COMPANY MEDAL PRESENTATIONS AT THE ALMSHOUSES: 14 JULY

At Edmanson's Close I explain the story of the medal before making presentations.  The room is the combined social club and chapel.  Photograph with thanks to Herry Lawford.

On Thursday I presented Drapers' Company Medals at the Company's three almshouses.  Alastair Ross, the Clerk, came with me.  We visited Queen Elizabeth College and Walter's Close in the morning and Edmanson's Close in the afternoon.  Readers of this blog will know that residents of the almshouses over 85 and who have lived in a Drapers' almshouse for five years are eligible to receive the medal.

At each site I explained about the decision to reinstitute the medal after a hundred years or so and the further decision to present it to residents.  I then presented the medals to those who were well enough to receive them.  I also made special visits to those who felt they could no leave their cottages or flats.

At each almshouse we were given excellent tea and cakes and it was good to catch up with the residents' stories.  Past Master Sir Nicholas Jackson was with us at Queen Elizabeth College and Liveryman Herry Lawford at Edmanson's Close.

I sensed the presentations were popular.  The medals are individually named and are thus a real link between the Company and the individual recipient.  They are also a token of the Company's ongoing commitment as trustees of the various almshouses.

Alastair and myself just about to leave Edmanson's Close.  Photograph with thanks to Herry Lawford.

VISITATION TO QUEEN ELIZABETH COLLEGE, GREENWICH: 7 APRIL

Quen Elizabeth College looking from the north.  In the centre is the chapel and around it are the one bedroom cottages originally built in 1818 and subsequently extended some thirty five years ago.  The trees, largely cherry, are always in bloom at Visitation time.

On Thursday the Master and Wardens conducted their first almshouse visitation to Queen Elizabeth College (QEC) in Greenwich.  The Visitation is now an enirely ceremonial affair. But in the past it used to be the highpoint - or possibly high stress point for the staff - of the year when the efficiency and good management of the almshouse was thoroughly inspected by the Master and Wardens on behalf of their fellow trustees who then reported back their findings to the Court.

The Visitation of QEC also has a further feature.  When the endowment was established by William Lambarde in 1576 he asked the Master of the Rolls, one of England's most senior judges, to be the Visitor.  Lambarde had a particular friendship with Sir William Cordell who was Master of the Rolls at the time and 325 years later the tradition continues.  This year Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury paid his second visit to the College.

The Visitation started with a short service in the chapel, that can seat about fifty.  Rev Chris Moody, Vicar of St Alfege and also a member of the Company's Sir William Boreman Foundation that helps students in of the London Boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham, officiated.  Towards the end of the service the Master of the Rolls gave a short address and as he left the chapel he was, as is traditional, presented with a pair of white kid gloves.  These are nowadays returned for use on following years.

We then moved on to the community centre where we met a large number of residents.  I have been Chairman of the Friends of Drapers' Almhouses (FODAH) for some years now and it was good to meet up with residents I have known for some time and also to meet new faces.  Also members of FODAH including Liverymen Felicity Conway and Jonathan Bush as well as Sir Nicholas Jackson Bt, who leads the QEC FODAH team, were present.  Any member of the Company is also invited to attend and it was good to see a recently joined Freeman, James Baily, present.

All in all a lovely day, the sun shone, the blossom looked lovely and with the Visitation completed spring has definitely arrived.

Later this month we are visiting Walter's Close in Southwark and Edmanson's at Bruce Grove, Tottenham but before that on Monday 11 April it is the residents' tea party at the Hall.  I shall post this next week.  

COMPANY OF ACTUARIES: 22 NOVEMBER

On the evening of 22 November I went to Staple Inn Hall, just south of High Holborn.  It is the attractive Hall of the Worshipful Company of Actuaries. 

For more details about the Company go to http://www.actuariescompany.co.uk/  The Actuaries are entirely composed of those who are associates or fellows of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and collectively represent a highly important profession within the business City.

The purpose of the evening was to hear Lord Phillips of Worth Maltravers, President of the Supreme Court, give a talk on the development of the Supreme Court.

I went for two reasons. 

The first that Lord Phillips is always an interesting and engaging speaker and he was talking on a very interesting subject.  The Supreme Court (see www.supremecourt.gov.uk/ ) came into being just over a year ago.  It is a fundamental change in the top structure of our legal system, the full implications of which, I am certain, are not yet fully understood. 

The second is that Lord Phillips is a Liveryman of the Drapers' Company.  In common with many senior judges this is because the Master of the Rolls - he held this appointment 2000-2005 - is also President of Queen Elizabeth College, the Company's almshouse in Greenwich.  This is a linkage that goes back to the wishes of William Lambarde (see page), the founder of the almshouse in the late sixteenth century.  It remains an unbroken tradition to this day and Masters of the Rolls have in living memory always accepted the invitation to become members of the Company.

After a short introduction by Graham Clay, the Master Actuary, Lord Phillips reviewed the somewhat confusing genesis of the Supreme Court and the way in which had started operating.  I will not even attempt to summarise Lord Phillips' very concise and cogent arguments, except to say that his tone was optimistic and it was clear that the new Supreme Court had started well. 

All-in-all we were generously entertained by the Actuaries and heard a really worthwhile talk from the President of the Supreme Court that certainly left me considerably better informed.