Gildhall News November 2012

Reconstruction of the Freeman’s Arms in the Fishing Heritage Centre in Grimsby

Number 61

November 2012 1

All ages enjoy reading the Gildhall News, Freya Branson, daughter of Nicola caught looking at the last issue

Leicester Freemen Christmas Cards available in packs of 6 2

Number 61

November 2012

Patron: Colonel Robert Martin OBE President: The Lord Mayor of Leicester OFFICERS 2012 - 2013 Master: J.E.Tolton Deputy Master: A. Chettle Clerk: L. Roffee Chamberlain: M.B. Hill WARDENS M.E. Ayres, E.L. Critchlow, J.D. Lewitt, A. Marriott , B.W. Mudford, L. Kirk (co-opted) 3

GILDHALL NEWS November 2012

Contents Editor’s comments Report by John Tolton, Master of the Gild New Hereditary Freemen Report by Bill Hargrave, Chairman of the Board of Deputies Report on the F.E.W. by your representitive Michael Ayres Report on the Gild’s financial position Income & Expenditure account for year ending 31st March 2012

5 5 7 8 9 20 21

Future programme - dates for your diary Saturday 10th November, Fish & Chip evening with a talk on Family History Friday 14th December, visit to Pantomime at the Little Theatre Friday 1st March 2013, Long Alley Skittles at the Coach & Horses Saturday 13th April 2013, Wine & Cheese evening talk on Mediaeval Leicester

12 12 12 13

Contributions to the Gildhall News The History of the Freemen of Leicester - part 4 by John Tolton 13 Pratt family traced back to 1560 with Freemen connections by Norman Pratt 15 Invitation dated 1905 inside back cover

Subscriptions

20

Gild products

20

For Amusement Only I have a little SatNav Have a good day Kids in Church

17 18 18

Have you changed your address?

22

Forms included with the Newsletter Form to donated to St. Mary de Castro “Save our Spire” fund Booking form for Long Alley Skittle night on 1st March 2013 Booking form for Cheese & Wine evening on 13th April 2013 Application for Membership & Associate Membership of the Gild Standing Order form for Annual Subscriptions Gild products order form 4

Editor’s Comments I have included in this issue another one of the old documents that Eileen Greenwood found in her father’s paperwork after his death. They continue to give us an idea into the Leicester Freemen in days gone by. If you come across any old documents that you think may be of interest to other Freemen please don’t hesitate to send me copies.

If you have a story that would be of interest to other members, please put pen to paper, or finger to e-mail. We don’t need a book, only a short article, possibly one or two pages long. It could be longer if it’s enthralling!!

Preferably I would like to receive them as an attachment to an e-mail if possible, but pen and ink is acceptable.

Brian Mudford

Report by John Tolton, Master of the Gild I would like to open my report by welcoming the seven new freemen who were installed in a ceremony on Thursday the 27th of September at the Town Hall.

Congratulations to you all and I wish you a long and happy association with the Freemen of Leicester.

Further details of the ceremony are included in the newsletter elsewhere.

This summer (perhaps you noticed it) the weather has been appalling and we all feel cheated out of our annual dose of sunshine. It hasn’t all been bad news though, our success in the Olympic Games has lifted us all and everyone involved in the event, both competitors and the organizers, deserve the admiration of everyone. The whole games along with the Paralympics Games made me feel proud of our country and the feel good factor carried us through such a dismal summer.

Shortly after the last newsletter there was a Gild outing to Grimsby to visit the ‘Fishing Heritage Centre’ a multi award winning museum situated in the docks at Grimsby, followed by a tour of the trawler Ross Tiger. Having toured the museum I can see why it has won a number of awards. Many thanks to Maurice Hill for organizing the trip and more can be read about our day out elsewhere in the Gildhall News.

Each year the Coventry Guild of Freemen organize a games evening with skittles, table skittles, devil amongst the table, and other indoor games and 5

the Leicester Gild are invited to take part. Thirteen of us made our way over to the village of Barnacle on September 7th where the event is held and pitted our skills against those of the Coventry Freemen. Sadly as a team we did not fare to well but we did manage to boast the highest individual score by a lady.

