Clothworker Summer 2013 • No 9
The
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Welcome
The Master
Cover photo: James Brockman’s binding of ‘The Halls of the Livery Companies of the City of London’
Unusually in modern times, I am the third Master in a row whose family roots have been in textiles. My family firm, started in 1830, was the first ready-made clothiers in the world; I did a textiles degree at Leeds University, and for a number of years I worked in textiles – for Courtaulds, Fenwicks and then running my own business. So it was particularly fitting that one of my first duties as Master was to go to the Texprint private view at Chelsea College of Art and Design to talk to the finalists of this textile design competition, which the Clothworkers have been a major supporter of for a number of years. You can read more about the competition, and how one of our Liverymen, Scarlet Oliver, helps the charity by being a Council member, on page 6. In early October I shall be representing the Foundation at the opening of the new Clothworkers’ Centre for the Study and Conservation of Textiles and Fashion at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Without our grant of £1 million, this project would not have happened. I think we can all be very proud of the support the Clothworkers provide to textile projects whether in design, technology, heritage or conservation. We are one of the major philanthropic funders of textiles in the UK, and have made grants in excess of £8 million over the past ten years. Most people join the Company through a family connection; however, there is a significant
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minority who have become Clothworkers by Redemption, a number of whom have gone on to be Master. I was one such individual, having been introduced to the Clothworkers in 1969 by Kenneth Hargreaves, Master 1969/70. The Court believes that it is good policy to ‘refresh the gene pool’ from time to time by admitting some talented people from outside of the Company, without in any way doing away with the family feel of the Clothworkers. This is why my predecessor, Robin Booth, wrote to the younger Livery a few months ago asking them to think of friends or colleagues who might be potential candidates for membership. For those who did not respond to that letter, I would encourage you to give the matter some thought and let the Clerk know.
I am very much looking forward to my year. I think I may be the first Master who lives abroad, having moved from the Scottish Borders to La Rochelle on the west coast of France a few years ago. This will not prevent me making the most of my year and, thanks to the wonders of easyJet and the Clothworkers’ forward planning, I will be spending much of the time based at Dunster Court. I have invited some interesting speakers to the main Livery Dinners and hope that these, along with our other events, will be well supported. My wife Jacqui and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Hall during the year.
Christopher G McLean May Master
Civic City
Lord Mayor Sheriffs The annual election of two Sheriffs for the City of London took place on 24 June at Guildhall. Alderman Sir Paul Judge (Ward of Tower) and Adrian Waddingham CBE were elected. The new Sheriffs will be admitted into office on Friday 27 September ready to preside at the Election of the Lord Mayor on Monday 30 September. They will hold the position for one year. The office of Sheriff, a pre-requisite to becoming Lord Mayor, is one of the oldest in existence and dates back to the Middle Ages. Their duties today include supporting the Lord Mayor in carrying out official duties, attending the sessions at the Central Criminal Court in the Old Bailey and presenting petitions from the City to Parliament at the Bar at the House of Commons.
Alderman Sir Paul Judge was born in south London, studied in Catford, and has worked in the food industry and the not for profit sector, as well as taking public service jobs such as Director General of the Conservative Party and Ministerial Advisor at the Cabinet Office. He became a Freeman of the City of London in 1970 and chaired the Lord Mayor’s Appeal during Sir John Stuttard’s Mayoralty, was made a Knight Bachelor in 1996 and elected Alderman in 2007; he is an Honorary Assistant of The Clothworkers’ Company and a Past Master of the Marketors. He holds honorary doctorates from Cambridge, City and Westminster Universities, and is married and has two sons.
dge Sir Paul Ju Alderman
Adrian Waddingham
Alderman Fiona Woolf CBE is expected to be elected as the 686th Lord Mayor. She is a partner at the law firm CMS Cameron McKenna, specialising in electricity reform and infrastructure projects. Much of her work has been in advising governments and such institutions as the World Bank. Fiona was Sheriff in 2010/2011 and is a Liveryman of a number of companies, including the Solicitors, Plumbers, Builders’ Merchants and Wax Chandlers, all of which she is a Court Assistant.
