The Livery company

The livery companies of the City of London are various historic trade associations almost all of which are
known as the "Worshipful Company of..." their relevant trade, craft or profession. The medieval
companies originally developed as guilds and were responsible for the regulation of their trades,
controlling, for instance, wages and labour conditions. Until the Protestant Reformation, they were
closely associated with religious activities, notably in support of chantry chapels and churches and the
observance of ceremonies, notably the mystery plays. Livery companies retain a religious connection
today, although they admit members of any faith or none.

Most of the livery companies continue to have a trade, craft or professional role today: for example,
the Scriveners' Company admits senior members to that profession, the Apothecaries' Company awards
post-graduate qualifications in some medical specialties, and the Hackney Carriage Drivers'
Company comprises licensed London taxicab drivers who have learnt the "knowledge of London".
Several companies restrict membership to those holding professional qualifications in their trade, craft or
profession such as the City of London Solicitors' Company and the Worshipful Company of Engineers.
A few companies have become primarily charitable foundations, such as the Longbow Makers' Company.

The livery companies, which currently number 110, play an important part in civic, social life and
networking in the City and have a long history of cultural and education patronage. They retain voting
rights for the City of London Corporation, the local authority with extensive local government powers.

After the Worshipful Company of Carmen was accepted in 1746 no new companies were formed for 180
years until the Master Mariners in 1926 (granted livery in 1932). Post-1926 companies are described
as modern livery companies. The most recent livery company is The Worshipful Company of Art
Scholars which achieved livery status on 11 February 2014 making it the 110th livery company of the
City of London.

The The Honourable Company of Air Pilots is unique in having active regional committees in Australia,
Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United States.

Governance
Livery companies are governed by a master (known in some companies as the prime warden or bailiff), a
number of wardens (who may be known by various titles such as the upper, middle, lower, or renter
wardens), and a court of assistants, which elects the master and wardens. The chief executive officer of
the company is known as the clerk and is the senior employee of the company.

Members generally fall into two categories: freemen and liverymen. One may become a freeman, or
acquire the "freedom of the company", upon fulfilling the company's criteria: traditionally, one may be
admitted by "patrimony", if either parent was a liveryman of the company; by "servitude", if one
has served the requisite number of years as an apprentice to the company; or by "redemption", by
paying a fee. The company may also vote to admit individuals as honorary freemen. Freemen are
generally entitled to advance to becoming liverymen by a vote of the court of the company. Only

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liverymen can take part in the election of the Lord Mayor, the Sheriffs, and the other several other
traditional officers of the City including the Ale Conners and the Bridge Masters.

Livery halls
Many companies still operate a livery hall where members and their guests can be entertained and
company business transacted. Among the earliest companies known to have had halls are the Merchant
Taylors and Goldsmiths in the 14th century, but neither theirs nor any other companies' original halls
remain: the few that survived the Great Fire of London were destroyed in the Blitz of the Second World
War.

Today, 39 out of the 110 livery companies have halls in London, in addition to that of the Watermen and
Lightermen which is not strictly a livery hall but in regular use. Most are commonly available for business
and social functions, such as weddings, commercial and society meetings, luncheons and dinners. The
oldest hall now extant is that of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, dating from 1672. Several
companies that do not have their own hall share office premises within a hall of another company on a
semi-permanent basis, and examples are the Spectacle Makers' Company, which uses part of
Apothecaries' Hall, and the Shipwrights, which co-habit with the Ironmongers.[2]

Three livery companies (the Glaziers and Painters of Glass, Launderers, and Scientific Instrument
Makers) share a hall in Southwark, just south of but outside of the City of London, while the Worshipful
Company of Gunmakers is based at Proof House, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and the
Master Mariners' "hall" is an historical ship, HQS Wellington, moored in the Thames and shared
with the Scriveners' Company. Companies without their own hall will customarily book use of another
hall for their formal livery functions, thus giving their members the opportunity to visit and appreciate a
large number of livery halls by rotation.[2]

Many blue plaques in the City of London indicate where companies used to have halls. Whilst several
livery companies may aspire to eventually owning, or again owning, their own hall it is appreciated that
any increase in the overall number of livery halls would inevitably lead to some dilution of use of the
existing halls. There is also some attraction in belonging to a company which is peripatetic.[2]

Precedence
In 1515, the Court of Aldermen of the City of London settled an order of precedence for the 48 livery
companies then in existence, which was based on the companies' economic or political power. [2] The first
12 companies are known as the Great Twelve City Livery Companies. There are now 110 companies,
with modern companies ranked by seniority.[2]

The Merchant Taylors and the Skinners have always disputed their precedence, so once a year (at Easter)
they exchange sixth and seventh place in the order. This alternation is one of the theories for the origin of
the phrase "at sixes and sevens", as the master of the Merchant Taylors has asserted a number of times,
although the first use of the phrase may have been before the Taylors and the Skinners decided to
alternate their position.[4] The dispute is due to their both receiving their charters in 1327 but there is no
proof as to which was the first.

