Worshipful Company of Fishmongers
Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox Livery Company
The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers (or Fishmongers' Company) is one of the 111 livery companies of the City of London, being an incorporated guild of sellers of fish and seafood in the City. The Company ranks fourth in the order of precedence of City Livery Companies, thereby making it one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies.<ref name=CFH>Template:Citation</ref>
History
The Company records an unbroken existence for 750 years, forming as City fishmongers began to collaborate for mutual benefit,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> developing into a guild which managed London's fish trade according to their defined set of rules and regulation. The earliest evidence of such a group dates back to 1154, when a number of London fishmongers were fined for trading without Royal Warrant<ref name=":0" /> with the Company receiving its first Royal Charter from Edward I in 1272<ref name=CFH/> and securing approval for their "ordinances" or detailed market regulations in 1280.<ref name=Capon9>Template:Cite book</ref>
The medieval church forbade the consumption of meat on many days of the year for the purpose of fasting.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The market hall shared with the butchers had space sufficient to hold seventy-one market stalls and twenty lesser areas for their trades. In comparison, "most other traders were limited to a single street".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
This control was further reinforced by the 1364 Charter from King Edward III which stipulated that "anyone wishing to sell fish were required to lodge with a Fishmonger during their stay in the City".<ref name=Capon9 /> The fishmongers allied with other victuallers to maintain their monopoly, but were resisted by the "lesser trades" who suffered from the higher prices and whose candidate John Northampton became mayor in 1381 and ended the monopoly. However a Royal Charter granted by Richard II in 1399 restored all privileges. The same Charter states they should elect six Wardens annually, the number which continues to the present day.
The most famous City fishmonger is Sir William Walworth who, as Lord Mayor of London in 1381, helped bring the Peasants' Revolt to an end by stabbing the rebel Wat Tyler at Smithfield in the presence of King Richard II.<ref name=CFH/>
In 1512 the fishmongers merged with the stockfish company.<ref name=Capon11>Template:Cite book</ref>
In the early 17th century, the Company was granted lands at Ballykelly and Banagher in modern-day Northern Ireland, by the Crown. It remained a major landowner there until the 20th century, and the villages contain some of the most interesting buildings erected in Ulster by the Plantation companies.
In 1714, the Irish actor Thomas Doggett provided money to endow a boat race called Doggett's Coat and Badge Race in honour of the new king, George I of Hanover. The race was originally to be rowed annually on 1 August on the River Thames, by up to six young watermen per boat who were not to be out of their apprenticeship by more than twelve months. The prize for the champion oarsman is a fine red coat embellished with a large silver badge on one arm, depicting the White Horse of Hanover with the word 'liberty' underneath. Since Doggett's death, the Fishmongers' Company continues to organise this event each year, and it is now believed to be the world's longest continuously-running sporting event as well as being the longest boat race in the world – 4 miles, 5 furlongs (7,400 m).<ref name=CFH/>
Functions
The Company is governed by its Prime Warden, five other Wardens and its Court of Assistants, comprising 28 appointed Livery members. The Company comprises about 700 members, including a good representation from the seafood trade, UK fisheries and marine and freshwater conservation. All City liverymen can attend Common Hall to vote each year in the election of the Lord Mayor of London.
The Company's Fisheries Charitable Trust maintains its link with its namesake trade, working to "build and safeguard a prosperous and sustainable fishing industry, for the benefit of those engaged in it, the environment and our island nation".<ref name=Capon18>Template:Cite book</ref> Supporting a range of projects across UK fisheries, the Trust works with universities, government and third sector organisations to support, through charitable giving, a sustainable fishing industry, healthy rivers and oceans and thriving coastal communities.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Company's Charitable Trust responds to a range of social issues, focusing on mental health, food and nutrition and education in prisons.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It has also long supported the City and Guilds of London Art School and the City and Guilds of London Institute.
Hall Template:Anchor
The Company's livery hall in the City of London is known as Fishmongers' Hall (sometimes shortened in common parlance to Fish Hall); its earliest recorded hall was built in 1310. A new hall, on the present site, was bequeathed to the Company in 1434. Together with 43 other livery halls, this one was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and a replacement hall designed by the architect Edward Jerman opened in 1671. This hall by Jerman was demolished to facilitate the construction of the new London Bridge in 1827. The Fishmongers' next hall was designed by Henry Roberts (although his assistant, later the celebrated Sir Gilbert Scott, made the drawings) and built by William Cubitt & Company,<ref>Monroe, Paul, ed. A Cyclopedia of Education (London, Macmillan, 1926), online edition of archive.org</ref> opening in 1827.<ref name=Capon27>Template:Cite book</ref> After severe bomb damage during the Blitz, Fishmongers' Hall was restored by Austen Hall (of Whinney, Son & Austen Hall) and reopened in 1951.
