THE LADS OF ENFIELD LOCK

2nd Edition

Researched and Written by Graham Birchmore & Roy Burges on behalf of the RSAF Apprentices Association

172 years of Apprentice Training at the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield, Middlesex, ENGLAND from 1816 until 1988

This chronicle of apprentice training briefly traces the origins of the activity from ancient Egypt through 16th century Britain and on to the opening of what eventually became the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock, Middlesex, in 1816. The development of apprentice training in Enfield was closely inter-twined with that of the factory itself. Progressively, over the 172 years that the factory was in operation until its closure in 1988, its apprenticeships evolved to embrace new technologies and advancing educational requirements for the training of engineers, technicians and craftsmen, to become one of the longest surviving and best schemes in British industry.

The story includes photographs and reminiscences by ex-apprentices along with pen pictures of key personalities on the factory staff who took leading roles in apprentice training. Details of how the training was supervised and delivered are also included. Further depth is added to the story by documents reproduced in the Appendices. These include a copy of an 18th century indenture of apprenticeship and a list of over 1100 names of people who started apprenticeships at the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield, between 1843 and 1987.

The important contribution made by people at Enfield to the nation's survival during both World Wars is highlighted along with the expansion of the apprenticeship scheme to become part of a national resource after World War II. Compiled from authoritative sources, this story is a unique chronicle of apprentice training in a vital part of Great Britain's industry. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, such activity was central to the country's achievement of world leadership in manufacturing and technology.