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List of companies in order of precedence

1. Worshipful Company of Mercers (general merchants)

2. Worshipful Company of Grocers

3. Worshipful Company of Drapers (wool and cloth merchants)

4. Worshipful Company of Fishmongers

5. Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths

6. Worshipful Company of Skinners* (fur traders)

7. Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors* (tailors)

8. Worshipful Company of Haberdashers (traders of sewing articles)

9. Worshipful Company of Salters (traders of salts and chemicals)

10. Worshipful Company of Ironmongers

11. Worshipful Company of Vintners (wine merchants)

12. Worshipful Company of Clothworkers

13. Worshipful Company of Dyers

14. Worshipful Company of Brewers

15. Worshipful Company of Leathersellers

16. Worshipful Company of Pewterers

17. Worshipful Company of Barbers (and surgeons and dentists)

18. Worshipful Company of Cutlers (knife, sword and cutlery makers)

19. Worshipful Company of Bakers

20. Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers (wax candle makers)

21. Worshipful Company of Tallow Chandlers (tallow candle makers)

22. Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers (armour makers and brass workers)

23. Worshipful Company of Girdlers (swordbelt and dressbelt makers)

24. Worshipful Company of Butchers

25. Worshipful Company of Saddlers

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26. Worshipful Company of Carpenters

27. Worshipful Company of Cordwainers (fine leather workers)

28. Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers

29. Worshipful Company of Curriers (tanned leather dressers)

30. Worshipful Company of Masons

31. Worshipful Company of Plumbers

32. Worshipful Company of Innholders (inn-keepers)

33. Worshipful Company of Founders (brass and tinplate cast work)

34. Worshipful Company of Poulters

35. Worshipful Company of Cooks

36. Worshipful Company of Coopers (barrel and cask makers)

37. Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers

38. Worshipful Company of Bowyers (long bow makers)

39. Worshipful Company of Fletchers (arrow makers)

40. Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths

41. Worshipful Company of Joiners and Ceilers (wood craftsmen)

42. Worshipful Company of Weavers

43. Worshipful Company of Woolmen

44. Worshipful Company of Scriveners (court document writers and notaries public)

45. Worshipful Company of Fruiterers

46. Worshipful Company of Plaisterers (plasterers)

47. Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers

48. Worshipful Company of Broderers (embroiderers)

49. Worshipful Company of Upholders (upholsterers)

50. Worshipful Company of Musicians

51. Worshipful Company of Turners (lathe operators)

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52. Worshipful Company of Basketmakers

53. Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass

54. Worshipful Company of Horners (horn workers and plastics)

55. Worshipful Company of Farriers (horseshoe makers and horse veterinarians)

56. Worshipful Company of Paviors (road and highway pavers)

57. Worshipful Company of Loriners (bit, bridle and spur makers)

58. Worshipful Society of Apothecaries (medical practitioners and pharmacists)

59. Worshipful Company of Shipwrights

60. Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers

61. Worshipful Company of Clockmakers

62. Worshipful Company of Glovers

63. Worshipful Company of Feltmakers (hat makers)

64. Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters

65. Worshipful Company of Needlemakers

66. Worshipful Company of Gardeners

67. Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers

68. Worshipful Company of Wheelwrights

69. Worshipful Company of Distillers

70. Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers (wooden shoe makers)

71. Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers

72. Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers

73. Worshipful Company of Gunmakers

74. Worshipful Company of Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers (makers of thread for uniforms)

75. Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards

76. Worshipful Company of Fanmakers

77. Worshipful Company of Carmen (cart drivers)

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78. Honourable Company of Master Mariners

79. City of London Solicitors' Company

80. Worshipful Company of Farmers

81. The Honourable Company of Air Pilots

82. Worshipful Company of Tobacco Pipe Makers and Tobacco Blenders

83. Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers

84. Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers

85. Worshipful Company of Chartered Surveyors

86. Worshipful Company of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

87. Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators

88. Worshipful Company of Builders Merchants

89. Worshipful Company of Launderers

90. Worshipful Company of Marketors

91. Worshipful Company of Actuaries

92. Worshipful Company of Insurers

93. Worshipful Company of Arbitrators

94. Worshipful Company of Engineers

95. Worshipful Company of Fuellers

96. Worshipful Company of Lightmongers

97. Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners

98. Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects

99. Worshipful Company of Constructors

100. Worshipful Company of Information Technologists

101. Worshipful Company of World Traders

102. Worshipful Company of Water Conservators

103. Worshipful Company of Firefighters

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 104. Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers (licensed London taxicab drivers)

105. Worshipful Company of Management Consultants

106. Worshipful Company of International Bankers

107. Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers

108. Worshipful Company of Security Professionals

109. Worshipful Company of Educators

110. Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars

Note: *The Skinners' and Merchant Taylors' Companies alternate position once per year.

City companies without grant of livery

 Worshipful Company of Parish Clerks

 Company of Watermen and Lightermen

 Guild of Public Relations Practitioners

Neither the Company of Parish Clerks nor the Company of Watermen intend ever to apply for livery; this
is a long-standing tradition. The Company of Watermen and Lightermen was established by Act of
Parliament in 1555 to control the watermen on the River Thames responsible for the movement of goods
and passengers and remains the only ancient City Guild to be formed and controlled by Act of Parliament.

A guild which is recognised by the Court of Aldermen as a 'London Guild' applies to the Court to become
'A Company without Livery'. After a term of years the company applies to the Court for livery status, at
which point it adopts the name 'Worshipful Company of ... '.

