 | |
| Motto | Honor Deo ("Honour to God") |
|---|---|
| Location | Mercers' Hall, 6 Frederick's Place, City of London |
| Date of formation | 1394 |
| Company association | General merchants |
| Order of precedence | 1st |
| Master of company | Mr Peter Lane |
| Website | www |
The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier livery company of the City of London and ranks first in the order of precedence of the Companies. It is the first of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies.[1]
Today, the Company exists primarily as a charitable institution, supporting a variety of causes. The company's motto is Honor Deo, Latin for "Honour to God".
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Transcription
The City of London is a unique place -- it's the city in a city (in a country in a country) that runs its government with perhaps the most complicated elections in the world involving medieval guilds, modern corporations, mandatory titles and fancy hats, all of which are connected in this horrifying org chart. Why so complicated? Though the new Skyscrapers might make you think the City of London is relatively young, it's actually the oldest continuous government on the Island of Great Britain. The City of London predates the Empire that Victoria ruled, the Kingdoms Anne united and the Magna Carta that John, reluctantly, signed. While the London which surrounds the city only got to electing its first Mayor in 2000, the list of Mayors who've governed the City of London is almost 700 people long going back more than a thousand years. The City of London's government is so old there's no surviving record of when it was born -- there are only documents, like the Magna Carta, which mention the pre-existing powers the City of London already had at that time. While a government like the United States's officially gets its power from the people, and Parliament gets its power from the Crown, (which in turn gets it from God), the City of London gets its power from 'time immemorial' meaning that the City is so old, it just is. And that age brings with it unusual and complicated traditions, the most notable of these, perhaps, is that in city of London elections, companies get votes. Quite a lot actually, about 3/4th of the votes cast in City elections are from companies with the remaining 1/4th from residents. The way it works is that the bigger a company is the more votes it gets from the City of London. The companies then give their votes to select employees who work, but do not live, within the city and it's these employees who do the actual voting at election time. The result is that the Common Council, the bureaucratic beating heart of the City of London, has about 20 common councilors elected by residents of the city and about 80 elected by companies of the city. The reasoning behind this unusual tradition is that for every 1 person who lives in the City of London, 43 people commute in every day. In total that's 300,000 commuters using City services and whose employment depends on the City of London being business friendly. The man in charge of the common council and who heads The City's government is The Right Honorable, the Lord Mayor of London. Now, suppose *you* want to be Lord Mayor, Surely, just as in that other London all you'll need do is a) Be a British, Commonwealth, or EU citizen, who has b) lived in the city for a year, and who c) wins the election Right? No, in The City of London, that's not nearly enough. Ready for the qualifications list? Before you even run for Lord Mayor you need have been a Sheriff of The City of London. But before you can be Sheriff, you need to be an Aldermen. What's an Aldermen? Well, the City of London is divided into 25 wards, and each Ward elects one Aldermen to represent it on the Court of Aldermen -- a sub-section of the common council. Before you can run for Alderman, you need to gain Freeman Status... and who gives out freeman status? Why none other than the very Court of Aldermen you're trying to get elected to. Which might just seem like a conflict of interest. Luckily there is another way to get the freeman status -- join one of the City's Guilds -- sadly, they aren't called guilds, they're called Livery Companies (a name which is both more boring and less descriptive), but the remnants of medieval guilds many of them are and within the City there are 108 of them to choose from including, but not limited to, The Apothecaries The Fishmongers The Masons The Mercers The Scientific Instrument Makers The Bankers The Shipwrights The Wheelwrights The Butchers, The bakers, *Two* different candlestick makers, and the most exciting of all: The Chartered Accountants! Many of these guilds, like the Fletchers, have become charities, but some are still active, such as the Goldsmiths who test the quality of British coinage and the Hackney carriage drivers who license taxi drivers. To join one of these guilds you'll either need to meet the professional requirements, or for the charities like the Haberdashers you'll need the approval of two existing members, others won't tell you how to become a members. If, you meet none of the Livery Companies membership requirements, but you think you'll be a clever clogs and start your *own* Livery Company and grant *yourself* freeman status, tough luck because new Livery Companies need to be approved by, you guessed it, the Court of Aldermen. But let's assume one way or another you get the official freeman status certificate, now you can finally run for Aldermen of a Ward -- after the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Committee also approves of you. But, that small barrier passed, you can win election as Aldermen in either one of the 4 wards where people live or the 21 wards where companies live. Once on the court of aldermen to continue your path to the Mayor's Office in Guildhall, you must now be elected as sheriff, but this time it's the members of the Livery Companies who pick the sheriffs. So *if* the Livery Company members elect you as Sheriff, *after* you have successfully completed your term *then* you can finally run for Mayor. But, surprisingly the, residents of the City of London don't vote for the Mayor, our old friends on the Court of Aldermen do. So in summary, once you get freeman status from either the court of aldermen or the livery companies and after your ward elected you as alderman and then the livery companies elect you as sheriff and after your term as sheriff ends but while you're still on the court of aldermen then you can run for Mayor. And -- assuming the other aldermen select you, finally take your place as **The Right Honorable, The Lord Mayor of London** -- for one year, with no salary. And you have to cover your own expenses, which will be quite considerable as your new job consists mostly of making hundreds of speeches a year around the world promoting city business. But you do get that fancy hat, which just might make it all worth while.
