Chartered Freeman of the City of Gloucester Gloucestershire Enamel Button Hole Lapel Badge

Lovely enamel Chartered Freeman of Gloucester badge. Maker 'H.W. MILLER Ltd BRANSON ST B'HAM. 18.' Comes in its vintage cardboard box. VGC.

Freeman of Gloucester Background:

A “Freeman” was a man who had certain rights and privileges within a city. In Gloucester this included:

Being able to sit on the Common Council of the City.
Preferential trading rights within Gloucester and freedom from paying local tolls.
Grazing rights in the common meadows along the bank of the river Severn.
Places in the almshouses in Gloucester and also in the Bluecoat Hospital, later known as Sir Thomas Rich’s school, were reserved for freemen and their families.
By the nineteenth century the material advantages of becoming a freeman had declined in importance but it did give a man extra status in Gloucester.

There were four qualifications for admission as a freeman of the city. These were:

By patrimony – that is as the son of a freeman
After the completion of a seven-year apprenticeship to a freeman having also lived with him during this time.
By fine or payment – that is after the payment of a sum of money for the right to become a freeman. This method was often used by farmers who wanted to take advantage of the grazing rights on the meadows around Gloucester for which freemen were eligible. It was also used by men who married the widow of a freeman, so acquiring his business and who wanted the preferential trading rights granted to freemen.
By gift of the mayor and council. This was normally granted to county landowners, national figures, distinguished soldiers and sailors and other worthies.

Code: 369