Ray Daniell’s guest, Daisy, won the Coventry & Leicester Guilds Challenge Trophy for being the most successful lady of the evening by putting the rest of our team to shame. The evening event is not advertised in the Gildhall news because of the short notice we receive but interested Gild members should express their interest and they will be notified about next year’s event.

Invitations are restricted to Gild members and their guests only.

Again in September a few of us went to York to attend the Freemen of England and Wales Annual General Meeting and more of the weekend will be reported elsewhere in the newsletter.

Mick Ayres and I with our respective wives attended a cheese and wine evening early in September at the Church of St. Mary de Castro, an event held to launch the ‘Save Our Spire’ appeal. The spire of St Mary de Castro is in a really poor condition with a crack in the fabric of the spire wide enough for a man’s arm to enter. There is a particular connection with the Gild of Freemen in that the church was founded in the year 1107 by Robert of Meulan, who also granted a charter in the same year to the Merchants of Leicester allowing for the formation of a Gild of Merchants; the predecessors of the Freemen of Leicester. Apart from a number of fund raising events to be organized by the church there is a ‘Sponsor our Stones’ initiative whereby sponsors donate a sum of money for a stone which is dedicated to that sponsor. The nature of the stone depends on the sum of money donated. A sum of £250, or more, would pay for a decorated stone sponsored by and dedicated to the Freemen of Leicester. As Master of the Gild I would like to set up a fund with the object of raising sufficient to sponsor a decorated stone, the money to be raised at functions and through donations, and I will start the ball rolling by donating £10. Virginia Wright, a Leicester Blue Badge Guide, has agreed to give a talk at a cheese and wine evening at the Holt next March and agreed that her fee will be donated to the fund.

On the last Saturday in September the Family History Society held a Family History Fair at Parklands in Oadby and the Gild were asked if they would like to have a stand at the Fair; an offer that we took advantage of. Two of us, Lynn Roffee and I attended and our display showed something of the history of the freemen and we also took along some registers of the freemen dating back to 1770. I was surprised at how busy we were dealing with inquiries and 6

general chit-chat about the freemen and pleased with the interest shown by visitors generally. One particular visitor was of personal interest to me. He told me that he had met Roger Allen and that he knew Roger’s sister Janet and that his surname was Snow. So I told him that at junior school there was a Diane Snow in our class to which he responded that Diane was his sister.

The coincidence was further compounded when it transpired that he was in the same class as my brother at junior school. We both enjoyed the day very much and it was a pleasure to tell people a little about the freemen and their history.

This last year the number of articles from different Gild Members has increased adding a more varied content to the newsletters. The Gildhall News is yours and it is an excellent medium for us to keep in touch with each other.

Many members cannot attend our functions for various reasons; geographical, age or whatever; but it is always a pleasure to hear from you, so please continue sending in your articles and items of interest.

Congratulations to Brian Mudford for producing such an excellent journal and for performing the task of chasing up contributors with a degree of diplomacy and tact.

New Hereditary Freemen

John Tolton

A Freemen’s Court was held on Thursday 27th September in the presence of the Right Worshipful the Lord Mayor of Leicester Councillor Abdul Osman along with Bill Hargrave, Chairman of the Board, Brian Mudford, Vice Chairman of the Board, John Tolton, Master of the Gild of Freemen and Keith Harding, member of the Gild of Freemen. The Lord Mayor welcomed everyone to the Court and gave a brief speech about the history of the relationship between the Freemen and the Government of Leicester.

After the opening speech the formal proceedings took place. The City Solicitor, Kamal Adatia, asked each applicant in turn to identify themselves and to confirm that they had a witness present and the applicants were then asked to recite the Oath of Freedom. On completion of reciting the Oath each new freeman was asked to approach the bench in turn to sign the Oath.

The new freemen sworn in at the Freemen’s Court were: Marjorie Bailey Daniel Findley Amanda O’Donnell 7

Kane O’Donnell Sebastian O’Donnell Theresa Smith Gerald Whatley Congratulations to all the new freemen and may their association with the freemen be long and fruitful. See the back cover for a group photograph of the new Freemen.

