THE GLOVER December 2011 - The Worshipful Company of Glovers

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“GLOVER AND CITIZEN” – WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Do you remember the oath you took as a Freeman of the City of London? It is a bit of a tongue–twister but includes the promise that “I will be obedient to the Mayor of this City: That I will maintain the franchises and customs thereof….” And have you ever wondered how and why exactly the Glovers connect with the Lord Mayor and the Corporation of London? Unfortunately there is a bit of “horrible” history to navigate on the way. If you are already an avid reader of the Glovers’ History or a constitutional and historical expert then you can skip this paragraph since you will know already that the City of London was from the late twelfth century governed by a Mayor with Aldermen assisted by various other Ward and Parish Constables and minor officers who ensured a regulated way of life and business. The Mayor and Aldermen regulated the Livery Companies who were then all granted a Royal Charter to exist but were all required to be accountable to the regulations of the Mayor of London. The pre-eminence of the “Lord” Mayor and the Aldermen and Common Councilmen still exists today with the Corporation of London being a full local authority. Of course now the Corporation is itself highly regulated and controlled by Government but many of the City’s other important rights and customs date back and pre-exist subsequent laws. For example the City Remembrancer has special power to attend Parliament and acquaint the Lord Mayor with its daily business so as to ensure that the rights and safeguards of the City of London are maintained and enhanced. In almost every aspect the Corporation of London is the same but entirely different. Historians should re-join here. The “constituency” of the Lord Mayor is the 25,000 or so Liverymen and women who are not necessarily residents nor business occupiers in the City and indeed will come from all over the UK as well as abroad. The Lord Mayor’s election is via Common Hall and “sponsored” by the Livery - albeit that the final vote is by the Court of Sixteen Aldermen alone. However, the Lord Mayor is also the head of the Corporation of London - a body that is itself elected by residents and registered business voters in the City who are themselves not necessarily members of any Livery. Thus it becomes clear (or even more muddled) as to how the bodies interlink and cross over and how the Livery are closely involved with the Corporation but distinct from some of its important local authority remit. It may be controversial to suggest (but it is a legal possibility) that the Corporation of London could survive without a Lord Mayor. It might then look a bit more like - or be subsumed within – the London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets or Islington. But whilst there is a Lord Mayor, the Government of the day have seen the importance of using the unique and significant importance of the role that the Lord Mayor can perform in a nonparty political way on behalf of the UK. The physical proximity of the Lord Mayor within the heart of the financial city and the connection with the Corporation of London of which he or she is an elected member means that the Lord Mayor can engage with the business leaders and work with them and for them as the UK’s ambassador for financial services. This has been built up over recent decades to become a preeminent part of the Lord Mayor's role. It works well because of the interaction between the business voters who are the electors and stakeholders within the Corporation and also the businesses who want to have their issues aired on a national and international front and want the Lord Mayor to act as their spokesperson on such a platform. In many cases Livery Companies are engaged with this part of the Lord Mayor's work. The Financial Services Group of Livery Companies frequently brief the Lord Mayor on financial matters. The Lord Mayor has thus been able to enhance the reputation of UK financial services and the City of London as a place of excellence to work and do business. The Lord Mayor promotes both the value of the City as a cluster of like businesses, a well regulated and fairly taxed environment, a place with qualified and available staff and an enjoyable environment in which people will enjoy doing business and living. It must be remembered that although UK financial services and, especially, the banks have come under much critical scrutiny over the last few years, the financial services sector provides jobs for over 1 million people within the UK economy (approximately 350,000 of them in the City of London) and contributes 12% of the UK’s GDP. The Corporation of London’s role as a local authority is also vital since it is that body which ensures the physical environment is well presented, that transport runs on time (at various times the Corporation has funded alternative bus or river taxi facilities whilst underground lines were out of order), it has campaigned for Crossrail and is making a substantial contribution to its cost. The Corporation ensures that services such as waste collection, road cleansing and maintenance are exemplary and facilitate the planning of appropriate buildings which facilitate both large and small businesses in operating successfully within the City environs. The Livery Companies have a lot to contribute and in many different ways - as voters and stakeholders with the City Corporation as its local authority, as part of the constituency of the Lord Mayor in the Shrieval and Mayoral elections, as business people ready to engage in the promotion and future of the City of London. These are all ways in which the Glovers can deliver on that Freeman’s promise! Alison Gowman, First Under Warden TOUR OF MUSEUM, LONDON DOCKLANDS Monday 22 August Following a very enjoyable visit to the Museum of London in January this year we were presented with the opportunity to visit their sister Museum – The Museum of London, Docklands. On a bright sunny day 40 members and THE GLOVER December 2011