Chantry
A Chantry (a.k.a. an Obiit) is a monetary trust fund established for the purpose of employing one or
more Priests to sing a stipulated number of Masses during a stipulated period of time for the spiritual
benefit of a deceased person, generally the donor, hoped to be in the state of Purgatory. Chantries were
commonly established in England before the Reformation and were endowed with lands, rents and other
assets given by donors, often in their wills, the income from which maintained the chantry priest. A
chantry chapel is a building on private land or a dedicated area within a parish church or cathedral, set
aside or built especially for and dedicated to the performance of the chantry duties by the priest. A
chantry may occupy as premises only an altar, for example in the side aisle of a church, rather than an
enclosed chapel within a larger church, generally dedicated to the donor's favourite saint. Many such
chantry altars became richly endowed, often with gold furnishings and valuable vestments. Over the
centuries chantries increased their wealth, often by attracting new donors, and chantry priests were in
many cases able to enjoy great wealth and in some instances this led to the corruption of the consecrated

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life expected of clerics. This evident corruption was one of the factors which led to the Dissolution of the
Monasteries upon which chantries were abolished and their assets were sold or granted to persons at the
discretion of King Henry VIII and his son King Edward VI, via the Court of Augmentations. Many
Tudor businessmen such as Thomas Bell (1486-1566) of Gloucester thus acquired chantries as financial
investments producing income streams derived from rents, or sold the assets at a profit.

Mass for the dead

The Roman Catholic practice of saying masses to benefit the soul of a deceased person is attested as early
as the 8th century. The most common form was the anniversarium or missa annualis, a mass said
annually on the date of the person's death. People believed that more numerous masses increased their
efficacy. At the Council of Attigny (765), about 40 abbots and bishops agreed to say masses and recite
the psalter for the souls of deceased members of their 'confraternity'. Ninth-century France and England
had records of numerous confraternity agreements between monasteries or greater churches, by which
each would offer prayers for the dead members of the other's communities. Before the year 1000 in Italy,
France and England, great churches extended the benefits of such associations to lay folk. Kings and
great magnates asked that prayers for their souls be said in the monasteries they founded on their estates.

Etymology
The word "Chantry" derives, via Old French chanter, from the Latin cantare (to sing) and its mediaeval
derivative, cantaria (meaning "licence to sing mass"). The French term for this commemorative
institution is chapellenie (chaplaincy). The Latin word "obiit", used in English as a noun with the same
meaning as a chantry, means literally "he is dead" from the verb obeo, from the verb eo "to go" plus the
preposition ob "away", thus to die.

Origin of chantries
Current theories (Colvin) locate the origins of the chantry in the rapid expansion of regular monasteries in
the 11th century. The abbey of Cluny and its hundreds of daughter houses were central to this.
The Cluniac order emphasised an elaborate liturgy as the centre of its common life. It developed an
unrivalled liturgy for the dead and offered its benefits to its patrons. By the 1150s, the order had so many
demands for multiple masses for the dead that Peter the Venerable placed a moratorium on further
endowments. Other monastic orders also benefitted from this movement, but similarly became burdened
by commemoration. The history of the Cistercian house of Bordesley (Worcestershire), a royal abbey,
demonstrates this. In the mid-12th century, it offered the services of two priest monks, presumably to say
mass, for the soul of Robert de Stafford. Between 1162 and 1173, it offered the services of an additional
six monks for the souls of Earl Hugh of Chester and his family. This sort of dedication of prayers
towards particular individuals was a step towards the institutional chantry.

Another theory (Crouch) points to the parallel development of communities or colleges of secular priests
or canons as an influence on the evolution of the chantry. Such communities were not monastic
foundations, although members shared a common life. Like the monasteries, they offered dedicated
prayers for the dead. An example is the collegiate church of Marwell (Hampshire), founded by
Bishop Henry of Winchester in the early 1160s. The priests of the college were to pray for the souls of

8
the bishops of Winchester and kings of England. Gradually perpetual masses for the dead were delegated
to one altar and one secular priest within a greater church.

Henry II of England and the chantry

The family of King Henry II of England contributed greatly to religious patronage. Henry founded at
least one daily mass for his soul in the endowment of the estate of Lingoed (Gwent) of Dore Abbey
(Herefordshire); he endowed the services in perpetuity of four monk-priests. In 1183 the king lost his
eldest son, Henry the Young King of England. In 1185 his third son, Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany, died in
a tournament near Paris. Henry II commemorated his sons by founding what resembled the classic
institutional chantry. He endowed altars and priests at Rouen Cathedral in perpetuity for the soul of the
Young Henry. Philip II of France endowed priests at the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris for the soul of
Duke Geoffrey. John Count of Mortain, the youngest son of Henry II, also created chantry-like
foundations. In 1192 he granted the collegiate church of Bakewell(Derbyshire) to create
a prebend at Lichfield Cathedral. The holder was to celebrate mass perpetually for John's soul. The
concept of the institutional chantry thus developed in the 1180s within English and French royal circles,
who were wealthy enough to endow them.

Beyond them, the first perpetual mass was endowed by the London sheriff and patrician, Richard fitz
Reiner, at the chapel of his manor of Broad Colney (Hertfordshire). He established it by the terms of his
last testament in 1191, and the chantry was completed in 1212. In close association with the Angevin
court, Richard may have adopted its religious practice.

Chantry provision in later Medieval England

Analysis of later medieval wills has shown that the chantry appeared in many forms. A perpetual chantry
might consist of one or several priests, in an independent free-standing chapel (such as the surviving one
at Noseley, Leicestershire) or in an aisle of a greater church. If chantries were in religious communities,
they were sometimes headed by a warden or archpriest. Such chantries generally had constitutions
directing the terms by which priests might be appointed and how they were to be supervised. The
perpetual chantry was the most prestigious and expensive option for the wealthy burgess or aristocrat. A
lesser option was the endowment of a fixed-term chantry, to fund masses by one or two priests at a side
altar. Historians have found terms ranging from one to ten years to be more common than the perpetual
sort.

