Master Cutler
The Master Cutler is the head of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire established in 1624. Their role is to act as an ambassador of industry in Sheffield, England. The Master Cutler is elected by the freemen of the company on the first Monday of September of each year and the position taken in the first Tuesday of October. Despite the title, the Master Cutler does not have to be involved in the cutlery business, or even the steel industry, to be elected.
The Installation of the new Master Cutler and Company follows the annual election of the new Company. In the early years of the Company, the Election, Installation, Church Service and celebratory meal (which eventually became the Cutlers’ Feast,) all happened on the same day. Now, only the Installation and Church Service, followed by lunch take place on the same day.
The Master Cutler for October 2012 - 2013 is Neil MacDonald.[1]
List of Master Cutlers
Master Cutlers have included:[2][3]
- 1624 & 1628 Robert Sorsby
- 1808 Ebenezer Rhodes
- 1816 Thomas Asline Ward
- 1855 Frederick Mappin
- 1863 Thomas Jessop
- 1865-66 Sir John Brown
- 1867-9 Mark Firth
- 1870 William Bragge
- 1872 Thomas Vickers
- 1890 Robert Colver
- 1897 Alexander Wilson
- 1908 Douglas Vickers
- 1910 George Senior
- 1911 Arthur Balfour
- 1913 Thomas William Ward
- 1914-18 William Henry Ellis
- 1919 Henry Kenyon Stephenson
- 1935 Samuel Roberts
- 1936 Sir Frederick Pickworth
- 1983 William J D Carr
- 1998 Douglas and Pamela Liversidge (Master and Mistress Cutler)
- 1999 H Stuart Johnson
- 2000 Vernon Smith
- 2001 Richard Prest
- 2002 John Bramah
- 2003 Neil Turner
- 2004 John Tissiman
- 2005 Timothy Reed
- 2006 Alan Reid
- 2007 Gordon W. Bridge[4]
- 2008 Martin G Howell
- 2009 James Newman
- 2010 William Speirs
- 2011 Pamela Liversidge
- 2012 Neil MacDonald
- 2013 Tony Pedder
- 2014 David Grey
References
- ↑ The Star (Sheffield) 10 Oct 2012 "Optimism of the Master Cutler"
- ↑ Plaque in Cutlers' Hall
- ↑ The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire Masters Cutler
- ↑ Master of industry, the Sheffield Star, October 3, 2007