Buckinghamshire resident Adrian Waddingham CBE qualified as an actuary in 1975, founding Barnett Waddingham LLP in Cheapside in 1989. He was appointed CBE in 2012 for services to the pensions and actuarial professions. He is a member of a number of City clubs and a trustee of a variety of charities including the Skeletal Cancer Action Trust, Sustrans and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. He is married with three children.
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New Members of the Freedom Patrimony
George Brown Son of Richard Brown, Liveryman. George has just completed his Masters Degree in Geography at Bristol University and plans to pursue a career in environmental science and climate change.
Henry Brown Son of William Brown, Liveryman. Educated at Marlborough and Cardiff University with a Mechanical Engineering degree. Henry recently joined Harris Pye working in Marine Engineering.
Katherine Dormon Daughter of Tessa Dormon, Freewoman. Katie obtained a Masters in Neuroscience at Nottingham University and is now working towards a PhD in Paediatric Leukaemia at Newcastle University.
Katherine Driver Daughter of the Rev. Bernard Driver, Liveryman. Born and educated in New Zealand, Kate has recently finished Law School. Currently studying for the Bar and working at DLA Phillips Fox.
Patrimonial Redemption Olivia Rentoul Daughter of Tessa Rentoul, Freewoman. Educated at Ibstock Place School in Roehampton and Frensham Heights. Olivia is currently studying Contemporary Photography at Northumbria University.
Elizabeth Ferns Daughter of Amanda Ferns, Freewoman. Elizabeth was educated at St Peter’s in Guildford and Durham University with a degree in Geography. She is now studying for a Masters.
Redemption Peter Howell Peter is the great great grandson of Sir Thomas Howell and the 3rd cousin of the current First Warden, Michael Howell. Peter was educated at Uppingham School and Sir John Cass College School of Art. He has spent his entire career as a silversmith, and has been selfemployed since 1975.
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Peter Howell kindly donated this portrait of Sir Thomas Howell to the Company. The portrait has undergone conservation work by Amelia Rampton and now hangs in the Hall. Sir Thomas Howell was apprenticed to Charles Furness as a Packer in 1816 and made Free by Servitude in August 1823. He progressed through the Company to Warden in 1848 but resigned from the Court in January 1857 owing to his position as Director General of Contracts at the War Office, and thus never became Master.
Obituary
Richard Neale Horne JP Master 1991-92 On 30 June 2013, aged 86 Richard Horne was born on 18 November 1926. The son of Lester Horne, Clothworker, he was made Free by Patrimony on 7 January 1948 and served as Master in 1991-92. Richard studied at Worcester College, Oxford and proceeded to have a distinguished career in the fuel-oil, coal and quarrying industries. He was recruited by Thomas Black Limited to join Boddy Industries Limited in 1950 and was swiftly promoted to Manager of the organisation’s largest quarry. Over the next thirty years, he progressed to become Director and Divisional Chairman, leaving in 1981 to be a Business Consultant for Petrofina on coal, and the Executive Chairman of a fibre-optics company in Leeds. No less active in his own time, Richard contributed very much to wider society. He was High Sheriff of South Yorkshire in 1984-85, Vice President of the Coal Trade Benevolent Association from 1977, a Sheffield City Magistrate for 27 years and a school governor. He was also a Trustee of the Cavendish Hip Foundation,
undergoing no less than seven hip replacements himself. Horne Clothworkers span four centuries. Thomas Horne, son of a Quaker Glover from Arundel who had similarly become involved in the coal industry, was the first in 1754. Hornes have contributed to the Company ever since and Richard was certainly no exception. He was Chairman of the Superintendence Committee and the Finance Committee, and gave time, expertise and energy to all areas of the Company’s work, and his contribution continued following his retirement from the Court. The Horne family can trace its origins in the coal trade back to the early 1700s and were members of the Woodmongers’ Company until it lost its charter in 1667. It was thus appropriate that Richard was active in reviving the Woodmongers’ and Coal Sellers’ Company, resulting in the formation of The Fuellers’ Company, of which he was Master in 1987-88. Richard enjoyed shooting, gardening, fly-fishing and spending
time with his family. He sadly lost his wife Cherry in 1997, but has three daughters, Sally, Debbie and Judy, and six grandchildren. A portrait of Richard with his younger brother John, who unusually became Master immediately after Richard in 1992, hangs in the Hall’s Reception Room with the Horne Cup, the Company’s only solid gold piece, on the table behind them. Presented by another Horne ancestor and Clothworker in 1928, the Cup is used only when a member of the Horne family is Master. Richard’s nephew Nick, John’s son, has recently joined the Court, so the Horne legacy continues.
