1) The master was the head of the company.
Before the Act of 1624 which authorised the incorporation of the Cutlers’ Company, the Hallamshire cutlers were governed by the manorial court of the lord of Sheffield, where their affairs were overseen by a twelve-man jury. Standards were monitored by ‘searchers’ and that office was retained after 1624, although the Act also established the additional offices of assistant and warden. In a major innovation, created the office of Master of the company was created, at the head of the new governing body. The title was one that had a long history in the medieval guilds and its choice is likely to have been influenced by the traditions of the London cutlers or possibly by those of York.