History
The Mercers' Company is based at Mercers' Hall, 6 Frederick's Place in the City of London. The city block upon which it stands contains the archaeology of a Roman-British temple known today as Gresham Temple.[2]
Its corporate existence began in the form of a fraternity at least by the reign of King Henry II, in the mid 1100s if not before.[3]
In 1210-1214, the first two Mayors of London, Henry FitzAlwyn and Robert FitzAlwyn were claimed to be members, and branch of the company was established at this time, the Company of Merchant Adventurers, who established themselves at Antwerp, the centre of the cloth trade.[4]
Serlo le Mercer (who was Mayor of London for five terms in the early 1210s)[5] was a member of the company and was one of the negotiators of Magna Carta.[6]
Although of even older origin, the company was incorporated under a Royal Charter in 1394, the company's earliest extant Charter. The company's aim was to act as a trade association for general merchants, and especially for exporters of wool and importers of velvet, silk and other luxurious fabrics (mercers).
From the 14th century onwards the Company held its meetings in the Hospital of St. Thomas of Acon on Cheapside.
Around 1438 William Caxton was apprenticed into the Mercers, under Robert Large, becoming a full member in 1452: his work took him into the Low Countries.[7][8]
Between 1517 and 1524 the Company built the Mercer's Chapel on this land, with the first Mercers' Hall above it, fronting Cheapside.[9]
A member of the Mercers, Robert Packington, was murdered on 13 November 1536, the first recorded death by shooting with a handgun; Rose Hickman, a Protestant, recalled how he:
used to bring English bybles from beyond sea
and it is thought this may be connected to the murder.[10] The entrance appears to have been on to Ironmonger Lane, and an interconnecting mansion house was secured by Sir Rowland Hill in 1546, which he later put at the use of his protégée and heir (via his niece) Sir Thomas Leigh.[11] Hill is associated with the publication of the Geneva Bible,[12][13][14] and is considered a possible inspiration for the character Old Sir Rowland in Shakespeare's As You Like It.[15][16][17]
There are accounts of the Mercer's buildings being the focus of London state pageantry in the mid- 16th century. For instance Sir Rowland Hill and Sir Thomas Gresham together with Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, are recording as watching the Midsummer Marchers that would become the Lord Mayor's Show[18][19] from the loggia of the hall.[20][21] Around this time Francis Wren, grandfather of Christopher Wren was a member of the company[22]
Sir Thomas Gresham, founder of the Royal Exchange, was a member of the mercers. He was admitted in 1543 aged 24 as a liveryman, and later that year he left England for the Low Countries, where, either on his own account or that of his father or uncle, he carried on business as a merchant whilst acting in various matters as agent for King Henry VIII.
The Dead Christ, one of the most important surviving works of late English Catholic sculpture prior to the iconoclasm of the Reformation was secretly preserved in a sand-filled pit under the chapel floor, only being found during repairs after the bomb damage of World War Two.[23][24][25]
Inigo Jones was admitted as a member in 1620.[26]
The building was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.
The second Hall, designed by Edward Jarman and John Oliver, opened in May 1676.
Following the Napoleonic Wars the first Viscount Hill, the Peninsular general, a relative (via his uncle, Ralph Hill) of the Lord Mayor of the same name[27] was admitted to the company honouring his soldiering.
The Hall was extensively refurbished during the period 1877 to 1881 (the porch of the 1676 building is now incorporated into the facade of Swanage Town Hall).
The frontage was remodelled by George Barnes Williams and the interiors were redesigned by John Gregory Crace, the renowned Victorian designer. The Hall was destroyed by fire in 1941 during the Blitz. The third and present Mercers' Hall was opened in May 1958. The architect was E. Noel Clifton of Gunton and Gunton. The Hall incorporates fittings from the old Hall, including some 17th-century woodwork and Victorian stained glass.
The Mercers' Company is the only City Livery Company to have its own private chapel.
Membership
Children whose father or mother was a member of the Company at the time of their birth have an automatic right to become Mercers by 'patrimony'.