Abolition of Chantries Acts, 1545 and 1547

When Henry VIII initiated the Reformation in England, Parliament passed an Act in 1545 that defined
chantries as representing misapplied funds and misappropriated lands. The Act stated that all
chantries and their properties would belong to the King for as long as he should live. Along with the
dispersal of the monasteries, the Act was designed to help cover the cost of the war with France. Because
Henry did not live long after the Act was passed, few chantries were closed or given over to him. His
successor, Edward VI, had a new Act passed in 1547, which completely suppressed 2,374 chantries and
guild chapels; it also authorized inquiries to determine all of their possessions. Although the act called for
the money to go to "charitable" ends and the "public good," most of it appears to have gone to Edward

9
VI's advisors. The Crown sold many chantries to private citizens: for example, in 1548 Thomas Bell
(Mayor of Gloucester) purchased at least five in his city. The Act provided that the Crown had to
guarantee a pension to all chantry priests displaced by its implementation.

An example of the fate of an abolished chantry is St Anne's Chapel in Barnstaple, Devon, the assets of
which were acquired by the Mayor of Barnstaple and others in 1585, sometime after the Dissolution of
the Monasteries. The deed of feoffment dated 1 November 1585 exists in the George Grant Francis
collection in Cardiff, summarised as follows:

"i) Robert Appley the elder, Robert Cade, Hugh Brasyer and Richard Wetheridge of Barnestaple
to: ii) William Plamer, mayor of Barnestaple, Richard Dodderidge, Roger Cade, Symon
Monngey, Robert Appley the younger, Robert Pronze (Prouse?), Roger Beaple, George Pyne,
gent., Jacob Wescombe, Gilbert Hareys, Robert Marlen, Thomas Mathewe, James Beaple,
George Baker, James Downe, William Bayly, John Collybeare, Robert Collybeare and John
Knyll of Barnestaple; 1 Chancery and Chapel of St Anne lately dissolved in Barnestaple with 1
house with land belonging to the late Chancery and Chapel; also 1 house and land in
Barnestaple which John Littlestone of Barnestaple, merchant and John Buddle, potter granted to
(i)."

One of the most significant effect of the chantries, and the most significant loss resulting from their
suppression, was educational. The chantry priests had provided education. Since they were not
ordinaries and did not offer public masses, they could serve their communities in other ways. When
Edward VI closed the chantries, priests were displaced who had taught the poor and rural residents;
afterwards such people suffered greatly diminished access to education for their children. Some of the
chantries were converted into the grammar schools named after King Edward.

Royal Peculiars were not covered by any of the above Acts of Parliament, so were not abolished. Most
declined over time. The jurisdiction of almost all was abolished in the 19th century. Some royal
peculiars survive, including Westminster Abbey and St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Mystery play
Mystery plays (from the Latin "misterium" meaning "occupation") and miracle plays (sometimes
distinguished as two different forms, although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the
earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the
representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song. They
developed from the 10th to the 16th century, reaching the height of their popularity in the 15th century
before being rendered obsolete by the rise of professional theatre. The name derives from mystery used in
its sense of miracle, but an occasionally quoted derivation is from ministerium, meaning craft, and so the
'mysteries' or plays performed by the craft guilds.

Origins
As early as the fifth century living tableaux were introduced into sacred services. The plays originated as
simple tropes, verbal embellishments of liturgical texts, and slowly became more elaborate. At an early

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period chants from the service of the day were added to the prose dialogue. As these liturgical dramas
increased in popularity, vernacular forms emerged, as travelling companies of actors and theatrical
productions organized by local communities became more common in the later Middle Ages.

The Quem Quaeritis? is the best known early form of the dramas, a dramatised liturgical dialogue
between the angel at the tomb of Christ and the women who are seeking his body. These primitive forms
were later elaborated with dialogue and dramatic action. Eventually the dramas moved from church to
the exterior - the churchyard and the public marketplace. These early performances were given in
Latin, and were preceded by a vernacular prologue spoken by a herald who gave a synopsis of the events.
The writers and directors of the earliest plays, were probably monks. Religious drama flourished from
about the ninth century to the sixteenth.

In 1210, suspicious of the growing popularity of miracle plays, Pope Innocent III issued a papal
edict forbidding clergy from acting on a public stage. This had the effect of transferring the
organization of the dramas to town guilds, after which several changes followed. Vernacular texts
replaced Latin, and non-Biblical passages were added along with comic scenes, for example in
the Secunda Pastorum of the Wakefield Cycle. Acting and characterization became more elaborate.

These vernacular religious performances were, in some of the larger cities in England such as York,
performed and produced by guilds, with each guild taking responsibility for a particular piece of scriptural
history. From the guild control originated the term mystery play or mysteries, from the Latin misterium
meaning "occupation" (i.e. that of the guilds). The genre was again banned, following
the Reformation and the establishment of the Church of England in 1534.

The mystery play developed, in some places, into a series of plays dealing with all the major events in the
Christian calendar, from the Creation to the Day of Judgment. By the end of the 15th century, the
practice of acting these plays in cycles on festival days was established in several parts of Europe.
Sometimes, each play was performed on a decorated cart called a pageant that moved about the city to
allow different crowds to watch each play. The entire cycle could take up to twenty hours to perform and
could be spread over a number of days. Taken as a whole, these are referred to as Corpus Christi cycles.