Report by Chairman of the Board - Bill Hargrave In August, our Freemen’s visitor, Eileen Carr retired after 13 years working for the Freemen of Leicester.

Eileen has been a loyal and dedicated member of the team. More than just the “freemen’s visitor” she has been a true friend to the residents of the Holt.

A lunch held to mark her retirement was attended by 50 residents and deputies. The residents presented her with a gold necklace. The board added to the residents’ farewell gift some matching earrings and a voucher for a weekend break for Eileen and the husband Howard.

Finding a replacement for Eileen has been very difficult.

Over 85 applications were received. Preliminary interviews and practicality testing of all the serious contenders reduced the numbers to 11. These faced a panel of residents in “speed dating” type interviews to establish those applicants who were most compatible with the Holt environment.

After final selection interviews and one false start Mrs Sandra Stocks has been appointed.

Eileen receives her Weekend Break voucher supported by Maurice Hill & Sandra Stocks 8

Following her initial training and an handover period with Eileen, Sandra has taken to the post enthusiastically and is settling in well. Feedback from residents has been very positive.

September also saw “Freemen’s fun time” resume after the summer break and the welcome return of Freemen’s Flicks. These activities are primarily attended by residents of the Holt. However I would remind you that all freemen are welcome to attend and participate in any of our events.

The new Lord Mayor, Cllr Abdul Osman conferred the Hereditary Freedom of the City on seven people in September. The next major ceremony is scheduled to be held on Saturday 19th of January 2013.

I have been informed by the Lord Mayor’s office that although they have a number of initial applications very few of them have provided the necessary documentation to support their application. If you are aware of anyone who have applied but have not been given a date for the ceremony, please ask them to contact the Lord Mayor’s office. Also if there are any other prospective freemen who have not yet applied please encourage them to apply as soon as possible.

We are currently redesigning the Leicester freemen’s website. It is hoped that it will not just sit in cyberspace but become a vehicle for improved communication amongst the Freemen of the City of Leicester The new website will be easier to maintain and keep fresh. In addition to the public information sections and current contact details there will be pages for both historical articles and notices of future activities. it is hoped to include password protected “members areas” to allow registered freemen to access board minutes and other documents of interest.

Bill Hargrave

Report on the FEW (Freemen of England and Wales) by Michael Ayres This year the AGM of the Freemen of England and Wales was hosted by the Gild of Freemen of the City of York, which coincided with the 800th anniversary of the granting of the first Charter to the City of York.

The weekend commenced on Friday 14th September with the registration of the delegates at 5 00 pm. This year the Leicester Gild was represented by six members that included The Master, John Tolton, with his wife Josie, the Deputy Master ,Tony Chettle, Eric Critchlow and Michael and Jean Ayres.

9

With registration completed, we were able to sit down with a drink and chat with freemen from other guilds and their wives before the welcome supper at 7 30 pm. After the supper we were entertained at 9 00 pm with a presentation by the Yorkshire Film Archives, this was a very interesting film showing life in York and the factories in olden times.

Saturday 15th September began with a Special Court Meeting to approve the amendment to Item 10b of the FEW Constitution, this was followed by the Open Forum at 10 00am.

The AGM commenced at 11 00am. The full report of the meeting and the weekend events will be published in the Freemen of England and Wales October Journal no 172. (For the guests of delegates not attending the AGM there was a walking tour of York with a Blue Badge Guide.)

The morning concluded with a buffet lunch at 12 30pm. In the afternoon members of the York Gild were available to guide guests to their own chosen attraction in York.

The evening began with Pre-Banquet entertainment of a Fanfare of Yorkshire Brass at 6 30pm, preceding the Grand Yorkshire Banquet at 7 45pm held in the magnificent 16th century Merchant Adventures Hall. The menu began with a starter of Smokehouse Fish Platter followed by the main course of Sirloin of Beef with Yorkshire pudding and local seasonal vegetables. For Dessert we had Trio of Yorkshire Desserts, followed with Yorkshire Cheese Board. After which we had Tea, Coffee and Handmade Chocolates.

The Loyal Toast was proposed by the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of York. Councillor Keith Hyman.

