0 (in the past) to officially agree that someone, often a young person, will work for someone else, especially in order to learn a job:
1 a written agreement that states the rights and responsibilities of a company that sells a bond and someone who buys it:
2 especially in the past, a formal agreement that someone will work for someone else for a particular length of time, especially in order to learn a job:
On the completion of his indenture, he continued to attend night school.
The apprenticeship indentures were signed by the guild master and the apprentice's guardian.
In some colonies the law on the infringement of the indenture had to be invoked too often.
There apprentices had to be ingeboekt (registered) in front of an official, indentures were not allowed to change hands.
Some items of business such as apprenticeship indentures, freemen's admissions, or subsidy payments were recorded so that they could be consulted to settle disputes.
So, almost half a century after the introduction of the indenture system, 'free' labour migration finally experienced some government control as well.
To allow an alternative to indenture, an act passed in 1882 enabled 'free' recruitment by unlicensed contractors.
These could be very close to indenture contracts, although the state was not involved in them.
The solution was a long (5 years to start with) indenture contract at the plantations end.
They were then deemed to be under indenture to their employer for a fixed period, varying from three to five years.
