Honourable Company of Master Mariners

2025-09-05T10:03:49Z

2A00:23C6:4CCA:4D01:490B:14C3:7711:3C32: /* Clerks */

{{short description|Livery company of the City of London}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2014}}
[[File:Stained glass to the Honourable Company of Master Mariners, Guildhall, London.JPG|thumb|Stained glass to the Honourable Company of Master Mariners, Guildhall, London]]
The '''Honourable Company of Master Mariners''' is one of the [[Livery company|livery companies]] of the [[City of London]].<ref name=ft>{{cite news|last=Engel|first=Matthew|title=British institutions: livery companies|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/e42e19a0-47da-11e2-a899-00144feab49a.html#slide0|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210211225/https://www.ft.com/content/e42e19a0-47da-11e2-a899-00144feab49a#slide0|archive-date=10 December 2022|url-access=subscription|access-date=22 December 2012|newspaper=ft.com|date=21 December 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> While the other livery companies are entitled to the style ''[[Your worship|Worshipful]]'',<ref name=ft/> the Master Mariners are styled ''[[Honourable]]'', King [[George V of the United Kingdom|George V]] having granted them that honour in 1928.

The Company aids nautical schools and promotes nautical research. Members meet regularly to socialise, discuss technical issues and assist with the mentoring and training of young officers, who will train at sea to reach [[master mariner]] status.<ref name="Vaughan">{{cite book |last=Vaughan |first=Roy |date=2015 |title=The Last of a Salty Breed |publisher=Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency |page=64 |isbn=9781681811680}}</ref>

The Honourable Company ranks seventy-eighth in the [[order of precedence]] for livery companies. Its motto is ''Loyalty and Service''. The organisation nominally has the right to allow two of its Masters to serve as [[Assessor (law)#United Kingdom|nautical assessors]] in the [[Admiralty Court]].<ref name="Admiralty">{{cite book |date=2017 |title=Admiralty Jurisdiction and Practice |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=783 |isbn=9781317424215}}</ref><ref name="AnnualPractice">{{cite book|date=1964 |title=The Annual Practice. Volume 1. Great Britain. Supreme Court of Judicature
|publisher=Sweet and Maxwell |page=O.58(r.9)}}</ref>

The company works with other industry organisations such as the [[International Federation of Shipmasters' Associations]].<ref name="Praegar">{{cite book |date=2009 |title=Terror on the High Seas. Volume 1 |publisher=Praeger Security |page=580}}</ref> This includes the organisations of lectures and command seminars.<ref name="Praegar"/>

==History==
The company was formed and incorporated in 1926.<ref name="Spectre">{{cite book |last=Spectre |first=Peter |date=2007 |title=The Mariner's Book of Days 2008 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group |isbn=9781574092431}}</ref> In February 1928, [[Edward VIII|Edward, Prince of Wales]] was elected Master of the company. The company was made an official Livery Company by the City of London in 1932, making it the first new Livery Company to be formed since 1746.<ref name=ft/>

In February 1952 [[Queen Elizabeth II]] became royal patron of the company.<ref>Transactions of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. Volume 95Royal Institution of Naval Architects, 1953. PAGE XXVII</ref> In June 1954, [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]] was made a Master of the company.<ref name="Cawthorne">{{cite book |last=Cawthorne |first=Nigel |date=2021 |title=I Know I Am Rude, but It Is Fun. Prince Philip on Himself and Others |publisher=Gibson Square Books}}</ref>

Between 1988 and 1990, [[Charles, Prince of Wales]] was Master of the company.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hcmm.org.uk/about-us/our-company/history/past-masters|title=Past Masters|work=The Honourable Company of Master Mariners|access-date=21 April 2025}}</ref> From 2005 to 2007, [[Anne, Princess Royal]] served as Master of the company.<ref name="Royal">{{cite web|url=https://www.royal.uk/the-princess-royal-70-facts-70|title=The Princess Royal – 70 facts at 70 |date=13 August 2020 |publisher=The Royal Household |access-date=5 July 2022}}</ref> [[Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh]] was appointed Master in 2025.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/court-circular-april-25-2025-jb9xc8x0w|title=Court Circular|work=The Times|date=25 April 2025|access-date=26 April 2025}}</ref>

