Guide to the Database
The following Guide offers brief descriptions of each field in the Medieval Londoners Database (MLD). Codes used in the field grid (which appears below each record when the green cross is clicked) are also noted here in square brackets.
| Field | Contents (specific values for a field are noted in bold) |
| Record ID | Unique number, randomly assigned for each record in the database |
| Person ID | Each distinct individual is randomly assigned an ID number that accompanies every record for this person in the database. See the Protocols for Name Linkage for the guidelines followed in determining whether references to individuals with similar names are actually associated with the same person. When the contents of the record are possibly but not definitively associated with a known person, this doubt is signaled by a P in the Record Type field (see below under Record Type), and the record is shaded pink. |
| Title | Title or status noted for the individual in this record |
| Document Name | Surname, forename of individual as written in the source for this record, whether a primary or secondary source |
| Standard Name | Standardized (modern English) surname, forename. Identical Standard Names all have the same Person ID. Different individuals with the same Standard Names are distinguished by (randomly assigned) roman numerals after the forename. The Standard Names of women include all of their surnames (starting with her maiden name if known), in chronological order, each separated by a hyphen. |
| Alias | Different surname or explicit alias used in this record source. |
| Identifier | Individual is: an Alien [X]; Apprentice [A]; Clergy [C]; Craft Master [M]; Gentry/Nobility [G]; Jewish [J]; Orphan (O]; Widow or Widower [V]; Woman [W] |
| Citizen | Yes if noted as citizen in this record. All elections of Mayors, Sheriffs, Aldermen and MPs are assumed to be for citizens. Records that specifically note an entry to the freedom of the city of London are marked Freedom [F]. |
| Craft | Craft (capitalized) refers to any type of occupational association of individuals in this record source, even if the association (fraternity, guild, company) is largely religious or considered adulterine. For standardized spellings we use and notes on the crafts, see Table 1: Occupations and Crafts and Table 2: Civic Engagement of Medieval London Crafts. |
| Cft_Flag | A code that indicates the credibility of the information in the Craft field based on this source record. a = recorded as an apprentice in this craft (note that many apprentices did not complete their term and become full members of the craft) D = craft explicitly stated in this primary source d = craft given by a secondary source that cites a primary source G = craft/guild membership inferred from position/office held in the craft N = the occupational surname of this individual is part of the evidence for assigning this craft O = craft surmised from another source by the contributing editor, often explained in the Activity field P = a possible craft backed up by some but not definitive evidence S = when contributing editor believes there is strong evidence in this record that the individual belonged to this craft T = this record notes when the individual formally transferred to another guild |
| Occupation | In lower case; refers to the type of work done by this individual according to this record source. For standardized spellings we use and notes on the crafts, see Table 1: Occupations and Crafts and Table 2: Civic Engagement of Medieval London Crafts. |
| Occ_Flag | A code that indicates the credibility of the information in the Occupation field based on this source record. D =occupation explicitly stated in this primary source d =occupation given by a secondary source that cites a primary source g =occupation assumed from craft/guild membership stated in this record N =the occupational surname of this individual is part of the evidence for assigning this occupation O =occupation surmised from another source by the contributing editor, often explained in the Activity field P =a possible occupation backed up by some but not definitive evidence S =when contributing editor believes there is strong evidence in this record that the individual practiced this occupation |
| Activity | Summarizes the circumstance of the individual’s appearance in this specific source record. MLD aims as much as possible to replicate the information in the event/activity noted by this record source, including the primary and secondary source abbreviations (enclosed in round brackets) used by the source. Only on rare occasions does MLD make an editorial comment, which is enclosed {in curly brackets). Every instance of an election to the high civic offices of Mayor, Sheriff, MP, and Warden start with the word Elected, which makes it possible to identify the different dates that individuals held these offices. References to the beginning and end of service as an Alderman (mostly drawn from A. P. Beaven, Aldermen of the City of London) start the Activity field with Served as Alderman. All other civic offices also start with the word Served as since there is no consistent information on elections for these offices. The complexity of the records taken from A. P. Beaven, Aldermen of the City of London is handled with footnote citations within the Activity field. This field also contains cross references to surname spellings that differ from that used in the Standard Name; these begin with the word See and have a X in Rec Type. Note that not all individuals named in Activity fields have their own entry in MLD, though we are working towards that goal. Individual names can be found by using the Keyword Search on the Browse Londoners or Browse Records screens or through the Advanced Search function. |