The plays were performed by a combination of professionals and amateurs and were written in highly
elaborate stanza forms; they were often marked by the extravagance of the sets and 'special effects', but
could also be stark and intimate. The variety of theatrical and poetic styles, even in a single cycle of
plays, could be remarkable.

English mystery plays

There are four complete or nearly complete extant English biblical collections of plays; although these
collections are sometimes referred to as "cycles," it is now believed that this term may attribute to these
collections more coherence than they in fact possess. The most complete is the York cycle of forty-eight
pageants; there are also the Towneley plays of thirty-two pageants, once thought to have been a true
'cycle' of plays acted at Wakefield; the Ludus Coventriae (also called the N Town plays or Hegge cycle),
now generally agreed to be a redacted compilation of at least three older, unrelated plays, and the Chester
cycle of twenty-four pageants, now generally agreed to be an Elizabethan reconstruction of older
medieval traditions. Also extant are two pageants from a New Testament cycle acted at Coventry and one

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pageant each from Norwich and Newcastle upon Tyne. Additionally, a fifteenth-century play of the life
of Mary Magdalene, The Brome Abraham and Isaac and a sixteenth-century play of the Conversion
of Saint Paul exist, all hailing from East Anglia. Besides the Middle English drama, there are three
surviving plays in Cornish known as the Ordinalia, and several cyclical plays survive from continental
Europe.

These biblical plays differ widely in content. Most contain episodes such as the Fall of Lucifer,
the Creation and Fall of Man, Cain and Abel, Noah and the Flood, Abraham and Isaac, the Nativity,
the Raising of Lazarus, the Passion, and the Resurrection. Other pageants included the story of Moses,
the Procession of the Prophets, Christ's Baptism, the Temptation in the Wilderness, and the Assumption
and Coronation of the Virgin. In given cycles, the plays came to be sponsored by the newly emerging
Medieval craft guilds. The York mercers, for example, sponsored the Doomsday pageant. Other guilds
presented scenes appropriate to their trade: the building of the Ark from the carpenters' guild; the five
loaves and fishes miracle from the bakers; and the visit of the Magi, with their offerings of gold,
frankincense and myrrh, from the goldsmiths. The guild associations are not, however, to be understood
as the method of production for all towns. While the Chester pageants are associated with guilds, there is
no indication that the N-Town plays are either associated with guilds or performed on pageant wagons.
Perhaps the most famous of the mystery plays, at least to modern readers and audiences, are those of
Wakefield. Unfortunately, we cannot know whether the plays of the Towneley manuscript are actually
the plays performed at Wakefield but a reference in the Second Shepherds' Play to Horbery Shrogys
([1] line 454) is strongly suggestive. In "The London Burial Grounds" by Mrs Basil Holmes (1897), the
author claims that the Holy Priory Church, next to St Katherine Cree on Leadenhall Street, London was
the location of miracle plays from the tenth to the sixteenth century. Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London
(c 1500 - 1569) stopped this in 1542.[7]

The most famous plays of the Towneley collection are attributed to the Wakefield Master, an anonymous
playwright who wrote in the fifteenth century. The epithet "Wakefield Master" was first applied to this
individual by the literary historian Gayley. The Wakefield Master gets his name from the geographic
location where he lived, the market-town of Wakefield in Yorkshire. He may have been a highly
educated cleric there, or possibly a friar from a nearby monastery at Woodkirk, four miles north of
Wakefield. It was once thought that this anonymous author wrote a series of 32 plays (each averaging
about 384 lines) called the Towneley Cycle. The Master's contributions to this collection are still much
debated, and some scholars believe he may have written fewer than ten of them. These works appear in a
single manuscript, currently found in the Huntington Library of California. It shows signs of Protestant
editing — references to the Pope and the sacraments are crossed out, for instance. Likewise, twelve
manuscript leaves were ripped out between the two final plays because of Catholic references. This
evidence strongly suggests the play was still being read and performed as late as 1520, perhaps as late in
Renaissance as the final years of King Henry VIII's reign.

The best known pageant in the Towneley manuscript is The Second Shepherds' Pageant, a burlesque of
the Nativity featuring Mak the sheep stealer and his wife Gill, which more or less explicitly compares a
stolen lamb to the Saviour of mankind. The Harrowing of Hell, derived from the apocryphal Acts of
Pilate, was a popular part of the York and Wakefield cycles.

The dramas of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods were developed out of mystery plays.

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Spanish mystery plays
The oldest liturgical drama (12th century) written already in old Spanish language was a codex found in
the library of the Toledo Cathedral. The Auto de los Reyes Magos belongs to the Christmas cycle. It is a
play about the Biblical Magi, three wise men from the East who followed a star and visited the baby Jesus
in Bethlehem.[8] It is believed to have been based on an earlier liturgical Latin play written in France.[9]

The Misteri d'Elx (in English, the Elx Mystery Play or Mystery Play of Elx) is a liturgical drama dating
from the Middle Ages, which is enacted and celebrated in the Basilica de Santa María in the city
of Elx on 14 and 15 August of each year. In 2001, UNESCO declared it one of the Masterpieces of the
Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. It commemorates the Assumption of Mary.

