The Worshipful Company of Woolmen is one of the Livery Companies in the City of London. It is known to have existed in 1180, making it one of the older Livery Companies of the City. It was officially incorporated in 1522. The Company's originally members were concerned with the winding and selling of wool; presently, a connection is retained by the Company's support of the wool industry. However, the Company is now primarily a charitable institution.
The Company ranks forty-third in the order of precedence of the Livery Companies. Its motto is Lana Spes Nostra, Latin for Wool Is Our Hope.
The 107 Livery Companies are trade associations based in the City of London, each known as the WorshipfulCompany of the relevant trade or profession.
The Livery Companies originally developed as guilds and were responsible for the regulation of their trades, controlling, for instance, wages and labour conditions.
Among the earliest companies known to have possessed halls were the Merchant Taylors and Goldsmiths in the 14th century, but neither theirs nor other companies' original halls remain; the few survivors of the Great Fire were destroyed, along with many reconstructed ones, during the Blitz.
The WorshipfulCompany of Woolmen is one of the Livery Companies in the City of London.
The Company's originally members were concerned with the winding and selling of wool; presently, a connection is retained by the Company's support of the wool industry.
However, the Company is now primarily a charitable institution.