Deaths Betty Kearsley, Freewoman September 2013 Richard Morgan, Freeman July 2013 Joyce, Lady Waley-Cohen, Freewoman June 2013 John Pownall, Freeman February 2013 James Morgan, Freeman January 2013
John Horne (left) and Richard Horne (right). Portrait painted by Johnny Jonas, Liveryman Summer 2013 | THE CLOTHWORKER | 5
Trusteeship Scarlet Oliver working on a textile commission at Aynhoe Park, Oxfordshire
Scarlet Oliver
did bridge the gap between my creative training at college and the real world of business.
Scarlet Oliver, Liveryman and member of the Textile SubCommittee, talks about her career and involvement with the Texprint charity through membership of the Council. I am a textile designer with my own business. I design contemporary, very individual fabrics which are equally suitable for couture fashion, bespoke interior designers and architects. I was very privileged early in my career to work with Paul Smith on his first woven upholstery collection and I am often in Paris creating fabrics for some of the major fashion houses. All my woven textiles are produced in British mills.
So I was thrilled last year when the Chairman of Texprint asked if I would join the Council. It meets twice a year, and includes some very interesting people in the business. designers. The students’ work is critiqued by a panel of leading names in the industry, and their portfolios are exhibited at a Private View at the Chelsea College of Art and at the major Indigo Show at Premiere Vision in Paris. All the big names in the fashion retail sector attend these events and many of the Texprint winners will succeed in selling their work and getting commissions.
I studied textiles at Central St Martins and the Royal College of Art, and was very fortunate to be selected as a Texprint winner in 2006.
The students also get advice from experts on such subjects as pricing their work and protecting their designs’ copyright.
Texprint is a fantastic charity which each year provides a launch pad for twenty-four graduating
The advice I received then has formed the back bone of my freelance business. Texprint really
A few of us on the Texprint Council have been lucky enough to experience being a Texprint winner ourselves. I can now see from a different perspective how much hard work goes into supporting each year’s textile graduates. The time and experience given by the board and Texprint’s wider industry supporters is invaluable. One of the major roles of the Council is to participate in the judging process; it takes quite a lot of time, but is so rewarding, and I find it very fulfilling to be able to help and guide up and coming textile designers, so that they can benefit from the same brilliant support I got at the start of my career.
We are one of the major supporters of Texprint and each year sponsor the Space prize, awarded for the best fabric design for interiors.
Photographer - James McCauley
Texprint The winner this year was Ffion Griffith, who has recently graduated from the Chelsea College of Art and Design, where she specialised in weave and construction textiles. Cherica Haye Her work aims to revive Welsh weave in an original way, fusing a contemporary colour palette with urban patterning using natural fibres. Ffion Griffith 6 | THE CLOTHWORKER | Summer 2013
Cherica Haye is the winner of the Pattern prize; we have funded Cherica during her Masters at the Royal College of Art. In her work, she explores traditional yarns alongside less conventional materials such as horsehair and plastic.
