THE END OF AN ERA: JOHN FREESTONE TO MOVE ON

John Freestone in his Beadle's uniform and carrying his staff of office at the top of the Livery Hall staircase.  The Beadle part of his duties are these days essentially ceremonial but three or four decades ago the Beadle had a wide range of duties including administering the almshouses, relationships with schools and assisting the Clerk in the conduct of a wide range of business.

After seventeen outstanding years as the Company's Beadle, where he has principally led the Hall catering and banqueting team, John Freestone has decided to move on and try his hand as Clerk to the Paviors' Company.

John had extensive experience working in top West End hotels and clubs before moving to the Company.  Over the years he has built up an outstanding reputation as one of the best operators in the City in his field.  He is unfailingly courteous and considerate of his guests' needs and makes everyone feel special.  He also has the knack of running complex events in an unflustered and understated way.  Those who know him know that this is only achieved by an unerring eye for detail and the most meticulous pre-planning.

He is now moving from Beadle to Clerk where I am sure he will be a similar success.  I am most grateful for all he has done in my year as Master and I am certain he will get a memorable send-off at the Election Dinner on 26 July, his final event with the Company.

COMPANY SUMMER ENTERTAINMENT: 10 JUNE

Each year in June the Hall becomes the venue for the Company's Summer Entertainment.  It is a unique social event in the Company year as all Liverymen and Freemen, as well as those who work for the Company are invited and can bring partners. 

Over the years the Summer Entertainment has taken a number of forms including opera performances, a formal dinner and last year's most original Sunday gathering where then Master Graham Zellick had a Jewish theme including a tour of the Bevis Marks synagogue.

This year we decided to stage a ball.  This involved a dinner using three of the four large rooms of the Hall, Scottish country dancing in marquee erected specially in Throgmorton Avenue - this is a Drapers' private street but I regret some commuters seemed peeved to find their rat run between Bank and London Wall blocked - and the Drawing Room for a small band.

Over 360 attended.  Gerald Quadros and his team prepared an excellent dinner.  John Freestone had organised an excellent seating plan that mingled old and new acquaitances.  He also organised the running of the evening seamlessly.

Where he has no control was over the standard of Scottish country dancing.  Purists from north of the Border might object that some of the sets lacked precision but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and it was certainly an ice-breaker. 

The evening finished with a traditional breakfast after midnight. 

It was an excellently run event that was much enjoyed by all those who attended.  Equally importantly it was a chance for the Company to come together as a whole. 

UPHOLDERS' ANNUAL INSTALLATION BANQUET: 13 APRIL

Coat of Arms of the Upholders' Company

On Wednesday the Upholders held their Installation Court and Banquet at the Hall.  The Hall, I believe, is a frequent choice by the Upholders for this key event in their Company year. This year they were kind enough to invite both myself and Alastair Ross, the Clerk, to be guests at the banquet..

Upholder is an archaic term for upholsterer and the Company has for centuries been closely involved with the furnishing trade.  Initially of course maintaining the guild monopoly in London and later more generally supporting the trade both inside and outside the City.  For more details go to http://www.upholder.co.uk/  

Additionally the Upholders are part of the informal Liveries Wood Group that carries out joint projects with the Carpenters, Furniture Makers, Joiners and Ceilers and Turners.  For more details go to http://www.branching-out.co.uk/

It was most stimulating talking to members of the Company in the Hall.  Many of them are eminent and leading personalities in the furnishing industry.  Their reaction to the furnishings and decoration of the Hall was very interesting and most informative.  It was also flattering to be told on a number of occasions how well the Hall was maintained.

The newly elected Master, James Kelly, and the Wardens made us most welcome and we had a most enjoyable dinner.  As I entered the Livery Hall I found a copy of Featherbedds and Flock Bedds, the Early History of the Worshipful Company of Upholders of the City of London by JF Houston at my place.  I have only had time to glance at it but it is clearly a well written and informative history, featherbedding takes on a sterner meaning.. 

One of those evenings where I was well looked after and learnt a little more about the furnishings of the Hall.  But equally importantly I was yet again as Master to hear the considerable admiration for the excellent service our Beadle, John Freestone, Head Chef, Gerald Quadros and the rest of the Hall catering team provide.  On this particular night Jon Perkins, the Butler, led the event.

