Apprentice indenture for Walter Thomas Littlechild

This indenture of Walter Thomas Littlechild details his apprenticeship to Thomas Hamilton, tobacconist and cigar merchant, for three years from 1st October 1889. By the early nineteenth century, apprenticeships were no longer required to have a fixed term. Indentures were not compulsory, but they were encouraged as they provided guarantees and safeguards to both masters and apprentices.