Henry Redman: master craftsman

The people represented by this object are Henry Redman, his wife Joan and their two daughters.

Henry Redman was a stone-mason. He was such a skilled builder that he became master mason to King Henry VIII. He was chief mason at Westminster Abbey before being employed by the king on various building projects such as alterations to Greenwich Palace and Hampton Court.

To train as a mason, Henry would have served a seven-year apprenticeship. Apprentices were taught a trade by a master craftsman and, in London, were generally aged 14 to 24. They were paid very little during their apprenticeship, but lived with their master and were provided with food and clothing. In their free time they were often quite rowdy, playing noisy games in the streets and fighting amongst each other!

By the time Henry Redman died, he was a wealthy man with a country estate in Brentford. His wife, Joan, would have been responsible for running this household. The estate would have been almost self-sufficient, growing all its own vegetables, brewing beer, keeping bees for honey, hens for eggs and probably cows for milk and dairy products. Joan would have managed the servants, made her own medicines and educated her two daughters.

Monumental brasses lent by St Lawrence's Church, Brentford, 1528

Enlarge image