Beadle A beadle (or bedel) is a person who carries out specific ceremonial or minor official duties on behalf of a religious or civil institution. In the early days of clock- and watchmaking in London, the Beadle of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers functioned as a combination of liaison. One of his main duties was to bind apprentices, which entailed overseeing the signing of the apprenticeship indenture (a signed agreement that specified the terms by which a master took on a new apprentice). In such cases the Beadle, who was also Free Brother, of the Company of Clockmakers, would step in and name the apprentice as his own, on the understanding that he would turn the apprentice over to the intended master as soon as feasibly possible. This appears to be what happened in the case of clockmaker Henry Jones, who was famously one of Edward East’s apprentices. When Jones began his apprenticeship in 1654, he was initially bound to Benjamin Hill, a clockmaker who was currently serving as Beadle of the Company. Soon after Jones took up the apprenticeship with Hill, he was turned over to East. Clockmaker Christopher Gould also served as Beadle of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1713.
