Apprentices

In the period 1532 to 1552 a total of 3,139 apprentices were registered, of whom 766 came from within Bristol, and 456 from Wales. Welsh apprentices therefore constituted 14.5 per cent overall, but 19.2 per cent of non-Bristolians. A large number of Welsh masters took on Welsh apprentices; these examples indicate some form of prior connection, either familial or commercial. In general, however, the lack of an exact correlation between the family and ethnic background of the majority of masters and apprentices strongly suggests that there was no general desire for Welsh youngsters to be apprenticed within an ex-patriot community: there was no Welsh ghetto in early-modern Bristol.

Also, many youngsters in hopes for an apprenticeship come from the smaller towns of South Wales.  Carmarthenshire contained one of the three largest towns in Wales, yet only 26 came to Bristol.  However, 84 came from Pembrokeshire in the far west.  Perhaps this is due to the good communications between Pembrokeshire and Bristol.