Apprenticeship
On leaving school and being awarded an Apprenticeship, the road to the Freedom begins.
To qualify to become a Freeman of Coventry, a strict criteria is applied under an Act of Parliament, which is administered by the Lord Mayor’s office. You must be a Contracted/Indentured apprentice. No matter the length of time you served as an apprentice, you must have completed a minimum period of 5 years in the same occupation.
The period of training and experience must be with an Employer/Training Provider located within a 4 1/2 mile radius of Coventry Council House and must again equate to 5 years. Many modern apprenticeships are less than 5 years but as long as you complete your term of apprenticeship, the remainder of the qualifying 5 years can be with another employer but must be in the same occupation.
Note: It is important that you retain all records of your apprenticeship. The key paperwork required is your Contract/Terms of Employment, all training certificates awarded during your apprenticeship and evidence of the successful completion of your apprenticeship.
These will be required when you apply for the Freedom of the City of Coventry.
Registration
The registration of your apprenticeship with the Lord Mayor’s office initiates a recorded start date of the 5-year term leading to the Freedom.
The registration, which must be completed within the first year of the apprenticeship, is usually done by the Employer/Training officer who is required to provide a copy of the apprentice’s Contract/Terms of Employment and to pay the Registration Fee of £1.
This document defines the start and end dates of the apprenticeship.
If your employer doesn’t register your apprenticeship with the Lord Mayor’s office within the first year and you have a copy of your Contract/Terms of Employment, you are able to do so yourself as long as you do it within the first year.
Admission Court
On completion of your apprenticeship, you can apply to become a Freeman of Coventry by downloading an Application Form from the Coventry City Council website. Once complete, send it along with all relevant documentation to the Lord Mayor’s office, and they will assess the application and advise if it has been accepted or if they require further information. Assuming all is well, a date to attend an Admission Court will be sent to you.
Lord Mayor’s Freedom Admission Courts are held at regular intervals each year. The Admission Court is held in the Council Chamber in the afternoon and is where a number of ex-apprentices who have provided the relevant evidence are made Freemen of the City.
This is a formal occasion where all applicants swear an Oath. The formalities may be ancient and use the language of yesteryear, as they are based on a procedure from Coventry’s history.
Freeman
As a Freeman of the City of Coventry, you have joined a unique group of people.
In Coventry, the only way to become a Freeman is by servitude (serving an apprenticeship). In many other cities, the Freedom can be obtained by patrimony (passed from father to son or daughter) or by redemption (payment of a fee).
Another interesting point is that Coventry has always provided apprenticeships to women and admitted them to the Freedom. In fact, the earliest recorded female apprentice in Coventry was in 1336, she was an apprentice purse maker.
Historically, Freemen were the only citizens allowed voting rights and were free to set up businesses within the City walls. The Freemen’s Guild was set up to look after the rights of the Freemen and to monitor the quality of goods and services they provided.
If you are in need, being a Freeman enables you, providing certain criteria are met, to apply for either the Annual Scheme Benefit payment or a “one off” payment to deal with a specific need. Application forms for the scheme can be found on this website.