Need to know facts about the history of the Tallow Chandlers

  • Tallow is the rendered fat of cattle and sheep, and a chandler is a maker and seller of candles.
  • Traditionally tallow has been used to make candles and soap, but also as a lubricant in engineering and more recently as fuel in industrial processes.
  • Our Company has its origins around 700 years ago, with a group of craftsmen working together in Cheapside to support the tallow candle trade.
  • As time progressed, the role of the Tallow Chandlers grew to include the regulation of prices and quality of tallow being sold in the City, to protect customers and craftsmen alike.
  • Historically, the Tallow Chandlers’ Company was key in monitoring London’s trade not only in tallow candles, but also other domestic goods such as soap, sauces and even herrings at one point.
  • Our first Charter, granted in 1462 by Edward IV, gave the Tallow Chandlers the authority to seize and destroy inferior goods associated with the trade.
  • Tallow candles played a vital role in London’s compulsory street lighting which was introduced in the 16th century.
  • Fortunes declined for the Tallow Chandlers in around 1700 when new candle making materials, such as spermaceti and paraffin wax, replaced tallow.
  • The Company’s situation improved at the end of the 18th c. with an enormous increase in London’s import of tallow – due to the Industrial Revolution and Britain’s rapidly rising population creating an increased need for soap.
  • The Tallow Chandlers’ Hall stands on a site acquired by the Company in 1476.
  • Our current Hall was built in 1672 following the destruction of the original in the Great Fire of 1666.