| Ward | The ward (using standardized spellings) associated with the Activity in this record source; records associated with Southwark or Westminster are also noted as such in this field. See also M. Payne and J. Smith, “The Wards and Their Aldermen.” Maps of the ward boundaries in c. 1520 are available in two pdfs by the British Historic Towns Atlas. |
| Parish | The parish (using standardized spellings) associated with the Activity in this record source. For the parishes in each ward and details on each parish, see the Genuki, “City of London Wards and Their Parishes.” Maps of the parish boundaries in c. 1520 are available in two pdfs by the British Historic Towns Atlas (1989) although a revised map (2020) of parish boundaries and street names is now available in print. |
| Street | Specific streets associated with this record source, as noted in the Activity field. Street names are left in their original spellings, though all versions of ‘Street’ are abbreviated as St. Only streets in the medieval city of London, Southwark, and Westminster are noted here. See the “Gazetteer of the Atlas of London c. 1520” for the names of streets and buildings and their geo-coordinates and links to pdf maps by the British Historic Towns Atlas project (1989). An updated street gazetteer (2020) is now available in print. |
| Civic Office | The civic office (capitalized) held by this individual as mentioned in this record source. Includes ward and parish offices. See the List of Civic Offices (forthcoming) for standard spellings and brief descriptions. |
| Craft Office | Notes offices held (wardens, masters, beadles, etc…) in craft associations, including companies, fraternities, and guilds. |
| Property | Notes type of individual’s involvement in this property record: [B]= Buyer/deforciant/grantee; [S]= Seller/plaintiff/grantor; [L]= Occupier of adjoining property; [O]= Owner of this property; [T]= Tenant of this property; [C]= Commercial Property(shop, seld, warehouse, wharf, quay, etc.. |
| Will | Notes type of involvement in this will record: Testator [W]; Heir [H]; Executor [E]; Previously Deceased [D] person |
| Yr Flag | Indicates the quality of information about the Year recorded. If blank, the Year is explicitly recorded in this record. Other options are: aft = after this year; bef = before this year; by = by this year; c. = circa (around) this year; d. = died this year; during =used for references from indices of pages that give date ranges; occ. = occurs within a date range, the earliest year of which is given in Year; ? = year is uncertain |
| Year | Year that activity/event recorded in this source occurred. If there is a date range (such as for elections), the first year is entered here. |
| Date Range | Date range over which activity/event occurred. Can include year/months/days or simply year ranges |
| Doc Date | Year/Mo/Da that activity/event was recorded in this source (for example, the date of the court case, not the date of the crime or debt) |
| Rec Type | Notes the type of record. The options are: B = this record notes the burial location of the individual C = this record includes all the information given in the source E = this record includes an election to office M = this record involves maritime trade, ships, or property (such as a quay) P = the name linkage provided for this individual, as reflected in the Person ID, is possible but not confirmed. These records do not appear in the Profile view for Londoners but will appear (shaded pink) in the Record view T = this is a tax record X = this record is only a cross-reference to an alternative spelling of a name |
| Source | Source used for this record. Many records can be generated from one source, but each record is compiled from only one source. See Sources and Abbreviations for full bibliographic information and notes about how each source has been used by MLD, and for links to online sources and the abbreviations that the sources themselves use (as noted in the Activity field). |
| Contributor | Surname, forename of person who has contributed or given us permission to use the raw data in this record; they are also listed in Acknowledgements. Websites from which we have received permission to scrape data are also acknowledged here. |
| Cataloguer | Surname, initials of those who manually or electronically entered the data in this record. These names are usually those of the Editors and Contributing Editors, who also do the name linkage. |
| Seal | Thumbnail of the seal of this individual as it appears in this record, with link to http://www.digisig.org, the Digital Sigilllography Resource of John McEwan. |
| Link Bio | Hyperlink to the online biographic source for this individual, such as Oxford DNB entries (forthcoming). |
| Source URI | Hyperlink to the online source used for this record, such as the Mayors and Sheriffs of London website and History of Parliament entries for MPs. |
| Wikidata | Link to http://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikiProject_British_Politicians (forthcoming) |