- The Stationers` Company

JOURNAL
OF THE
W O R S H I P F U L C O M PA N Y
OF
S TAT I O N E R S
AND
N E W S PA P E R M A K E R S
STATIONERN S’
EWS
NUMBER 102
Patron: The Archbishop of Canterbury
DECEMBER 2007
Master: John W Waterlow, Upper Warden: Noel H Osborne, Under Warden: Richard D Brewster
STATIONERS
launch NEW
FOUNDATION:
modernising the
Company’s
tradition of
charitable giving
STATIONERS
for AFRICA:
helping the
poorest of the poor
in a Tanzanian
village
INSIDE
➤ Stationers’ Foundation is born!
➤ New Almoner – New Role
➤ The Generosity of Golfers
➤ Bookbinder Extraordinary
➤ In Praise of ‘Subs’
➤ New Frontier – Africa
Stationers’ News / Page One
The Stationers’ Foundation is born!
‘The heart of our charitable work’ – Report: Liveryman Kevin Dewey, Chairman of Trustees
• the provision and administration by
THE Stationers’ Foundation was Stationers’ Foundation specify that the
the Company of a library for historiestablished on October 1st, 2007, a new charity’s income will be spent on
• the promotion of education, with a
cal research in connection with the
name in the Company’s ancient tradipreference for young people under
trades of the Company.
tion of charitable giving.
the age of 25 years working in the
The objectives of The Charity Fund
The purpose of the change is to contrades of the Company;
1961 are more widely drawn and include
solidate the work of the Company’s four
• the relief of need, hardship or dis- spending the income of the fund for
existing charities. The new Foundation
tress by the provision of annual such charitable purposes as the Court of
will incorporate the Educational Charity,
grants for those engaged or formerly Assistants shall think fit, in particular to
the Welfare and Library Funds, and will
engaged in the trades of the benefit the poor of the Company. The
in addition manage the Charity Fund
Company, and
wide discretion that this provision
1961, which for legal reasons cannot be
allows is used by the
economically merged.
trustees to set priorities for
Creation of the single
grant making and to make
Foundation will enable the
adjustments from time to
Trustees, the Stationers’
time in the light of social
Court of Assistants, to simchanges and developments
plify administration, pool
within the trades and indusfunds under one investtries of the Company
ment manager and reduce
The Foundation is now
the considerable costs of
the heart of our charitable
running separate charities.
work as a Company and the
It does not mean that there
trustees welcome the finanwill be any change of
cial support, comments and
emphasis in our charitable
introductions to suitable
work for education, welfare
cases for giving from
and our library. These causLiverymen or Freemen. A
es will all continue to beneleaflet is being produced,
fit from the income that is
giving guidance on making
generated by our fund raisapplications. This may be
ing and investment, in
obtained from the Secretary,
direct proportion to the
Paul Thornton (Telephone
percentage of funds given The Stationers’ Foundation Trustees
(L to R) Andrew Brode, David Allan, Nick Steidl, Charles Fowler, Paul
01296 714886), who is also
for each cause.
Thornton (Secretary) & David Richards. Absent: Kevin Dewey
available to give advice.
The objectives of The (Chairman) & Christopher McKane
HISTORICAL NOTE
by Robin Myers, Archivist Emeritus – The Origin of the Company’s Charitable Works
IN 1567, WILLIAM LAMBE,
CLOTHWORKER, typically left money
and bread for twelve poor Stationers,
and for the poorest six ‘good frieze
gown’. He also endowed an annual sermon and left £1.2s.8d. towards a dinner
at Stationers’ Hall.
In the changed
world of 1924 Sir Thomas Vezey Strong’s
widow endowed a school scholarship.
Piety motivated early charity; but
provision for feasting often relieved
worthy bequests for the poor, sermons,
bibles and prayer books. Loan bequests
were customary in the seventeenth century – William and John Norton, George
Bishop, Christopher Meredith and
Daniel Midwinter all endowed such; but
their use fell away and in 1851, the
money provided some core funding for
the Stationers’ Company’s school, permission to build almshouses having
been refused.
