A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated in ancient Babylonia, Assyria, China, Egypt, Greece, India, Persia, Phoenicia and Rome. During the European medieval period, a rapid expansion in trade and commerce led to the rise of a wealthy and powerful merchant class. The European Age of Discovery opened up new trading routes and gave European consumers access to a much broader range of goods. By the 18th century, a new type of manufacturer-merchant had started to emerge and modern business practices were becoming evident.
Guildhall is a municipal building in the Moorgate area of the City of London, England. It is off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. The current building dates from the 15th century; however documentary evidence suggests that a guildhall had existed at the site since at least the early 12th century. The building has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation. It should not be confused with London's City Hall, the administrative centre for Greater London. The term "Guildhall" refers both to the whole building and to its main room, which is a medieval great hall. It is a Grade I-listed building.
A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house," is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Europe, with many surviving today in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in some cases museums while retaining their original names.
The Merchant Taylors' Hall in York, England, is a medieval guildhall near the city wall in the Aldwark area of the city.
The history of York, England, as a city dates to the beginning of the first millennium AD but archaeological evidence for the presence of people in the region of York dates back much further to between 8000 and 7000 BC. As York was a town in Roman times, its Celtic name is recorded in Roman sources ; after 400, Angles took over the area and adapted the name by folk etymology to Old English Eoforwīc or Eoforīc, which means "wild-boar town" or "rich in wild-boar". The Vikings, who took over the area later, in turn adapted the name by folk etymology to Norse Jórvík meaning "wild-boar bay", 'jór' being a contraction of the Old Norse word for wild boar, 'jǫfurr'. The modern Welsh name is Efrog.
The York Museum Gardens are botanic gardens in the centre of York, England, beside the River Ouse. They cover an area of 10 acres (4.0 ha) of the former grounds of St Mary's Abbey, and were created in the 1830s by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society along with the Yorkshire Museum which they contain.
The Mansion House in York, England is the home of the Lord Mayors of York during their term in office. It is situated in St Helen's Square, where York's Coney Street and Lendal intersect in the city centre. It is built in an early Georgian style. The Mansion House is the earliest purpose-built house for a Lord Mayor still in existence, and predates the Mansion House in London by at least twenty years.
The Company of Merchant Adventurers usually refers to the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London, founded in 1407 and London's leading guild of overseas merchants.
Blakeney Guildhall is a building in the coastal village of Blakeney in the north of the county of Norfolk. The property is in the care of English Heritage but is managed by the local parish council. Blakeney is just off the A149 coast road and is nine miles west of Sheringham. The property can be found in an alley just off the quay. It is a scheduled monument.
St Anthony's Hall in York, England, is a former medieval guildhall and Grade I listed building. It currently houses Trinity Church York and the Quilt Museum and Gallery. The Hall, located on Peasholme Green, was built between 1446 and 1453 on the site of a chapel of St Anthony for either the Guild of St Martin or the Guild of St Anthony. After the decline of the Guilds, it was used between 1627 and 1705 for various purposes: as an arsenal, a military hospital and a prison. Between 1705 and 1947 it housed the York Bluecoat School, after which it was offered to the York Civic Trust. In 1953, it became the Borthwick Institute for Historical Research, which moved in 2004 to a purpose-built building next to the J. B. Morrell Library on the campus of the University of York. The Quilt Museum and Gallery opened in the Hall in 2008 and closed in 2015.
William Camidge F.R.H.S. (1828–1909) was a British solicitor and author based in York. He wrote histories of Methodism and a biography of the painter William Etty. He was a Royal Historical Society, and a Primitive Methodist associated with Elmfield College.
St Mary's Hall is a municipal building in Bayley Lane in Coventry, West Midlands, England. It is a Grade I listed building.
38–39 Bayley Lane is a former building, whose present-day site is accessible from the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry, England. All that remains is the medieval undercroft, a fourteenth-century cellar that initially belonged to a wealthy merchant, who was a clothier. The undercroft is built with sandstone with a stone-ribbed vault for added security and strength. It is a Grade I listed building.
Lavenham Guildhall is a timber-framed municipal building in Lavenham, Suffolk, England. It is Grade I listed.
Lavenham Wool Hall, also known as the Swan Hotel, is a timber framed building on Lady Street in Lavenham, Suffolk, England. Dating from the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries, it has been protected since 1958 as a listed building.
King's Lynn Guildhall, more fully referred to as the Guildhall of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a municipal building in Saturday Market Place in King's Lynn, Norfolk. It is a Grade I listed building. The building was substantially extended in 1895, with the whole complex now generally known as King's Lynn Town Hall, with the 1895 extension being separately listed at Grade II. It is the usual meeting place of King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council.
Stratford-upon-Avon Guildhall is a historic building in Church Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. It is a Grade I listed building. Dating from the early 15th century, the Guildhall was for centuries at the centre of life in Stratford, being used for assemblies, as a meeting place for the local council, and as a school building for the King Edward VI School. Most famously William Shakespeare almost certainly attended school here. The building was opened to the public in 2016, after being restored.
The Guildhall of St George is a Grade I listed building in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England. The Guild of St George was founded in 1376 and constructed the Guildhall between 1410 and 1420. It is the largest extant guildhall in England. It has been in use as a theatre since 1445, making it the oldest theatre still operating in the United Kingdom, and the only one still in existence in which William Shakespeare is believed to have performed. The building is in the ownership of the National Trust, which has leased it to King's Lynn and West Norfolk borough council for hire as a music, performances, lectures and entertainment venue.
Fossgate is a street in the city centre of York, in England.
Maud Sellers (1861–1939) was a British historian and museum curator.
