up in the middle of the river. |
| Education |
| Although The Society's commercial influence was waning at the time of
the Industrial revolution and with the loss of the American colonies,
it was working in other areas. From 1820 onwards it busied itself with
the development of Clifton, outside the old village, from Victoria Square
to Whiteladies Road, but its main interest was the pioneering of education.
Since 1595 the Society had maintained a school for the children of mariners
and at the start of the 19th century it established the Bristol Trade
School, the first of its kind in England. From this small beginning grew
the Merchant Venturers' School and later the Merchant Venturers' Technical
College, a forerunner in its field. When the University of Bristol received
its charter in 1909, the Engineering Department of the Merchant Venturers'
Technical College became the Faculty of Engineering and continued to be
maintained by the Society. The lead which the Society had given in further
education culminated when Bristol Corporation and the University took
over the Society's work in 1949. The Society's pioneering role has been
recognised in the name of the new Merchant Venturers building at the University
as well as a tablet in the foyer of the Queen's Building. Two other schools
closely linked with the Society are Colston's School and Colston's Girls'
School. Colston's School was founded in 1708 and endowed by Edward Colston,
who appointed the Society as sole managers of the estates of the charity
(the Colston Hospital Foundation). Colston's Girls' School was founded
in 1891 by the Society under the auspices of the same Foundation. In 1945 the Society decided that Colston's School, which had become a direct grant school in 1926, should attain independent status and that the Girls' School should become an aided school. In 1965, following a change of policy by Bristol Education Committee, the Society chose independence for the Girls' School as well. Colston's School became coeducational in 1991 when it merged with the Collegiate School, Winterbourne, to form Colston's Collegiate School. |
| Almshouses |
| The Society also acts as trustee of may charitable foundations. These include the Merchant's Almshouse in King Street, founded in 1649, and Colston's Almshouse on St Michael's Hill, founded in 1696. Between them these two almshouses provide homes for up to 30 old people under the helpful care of resident wardens. In its capacity as Trustee the Society is also converting St Nicholas with Burton Almshouse, also in King Street, to provide short term residential accommodation for young people. |
| St Monica Home |
| The largest charity for which the Society acts as Trustee is St Monica
Home, built and endowed by Henry Herbert Wills and Dame Monica Wills,
which opened in 1925. Its purpose is to provide support for the chronically
disabled. The main focus for the charity is a nursing home accommodating
up to 96 residents, with space for a further eight in respite care, in
a fine neo-gothic building designed by Sir George Oatley, the eminent
local architect responsible for the imposing tower and main hall of the
University of Bristol. A further 100 less dependent residents are accommodated
in warden-controlled flats in the grounds of the main home. In addition
the charity supports more than 150 annuitants primarily in their own homes
in the Bristol area, and provides one-off gifts to help people to stay
in their own homes. St Monica is among the largest endowments of its kind in the United Kingdom and it has been invested by the Society broadly in three parts, quoted investments, commercial property and agricultural property. As a result of wise investment management the Society is trustee landlord of some 18,000 acres as well as numerous commercial properties. |
| Local Charitable Support |
| As well as being Trustee for a number of charities the Society has its own charitable funds from which it also supports other foundations and locally based charities. In recent years these have included Bristol Cathedral, the Exploratory, Bristol Old Vic, the S.S. Great Britain, QEH and the Bristol Chamber of Commerce & Initiative. |
| Greater Bristol Foundation |
| The Society pioneered the forming of a community trust, the Greater Bristol Foundation in 1987, in which it formed a substantial Merchants' Named Fund and for which it provides considerable annual core funding. |
| Honorary Members |
| From time to time throughout its history, eminent people have been invited to become honorary members of the Society. The roll includes royalty such as the Duke of Edinburgh and four Princes of Wales, the latest being Prince Charles, numerous statesmen such as Edmund Burke, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher, admirals and generals, one of the most notable being the Duke of Wellington. |
| A Historical note on the Election of the Master of the Society |
| Until The Society's incorporation by Royal Charter in 1552 the Guild
of Merchants existed as a Fellowship under an Ordinance drawn up by the
Corporation. The Ordinances of 1467 provide, inter alia, that the Mayor
or Sheriff of the Town; "the Maior and Shereffe .... by thaire
advyce and assente cheese a worschupfull man.... that hath been maior
or Shereffe of The Towne to bee maister ofthefelaweschipp of merchants
...... And the saide Maister Wardynes and Byddles to take thaire charge
of the MaIor for the time beinge ....." In effect therefore the headship of the Guild and of the Borough were consolidated With the independent existence of the Society in 1552 the power was secured to make its own statutes for the governance of the Fellowship, but these Ordinances were not to prejudice the rights of the Mayor. Whilst the Society's early records are incomplete, (the first Minute Book extant begins in 1639) they do, however, establish the intimate connection between the Corporation and the ancient Merchants' Guild. In practice the Corporation Ordinances of 1467 provided for the election by Common Council of the Master of the Merchants, but since the leading Merchants were predominant on the Council, all elections may be said to have been inspired by the Merchants themselves. |
| Royal Charters and Historic Deeds in the Society's Ownership |
| A guild of Mariners was founded in 1445 for the purpose of erecting
a chantry and establishing an almshouse for a priest and 12 poor seamen.
The Deed dated 14th March 1493, granting this Guild land in Marsh Street,
is the earliest document in the Society's possession. In 1553, the year after the granting of its first charter, the Society took over the almshouse, which still exists as the Merchants' Almshouse, and the original Merchants' Hall was established on the site of the chantry. Six Royal Charters or Letters Patent have been granted to the Society (five of these are displayed in the Hall):
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