After a short break the toast to the Freemen of England and Wales was proposed by the Master of the Gild of the Freemen of York, Mrs. Hazel Hague.

The President to the England and Wales, Mr Alan Fallows, then responded to the toast. The evening concluded at 11 00pm.

Sunday 16th September, we returned to the Merchant Adventurers Hall at 9 30am to robe ready for the procession to the Gild Church of All Saints Pavement at 10 00am. After the service at 11 30am we processed from the Church back to the Merchants Adventures Hall for the Buffet Lunch at 12 noon. At 1 00pm there was the normal farewell speeches before the Master of the York Gild Hazel Hague handed the FEW Baton to the Master of the Oxford Guild Howard Crapper in preparation for next year’s AGM in Oxford.

Michael Ayres 10

Trip to the Fishing Heritage Centre, Grimsby 19th August 2012 Sunday 19th August dawned bright and sunny. At 9.30 prompt we set sail from the Holt and headed to Grimsby stopping on route for coffee arriving at the Heritage Centre at midday. The Centre is well laid out and the tour starts at the top of the building and works down.

Room by room and level by level one gets a very in depth appreciation of the life led by the trawler men from the heat of the boiler room, the cold of the icy conditions on the deck and where the catch was packed to keep it fresh. There are many very realistic tableaus showing where the crew worked and slept during up to two weeks at sea.

After our time in the Centre we went on board the Ross Tiger trawler which is moored in the river next to the Centre. Our guide, an ex trawler man, delighted in showing us around the vessel and its workings. In the engine room he demonstrated the noise of the engines by playing a recording of the actual engine running albeit at only half the noise level and that was deafening. We saw the manual that the captain would have had to use for reference if he had been forced to remove say an appendix when at sea, the mind boggles. The trawler men earned every penny of their money living and working in an environment like they did.

We left the trawler and travelled down the road to the seafront in Cleethorpes and in the bright warm sunshine strolled along the front before visiting Steels Corner house restaurant for dinner. Steel’s reputation is evidenced by the queue along the pavement outside waiting to be admitted. However, our tables had been reserved and we went straight in. The service and food was excellent and when I saw the superb piece of fish on my plate I thought of the trawler men bringing the catch on board whilst standing in icy conditions on the heaving deck. The fish was cheap at half the price. We travelled back to the Holt and finally anchored at 8.30 at the end of a most enjoyable day out.

Maurice Hill

2012 Garden Party Well the party’s over and packed away for another year and I’m sure that everyone will agree that it was a success and blessed with superb weather on the day. As Chairman of the organising committee may I take this opportunity 11

to thank all those who worked tirelessly both at front of house and behind the scenes to create such an enjoyable event. Thank you all.

On the day we raised £2100 for leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. There is only one thing remaining to be done and that is to reveal the winner of the word search competition. Remember the competition was to find as many words of 4 letters or more that can be found from the letters in “FREEMEN’S GARDEN PARTY”. Having carefully checked the entries the eventual winner, with an incredible 441 words, was, Lynda Bramley’s mother Eileen Stroczkowski, of Ashlyns Rise, Western Park, Leicester and so Eileen wins the £10 prize. See you all in 2014.

Maurice Hill

Programme of Future Events

Fish and Chip Evening - Family History talk Saturday 10th November 2012 – 7.30pm Freemen’s Holt, Old Church Street, Aylestone A few seats are still available. If you wish to attend please contact Maurice Hill without delay on 0116 289 5394

Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood pantomime 14th December at the Little Theatre, Dover Street, Leicester.

Unfortunately we have no tickets available, as any spare tickets had to be returned to the theatre by 1st November. If any more tickets are required, then interested parties should contact the Little Theatre directly.

Long Alley Skittles Night Friday 1st March 2013, arriving at 7.00pm Coach & Horses, Field Head, Markfield LE67 9RF Our Long-alley Skittles Night this year is again being held at The Coach and Horses, an Everards pub on the A50. Traditional skittles food will be served, there is a selection: Faggots, chips and peas, Steak & Ale Pie, chips and peas, and a Vegetable Lasagne, mixed salad and chips. Please indicate your selection on the booking form. The evening will be very relaxed, as usual, there is a maximum capacity of 45, so don’t miss out and book without delay.

