STAFFORD (SIMON), draper and printer in London, 1596-1626; (1) Black Raven Alley, St. Peter's, Cornhill; (2) The Three Crowns in the Cloth Fair, 1606; (3) Addling Hill, neere Carter Lane, 1600; (4) Dwelling in Cloth-fair, near the Red Lion, 1607. Served his apprenticeship for ten years with Christopher Barker { BARKER, Christopher (1529 - 1599) ‹ LBT 06871 › }, the Queen's Printer, who was a member of the Drapers' Company. On the completion of his time he was made free of the Drapers' Company. On February 9th, 1595/6, he entered in the Registers of the Stationers' Company a work called The Black Dog of Newgate's Lamentation [Arber, iii. 58], but he does not appear to have had a press of his own until January 14th, 1597/8, when he took premises in Black Raven Alley and printed Nicholas Breton's Solemne Passion of the Souls love. In the following March it came to the ears of the Company of Stationers that Stafford had printed a large impression of the Accidence, a privileged book, and they thereupon seized his press and letters. An action in the Star Chamber followed, the result of which was that his press was redelivered to him by order of the Privy Council dated September 10th, 1598, and the Company gave notice that they were willing to admit Stafford to their freedom if he would transfer himself from the Drapers' Company, but he would not be allowed to act as a master printer until he did so. He was accordingly admitted a freeman of the Company of Stationers on May 7th, 1599 [Arber, ii. 723], and on October 20th he entered two sermons in the Registers and took his first apprentice on December 1st, 1600 [Aroer, ii. 250: iii. 150]. His press was a very busy one. He printed large numbers of ballads and sermons, and amongst other things we find that he printed the anonymous True Chronicle History of King Leir and his three daughters, the copyright of which he transferred to John Wright { WRIGHT, John ( - 1658) ‹ LBT 08748 › } on May 8th, 1605, with the stipulation that he was to have the printing of it. The later history of Stafford's press is involved in some obscurity. He is not mentioned in the list of printers of May 9th, 1615 [Arber, iii. 699], but he entered a book on June 24th, 1624 [Arber, iv. 119], and was apparently still printing in 1626 [Arher, iv. 161]. Sir John Lambe in his notes made in 1635 states in one place that George Purslowe { PURSLOWE, George ( - 1632) ‹ LBT 06988 › } succeeded Simon Stafford "about 5 yeeres since [i.e., about 1630], and in another that Purslowe bought the business in 1614 [Arber, iii. 701, 703]. The first is probably the more correct statement.