Miracle play
Miracle plays, or Saint's plays, are now distinguished from mystery plays as they specifically re-enacted
miraculous interventions by the saints, particularly St. Nicholas or St. Mary, into the lives of ordinary
people, rather than biblical events; however both of these terms are more commonly used by modern
scholars than they were by medieval people, who used a wide variety of terminology to refer to their
dramatic performances. Robert Chambers, writing in 19th century notes that "especially in England,
miracle [came] to stand for religious play in general".

Miracle plays were written in the Cornish language and performed in plain-an-gwarrys. To capture the
attention of the audience, "the plays were often noisy, bawdy and entertaining".

City of London Solicitors' Company

The City of London Solicitors' Company is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The
Company was formed in 1908; the City granted it Livery status in 1944. The Company received a Royal
Charter in 1958. Prior to 1969, when the City of London Law Society was formed, the Company
functioned as a law society for the city's solicitors. Now, the Company mainly functions as a
charitable body.

The Company ranks seventy-ninth in the order of precedence for Livery Companies. Its motto is Lex
Libertatis Origo, Latin for Law is the Source of Liberty.

City of London Corporation

The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the
City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and
the location of much of the UK's financial sector. Until 2006, when the name was changed to avoid

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confusion with the wider London local government authority, the Greater London Authority, it was
informally known as the Corporation of London.

The corporation claims to be the world's oldest continuously elected local government body. Both
businesses and residents of the City, or "Square Mile", are entitled to vote in elections, and in addition to
its functions as the local authority – analogous to those undertaken by the boroughs that administer the
rest of London – it takes responsibility for supporting the financial services industry and representing its
interests. The corporation's structure includes the Lord Mayor, the Court of Aldermen, the Court
of Common Council and the Freemen and Livery of the City.

Honourable Company of Master Mariners

The Honourable Company of Master Mariners is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London.
The Company was formed in 1926; it was made a Livery Company by the City of London in 1932,
making it the first new Livery Company to be formed since 1746. While the other Livery Companies are
entitled to the style Worshipful, the Master Mariners are styled Honourable, King George V having
granted them that honour in 1928.

The Company aids nautical schools and promotes nautical research. It ranks seventy-eighth in the order of
precedence for Livery Companies. Its motto is Loyalty and Service.

Instead of the usual guild hall, the Honourable Company of Master Mariners has a headquarters ship,
HQS Wellington, moored on the Thames at Victoria Embankment.

HMS Wellington (launched Devonport, 1934) is a Grimsby-class sloop, formerly of the Royal Navy.
During the Second World War, she served as a convoy escort ship in the North Atlantic. She is now
moored alongside the Victoria Embankment, at Temple Pier, on the River Thames in London as the
headquarters ship of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners where she is known
as HQS Wellington. It was always the ambition of the founding members of the company to have a livery
hall. Up to the outbreak of war in 1939, various proposals were examined, including the purchase of a
sailing ship, the Archibald Russell.

After the war, it became apparent that the possibility of building a hall in the City of London had been
rendered very remote. In 1947, the Grimsby-class sloop Wellington was made available by the Admiralty.
The company decided to buy her with money subscribed by the members and convert her to a floating
livery hall - an appropriate home for a company of seafarers.

Scrivener Company
A scrivener (or scribe) was a person who could read and write or wrote letters to court and legal
documents. Scriveners were people who made their living by writing or copying written material.
This usually indicated secretarial and administrative duties such as dictation and

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keeping business, judicial, and history records for kings, nobles, temples, and cities. Scriveners
later developed into public servants, accountants, lawyers and petition writers.

The Worshipful Company of Innholders

From the website: http://www.innholders.org.uk/

The Worshipful Company of Innholders is number 32 of the 108 Livery Companies of London.
Their origins lie in the mediaeval Guilds, which were formed under licence of the Crown and the
Corporation to regulate their crafts, trades or services within the square mile. Tracing its origin to
the early 1300s, the Company became known as the Guild of Innholders in 1473.

1200-1500 Origins of the Innholders

Inns started to assume their colourful role in our national life during the 13th century in order to serve the
growing numbers of pilgrims and traders when monasteries could no longer meet their needs. In addition
to drink they offered bed and board for travellers and their mounts, which distinguished them from
taverns and alehouses.

In the 14th century the Court of Common Council in the City of London kept an eye on their activities
although the men and women who ran them were still known variously as hostelers and hospitalers. It
was not until 1473 that they successfully petitioned the Corporation to be known as "Innholders".

1500-1600 First Charter of the Innholders under Henry VIII

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Incorporation: The Innholders received their first charter, setting out their rights and "privileges", from
Henry VIII in 1514. Seven years later they were occupying a hall on the present site. Beneath it are the
foundations of the Roman quay which lay in the angle between the north bank of the Thames and the east
bank of the Walbrook.

Patron Saint: As was customary the Company adopted a patron saint - St. Julian the Hospitalier,
legendary for his solicitude for travellers.

The Company: The affairs of the Company are presided over by a Master and three Wardens (Upper,
Middle and Renter), who each hold office for a year, and a court of twenty Assistants. They are elected
from the body of the livery - a name deriving from the right to wear certain dress - who number about one
hundred and twenty. The Liverymen, in turn, are drawn from the ranks of Freemen, who may qualify by
patrimony (inheritance), servitude (apprenticeship), redemption (purchase), or election. The Company's
business is managed by the Clerk and its hall and ceremony by the Beadle.

1600-1700 Troubles and a New Hall

The Fire of London: In 1666 the hall, close to the centre of the great fire, was destroyed with most of its
early records. Fortunately its fine silver and its charters survived, either because they were being held by
the Master at the Ram Inn in Smithfield or because they were removed there after the fire broke out.

