Freedom of the City of London - research guide

Date updated: 8/03/2023

1. About this guide

This guide explains how to trace individuals (known as Freemen) who were granted the Freedom of the City of London.

2. What is the Freedom?

The Freedom of the City of London was a practical necessity for those who lived and worked in the City of London - particularly before the 1850s - as it brought certain rights and privileges. For some groups of people it was even compulsory.

There are four ways of becoming a City Freeman:

Honorary Freedom - granted only by special Resolution of the Court of Common Council to distinguished and worthy people.

Servitude - gained through completing an apprenticeship to a City Freeman.

Patrimony – open to children born to a person who had the Freedom of the City at the time of their birth.

Redemption (or purchase) - This could be achieved through several means:

Presentation by an officer of the City of London Corporation or other person who had been granted the right of presenting candidates (usually for a fee). This right was abolished in the mid-19th century
Directly petitioning the Court of Aldermen, if becoming free through the intervention of a City Livery Company
Directly petitioning the Court of Common Council, if no livery company were involved (possible after 1835 only)
By being on the City Parliamentary Register of Electors (possible after 1856 only)

3. Online Records

Freedom admission papers, 1681-1930 are available to search on Ancestry.co.uk (charges apply). See Freedom of the City Admission Papers, 1681-1930.

4. Records only available at LMA

1309-1312: Letter book D (COL/AD/01/004) contains a transcript of part of a register of Freemen. This is published and indexed in RR Sharpe's Calendar of Letter Book D.
1437-1497: Recognizances rolls (COL/RG/01/013-025) record Freemen by redemption only and their sureties. Names are indexed in the catalogue.
1495-1649: Repertories of the Court of Aldermen (COL/CA/01/01/001-064) record admissions by redemption only. Names are indexed in the catalogue
c.1551-1553: Two fragments of a register of Freemen. One is held at LMA (COL/CHD/FR/01/001) and the other at the British Library.
1668-1669: Calendar of register of Freedom admissions (COL/CHD/FR/01/002). Names are indexed in the catalogue.
1931-1940: Freedom admission papers, 1931-1940 (COL/CHD/FR/02). Please begin with the index to freedoms, 1916-1940 (COL/CHD/FR/03/01/014)
1784-2010: Freedom declaration books (COL/CHD/FR/04). These books give no more information than the admission papers but do give the exact date of admission.

5. New Freedom admissions

For Freedom admissions from 1941 onwards, please contact the Clerk of the Chamberlain's Court.

6. 'King's Freemen'

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Government enabled discharged military and naval servicemen to obtain a certificate of entitlement from the City Chamberlain. This allowed him or his family to make their living in the City of London without having to be admitted as a City Freeman.

LMA holds discharge papers for 'King's Freemen' covering 1788-1873 (COL/CHD/FR/11/04). Names are indexed in the catalogue.

7. Further Reading

My Ancestors Were Freemen of the City of London by Vivienne E. Aldous (Society of Genealogists, 1999) - LMA library shelfmark 61.2 ALD
Sheep Over London Bridge: The Freedom of the City of London, by Caroline Arnold (Corporation of London, 2nd edition 2001) - LMA library shelfmark 16.2 ARN
The Chamberlain of the City of London, 1237-1987, by Betty R. Masters, (Corporation of London, 1988 [out of print]) - LMA library shelfmark 16.43 MAS