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{{short description|Livery company of the City of London}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{coords|51.515678|-0.095353|display=title}}
{{Infobox Livery Company
| name = '''The Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers'''
| image = Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers 2023 logo.png
| motto = ''Truth is the Light''
| location = Wax Chandlers' Hall, Gresham Street, London (since 1501)
| formation = before 1330 Royal Charter 1484 ([[Richard III]])
| association = [[History of candle making|Beeswax products]]
| precedence = 20th
| master = [[Fiona Woolf|Dame Fiona Woolf]]
| website = [http://www.waxchandlers.org.uk Wax Chandlers' Company]
|image_size=250}}

The '''Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers''' is one of the oldest [[Livery Company|livery companies]] of the [[City of London]], with one of the smallest memberships (about 120).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Local_history_and_heritage/Livery/ |title=City Corporation of London Website |access-date=2012-11-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225120058/http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Local_history_and_heritage/Livery/ |archive-date=2010-12-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Wax Chandlers' Company, ranked 20th in the [[City of London|City]] [[Livery Companies#Precedence|Livery Company order of precedence]], has an association with the [[St Vedast alias Foster|Church of St Vedast alias Foster]] in nearby Foster Lane.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.vedast.org.uk/the-parish/livery-companies.html |title=www.vedast.org.uk |access-date=2014-07-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808053544/http://www.vedast.org.uk/the-parish/livery-companies.html |archive-date=2014-08-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==History==
Established before 1330 (when it was recorded as being invited to contribute funds to [[Edward III|King Edward III]]) and possibly before 1199 (from when there is some documentary evidence, relating to a property in Aldersgate Street, of its existence as a body), the company received further Byelaws and Ordinances from [[Lord Mayor of London|Lord Mayor]] John Stodeye in 1358. New Ordinances were issued in 1371 and the company was granted a [[Royal Charter]] in 1484 – one of only three known Royal Charters of [[Richard III of England|King Richard III]], the others being for the [[College of Arms]] and for the incorporation as a county borough of the city of [[Gloucester]]. The Company remains governed under its 1663 Royal Charter of [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]] and corresponding [[Byelaws in the United Kingdom|Ordinances]] of 1664.

Wax chandlers (or merchants in [[beeswax]] [[product (business)|product]]s) traded separately from [[Worshipful Company of Tallow Chandlers|Tallow Chandlers]]; beeswax [[candle]]s, being expensive, were usually reserved for [[Church (building)|churches]] and the [[house]]holds of [[royal family|royalty]] and [[nobility]], while [[tallow]] candles were generally used in ordinary homes. In recent years, in February, the two companies have celebrated the Feast of [[Candlemas]] together.

==Company today==
As with many City Livery Companies today, the Wax Chandlers' Company no longer operates primarily as a [[trade association]]. Its role has evolved into being a civic, ceremonial, educational and charitable institution. Like other livery companies, it takes an active role in supporting the corporate governance of the [[City of London]] and the [[Lord Mayor of the City of London|Lord Mayor]].

Examples of its [[Charity (practice)|charitable giving]] are its affiliation with Armed Forces units ([[HMS Protector]], [[The Rifles|5 Rifles]] and [[RAF Coningsby]]), the donation of candles to [[St Paul's Cathedral]] (every [[Feast of the Cross|Holy Cross Day]] in September), support to those in need throughout [[the City of London|the City]] and [[Greater London]] (particularly in the [[London Borough of Bexley]]), patronage of the [[National Honey Show]] and the [[British Beekeepers Association]].

==Wax Chandlers' Hall==
The Company has maintained a Hall on the same site (6 [[Gresham Street]], [[London]]) since 1501. The Wax Chandlers' current premises, their sixth, were substantially rebuilt in 1954 after damage during [[World War II]]. Recently refurbished, the Hall is popular for hire on corporate or social occasions. Wax Chandlers' Hall can sometimes be viewed by the general public during the annual [[London Open House Weekend]] or by prior arrangement. The Company owns other property on Fleet Street in London.

==Membership==
The Wax Chandlers' membership comprises Liverymen and Freemen (who initially join the Company by [[Apprenticeship|servitude]] (as Apprentices), by [[Family patrimony|patrimony]], or by [[purchase|redemption]]). 
The Company is governed by the Master Wax Chandler, Wardens (''Upper Warden'' and ''Renter Warden'') and a [[Court of Assistants]]. Election Court each June determines appointments to senior office, with ceremonial installation on or around the [[Feast of the Transfiguration]], in the first week of August.
 The Company has supplied five [[Lord Mayor of London|Lord Mayors of London]] since the 18th century, including two in the 21st: [[Gavyn Arthur (judge)|Sir Gavyn Arthur]] and [[Fiona Woolf|Dame Fiona Woolf DBE]].
 The Company is administered by the [[Clerk]] and day-to-day management of the Hall is overseen by the [[Beadle]].

The Company's current membership includes:
*The Rt Rev & Rt Hon [[The Lord Williams of Oystermouth]] (former [[Archbishop of Canterbury]])
*Dame [[Fiona Woolf]] DBE (686th [[Lord Mayor of London]], former President of the [[Law Society of England and Wales]])

==Arms<ref>some material from Bromley and Child, ''The Armorial Bearings of the Guilds of London'' (1960)</ref>==
[[File:Wax Chandlers' Arms - Shield.jpg|thumb|200px|left|{{center|Wax Chandlers' Arms}}]]
The Company received a Grant of [[coat of arms|Arms]] from [[Sir]] Thomas Holme, [[Clarenceux King of Arms]], on 3 February 1485, the year following the [[College of Arms]]' foundation; the Charter of foundation of the [[College of Arms]] and that incorporating the city of Gloucester are the only known Charters of [[Richard III]] other than that which established the Wax Chandlers' Company. There were minor changes (grant of supporters and their modification), but not to the escutcheon or crest, in 1530 and 1536. 
The Company’s extant [[Coat of arms|armorial bearings]], as confirmed in the Visitation of London in 1630, are [[blazon]]ed:

*'''[[Escutcheon (heraldry)|Shield]]''': Azure on a Chevron Argent three Roses Gules seeded Or between three Mortars royal Or. (A ''mortar'' is a type of candle-holder, similar to the mortar of a [[mortar and pestle|pestle-and-mortar]]; a mortar ''royal'' is particularly splendid.)
*'''[[Crest (heraldry)|Crest]]''': On a wreath Or and Gules a Maiden vested in a Surcoat of Cloth of Or furred with Ermine, kneeling among divers Flowers Proper and making thereof a Garland.
*'''Mantling''': Azure doubled Ermine.
*'''[[Supporter]]s''' ([[Grant of arms|grant]]ed in 1530, modified in 1536, but reverting to the 1530 version in 1630): On either side a Unicorn Argent gorged with a Garland of various Flowers Proper, the Horn wreathed Or and Gules.

==See also==
* [[Corporation]]
* [[Guild]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Livery Companies in the City of London}}

==External links==
* [http://www.waxchandlers.org.uk/ The Wax Chandlers' Company]
* [http://www.sixgreshamstreet.co.uk/ Six Gresham Street Website]{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [http://www.liverycompanies.com/ www.liverycompanies.com]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wax Chandlers, Worshipful Company of}}
[[Category:1358 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Livery companies|Wax Chandlers]]
[[Category:Corporatism]]
[[Category:Companies of medieval England]]
[[Category:Charities based in London]]
[[Category:History of the City of London]]

Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers - Revision history

imported>HandsomeFella: /* Membership */