The cost is only £8.00 each.

12

Cheese & Wine evening Saturday 13th April 2013, a talk on Mediaeval Leicester - 7.30pm Freemen’s Holt, Old Church Street, Aylestone Virginia Wright, one of Leicester’s Blue Badge Guides, will be joining us at our cheese & wine supper in April to talk about mediaeval Leicester. Be sure to come along and hear about local legend and myth, along with fascinating historical and architectural facts of our fair city. It promises to be a very interesting and entertaining evening.

After the talk, supper will be served, accompanied with plentiful wine, beer or soft drinks.

Tickets are priced at £8.50 each and you are urged to make your booking early.

Contributions to the Gildhall News ***************************** The History of the Freemen of Leicester - Part 4 To be a member of the Gild of Merchants offered many privileges but also included many responsibilities. In order to carry out any form of trade or business activity in Leicester one had to be a member of the Gild, not just the inhabitants of Leicester, but traders from elsewhere also had to be members. An inspection of the names of those early Gild members gives an insight into the extent of the membership in the 12th and 13th centuries. Because there were no surnames people were known by some identifying feature; their trade, their father’s name, some physical feature, or their home town; and it this latter means of identification that gives a clue to the geographical extent of the membership.

There are a number of local villages identified in the early lists of admissions; Blaby, Barkby, and Saddington; and further afield such places include Winchester, Litchfield and Anglia. One name that particularly catches the eye is Simonis of Petra, perhaps a connection with the Holy Wars.

Any person not belonging to the Gild was not permitted to carry out any kind of business within the borough, except on payment of a prohibitive toll. The Gild, through the authority of the Gild Court, framed the rules of commercial transactions and punished those traders who offended against those rules. Fines levied for any transgression of the rules were usually in the form of casks of ale later drunk by the brethren of the Gild.

13

Meetings of the Gild were called ‘Morningspeeches’ where new members were enrolled and the business of the Gild was transacted. The members of the Gild were summoned by the ringing of a bell to assemble at the meeting place; originally in the open by St Nicholas’ Church and later in a house specifically rented then purchased for the Gild. Members of the fraternity were usually known in those early years as ‘Brethren of the Gild’ but in later years were recorded as ‘Freemen’.

On admission each new member took an oath of fealty to the Gild (as they do today), the provided a surety for the fulfillment of their obligations (today all is required is a witness with no financial risk), and they also paid an entrance fee unless they were the heir of a gildsman. It is interesting to note that before the time of Simon de Montfort it was the youngest son who was heir to his father’s commercial rights; Simon in his role as Earl substituted the rights of inheritance to the oldest son. The entrance fee for those who did not inherit the freedom was 3 shillings for locals and 20 shillings for ‘strangers’ along with a ‘bull payment’ which varied according to the market price of a bull at that time, but usually between 6/8d and 13/4d. Bull baiting was a popular sport in medieval times and though there is no record confirming that a bull payment was for this purpose records from other towns would imply that this is the case. Indeed in Leicester there was a Gild regulation stating that no butcher should kill a bull unless it had been bated beforehand.

Becoming a member of the Gild involved responsibilities, some of which are identifiable in the oath taken, such as certain fines levied. The Gild Court consisted of 24 jurats and membership of the Court was not optional; if elected one had to accept the responsibility of taking their place on the Court. The same applied to the position of Alderman, or later Mayor, if elected it was not possible to refuse the position. Other specific responsibilities given to individuals included that of Clerk, Bellman and Sergeant for the recording of meetings, for summoning members to meetings and for the provision of law and order respectively.

The Court also imposed rules by which the members may carry out their business.