Collections
Bookbinding Bookbinding was recently described as ‘a craft in crisis’ and an appreciation for this endangered skill led the Company to elect to directly support bookbinders in 2005, through student bursaries, competition prizes and commissions of design bookbindings. Design bookbindings combine the highest levels of workmanship with the best in innovative design. By commissioning these unique bindings, vital support is offered to the craft and its craftsmen and in return the Company receives a very special work of art. The cover of this issue features the Company’s most recent
commission from the bookbinder James Brockman of The Halls of the Livery Companies of the City of London. This book was selected for binding as it contains reproduction illustrations of a number of Livery Halls, drawn by Howard Penton before so many, including Clothworkers’ Hall, were lost during World War II. The arches in Brockman’s cover design represent those of the bombed Victorian Clothworkers’ Hall as pictured inside. The use of purple, red and gold reflects the
grandeur of London’s Livery Companies, whilst the transparent vellum panels suggest windows looking out onto the fires of the Blitz, their panes decorated with gold and silver teasels symbolic of the Clothworkers’ craft. Brockman’s binding may be seen alongside the Company’s growing bookbinding collection on display in the Entrance Hall.
People, Property and Charity Another fascinating resource uncovering the Company’s past has been launched online. Following in the footsteps of the ROLLCO project, www.londonroll.org, ‘People, Property and Charity: The Clothworkers’ Company, 1500-1688’ is the result of over two years’ work by Dr Annaleigh Margery at the Institute of Historical Research.
Funded by the Company, Annaleigh studied historic Court Orders, account books, leases and wills in our archives, to reveal how the Clothworkers managed their growing portfolios of properties and charities. The website uses a map of London as a visual starting point from which to delve deeper. Select a marker for one of the Company’s past estates, dotted across the City and beyond, and from this you can link to information about the property itself, potted histories of the men and women who bequeathed it and find out more about the charitable gifts they left for the Company to administer. From tennis courts to new shoes, a glimpse of the
lifestyles and priorities of Early Modern society, its rich and its poor, is revealed through the buildings they lived in and the charitable works they supported or needed. ‘People, Property and Charity: The Clothworkers’ Company, 1500-1688’ is the first detailed history of the individual benefactor, property and other early bequests made to the Company, opening up our archives to academic researchers, family historians and the curious alike. Visit our website to find out more.
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Notable Clothworkers
Philip Christian One of our earliest benefactors was Philip Christian, Clothworker and founder of the first Free School in the Isle of Man. The Christian Family Philip Christian was born in 1593 on the Isle of Man, the son of a yeoman farmer called Daniel Christian. Often heralded as a Manx Dick Whittington, fourteen year old Philip apparently left home to seek his fortune aboard a schooner destined for London; an adventurous lad, complete with Manx cat perhaps! However, as his father Daniel was certainly dead by 1607, it seems likely that Philip’s family now struggled to care for a growing teenager, and packed him away to a city which promised hope, opportunity and independence. On 3 July 1607 the Company’s archives show Philip Christian had found his way to the capital where he was apprenticed for nine years to John Garrett, a Clothworker, a rumoured Manxman and perhaps a friend of the Christians’. His lengthy apprenticeship, two years longer than the seven years standard, was in fact not unusual for fatherless or orphaned children. Their indentures were as much a contract to be raised, cared and provided for as they were a means for vocational training. Philip the Clothworker On 15 October 1616, by now in his early twenties, Philip became Free of The Clothworkers’ Company. Clearly keen to become an active member, he himself became master to at least four young apprentices and joined the Livery on the 10 July 1639. He was elected as Renter Warden and Assistant in 1653, but sadly less than a year later, Philip passed away. 8 | THE CLOTHWORKER | Summer 2013
stepped ashore in 1607, but never forgot his early struggles. Not a father himself, he must have considered the advancement of education to be the most important legacy he could bestow. For, having provided for his wife Rebecca and left money to numerous sisters and cousins, the education of poor children in a home town he had probably never returned to was the subject of his main bequest. Portrait of Philip Christian
