Those wanting to become a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Fletchers must first apply for and be admitted to the Freedom of the City of London.

The Declaration of a Freeman is as follows: “I {names in full} do solemnly declare that I will be good and true to our Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth the Second; that I will be obedient to the Mayor of this City; that I will maintain the Franchises and Customs thereof, and will keep this City harmless, in that which in me is; that I will also keep the Queen’s Peace in my own person; that I will know no Gatherings or Conspiracies made against the Queen’s Peace, but I will warn the Mayor thereof, or hinder it to my power; and that all these points and articles I will well and truly keep, according to the Laws and Customs of this City, to my power.”

The pictures above show the earliest known admission of a Fletcher to the Freedom of the City of London in 1313.

Image reproduced by kind permission of the London Metropolitan Archives, City of London, reference COL/AD/01/004, f. 24v.