Bakers of Coventry

Exploring the possibility that the Bakers of Highfields may have been descendants of the bakers of Coventry

The Bakers Home Page Return to the Home Page of the Bakers Family part of the website

The Bakers of Highfields Story The Story of the Dods and Bakers and of Highfields, Fenton House and Hasfield Court. A journey through the history of Cheshire and Staffordshire, an Anglo-Saxon nobleman who retained his lands after the Conquest, pottery at Stoke on Trent, an encounter with Elgar, and the history of an Elizabethan manor house at Audlem

The Bakers of Highfields The family tree of the Bakers of Highfields

The Dod Family The Family Tree of the Dods, predecessors to the Bakers of Highfields

The Bakers of Fenton House and Hasfield Court The Family Tree of the pottery Bakers of Stoke on Trent

The Bellyse Family The Family Tree of the Bellyse Family

The Farndale Story The main part of this website tells the story of the Farndale family from Yorkshire Descendants of Arthur Baker, the story of the Farndale ancestry is told through the main part of this website You can also return to the Farndale website home page

The Hall Family The genealogy of the family of James Hall, linked to the Baker family through marriage to Arthur Baker

Headlines of are in brown.

Dates are in red.

Hyperlinks to other pages are in dark blue.

References and citations are in turquoise.

Context and local history are in purple.

As we know that the ancestors of the Bakers of Highfields were in Coventry during the sixteenth century, it is possible that is that the Bakers had long standing interests in Coventry and perhaps originated as bakers of Coventry. If this is the case, since names started to emerge in the twelfth to thirteenth century, the family would have had deep seated, antique interests in the city.

The Emergence of Surnames

A family of bakers in Coventry would have likely adopted the surname Baker roughly between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. This was the era when hereditary surnames first became necessary in England for taxation, legal documentation, and general administration. (Powell, Kimberly, 11 June 2019, The Surname Baker: Its Meaning and Origin). Before the twelfth century, a man named John who baked bread might simply be known to his neighbours as John the Baker. By the late 1300s, these descriptive designations froze into permanent, hereditary family names passed down to children, regardless of whether they continued the trade. The surname was already established in Coventry and its surrounding Warwickshire villages during this early formative period. In this early period when surnames were being adopted, the Baker surname is found both in Coventry and the surrounding villages indicating that the trade of baking was widespread. (Wilcox, Philip, The Bakers Company of Coventry, Historical Association).

Because baking was universally essential, the surname Baker emerged independently across many different families throughout Britain. Therefore, a Coventry-based Baker family represents a distinct lineage rooted specifically in the economic fabric of medieval Warwickshire. (Bakers Surname Meaning, Ancestry). We cannot be sure that the origin of this particular family was in baking in Coventry, but if this was a family firmly rooted in Coventry’s history, this seems the most probable model. Indeed the organsiation of baking has particularly deep roots in Coventry.

Before 1500, Coventry was a rapidly growing medieval boom town, eventually rising to become the fourth most populous and wealthy city in England. Because bread was the fundamental staple of life, the bakers of Coventry operated under a strict web of local civic governance, nationwide royal statutes, and an incredibly powerful trade guild.

1204

The Fellowship of Bakers in Coventry, later known as the Company of Bakers, was an antique body, reportedly formed in 1204, predating the city's general Merchant Guilds by nearly half a century. The guild held a strict monopoly on who could bake and sell bread within the city walls. They controlled the entry of new bakers through rigorous apprenticeship contracts, which generally lasted between 3 and 7 years. Finishing an apprenticeship in Coventry uniquely granted the status of a Freeman of the City. (The Master Bakers of Coventry, Our Warwickshire, see also, for comparison with London, the History of the Bakers’ Company, The Worshipful Company of Bakers).

The Bakers' Company of London is one of the oldest of the London livery companies, dating from between 1130 and 1155 according to the Pipe Rolls (the account rolls of the King's Exchequer). There are no known surviving contemporary records to prove just when a bakers' guild was formed in Coventry, and in fact there are no known surviving guild records for any organisation in Coventry from before the late 14th century. The earliest known Merchant guild in Coventry was formed in 1340 when some wealthy merchants provided £1,000 to obtain a royal licence from Edward III to found the Merchant Guild of St Mary. Other Guilds were formed but eventually with amalgamations there emerged the Corpus Christi Guild as the junior body and the Holy Trinity Guild as the senior. (Wilcox, Philip, The Bakers Company of Coventry, Historical Association).

1448

The guild was not just a commercial entity; it was tied into the defence of Coventry. In 1448, the Company of Bakers equipped 19 men for military service, and by 1460, they supplied 19 bakers with protective armour (jacks) to defend the city walls.

1484

The power dynamics between the guild and Coventry’s leadership came to a head in 1484. When the Mayor adjusted the bakers' profit allowances based on moving wheat prices, the guild revolted. In a dramatic protest, the Coventry bakers went on strike and staged a mass exodus to the nearby village of Baginton, leaving the major city entirely without bread. The civic authorities cracked down; the bakers ultimately relented, were hit with a massive £20 fine, and swore never to abandon their ovens again.

The daily operations of a medieval Coventry baker were highly systematic and dictated by transparency and traceability. Bakers bought their own raw grain. By law, they had to bring it strictly to authorised Coventry millers, who were ordered to prioritize local bakers over external clients. Bakers could not price their bread however they pleased. Under the national Assize of Bread and Ale laws, the price of a loaf remained fixed, but the physical size and weight of the loaf fluctuated depending on the current market price of wheat. Local officials inspected and weighed the bread at least once a month.

Bakers typically baked distinct types of bread reflecting social hierarchy. This ranged from fine white bread (manchets or wastistelle) for nobles and wealthy merchants, to maslin (a blend of wheat and rye) for ordinary townspeople, down to dense horse bread made of beans and bran.

Long before modern branding, every Coventry baker was legally required to press a personal, unique seal or indent into their dough before baking. If a loaf was found to be underweight, filled with ash/chalk, or otherwise adulterated, the civic inspectors could trace the exact oven it came from.

The main hub for buying bread in late-medieval Coventry was situated just within the boundary of the Prior's Half, specifically at the Gaol Hall door.

Because Coventry was a lucrative market, bakers from outlying regions, such as nearby Warwick, often tried to smuggle or bring bread in to compete. To protect the local monopoly, the Coventry town governance restricted outside bakers to selling only on Wednesdays and Fridays at the Gaol Hall door.

Cheating the public on bread was viewed as a serious civic crime. If a Coventry baker was caught selling short-weight or low-quality loaves, the legal code followed a three hits and you're out philosophy. For a first and second Offence, the offending baker was tied to a wooden frame called a hurdle and publicly dragged through the streets of Coventry while crowds jeered, or placed in the public stocks. For a third offence, the punishment was economic ruin. The authorities would march into the baker's property and physically pull down their stone ovens, permanently revoking their right to practice the craft.