His Will reveals Philip had made a small fortune, that his home was close to Clothworkers’ Hall in Poultry and that his local Church was St Mildred’s. One may assume he was married and buried there, but the Great Fire of London in 1666 took St Mildred’s and her registers with it, so this remains unproven. Philip’s Legacy Philip had come a long way from the penniless teenager who
A copy of the Will in the Company’s archives reads: “... my two houses situate, lying and being under Lovell’s Lane in Pater Noster Rowe in the Parish of St. Faith under Paul’s Church, London, to the Clothworkers, that they and their successors shall pay out of the rents and profits thereof yearly to two poor youthes...to put them to be apprenticed. If it shall happen that there be not a Free School maintained for the teaching of children in the Towne of Peele, then my will is that the twenty pounds a year by me formerly given for the putting of
Receipt in Wardens’ bills showing payment for Peel School Master, 1706
Notable Clothworkers
Stained glass windows at the Free School
two boys out as apprentices shall cease, and the said sum be paid by the said Company of Clothworkers towards the maintenance of the said schools...” Peel Clothworker Schools As per his instructions, the Company paid £100 to build a Free School on Christian Street in 1687, and expanded and improved the site, including the commissioning of stained glass windows for the school from Lavers, Barraud and Westlake in 1878.
schools in Peel, but not enough on the rest of the island. The Education Committee in Douglas took over all education in Peel and the Company’s direct involvement in Peel ceased, although a legal obligation for all future schools there to be called Peel Clothworker
The Manx National Heritage Library and Archive Service
Direct support continued until the turn of the 19th century when it was felt there were too many
Philip Christian’s Will
Pupils at the Free School
Schools lived on, hence why the current Peel Clothworkers’ School, erected as recently as the 1950s, still bears the Company’s name. In 1993 the Company contributed to celebrations marking the fourth centenary of Philip Christian’s life at the Clothworkers’ School and his name has been given to a number of Children’s Centres on the island, supporting young people, their families and communities, a focus Philip would no doubt have been proud of. Within the Centre hangs a tribute to Philip and the Clothworkers and likewise, his portrait is displayed in our Hall. Part of the historical fabric of Peel and London, Philip is remembered by each as ‘a patriotic and philanthropic Manxman, a great benefactor to Peel and founder of the first Free School in the Isle of Man.’ Summer 2013 | THE CLOTHWORKER | 9
Conservation
Conserving natural mummies from the Nile Valley As part of our proactive conservation grants programme, each year we award a fellowship to allow a senior conservator to undertake specific research and a younger member of the profession to gain experience back-filling their role. Here Barbara Wills, Senior Clothworker Fellow at the British Museum, talks about the work she is doing with our support.
Over 40 naturally-mummified medieval bodies were recently recovered from cemetery sites in the Middle Nile saved from the rising waters of the Fourth Cataract Merowe Dam project in Sudan.
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Dating from the sixth to 15th centuries AD, the arid burial conditions have preserved not only the skeletal material but also the soft tissues and burial wrappings. Skin survives, as does hair, cartilage, some internal organs, textiles, cordage, sheepskins (one fleece, for example, dyed a bright indigo blue), leather amulets and simple jewellery. The mummies vary: all are fragile, usually fragmentary and soil-covered. Too vulnerable to handle safely for study, they needed further microexcavation, stabilisation, improved mounts and housing. The core of the project is finding good mounting and support techniques for the varied individuals as well as developing an understanding of the tissues, textiles and decay processes. The aim was to use stable mounting materials and create an adaptable, simple, and easily altered support system so that parts could be repositioned if necessary. No treatment should inhibit present or future analytical possibilities. Working closely with Dr Daniel Antoine (Curator of Physical Anthropology) each body is now being systematically treated, recorded and mounted. New discoveries are emerging, offering insights into the culture and a number of preliminary
investigations are underway. At least three different patterns of marks on the skin, for example, have been noted and investigated using infrared reflectography.
