up? Since his father was in the calico trade it’s likely that he followed in his footsteps. Engravers were in demand in the calico business to carve patterns into copper plates that imprinted the designs on the material.

The original method was wood-block carving, but that soon gave way to copper plates. There was no such thing as trade schools in England at that time so it was compulsory for anyone wanting to enter a trade to serve an apprenticeship. The guardian of the child would enter into an arrangement with a master tradesman to provide the training. A fee would be paid to the master, the child would move into the master’s home, and would live there for the normal term of the indenture which was 7 years. The child effectively became an extra worker in the master’s household. He or she was subject to the absolute authority of the master and by the terms of their “indenture” could not gamble, or go to the theatre or a drinking establishment, and certainly could not marry. Often the apprentice ended up marry- ing the master’s daughter on completion of his indenture.

John Marfleet found a record of Vere’s indenture. The family made an arrangement with Thomas Powell, an engraver in Mitcham, to teach Vere the trade. Under the terms of the agreement, Vere was to serve a seven year apprenticeship, starting from February 25, 1799. The charge for this training was £30 --- less than you might have ex- pected. A few years earlier the cost of such training had been twice as much. For example Thomas Marfleet of Mitcham, Vere’s future father-in-law, took his training 25 years earlier. He learned the trade from James Cockram, and was indentured on February 1, 1774, pay- ing £63 for his seven year internship.

The main reason for the lower fee in 1800 was due to changes underway in the workplace. Machines were rapidly taking over the work previously done by skilled tradesmen. So Vere was learning a trade with an uncertain future.

Apprentices in those days worked long, hard hours. The workday began early and lasted well into the evening. The hours were a little shorter on Saturday and of course Sunday was a day of rest.

While the social life of an apprentice may have been restricted,

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