Gresham's School
Since 1555, the Company has acted as the Trustee of Gresham's School at Holt, Norfolk, in accordance with the wishes of Lord Mayor Sir John Gresham (1492–1556), who endowed the school to the Company upon his death.<ref name=Capon20>Template:Cite book</ref> Among other responsibilities, the Company now focuses on providing "life changing" bursaries for students.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
List of Prime Wardens
(Selection)
- c. 1370: Sir William Walworth
- 1664/1665: Abraham Johnson
- 1676/1677: William Allington
- 1721/1722: Sir John Fryer
- 1810–1812: Richard "Conversation" Sharp Template:Post-nominals<ref>Knapman, D. – Conversation Sharp – The Biography of a London Gentleman, Richard Sharp (1759–1835), in Letters, Prose and Verse (Private publication, 2004) British Library.</ref>
- 1834–1836: Sir Matthew Wood<ref>Matthew Wood in 'Chronological List of Aldermen, 1801–1912 | Aldermen of the City of London pp. 141–156', [1] accessed 13 October 2012</ref>
- 1863/1864: William Cubitt Template:Post-nominals<ref>William Cubitt in 'Chronological List of Aldermen, 1801–1912 | Aldermen of the City of London pp. 141–156', [2] accessed 13 October 2012</ref> (et al. George Cubitt, 1st Baron Ashcombe)
- 1874/1875: Sir William Lawrence Template:Post-nominals<ref>William Lawrence in 'Chronological List of Aldermen, 1801–1912 | Aldermen of the City of London pp. 141–156', [3] accessed 13 October 2012</ref>
- 1880/1881: Jethro Hornblower
- 1883/1884: Sir Thomas Dakin
- 1887/1888: Sir Andrew Lusk<ref>Andrew Lusk in 'Chronological List of Aldermen −1801–1912 | Aldermen of the City of London pp. 141–156', [4] accessed 13 October 2012</ref>
- 1888/1889: Sir James Clarke Lawrence<ref>James Clarke Lawrence in 'Chronological List of Aldermen −1801–1912 | Aldermen of the City of London pp. 141–156', [5] accessed 13 October 2012</ref>
- 1893/1894: John Warren, 3rd Baron de Tabley<ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref>
- 1899/1900: Sir Richard Biddulph Martin<ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref>
- 1901/1902: George Frederick Bodley Template:Post-nominals <ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref>
- 1902/1903: Edward Rawlings<ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref>
- 1921/1922: Lothian Demain Nicholson
- 1925/1926: Lothian Demain Nicholson
- 1961/1962: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
- 1969/1970: Sir John Carew Pole<ref name=who>'CAREW POLE, Col. Sir John (Gawen)', in Who Was Who (London: A. & C. Black, 1920–2008; online edition (subscription site) by Oxford University Press, December 2007, accessed 20 April 2012</ref>
- 1972/1973: David, 5th Earl Cairns
- 1977/1978: Kenneth Mackay, 3rd Earl of Inchcape
- 1979/1980: Peter James Scott Lumsden Template:Post-nominals
- 1980/1981: John Eyre Norton
- 1989/1990: Robert, 3rd Baron Kindersley
- 1995/1996: Alexander McDonnell, 9th Earl of Antrim<ref>'ANTRIM, 14th Earl of, (Alexander Randal Mark McDonnell)' in Who's Who 2012 (London: A. & C. Black)</ref>
- 1998/1999: The Hon. Sir Mark Lennox-Boyd<ref>www.sandsandrandall.com</ref>
- 2000/2001: Merlin Hay, 24th Earl of Erroll
- 2001/2002: Sir Thomas Stockdale
- 2017/2018: Princess Anne, The Princess Royal<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- 2019/2020: David Jones Template:Post-nominals <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- 2020/2022: Sir Alan Yarrow
- 2022/2023: Charles Spicer
- 2023/2024: Andrew Sutcliffe Template:Post-nominals
- 2024/2025: Simon Barrowcliff
Guild Church
- St Magnus the Martyr<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Arms
See also
Sources
External links
- Template:Official website
- Fishmongers' Hall and Fish Street Hill at www.british-history.ac.uk
- Template:Cite book
- Gresham's School Official site
Template:Livery Companies in the City of London Template:Fishing industry topics Template:Fisheries and fishing