Already mentioned was the requirement to bate a bull before slaughtering it but rules also applied to other trades. Wool brought into town could only be purchased by a Gildsman and the brethren had official guides to help them buy wool in the neighboring country. One gild member was banished for a year and a day for telling a stranger the ways of the country. It was forbidden for Gildsmen to sell raw wool to strangers but cloth manufactured from wool could be sold to whom they pleased. There was an expectation that the Gild members should 14

be honest in all their dealings and goods were frequently inspected for defects in their quality and weight and it was the duty of Gildsmen to report defective goods. The fixing of prices without the approval of the Gild was also forbidden as were the wages of weavers. It was not just the cloth industry that rules were imposed upon. The wives of butchers were not permitted to purchase meat and then to sell it again unless the meat was cooked. Meat dealers must either be butchers, who kill and dress the joints for sale or be cooks who prepare the meat for immediate sale. Meat for sale could not be exposed for more than three days and bakers could not sell bread that had been exposed for more than a week.

The rules of the Gild of Merchants were wide and varied but were there to both protect the members of the Gild and to protect the customers from unscrupulous dealings.

In the early part of the 12th century the main industry in Leicester was in the manufacturing of cloth, although this appears to have diminished in the latter part of the 13th century because the industry moved out to the countryside.

Primarily Leicester became a centre of trade after the decline of the cloth industry which led to the colonization of the area between the present Silver Street, Grey Friars and the present market place by stalls, shops and houses. The site of the Grey Friars has reached international fame recently with the finding of the bones of possibly King Richard III. It is not only the industry that changed in Leicester, the meeting place of the Merchant Gild moved on from the open meeting place by the Church of St. Nicholas, but more of that in the next Gildhall News.

John Tolton

Pratt family traced back to 1560 with Freeman connections Tracing ones ancesters back into the depths of time can be an intriguing and time consuming business but it also has great rewards. Since returning to my home county of Leicestershire some seven years ago after 18 years away and being in posession of certain documents relating to my ancestry I decide to delve further.

In a previous article to the Guildhall News I related my great grandfathers experience as Bank Manager of the Pares Bank in Loughborough, when he was shot at by a footpad and the pistol ball passed through his hat. That is recorded in a 1840 Police Poster offering a ÂŁ100 reward for information given.

I also indicated that his father was a Hosier, renting out knitting machines to 15

cottage industrial workers, supplying them with yarn, and then taking their product to market. Both were Freemen of the then Borough of Leicester.

However, at the time I was having difficulty taking the line back further.

I put my family tree on the web and withing a few weeks got replies from other Pratt associated families across the country. One of these was able to supply a further seven generations back until we were in the 1560’s. It took me some time to confirm the individuals but now I am satisfied that they do represent my ancestrial lineage.

So! For your interest, I would like to extract a few items which relate to my Leicester City Freedom as indicated from the records, Each name mentioned was the son of the preceeding name. William Pratt, born 1606 was a Taylor from Long Watton.

Gorge Pratt, born around 1636 was a Yeoman and married a Birkhead (Brewer).

John Pratt, born 1649, was a Freeman and an alderman of the Borough of Leicester and in 1705 became Chamberlain of the Borough.. He was apprenticed to a Thomas Birkhead .

He married twice and had 11 children by his second wife Dorothy Rayson, daughter of George Rayson, gentleman.

George Rayson Pratt, born 1699, was made free in 1721, followed by John Pratt his son born in 1742 and made free in either 1758 or 1762 (Some confusion). It was this gentleman who produced a son, John Pratt, born around 1780, who became the Hosier and was also made free, followed by his bank manager son. Both were also Freemasons of St Johns.

For some reason my grandfather and father did not take up their freedom but, as I have already related, when I returned to Leicester seven years ago I made contact and shortly afterwards was made free. Since then my eldest daughter, Prof. Karen Pratt, my second daughter, Dr Julie Pratt, and my son Steven Pratt have all received the Freedom of the City and I have two grandsons who I sincerely hope will follow on with the long Pratt tradition.

With the arrival on the Freeman scene of all of the new Freemen, both male and female I sincerely hope the tradition of apprenticeships, skills transfer, and association with Leicestershire trade and Commerce can continue and that we, the current generations, can leave a legacy of entrepaneurship that our forefathers generated and nurtured in the past. “Long live Freedom� .

