Does the National Library of Wales hold any apprenticeship records?
Ateb
An online guide to the (English) Guildhall Library describes apprenticeships:
"Apprenticeship in England was essentially a private transaction between the apprentice and his or her parents or guardians on the one hand and the master, mistress or employer on the other. Records may therefore be difficult to trace unless they have survived in the hands of the families or firms concerned, although sometimes details may be found in municipal or Poor Law records, usually held in county or other local record offices".
Guildhall Library holds the following sources giving information on apprenticeships:-
1. Microfiche index to certain apprenticeships in England, Wales and Scotland, 1710-1774, published by Harvester Microform, and based on The apprentices of Great Britain, originally compiled for the Society of Genealogists from Inland Revenue records now at The National Archives (Kew)
2. Records of most of the City of London livery companies: these are listed in City livery companies and related organisations: a guide to their archives in Guildhall Library (3rd ed., 1989). It should be noted, however, that the jurisdiction of the companies usually ran only to the City of London and its vicinity, and that by the 19th century (earlier in some cases) the companies had largely ceased to regulate the trades whose names they bore."
(http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Libraries/City_of_London_libraries/guildhall_lib.htm, tab 'Apprenticeship Records' - 25/11/2010)
You would also find these two sources of value:
1. Thompson, Kathryn M., 'Apprenticeship and bastardly records' (London: Historical Association, 1994)
2. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/podcasts/apprenticeship-records.htm
Apprenticeship Records also sometimes appear in parochial records as parishes occasionally sponsored apprenticeships.
The National Library of Wales does hold some indentures, and you may search the Full Catalogue online by following this link:
https://discover.library.wales/primo-explore/search?vid=44WHELF_NLW_NUI&lang=en_US