GREAT XII MASTERS AND CLERKS DINNER: 17 NOVEMBER

One of the customs of the Great XII livery companies (see page on this subject) is that over a year each Company entertains the Master, Prime Warden in the case of the Fishmongers and Goldsmiths, and Clerk of the other eleven companies at the Hall.

Of course it would not be admitted there is any inter-company rivalry as to who puts on the best show but it is an event where the team who run the Hall led by Alastair Ross, the Clerk, John Freestone, the Beadle and Gerald Quadros, our new head chef, put both a great deal of thought and energy into the evening.

Every Master labours under the illusion that his year hosts the best party ever but, being as objective as possible, I think we had a great evening.  It was particularly nice to be told how the Company atmosphere in the Hall is particularly welcoming and hospitable.

The Master Mercer, Sir David Clementi, makes a speech on the behalf of the guests, except of course at the Mercers' own dinner.  In his youth he was a noted hurdler and made specific reference to Second Master Warden Lady Victoria Leatham's father, the sixth Marquess of Exeter.  In addition to being a Draper he was a Conservative politician, prominent athlete and sports official. He won the 400 metre hurdles at the 1928 Summer Olympics - a feat famously portrayed in Chariots of Fire.  He was later President of the International Amateur Athletic Federation and Vice-President of the International Olympic Committee. David said it was a matter of personal pride that improved training and equipment had allowed him to beat the 1928 record some forty years later.

He also asked me to put a glowing report of the evening on my blog, but I have probably said enough already.

GLOVERS' COMPANY INSTALLATION LUNCH FOR MASTER 2 NOVEMBER

Early November is the time when the Master Glover is installed and by tradition the lunch for Glovers, their partners and guests, following a service at St Margaret's, Lothbury is held at Drapers' Hall.  I was very kindly invited to attend. It is always a pleasant experience for me to be entertained in my own Hall.  The first reason for this is that I am not in charge, the second is to observe yet again John Freestone, the Beadle, and his team's excellent management of such events and lastly to receive compliments about the Hall and the way we, as a Company, look after our heritage.

Roderick Morris had just been elected Master of the Glovers' Company. For more details of the Company go to http://www.thegloverscompany.org/   It is a Company representing a great British craft tradition but sadly today it is yet another aspect of our manufacturing heritage that is facing stiff competition from overseas.  However as part of the ceremonies I was very generously presented with a superb pair of black leather lined gloves by Chester Jeffries (http://www.chesterjeffries.co.uk/ ) that fit me perfectly and will be just the thing when I am waiting for a delayed First Great Western train service to London at Pewsey station this winter.  I can recommend them to anyone who wants a pair of warm, stylish and comfortable gloves.

While waiting to be introduced to the Master I met Richard Morris a liveryman of the Company who is also an Old Bancroftian- see earlier posts.  He is another survivor of the very rigorous boarding regime at the school before the boarding house was closed in the late seventies.  He reminded me, as all Old Bancroftian boarders do without the slightest prompting, as to the extraordinarily Spartan regime of the time.  Most of the boarders seemed to have lived in a huge open dormitory in the attic of the main building that was baking hot in summer and icily cold in winter.   It seems on retelling like something out Mervyn Peake's fertile imagination and if he had but known about it I am sure it would have been included in the plot of Gormengast.  I have to say that Richard seemed to have survived the experience remarkably well.

Richard told me he had, in his capacity as Secretary of the Loughton and District Historical Society, become a very active local historian.  Earlier this year Pen and Sword had published his book The Man who Ran London about Lieutenant General Sir Francis Lloyd who was the ebullient and forceful General Officer Commanding London Disterict during the First World War.  His north-east London connection was that he lived in Chigwell.  He was an extraordinarly good public speaker and was a great crowd puller at patriotic rallies.  Richard told me he spoke at such events held at Drapers' Hall between 1914 and 1918. 

Around 3.00pm the lunch began to draw to a close.  It had been a most interesting and enjoyable event and I had been looked after very well and received many compliments about the the Company, our Hall and our staff.  The warm glow ensuing was not entirely due the port.

SHERIFFS' BREAKFAST AND ELECTION OF LORD MAYOR 28/29 SEPTEMBER

Two events in the City of London year have just occurred.  The Sheriffs' Breakfast where the ingoing and outgoing sheriffs handover and the Election of the Lord Mayor where the candidate for the mayoral year starting in November is confirmed.

