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<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">All very interesting - and worth pursuing
further. Can't add anything by way of information, but here are some research
suggestions</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">A quick genealogical check does indicate
the Cripplegate Benjamin (baptised 1702) as a strong contender, but Family
Search also lists a Benjamin baptised at Duffield in the same year. I haven't
played with alternative spellings, so there may be more</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">Re apprenticeships, there are lots of
possibilities. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">The first is pauper apprentceship by the
parish authorities (e.g. the Cripplegate Overseers placing a lad with a master
to give him a start in life - and to relieve the parish of expense!). Vestry
minutes and apprenticeship papers in parish collections are the main
source</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">The second is a charitable apprenticeship
(i.e. where local endowments provided for placing children as apprentices).
Charity minutes and papers are the source</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">Then - and especially in London - there
was formal apprenticeship through one of the guilds or City companies as a route
to the freedom of the City / Borough required by anyone wishing to trade. By the
early C18th (and even earlier) obtaining the freedom was more important than
apprenticeship within the stated trade - so (e.g.) clockmakers weren't
necessarily apprenticed to clockmakers! That makes searching tricky! But there
is plenty of material. For London, all the City company records are at the
Guildhall Library (though accessed at London Metropolitan Archives now). Most
Borough archives include registers of apprenticed and/or freemen</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">Lastly, there were apprenticeships by
private agreement - parent paying master to train and house a child from the age
of 14 until 21. Before 1711 there's not much chance of picking these up, but a
tax on apprenticeships was introducing in that year from when there are national
registers of apprenticeships in the IR class (Inland Revenue) at The National
Archives. These have been indexed and copies are (or were) available at the
Society of Genealogists and in the main Guildhall Library reading room. They
could be online by now - but I'm not aware of it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">Born 1702, so it's certainly worth
checking the post-1711 apprenticeship records. And an enquiry to Trinity College
would do no harm even if the possibility of an instant answer is remote (are
there wages books for College servants, for instance)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">Nobody has mentioned it, but Bill Cook's
more recent History of the ASCY has some biographical material on Annable - but
more about his ringing career than family background, for which Trollope still
speaks best. Haven't checked it, but John Eisel's <EM>Giants of the
Exercise</EM> will provide an overview of what is known about him - probably
ironing out some of the inconsistencies and contradictions in other
writings</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">CP</FONT></DIV>
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