London Metropolitan Archives

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1000 Years of London's History in Documents, Photos, Maps and Films

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London Metropolitan Archives - Item Details

THE FOOTWEAR BENEVOLENT SOCIETY { FORMERLY BOOT TRADE BENEVOLENT SOCIETY}

Date of Creation:

1836 - 1977

Reference Code:

CLC/116

Scope and Content:
  • Records of the Boot Trade Benevolent Society comprising: minutes, 1853-1959; financial records, 1836-1977; and news cutting books, 1932-7.
Extent: 26 production units.
Classification: CHARITIES
Former Reference: MS 23799- 807
Site Location: London Metropolitan Archives
Level of Description:
    Collection

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Administrative History:
  • The Master Boot and Shoemakers' Provident and Benevolent Institution was founded on 17 May 1836 at a meeting held in the West End by six master bootmakers. In September 1836, a set of rules was confirmed. The institution was formed for the provision of an asylum at Mortlake for aged and infirm persons, who had been engaged in the boot and shoe trades, and their widows. It also proposed to grant relief in the form of annuities.

    In 1864 the Master Boot and Shoemakers' Provident and Benevolent Institution acquired the funds of the Journeymen Boot and Shoemakers' Pension Society, which had been established in 1850.

    The Institution changed its name twice, becoming the Boot and Shoe Trade Provident and Benevolent Institution in 1890 and the Boot Trade Benevolent Society in 1900. The latter change resulted from moves to enlarge the scope of the Institution to admit persons engaged in any branch of the industry.

    Initially meetings were held at the Freemasons Tavern, Great Queen Street or at the Society's asylum in Mortlake. After 1879 its offices were at various addresses in London, including: 11 Queen Victoria Street 1879-83; 17 Great George Street 1884-96; 28 Queen Street 1897-1914; 13a Fore Street 1915-24; 98 Gower Street 1925-40; 73 Avenue Chambers, Vernon Place 1946-54; 21 Knightsbridge 1955-60; Dashwood House, Old Broad Street 1961-2; 84 Great Eastern Road 1989.

    In 1998 the name was changed to the Footwear Benevolent Society and a new Constitution was adopted on 14th February 2002. In the new Constitution the aims are now described as 'To relieve, in cases of need, hardship or distress, persons who are or have been engaged in the footwear trade and their widows, widowers and other dependants'.
Creator: Boot Trade Benevolent Society x Boot and Shoe Trade Provident and Benevolent Institution x Master Boot and Shoemakers' Provident and Benevolent Institution
Copyright: Depositor
Source of Acquisition:
  • The records were deposited in Guildhall Library by the Society in 1989 and were catalogued by a member of Guildhall Library staff in the same year. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.
  • 1989/002
Access Restrictions: These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 2018
Arrangement: The records have been sorted into an order which reflects divisions between the different functions and operations of the organisation and its administration.