First, the Sheriffs' Breakfast, slightly confusingly starting at 12.45pm.  Because of the size of our Livery Hall, it can seat 270, it is a popular venue for this gathering of the City's 'great and good.'  Alderman David Wootton and Peter Cook have now stood down and replaced by Alderman Fiona Woolf and David Sermon.  I had no part to play in the the breakfast ceremonies and was in the pleasant position of being the recipient of plaudits about our Hall and of the highly efficient, professional and courteous way that John Freestone and his team handle a big complex function.

I conclude with the poem in the inimitable style of Pauline Halliday, a past sheriff and Master Farrier and currently Deputy of Walbrook Ward, that concluded her speech when she toasted the health of the new sheriffs and their spouses:

From Drapers' Hall thence to the Old Bailey

Now to live and work by the sheets that come daily
Fiona, Nicholas, Richard and Rosemary begin their year
A tremendous team they will be and of great cheer
This I must now complete as I try to be in good time
So let us all here salute them with a glass of wine.

Second, the Election of the Lord Mayor which took place in Guildhall on Wednesday morning.  This was preceded by a church service at St Lawrence Jewry.  It is both a ritual with over 800 years of tradition and the moment at which the Livery of the City declare their support for the mayoral candidates.  A hugely colourful ceremony with the broadest pallette of colour provided by the robes of the 108 masters of the City's livery companies.  Alderman Michael Bear was elected Lord Mayor following which there were the traditional sppeches of thanks and appreciation.  The highlight of these was HRH The Princess Royal, who is a strong supporter of the City livery, this year she is Master Butcher, giving a speech of thanks for the outging Lord Mayor, Alderman Nicholas Anstee.

ELECTION DAY 20 JULY

A busy day at the Drapers' Hall.

It started with a Court of Wardens at 11.00am. This is a unique meeting in the Company's year where the Wardens of the current and next year meet together. Of the Master and four Wardens three were standing down and the three new Wardens are Christian Williams, who has been Master, as Renter Warden, Lady Victoria Leatham, becoming Second Master Warden and William Charnley, newly elected to the Court as Junior Warden. Tony Walker and myself stay on moving up one notch.

Normally this is a pretty straightforward meeting tidying up a few loose ends. However the continuing soap opera of the Department of Education's review of the Drapers' Academy new-buld and some interesting ideas for new items for Company gifts took a little time. The meeting concluded with Peter Bottomley MP, the outgoing Renter Warden, making a warm tribute to the Mastership of Professor Graham Zellick.

We then assembled in the Court Room to swear in for the next year. It is a simple ceremony where after making some big commitments in seventeenth century English we exchanged ceremonial keys of office.

Then it was off to rehearse the transfer of offices as they are carried out at the Election Dinner that evening. Part of the ceremony involves placing what seems to be Tudor style headgear, flat and completely unyielding in its construction, on the head of your successor. However as Master Elect I was able to claim a hat that aproximately fitted. This took some of the imminent danger out of the inevitable bowing as responsibilties are transferred.

The Livery Hall set out for the Election Dinner.  The top table is at the far end of the room under the portrait of Queen Victoria.
 
Election Dinner starts early at 6.30pm is one of the two really grand and large scale evening events of the Company's year. As always it was very well organised and drilled by John Freestone, who is called the Beadle but in addition to some ceremomial duties is our catering manager.

At around ten o'clock a further part of the process that sees me elected Master took place in that I read out the Master's Oath before the members of the Company and guests and made the following statement.

'I am very conscious having just taken the Master’s Oath that some five hundred and twenty individuals since 1438, when the present structure of the Company with a Master and four Wardens came into being, have made it in more or less this form.

It is beyond doubt looking around this Hall tonight that they were remarkably successful in meeting its requirements. But they went well beyond their promise to merely safeguard and protect our ancient heritage. The collective dynamism, vision and self-confidence of my predecessors has, with the support of the Court, Livery and Freedom, continuously sustained, enriched and energised our Company over the centuries.

It is a very great honour indeed to be elected Master and I am aware that I have exceptionally high standards to meet and sustain over the next year. I am standing on the shoulders of giants and with the support of the Court and the wider Company I am sure I shall not lose my balance.'

On the subject of balance, my hat stayed on.

The day finally ended in the Company Garden at midnight when Graham Zellick passed on the Master's badge to me and Jennifer Zellick passed over her badge to Rosemary.

The year begins.