Norman Pratt 16

I have a little Satnav I have a little Satnav It sits there in my car A Satnav is a driver’s friend It tells you where you are I have a little Satnav I’ve had it all my life It’s better than the normal ones My Satnav is my wife It gives me full instructions Especially how to drive ”It’s thirty miles an hour”, it says ”You’re doing thirty five” It tells me when to stop and start And when to use the brake And tells me that it’s never ever Safe to overtake It tells me when a light is red And when it goes to green It seems to know instinctively Just when to intervene It lists the vehicles just in front And all those to the rear And taking this into account It specifies my gear.

I’m sure no other driver Has so helpful a device For when we leave and lock the car It still gives its advice It fills me up with counselling Each journey’s pretty fraught So why don’t I exchange it And get a quieter sort?

Ah well, you see, it cleans the house, Makes sure I’m properly fed, It washes all my shirts and things And - keeps me warm in bed!

Despite all these advantages And my tendency to scoff, I do wish that once in a while I could turn the damned thing off!

17

Have a good day An OAP drove his brand new BMW Z4 convertible out of the car salesroom. Taking off down the motorway, He floored it to 100 mph, enjoying the wind blowing through what little hair he had left. ”Amazing!” he thought as he flew down the M1, enjoying pushing the pedal to the metal even more. Looking in his rear view mirror, he saw a police car behind him, blue lights flashing and siren blaring. ”I can get away from him - no problem!” thought the elderly nutcase as he floored it to 110mph, then 130 then 150mph.

Suddenly, he thought, “What on earth am I doing?

I’m too old for this nonsense!” So he pulled over to the side of the road and waited for the police car to catch up with him.

Pulling in behind him, the police officer walked up the driver’s side of the BMW, looked at his watch and said, “Sir, my shift ends in 10 minutes. Today is Friday and I’m taking off for the weekend. If you can give me a reason why you were speeding that I’ve never heard before, I’ll let you go..”

The old man looked very seriously at the policeman and replied, “Years ago my wife ran off with a policeman. I thought you were bringing her back.” ”Have a good day, Sir”, said the policeman.

Kids in church 3-year-old Reese : ’Our Father, Who does art in heaven, Harold is His name. Amen.’ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A little boy was overheard praying: ’Lord, if you can’t make me a better boy, don’t worry about it. I’m having a real good time like I am.’ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After the christening of his baby brother in church, Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, ‘The vicar said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you ’ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they were on the way to church service, ‘And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?’ One bright little girl replied, ‘Because people are sleeping.’

18

Subscriptions Subscription rates for members and associate members increased from April 2012 to £9.00 and £6.00, respectively.

This means that those members who kindly pay by standing order, if you haven’t amended your standing order, as requested in the Gildhall News, your bank will have paid the incorrect amount on 1st April 2012.

Would you please check your bank statement. If you have under-paid would you please send a cheque for the amount owing to Maurice Hill, 3 Mossdale Road, Kingsway, Leicester LE3 2UT. For those of your who are amending your Standing order, or are new members who wish to start a Standing order, then this is the procedure to use. Using the form with this issue of Gildhall News, complete the information on the two pages. The first page should be sent to Maurice Hill at his address above, the second page of the Standing order should be posted to your bank manager. If you have any queries on completing the Standing order please contact Maurice Hill on 01162895394.

The Gild Court much prefers payment by Standing Order, as it makes for easier administration. However, if you prefer, you may pay by cheque in the traditional manner, sending in the enclosed form with your payment.

Gild Products Gild products make very useful birthday gifts and attractive Christmas presents, particularly the cuff links, ties, lapel badges, pens and key-rings.

The Christmas card showing a delightful photograph of a frosty morning at the Holt, taken by Lynda Bramley are still available in packs of 6 for £4.00. See photograph inside front cover.

The order form which is included should be completed and sent to Maurice Hill, 3 Mossdale Road, Kingsway, Leicester LE3 2UT, and products will be sent by return mail.

If you have any queries about the products please contact Maurice Hill on 0116 2895 394 19

REPORT ON THE GILD’S FINANCIAL POSITION Maurice Hill - Chamberlain Roger Allen has proven to be a difficult act to follow because he was always meticulous in his work but unfortunately in the last few months before his most untimely death he did not have the strength to complete some of his work as Chamberlain of the Gild.