guests arrived at West India Quay for a guided tour of this unique Museum, housed in a warehouse formerly used to store rum). We were divided into groups and taken around to learn some of the history of this part of London and especially its docks by two very experienced guides. The museum is divided into themed zones covering different periods in history. Our visit ranged from visiting a “typical” early 1800’s street or seeing World War II air-raid shelters and the impact of the “blitz” to learning about the importance to British commerce of various “commodities” at different times in the last 1,000 years, including sugar, whale oil, rum and very sadly “slaves”. Very detailed models helped us to understand how Docklands looked in the nineteenth century. The numerous artefacts that have been unearthed gave us an idea of the important role played by the port and helped us to understand some of the history and culture of the places with which London traded. Following the tour we adjourned for a glass or two and a light lunch at a nearby restaurant. It was generally agreed that we did not have time to see everything in the Museum and a return visit, taking in the shops and restaurants of the Docklands area would be very worthwhile. Daphne Cave Category 1: A pair of gloves for the Lady Mayoress to wear on Lord Mayor’s Day First Prize: Andrew Shiels, Loughborough University Runner Up: Elizabeth Holmes, De Montfort University Category 2: A pair of fashionable winter gloves for autumn/winter 2011 First Prize: Neida Simkute, Epping Forest College Runner Up: Louise Burnett, University of Lincoln The annual Awards Luncheon in July is always an opportunity for the Glovers to return to their roots and re-affirm their links with the British glove trade. The Design Competition raises awareness of gloving within the fashion colleges and encourages students to think about gloves as fashion accessories. The quality and quantity of the entries this year demonstrates the value of the Competition and, as Past Master John Spanner pointed out when he introduced the prize-winners, made the judges’ job very difficult. This year the prizes were presented by Sir David Brewer CMG, JP, Lord Lieutenant of Greater London and Lord Mayor in 2005-06. The categories ranged from designing gloves to be worn by the Lady Mayoress on Lord Mayor’s Day to 2011 Glove Design Competitions Sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Glovers 2011 AWARDS LUNCHEON Tuesday 5 July Andrew Shiels with the Lady Mayoress Category 3: A pair of gloves for use in an industrial environment First Prize: Annabel Yeung, De Montfort University Runner Up: Kate Turton, De Montfort University Dents’ Prize for the most commercial design from all entries received: Abby Reeve, College of West Anglia The College making the greatest contribution to the Competition De Montfort University Safety Poster Competition: First Prize: Anna-Marie Mainwaring, Coleg Sir Gâr Runner-up: Henna Sameja, Kingston College fashionable winter gloves or gloves for use in an industrial environment. The Dents Prize was awarded for the most commercial design submitted and the Safety Poster competition underlines the importance of gloves in industry. After the Prize Giving, the Master began his speech by taking wine with the Liverymen admitted at that morning’s Court, Mrs Sarah Bridge of BM Polyco and Mr Alex Finnen, a long-standing member of our affiliated regiment. He then welcomed our distinguished guests. Besides Sir David Brewer, our guests included Mr Bruce Cope, Master of the Barbers’ Company, Mrs Jacqueline Talbot, Master of the Cordwainers of York and Major General Nicholas Cottam, Registrar of St Paul’s Cathedral. All received gloves from the Master, who then proposed their health. Replying on behalf of the guests, Sir David Brewer spoke of the privilege of being in such a lovely hall, which had recently been seen in the film “The King’s Speech”. Indeed he understood that Drapers’ Hall often substituted for Buckingham Palace in films, and sometimes for the Kremlin. He told us something of the work of the Lieutenancy in Greater London where any of the 32 Deputy Lieutenants might be as busy as the Lord Lieutenants in one of the shires. There were over 120 Royal visits within Greater London last year, requiring support from the Lieutenancy. Dressing up was an essential part of being both Lord Mayor and Lord Lieutenant and Sir David noted that the one item of dress he had managed to use for both appointments was the pair of white kid gloves which the Glovers’ Company had presented during his year as Lord Mayor. They are still admired whenever they were worn. Category 2 winning designs THE GLOVER December 2011 Seventeen
Page 1 and 2: THE No. 95 - December 2011 The Elec
Page 3 and 4: I have read my predecessors’ mess
Page 5 and 6: looked back on a fantastic year as
Page 7 and 8: the Stadthuis, or Town Hall, withou
Page 9 and 10: THE LORD MAYOR’S SHOW The Master
Page 11 and 12: By 10 o’clock on that Saturday mo
Page 13 and 14: THE BANQUET AT MANSION HOUSE - Frid
Page 15: 444 (Shoreditch) Squadron Air Train
Page 19 and 20: Greg is married to Anne-Marie and t

THE GLOVER December 2011 - The Worshipful Company of Glovers

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