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The hall was immediately rebuilt and completed in 1670. The earlier front doorway, the Old Court
Room, and the magnificent Dining Hall have been little altered since.

1700-1800 Change and Decline

The City: The opening in 1750 of Westminster Bridge broke the City's monopoly of cross-river traffic
while imports and the growth of industry provided competition from other cities. In the 19th century the
railways revolutionised patterns of trade and living.

Over two hundred years the City's population dwindled from 200,000 to 27,000 and dwelling gave way to
offices for business, shipping, exchange, insurance and banking. London's population expanded into the
West End, the East End and the new suburbs.

The Liveries: During the same period the Innholders forwent their rights outside the City and their
authority was further undermined by Parliament's new distilling and licensing laws.

1800-1900 Survival and Renewal

Survival: When a Royal Commission was set up in 1884 to examine whether the Livery Companies had
any further claim to their traditional privilege and, where it existed, their wealth, public opinion was
swayed in their favour out of respect for the rights of property and for the wide range of charitable work
which so many of them funded.

Revival: By careful stewardship and management of the property left or presented to it over the years, the
Company has been able to restore its fortunes, its hall and its links with innholding, which had almost
entirely lapsed by the begining of the 20th century.

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By about 1800 the Innholders, as other liveries, could no longer sustain their numbers exclusively from
their own calling and henceforward family connection rather than the trade of innholder gradually became
the enduring criterion for enrolment in the Company. Railways spelt the end of stage coaching and many
of the inns that served it across the country and in the capital. Very few new liveries were established in
the 18th and 19th centuries.

1900-2000 War and the Modern Era

The Blitz: On the night of 10th May 1941 the hall was saved from serious damage when an oil bomb fell
on neighbouring premises in Little College Street and set the hall alight. After the Hall Keeper had done
all he could to extinguish the fire, he called upon the Enfield Fire Brigade, telling them "If you help us to
put this fire out, we will help you to something which will put you out! After two hours work the blaze in
the hall and the surrounding fires was extinguished. The Hall Keeper reported a quantity of wine had also
been 'blitzed'. The hall was repaired between 1947 and 1952.

To celebrate the Millennium the Innholders commissioned John Makepeace to design and make a set of
tables and chairs for the New Court Room. The carpet was also designed by Makepeace to complement
the furniture.

History of the Beadle

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The office of Beadle dates back to an Official of the Roman Temple and has developed over the centuries
through the Parish Beadle, who had charge of the property of the parish, into the Parish Constable, who
also enforced discipline in the area.

The Industrial Revolution forced the population into towns and cities and brought a reappraisal of the
Parish Constable system, which evolved into the Watch (Charlies) and the Bow Street Runners (Robin
Red Breasts) until, finally, Robert Peel set up his Metropolitan Police in 1829.

The Wards of the City kept their Beadles as Mace bearers attending on the Alderman of the Ward, but, in
the Parishes, the Beadle's place was taken by the Churchwardens, as regards the property of the parish,
and the "New" Police as the enforcers of discipline.

The Livery Companies, as they evolved, needed a point of contact between the Master, Wardens, and
Court of Assistants and the Livery in general. They therefore appointed a Beadle, who took care of the
Company's meeting place, called the Court and/or Livery together on behalf of the Master, and bearing in
mind the consumer protection aspect of the early Liveries, enforced any disciplinary measures decided by
the Court. To this end he was issued with a Staff of Office, often wrongly called a mace, with which to
protect the Master and enforce discipline, especially amongst the apprentices. The Staff is usually a tall
one so that it could be used as a rallying point at Common Hall etc. when the Livery were summoned to
"Attend upon the Master".

Whilst the Livery all lived and worked within the Square Mile, the Beadle was able to summon them
personally, but, as people became dispersed, there grew a need for someone who could write and so use
the new postal services to summon the Court. The humble Clerk then began his rise in importance to his
position today as the chief executive of the Company. The Beadle, meanwhile, has become a ceremonial
officer and has little to do with its day to day running.

The Beadle in most Companies retains his stewardship of the Company's property, including in many
cases, the fabric of buildings owned by the Company all over the country. The Beadle advises on matters
of protocol, and acts in collaboration with the Clerk, to ensure all Livery functions take place smoothly
and with due decorum; that the required regalia and treasure is produced, in place, and returned to the
vaults after a function. ("I counted them out and I counted them back"); to attend the Master with his
staff on all proper occasions, to ensure that he is properly gowned and badged, and to assist him by acting
as Toastmaster at the various functions.

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Coining our own Money

In the 17th century there was often a shortage of small denomination coins of the realm and tradesmen
found it impossible to give change for small items - in the case of innkeepers for a drink of ale or a bale of
hay. They therefore solved their problem by issuing their own tokens which saved their change and no
doubt had two additional advantages. Tokens could only be redeemed where they had been issued (in
modern marketing jargon building customer loyalty) and, as in modern times banks issuing travellers
cheques have discovered, many were never redeemed and meanwhile acted as interest-free loans!

Nowadays medieval tradesmen's tokens are collectors' items (although they can often be bought for £ 10 -
£20 at an auction or in a junk shop). Senior Past-Master Haire recently found two Innholders' Tokens
(depicted below) and has suggested that freemen of the Company might donate any tokens they possess or
find to build a collection which might be exhibited in one of the vitrines in the Hall.

