The Livery Companies are 108 trade associations in the City of London,[1] almost all of which are known as the "Worshipful Company of" the relevant trade, craft or profession. The medieval Companies originally developed as guilds and were responsible for the regulation of their trades, controlling, for instance, wages and labour conditions. Until the Protestant Reformation, they were closely associated with religious activities, notably in support of chantry chapels and churches and the observance of ceremonies, notably the mystery plays.
Some livery companies continue to have a professional role today (for example, the Scriveners' Company admits senior members to that profession, the Apothecaries' Company awards post-graduate qualifications in some medical specialties, and the Hackney Carriage Drivers' Company is composed of those who have learned 'the knowledge' and are licensed London taxicab drivers). Other Livery Companies have become purely charitable foundations (such as the Longbow Makers' Company). Most Companies, particularly those formed in more recent times, are primarily social and charitable organisations. The active Companies play an important part in social life and networking in the City and have a long history of cultural patronage, and control of the City of London Corporation (which still functions as a local authority with extensive local government powers).
After the Fan Makers' Company was established in 1709 (and later granted livery status in 1809), no new companies were formed for over 100 years until the Master Mariners in 1926 (granted livery in 1932). Post-1926 Companies are often called modern Livery Companies.
Formed in 1999, the Company of Security Professionals became the 108th Livery Company on 19 February 2008 when the Court of Aldermen approved their petition for livery. Many professions, such as solicitors and chartered accountants, have established new guilds with an aim of ultimately being granted livery. Two bodies, the Worshipful Company of Parish Clerks and the Company of Watermen and Lightermen, are recognised as City Companies but without the grant of livery for historical reasons; three further guilds (the Company of Educators; Public Relations Practitioners; and Arts Scholars, Dealers and Collectors) aim to obtain a grant of livery.
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Livery Companies are governed by a Master (known in some Companies as the Prime Warden or Bailiff), a number of Wardens (who may be known as the Upper, Middle, Lower, or Renter Wardens), and a Court of Assistants, which elects the Master and Wardens. The chief operating officer of the Company is known as the Clerk.
Members generally fall into two categories: freemen and liverymen. One may become a freeman, or acquire the "freedom of the company", upon fulfilling the company's criteria: traditionally, one may be admitted by "patrimony", if either parent was a liveryman of the company; by "servitude", if one has served the requisite number of years as an apprentice of the company; or by "redemption", if one pays a fee. (The Company may also vote to admit individuals as honourary freemen.) Freemen generally advance to becoming liverymen by a vote of the court of the Company. Historically, only liverymen could take part in the election of the Lord Mayor, the Sheriffs, and the other traditional officers of the City.
Many Companies still operate a hall, where members and their guests can be entertained and company business transacted. Among the earliest Companies known to have halls were the Merchant Taylors and Goldsmiths in the 14th century, but neither their nor other Companies' original halls remain; the few survivors of the Great Fire of London, along with many reconstructions, were destroyed during the Blitz of the Second World War.
Today, only some forty Companies have halls in London, which are commonly available for business and social functions, such as commercial and society meetings and dinners; the oldest extant hall now is that of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, dating from 1672. Companies that do not have their own hall usually borrow another Company's for social occasions, or share premises on a semi-permanent basis, such as the Spectacle Makers' Company which resides in part of the Apothecaries' hall. One Livery Company (the Glaziers) has their hall on the South Bank of the River Thames at London Bridge, and is technically outside the City of London.
In 1515, the Court of Aldermen of the City of London settled an order of precedence for the forty-eight Livery Companies then in existence, which was based on the Companies' economic or political power. The first twelve Companies are known as the Great Twelve City Livery Companies. There are now 108 Companies, so the Order of Precedence is sometimes reviewed.
The Merchant Taylors and the Skinners have always disputed their precedence, so once a year (at Easter) they exchange sixth and seventh place. This alternation is one of the theories for the origin of the phrase "at sixes and sevens", as the master of the Merchant Taylors has asserted a number of times, although the first use of the phrase may have been before the Taylors and the Skinners decided to alternate their position.[2]
Note: *The Skinners' and Merchant Taylors' Companies alternate position once per year.
Both of these Companies will never apply for livery due to their ancient status and custom.
A guild which is recognised by the Court of Aldermen as a 'London Guild' applies to the Court to become 'A Company without Livery'. After a term of years the Company applies to the Court for livery status, at which point it adopts the name "Worshipful Company of ... ".
Neither the 'City Livery Club' nor 'The Guild of Freemen of the City of London' is recognised as a 'guild' by the City; they are merely social clubs.
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