Amulet
The knowledge gained from the Fellowship project is being passed on to others via publications, presentations, studio visits, and more will follow. So far four students and seven colleagues have had the opportunity to help investigate and stabilise the bodies. All are contributing to the care and research of these unique medieval mummies, which will allow us to greatly enhance our understanding of the inhabitants of the Nile Valley.
Textiles
University of Leeds Court of Benefactors The University of Leeds has made the Company a founding member of its newly-established ‘Court of Benefactors’ to thank us for the ‘exceptional generosity which gives (us) a special place in the University’s philanthropic history’. The Master attended a Benefactors weekend on campus during which the Chancellor of the University, Lord Bragg, presented him with a commemorative book. Professor Stephen Russell, Professor of Textile Materials and Technology, and an Honorary Liveryman of The Clothworkers’ Company, paid tribute to the Company at the dinner which was held in the University’s Great Hall. The entry on the Clothworkers in the commemorative book includes the following comments: “The Worshipful Company of Clothworkers is the University’s
most longstanding benefactor; its generosity has shaped major developments at Leeds throughout the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. The Clothworkers gave £10,000 to build the College’s department for Textiles, Chemistry and Dyeing, and over subsequent years they provided generous grants for the maintenance and enhancement of these departments. In the 20th century, as the University rapidly expanded, the Clothworkers donated a large sum for the first halls of residence, while further grants supported student education and maintenance, as well as research.
magnificent gift to restore the Clothworkers’ Centenary Concert Hall for the University’s 100th anniversary, to the forwardthinking on-going support of the Clothworkers’ Innovation Fund to translate research into commercial applications, the Company remains a key partner in the University’s progress. Its £1.75m grant to establish the Clothworkers’ Centre for Textile Materials Innovation for Healthcare will support the technological advances which continue to mark the University as a global leader”.
This support has continued into the 21st century. From the
Colour and Textile Science The disciplines of textiles and colour science are closely linked and there are a number of prominent colour chemists working in textiles at Leeds. In order to project a coherent offering externally, the academics have decided to create a virtual centre, named Colour and Textile Science, which will build on the University’s expertise in this area. CTS will be able to promote Leeds’ brand in colour science and advanced textile materials to the outside world and provide a new platform for cross-disciplinary collaboration.
The Clothworkers have been keen for the two teams to work more closely together, and we are thus delighted by the new venture. In May, Michael Jarvis (Chairman of the Foundation) and Professor Michael Arthur (Vice Chancellor of
the University) unveiled a plaque commemorating the opening of the refurbished Colour and Textile Science building in Clothworkers’ Court, made possible through significant funding from the Foundation.
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Social Events
All event invitations are being sent by email so please ensure we have your current email address. Please send it to events@clothworkers.co.uk
The Clothworker | Design by Chris Monk | Printing by Trident Printing | www.tridentprinting.co.uk
Dinner Invitation cards In response to comments from some members, blank invitation cards and envelopes are available in the cloakrooms for Liverymen to collect and use if they so wish when inviting their guests.
Photos from recent events are available for download free of charge in the Members’ Area of the website on the Past Events page.
Staff We wish Alan and Becky Reed a long and happy retirement. Alan has been Butler at the Hall for nearly 21
years, and Becky has been working in the General Office on the Company’s events for the last 18 years.
Celina Mwangi has joined as Office and Events Administrative Assistant.
Dates for Your Diary Election of Lord Mayor and Livery Lunch Monday 30 September 2013 Court and Livery Dinner Wednesday 2 October 2013 RGS Lecture – The World’s Highest Mountains Tuesday 5 November 2013
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RGS Lecture – Subjective and Political Beliefs that have Mapped our World Tuesday 10 December 2013 Court and Livery Dinner Wednesday 4 December 2013 St Thomas’ Eve Freedom Lunch Monday 23 December 2013