Hundreds of years of male domination are set to end as another York guild opens its doors to women.

The Company of Merchant Taylors in the City of York, is following in the footsteps of the Company of Merchant Adventurers, which last year admitted its first female member and now has two.

The guild, which is mentioned in records as early as 1386 but could have been established before that date, was set-up as a kind of trade union to represent tailors, drapers and hosiers.

As these trades were predominantly the domain of women there was originally a strong female contingent.

In more recent times there have been no women members since the early 19th century, although there is no rule forbidding them from joining.

The admission of women was considered in 1990, but it wasn't until recently that members agreed women should be welcomed.

Philip Chapman, master of the Merchant Taylors, said: "We haven't admitted women since the early 19th century because it just hasn't happened. It seemed anomalous that when women had penetrated every other walk of life, and thank heavens they have, we were missing out, so we have affirmed that there's no impediment to women joining.

The guild, based in the 600-year-old Merchant Taylor's Hall in Aldwark, has about 90 members and Mr Chapman says competition for membership is strong.

These days members tend to represent York's business community and their main duties are to take care of the upkeep of the hall and raise money to help individuals in need in the city.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.