==Clerks==
* 1926–1959: W T C Smith Esq
* 1959–1967: M H Disney Esq
* 1968–1991: D H W Field Esq
* 1991–2002: J A V Maddock Esq
* 2002–2005: Cdr I S Gregory RN
* 2005–2008: Cdr R W W Craig RN
* 2009–2020: Cdre A Menzies RN
* 2020–2025: S Hanlon
* 2025-present: M Jenkins

==HQS ''Wellington''==
[[File:HQS Wellington.jpg|thumb|HQS ''Wellington'']]
Between 1948 and 2023, instead of the usual [[Livery company#Livery halls|livery hall]], the Honourable Company of Master Mariners had a headquarters ship, [[HQS Wellington|HQS ''Wellington'']], moored on the Thames at [[Victoria Embankment]].<ref name=ft/><ref name="Smith">{{cite book |last=Smith |first=David |date=2007 |title=The Honourable Company of Master Mariners and the Floating Livery Hall HQS Wellington |publisher=The Wellington Trust |isbn=9780955340512}}</ref> The Company purchased the {{sclass|Grimsby|sloop|0}} [[sloop-of-war|sloop]] from the Admiralty in 1947 following donations from their members.<ref name="Smith"/><ref name="Robins">{{cite book |last=Robins |first=Nick |date=2021 |title=From War to Peace. The Conversion of Naval Vessels After Two World Wars |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |page=81 |isbn=9781399009614}}</ref> She was subsequently converted for use as a floating livery hall in [[Chatham Dockyard]].<ref name="Smith"/> The conversion was paid for by donations from [[Lloyd's of London]], private benefactors, shipping companies and other livery companies.<ref name="Smith"/> In December 1948, the ship was moved to her permanent mooring along the [[Victoria Embankment]].<ref name="Smith"/> In 1991, the ship was extensively refurbished following a period of [[Dry dock|dry-docking]] in the private yards at [[Sheerness Dockyard]].<ref name="Smith"/>

In July 2005, ownership of HQS ''Wellington'' was transferred from the Honourable Company to a new organisation, the Wellington Trust, although the company retained its home onboard and was largely responsible for leadership within the trust.<ref name="Smith"/> On 6 April 2023, it was announced that, due to safety concerns, the Honourable Company would leave the ship, though they were developing plans for a new floating livery hall.<ref>{{cite web |title=HCMM's Departure from HQS Wellington |url=https://www.hcmm.org.uk/resource/hcmm-departure-from-hqs-wellington.html |publisher=Honourable Company of Master Mariners |access-date=15 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404234625/https://www.hcmm.org.uk/resource/hcmm-departure-from-hqs-wellington.html |archive-date=4 April 2023 |location=London |date=4 April 2023}}</ref>

On display on the ship was the steering wheel of the ship ''Otago'', the Master [[Joseph Conrad]] having sailed on the ''Otago''. Following her destruction in 1931, the wheel was presented to the Honourable Company.<ref name="Fullerton">{{cite book |last=Fullerton |first=Susannah |date=2009 |title=Brief Encounters |publisher=Pan Macmillan Australia |page=88 |isbn=9781741984866}}</ref>

==Coat of arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = [[File:Arms of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners.svg|200px]]
|escutcheon = Argent, on waves of the sea a representation of the ship 4 The Golden Hind' in full sail all proper; on a chief arched azure a terrestrial globe also proper between two mullets of the field.
|crest = On a wreath of the colours, In front of a sun in splendour proper a quadrant Or.
|supporters = On either side a sea horse proper gorged with a naval crown Or, that on the dexter supporting a staff proper headed Or, flying therefrom the Union Flag, and that on the sinister supporting a like staff, flying therefrom the Red Ensign also proper.
|motto = 'Loyalty and Service'<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/wiki/Honourable_Company_of_Master_Mariners|title=Honourable Company of Master Mariners | publisher=Heraldry of the World |accessdate=31 January 2024}}</ref>
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.hcmm.org.uk/ The Master Mariners' Company]
* [https://archive.today/20061008143134/http://www.mscos.ac.uk/ The Marine Society]

{{Livery companies in the City of London}}
{{authority control}}

{{coord|51|30|38|N|0|6|45|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}

[[Category:Livery companies|Mariners]]
[[Category:1926 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Charities based in London]]

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Honourable Company of Master Mariners