Innholders' Tokens

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"The Innholders" a new history of our Company

In 2000 the Court invited Stephen Coote, a historian who has specialised in the 16th and 17th centuries, to
write an entirely new History of the Company with two purposes in mind.

The first was to fill a gap in the Innholders' knowledge of their past. Neither of the previous short
histories, published in 1922 and 1962, explored the Livery's roots among the Saxon and medieval guilds,
or set its story in the wider context of London, particularly the City and of English inns throughout the
ages. As a result many liverymen have never been fully aware of the richness of their heritage or the
obligations willingly borne by their predecessors.

The second purpose was to describe the Innholders' remarkable revival in recent years. By 1975 we were
struggling to meet our financial commitments and, in common with many other City Companies, played
no part in supporting the trade or craft to which we owe our existence.

To restore both our fortunes and our purpose in today's world decisive measures were needed and have
been successfully taken.

This informative account of the Livery's colourful history fulfils its double purpose and, in its final pages,
sets out the Company's current aspirations to be worthy of the century ahead and also of the London
innkeepers who obtained their first charter nearly five hundred years ago.

This 280-page book, reproduced in full colour, is the result of two years' research in the Bodleian and
London Libraries, and contains contributions from many senior past-masters of the company, who have
played such an important part in the development of the Company in the last fifty years. Its 50 colour
pictures were either specially taken or gleaned from the Guildhall Library and other print collections.
Every Member of the Company will receive a copy and the book will also be on sale to the general
public.

Tony Brighton

Installed as Master in October 2013

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Educated at Wilsons Grammar School in Camberwell London I followed the family tradition of entering
the world of insurance, joining Bevington Vaisey and Foster, a very traditional firm of Lloyd’s Brokers.
After a spell brokering in the “room” (the underwriting room at Lloyds) I broadened my horizons,
becoming an Institute Registered Insurance Broker and taking on responsibility for the whole insurance
portfolios of a number of clients.In 1985 Wigham Poland, (as BV&F had become as a result of a number
of mergers), were taken over by Sedgwick (now Marsh) and I was persuaded by my then boss to move
with him to Gibbs Hartley Cooper, another traditional broker owned by HSBC - and happily, we were
followed by many of the clients we had previously looked after at WP.

During my time as an Insurance Broker I was fortunate to be able to count as my clients organizations as
diverse as The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Market, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, The Royal
College of Surgeons, The Law Society, All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club in addition to a
number of national and multinational household name businesses.

Whilst I am now retired I retain a business interest as an Underwriting Member of Lloyds, currently
celebrating (if that’s the right word) my 40th underwriting year. I was first introduced to the family of
Innholders by my father when I was in my early twenties. At that time the Company held a cocktail party
in February each year and on one such occasion my father, himself a liveryman, persuaded me, rather
forcibly, to attend. Looking back I think I must have been rather difficult in my youth, as I had an
aversion to doing anything that my father wished me to do. And so it was that I found myself in the
grandeur of our wonderful Hall being introduced to many of the Court and other members of the Livery.
However the only name I can really remember from that evening is of one of the waiting staff – the
infamous Arthur – who attended to my father diligently throughout the whole evening ensuring that he
was adequately supplied, or dare I say more than adequately supplied, with his favourite tipple. It was an
evening that I thoroughly enjoyed and I have to thank my father for insisting upon my presence.

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In the years that followed I very much looked forward to attending the annual cocktail party and gradually
got to know many on the livery. By this time the tables had turned completely and I can recall badgering
my father asking whether I could join. As I had been Apprenticed to the Worshipful Company of
Merchant Taylors I had no automatic right to become an Innholder and very few vacancies for those not
born free of the Company existed at that time. And so it was not until 1984 at the ripe old age of 35 that I
was finally invited to present myself before the then Master, Henry Lavington, to be installed and
welcomed as a Liveryman in my own right. To my deepest regret my father and I never dined in the Hall
as Liverymen together. We were scheduled to do so at the Installation Dinner in October of that year but,
sadly, he suffered a fatal heart attack two weeks before the dinner was due to take place - and thus it
wasn’t to be.

It is the Innholders, and Caroline Edwardes Jones in particular, that I have to thank - and to whom I am
eternally grateful, for insisting that I married my wife, Linda. We had met several years before, both
working for GHC, Linda as PA to the Company Secretary. We would both regularly attend Hall
functions together and on one such occasion Caroline took me aside and gave me a stern talking to – the
rest as they say – is history. I’m a very lucky man to have such a dedicated and tolerant wife. I know
Linda will be my “tower of strength” during my year as your Master.

I have always been an enthusiastic, if not gifted, sportsman, much preferring to play rather than watch. In
my time I have played over 350 games of football for my “Old Boys” and am proud to be a vice-president
of the club, I have walked the majority of the long distance footpaths in the UK including the Pennine
Way (twice!), I skied until a few years ago when I dislocated my shoulder badly - but keep saying I want
get back onto the slopes! Currently I am enjoying my sailing, particularly those annual events in which
Innholders participate such as the Lord Mayor’s Cup held at Cowes and organized by the City Livery
Yacht Club, of which I am a member. Within the City I am also a member of The Portsoken Ward Club,
to which I am particularly attached as both my father and after him by brother, Roger, served the Ward as
Common Councilmen for many years. I am honoured to serve as your Master in the year which brings to
a close the first five hundred years since the granting of our first Royal Charter by Henry VIII in 1514 and
look forward to meeting you all during my time in office.

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