Robert Large (died 1441) was a London merchant, a member of the
Worshipful Company of Mercers
The Mercers' Company, or the Worshipful Company of Mercers, is a livery company of the City of London in the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, and ranks first in the order of precedence of the Companies. Mercer comes from the Latin for merch ...
, who was
Mayor of London
The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom.
The current ...
and a
Member of Parliament.
He served as one of the Mercers' four yearly wardens in 1427 and was
Sheriff of London
Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...
in 1430-31. In 1437/8, he was the wealthy master to whom the young
William Caxton
William Caxton () was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into Kingdom of England, England in 1476, and as a Printer (publishing), printer to be the first English retailer ...
was apprenticed. He was
Member of Parliament in 1435 for the
City of London
The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
as one of the two aldermanic representatives and was elected Lord Mayor in 1439-40.
He died in 1441, and his will was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.
The publication of a 100-page book about him entitled ''The Life and Family of Robert Large, mercer: mayor of London 1439-1440 and first employer of William Caxton'' by David Large was announced in ''Genealogists' Magazine'', journal of the
Society of Genealogists
The Society of Genealogists (SoG) is a UK-based educational charity, founded in 1911Fowler, S School of Advanced Study, University of London. Date unknown. Retrieved 2011-10-30. to "promote, encourage and foster the study, science and knowledge ...
, London, volume 29, number 7, September 2008, and was issued by the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, Oak House, Vowchurch, Hereford HR2 0RB, England.
See also
*
List of Sheriffs of the City of London
*
List of Lord Mayors of London
*
City of London (elections to the Parliament of England)
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
References
External links
*http://www.bl.uk/treasures/caxton/merchant.html (Caxton and Large)
*http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45561 (Mayors and Sheriffs of London)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Large, Robert
Year of birth unknown
1441 deaths
Sheriffs of the City of London
English MPs 1435
Members of the Parliament of England for the City of London
15th-century lord mayors of London
15th-century English businesspeople
Medieval English merchants