Most other members have a family connection to the company and obtain their Freedom by Redemption. Under this process applicants are recommended for membership after an interview and, if approved, they pay a sum of money called a 'fine'.
Other people can also become Members by Redemption. Membership is sometimes granted because the Company wishes to honour the individual. Notable Members who joined the company by Redemption are Thomas More and Winston Churchill.
One other route to membership is by apprenticeship, but this has not happened recently. In the early days this was a very usual route; an apprentice would be 'bound' to a Member for a term of about seven years but in exchange the member was required to teach the apprentice such that he was worthy of membership by the end of the term, when he became a 'Freeman', for he was no longer bound. Freemen of a Livery Company are also Freemen of the City of London, which used to carry certain privileges, such as the right to drive a flock of sheep without charge over London Bridge.
Etymology
The word "mercer" derives from the Latin merx, mercis, "merchandise"[28] from which root the word "merchant" is also derived.[29]
The words mercero and mercier, still used in Spanish and French respectively, have meanings similar to haberdasher, although the medieval mercers would not have recognised any relationship to that trade which was covered by the separate Worshipful Company of Haberdashers.
Charitable activities
In education, the company has administered St Paul's School since 1509 (and its prep school St Paul's Juniors), St Paul's Girls' School since 1904, two prep schools in London, The Hall School and Bute House, and retains close links with Collyer's College, Dauntsey's School, Abingdon School, Peter Symonds College and Gresham College, all founded by mercers.[30] In recent times the company has founded a City Technology College (Thomas Telford School) and two City Academies (Walsall Academy and Sandwell Academy).
There was also a Mercers' School[31] which was granted its first charter in 1447, and closed in 1959 when pupil numbers fell. The school was most recently based in Barnard's Inn in Holborn, now the home of Gresham College.
In 2011, the Mercers co-sponsored a new academy school, Hammersmith Academy, specialising in creative and digital media and information technology, located in Hammersmith.[32] The school was established in a new building, with support from the Mercers[33] and the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists.[34]
Coat of arms
The origin of the "Mercers' Maiden", the heraldic emblem of the company, is not known. Unlike most of the City livery companies, the Mercers had no early grant of arms but the 1425 charter granted a common seal. A few impressions of the early seal survive showing a greatly simplified version of the present coat of arms. The fifteenth century Wardens' Accounts reveal that, even then, the Company required the device of the Maid's Head to be displayed on its property. In 1530 the Company stated to the College of Heralds that they had no arms but only a Maid's Head for their common seal and in 1568 the Heralds registered the seal as the company's arms.
In 1911 the College of Arms confirmed the arms and granted the company a crest and motto, 'Honor Deo' (Honour to God). The grant blazons the arms: Gules, issuant from a bank of clouds a figure of the Virgin couped at the shoulders proper vested in a crimson robe adorned with gold the neck encircled by a jeweled necklace crined or and wreathed about the temples with a chaplet of roses alternately argent and of the first and crowned with a celestial crown the whole within a bordure of clouds also proper.
Current activities
Every year the Mercers' Company publishes an annual review of their activities. The property portfolio includes 90 residential flats in Covent Garden. In an average year they might give away £7 million, about one-sixth of the total charitable contributions of 110 livery companies.[1]
Mercers
Famous Mercers include:
- Serlo le Mercer, Third Lord Mayor of London and negotiator of Magna Carta
- William Caxton, printer
- Sir John Thynne (c. 1513–1580), builder of Longleat[35]
- John Dee (1527–1608), mathematician and astrologer[36]
- Lionel Duckett (1511–1587), Sheriff of London (1565), Lord Mayor of London (1572)
- Richard Whittington, Mayor of the City of London
- Sir Rowland Hill of Soulton (d.1561), "The First Protestant Lord Mayor of London", privy councillor, statesman, scholar, merchant and patron of art and philanthropist who coordinated the Geneva Bible translation and may have been the inspiration for Shakespeare's play "As You Like It"
- Sir John Gresham, Mayor of the City of London
- Sir Richard Gresham, merchant and Mayor of the City of London
- Sir Thomas Gresham, merchant, financier and founder of Gresham College
- John Roysse (1500/01–1571), merchant and benefactor
- Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne (1812–1895), Lord Chancellor
- William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne KG GCMG PC (1859–1942), politician and High Commissioner of South Africa
- Cecil Clementi (1875–1947), Governor of Hong Kong
- Harry Hodson, economist, editor of The Sunday Times (1950–61)
- Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, founder of the Scout movement
- Earl Jellicoe, Lord Privy Seal (1970–73).