When I took over in April 2012 my first task was to gather together all the required information in order to get the accounts audited. This proved to be a most challenging task. First the bank took almost two months to hand over the responsibility for the accounts to me because they lost all the paper work we had submitted to them, a lot of information was scattered at various addresses, some information was incomplete and other information was, frankly, lost.

Finally I had enough information in order to meet with our Honorary Auditor Russell Mason.

After a fairly lengthy session with him it was agreed that in the circumstances we could prepare a reasonable picture of the Gild’s financial position albeit not 100% correct but certainly the best possible given the circumstances .

The audited accounts entitled “Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31March 2012” are printed on the opposite page and show figures for the current year compared with the previous year.

The most significant feature of the accounts is the worth of the Gild is shown as £999 increase on the previous year. The stock of Gild insignia would appear to have been over valued for some time. Stock we have held for quite a while should have possibly been written off or at least written down. Actual provenance of some items is not available making it impossible to determine the original cost and just as important, from where to buy replacement stocks?

The exact number of members was not possible to determine exactly because bank statements from April to December 2011 were missing and these would have contained listing of all who have paid their subscription by standing orders.

I do apologise for my little whinge but I am enjoying the challenge of the job and hope that I will be in a much better position to present the accounts next year. In closing can I remind you all that the annual subscriptions were increased this year to £9 for members and £6 for associate members. Quite a number of you have paid at the old rate. If this applies to you please submit the difference ASAP in order that I am in a better position to balance the books next year.

Any queries should be addressed to the Gild’s Chamberlain, Maurice Hill, on 0116 2895394 20

The Gild of Freemen of the City of Leicester INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2012

INCOME Entrance fees Annual subscription: Gildsmen : Associate members : Donations Sales of Gild insignia: Gowns, ties, badges, etc.

Less cos Bank interest

2012 £ 22 813 245

1,058 18

947 (1,445)

(498) 2 602

2011 £ 24 1,342 428

914 (983)

1,770 54

(69) 2 1,781

EXPENDITURE Functions and events: Expenses 6,823 Income (8,313) Printing, postage and stationery Freemen of England and Wales: Membership subscription - 2011 Donation to Lord Mayor’s Appeal Insignia presented to: Civic authorities Other Guilds Miscellaneous expenses

(1,490) 722

7,571 (6,806)

60 200

30 200

28 0 83 (397)

Excess (deficit) of Income over Expenditure

28 0 241 2,557

999

Add Balance from previous year

765 1,293

(776)

6,046 7,045

6,822 6,046

Cash at Bank Stock of Gild insignia Prepayments

5,448 1,844 0 7,292

5,444 1,865 157 7,466

Less Cash received in advance and creditors

(247) 7,045

(1,420) 6,046

REPRESENTED BY:

I have examined the books and vouchers of the Gild and certify that the Income and Expenditure Account is in accordance therewith.

Russell D Mason, Honorary Auditor

21 September 2012

21

Have you changed your address ?

In the event that is necessary to inform the Gild or the Board of any change in circumstances then the information should be sent to: Lynda Bramley Clerk to the Board Leicester Freemen’s Estate 32 Freemen’s Holt Old Church Street Aylestone Leicester LE2 8NH Telephone: 0116 – 283 4017 E-mail: leicester.freemen@talktalkbusiness.net Leicester Freemen web site: www.leicester-freemen.com

Copy for the next issue should reach the Editor by th Friday 18 January 2013 For your News and Views write to : Brian Mudford 11 Huntsman Close Markfield Leicestershire LE67 9XE Telephone 01530 245414 e-mail: brianmudford@tiscali.co.uk

22

Invitation dated 1905 to the Celebration of Centenary of the acquisition by the Freemen of their Lands as Freehold Lands found by Eileen Greenwood in her father’s papers.

23

Seated from left to right either side of the Lord Mayor, Cllr Abdul Osman, are Brian Mudford, Vice Chairman of the Board of Deputies, Bill Hargrave, Chairman of the Board of Deputies, John Tolton, Master of the Gild of Freemen and Keith Harding a member of the Gild of Freemen.The three ladies and four gentlemen standing are the new Freemen after their swearing in ceremony on 27th September 2012