- Sir Alexander Graham, Lord Mayor of the City of London
- Sir Ralph Verney, (1410–1478), Lord Mayor of the City of London
- John Colet (1467–1519), founder of St Paul's School, London and dean of St Paul's Cathedral
See also
- Kilrea, Mercers plantation settlement in Northern Ireland
References
- ^ a b Engel, Matthew (21 December 2012). "British institutions: livery companies". ft.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
- ^ "Gresham Temple". MOLA. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ^ "The Mercers' Company City of London". Intriguing History. 10 April 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ^ "The Mercers' Company City of London". Intriguing History. 10 April 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ^ "Chronicles of the Mayors and Sheriffs: 1188-1239" in Chronicles of the Mayors and Sheriffs of London 1188-1274, ed. H.T. Riley. London: Trübner, 1863. pp. 1-8. British History Online. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ William Hardel. Magna Carta Trust. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ Wight, C. "Caxton's Chaucer - The Merchant". www.bl.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ^ "Bloomsbury Collections - William Caxton And English Literary Culture". www.bloomsburycollections.com. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ^ Richard Newcourt. Repertorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense: Comprising all London and ... p. 554. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
- ^ Ridgway, Claire (13 November 2015). "13 November 1536 - The Murder of Robert Packington - The Tudor Society". www.tudorsociety.com. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ^ Watney, John (1906). Some account of the Hospital of St. Thomas of Acon, in the Cheap, London : and of the plate of the Mercers' Company. PIMS - University of Toronto. London : Printed by Blades, East & Blades.
- ^ Besant, Sir Walter (1904). London in the Time of the Tudors. Adam and Charles Black.
- ^ A New Family Bible, and Improved Version ... With Notes, Critical and Explanatory ... By the Rev. B. Boothroyd. The author. 1824.
- ^ "Subscription". Boston Daily Globe. 12 April 1886. p. 2. Archived from the original on 21 February 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2023 – via Newspapers.
- ^ "Archaeological dig unlocking the mysteries of historic site near Wem". Whitchurch Herald. 15 June 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ^ Austin, Sue (21 April 2023). "Revealed: Links between Shropshire country hall and the King's Coronation". www.shropshirestar.com. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- ^ "PRESS MENTION: Shakespeare in Shropshire". BYRGA GENIHT | Country House Consultancy. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
- ^ "The Midsummer Watch- an old tradition, revived". Records of Early English Drama: Civic London 1558–1642. 6 April 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
- ^ Williams (nee Knapton), Sheila Hannah. THE LORD MAYORS' SHOWS FROM PEELE TO SETTLE: A STUDY OF LITERARY CONTENT, ORGANIZATION, AND METHODS OF PRODUCTION – PhD Thesis (PDF). University of Londön.
- ^ De Laune, Thomas (October 2009). The present state of London: or, Memorials comprehending a full and succinct account of the ancient and modern state thereof. By Tho. De-Laune, Gent.
- ^ Burgon, John William (1839). The Life and Times of Sir Thomas Gresham: Comp. Chiefly from His Correspondence Preserved in Her Majesty's State-paper Office: Including Notices of Many of His Contemporaries. With Illustrations. Robert Jennings.
- ^ Mathew David (1948). The Social Structure In Caroline England.
- ^ "The Mercers' Christ - art installation services, sculpture conservation". Patina Art Collection Care Ltd. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ^ Tate. "Statue of the Dead Christ on loan for the first time to Tate Britain from Mercers' Hall for Art under Attack: Histories of British Iconoclasm – Press Release". Tate. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ^ "The Dead Christ". www.thisischurch.com. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ^ "Design for stained glass or plasterwork incorporating the arms of Charles I for the Mercers' Company, London". RIBApix. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ^ "The Aldermen of the City of London". www.tudorplace.com.ar. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ^ Sutton, Anne, op. cit., p.2
- ^ Cassell's Latin Dictionary, Merchant & Charles
- ^ "Independent Schools". Mercers. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
- ^ Old Mercers Club
- ^ "Hammersmith Academy". London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, UK. Archived from the original on 12 December 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
- ^ "Hammersmith Academy". The Mercers' Company, City of London, UK. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
- ^ "Hammersmith Academy". The Information Technologists' Company, City of London, UK. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
- ^ Girouard, Mark, Thynne, Sir John (1512/13–1580), estate manager and builder of Longleat in Oxford Dictionary of Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004)
- ^ Julian Roberts, ed. (2005). "A John Dee Chronology, 1509–1609". Renaissance Man: The Reconstructed Libraries of European Scholars: 1450–1700 Series One: The Books and Manuscripts of John Dee, 1527–1608. Adam Matthew Publications. Retrieved 27 October 2006.
Further reading
- Sutton, Anne F., The Mercery of London: Trade, Goods and People, 1130–1578, Aldershot, 2005
External links
51°30′51″N 0°05′30″W / 51.51416°N 0.09164°W
This page was last edited on 22 March 2024, at 17:31