The Mediaeval view of charity gave
way to that of civic duty, benefactors
increasingly focusing on education and
training and the plight, not just of ‘the
poor’ but the elderly – Richard Johnson,
the Strahans, the Bowyers, Luke
Hansard and John Nichols all provided
for the elderly, moving towards the idea
of a retirement pension; and in 1818
Nichols broke new ground by preferring
three of his longest-serving compositors, foreshadowing state and professional pensions, freeing charitable
money for other purposes.
As the twentieth century advanced,
life changed radically, and with ‘Charity
Stationers’ News / Page Two
61’ most of them were amalgamated.
Charity now included conservation of
treasures alongside care of the elderly
and indigent, and education of the
young. In 1974, the Company’s library
and later the historic archive, was founded as a trust. In 1984 came a Hall
Preservation Fund. But helping the
needy and educating the young remain
core objectives even if operation and
motives have changed down the centuries.
In 1818 the court ordered a
review of the Company’s 27 ‘charitable donations and benefactions’.
By 1926 there were 42.
NEW ALMONER – NEW ROLE
GERALD HILL was appointed
Honorary Almoner to the
Stationers’ Company in
April. He explains how
the Company decided,
in the context of setting
up the new Stationers’
Foundation, to expand
the pastoral role of the
Almoner.
As
a
relatively
new
Liveryman of one of the oldest Livery
Companies in London, I was pleasantly
surprised to be asked to become
Honorary Almoner when Liveryman Ken
Johnson stepped down from the position in April this year.
The decision to amalgamate all the
activities of our charities under a new
charity, The Stationers’ Foundation, led
to a debate on a number of administrative issues including the role of the
Almoner. In recent years, the activity of
the Almoner has been mainly restricted
to writing or telephoning, on behalf of
the Company, to express our condolences to the bereaved. The Court of
Assistants has accepted recommendations that not only should the role of
Honorary Almoner be retained, but that
it should be extended to cover other
areas of pastoral care.
The Almoner’s remit now encompasses visiting those in need, contacting the sick and bereaved
and writing letters of encouragement and congratulation, as well as condolences. Another important
function of the Almoner is
to co-ordinate the visits of
volunteers to the Company
grant beneficiaries. A written
report of the Almoner’s activities is
presented to the Livery Committee four
times a year.
During the short time that I have
been Honorary Almoner, I have
found it to be a most
rewarding and interesting
position. It has given me
the opportunity to talk to
Stationers and families
connected with our
Livery Company, meet the
team
of
dedicated
Liverymen who give up their
time to call on the Company's elderly
grant beneficiaries and, on a number of
occasions, to visit Butlin House in
Bletchley, the nursing home of the
Printers’ Charitable Corporation (PCC),
with whom we cooperate.
The work of the Honorary Almoner
is very varied and has involved me with
Stationers and their families who are ill,
have had major surgery or have been
bereaved. Recently, with considerable
help from the PCC, I relocated the elderly widow of one of our Stationers to
Butlin House. I have found that it is
greatly appreciated that the Company
shows concern for its members and families in times of difficulty, illness or
bereavement.
We are very privileged to belong to
the Stationers’ Company and as
Stationers, even when life is hectic, we
should look out for the wellbeing of
fellow Stationers who may be
going through a difficult time
in their life. I would therefore like to ask you to contact me if you become
aware that a Stationer or
the family of a deceased
Stationer needs assistance.
Please write, telephone or
email me. I would be pleased to
hear from you, and if I can help, I will be
pleased to do so.
Happy Christmas to you and your
families.
Gerald Hill, Honorary Almoner
Telephone Number 01344 621033
Email [email protected]
NEW CARE HOME FOR
THE Countess of Wessex opened
Pickering House, the Journalists’
Charity’s new care home in Surrey, on
September 12th. Built at a cost of £4
million, the home provides accommodation and care for retired journalists
and their dependants.
The building is named after the late
Sir Edward Pickering, former Daily
Express editor, News International executive and Stationers Liveryman. The
comprehensive facilities include a
chapel, games room, gym, hairdressers,
library and – another link with the
Stationers’ News / Page Three
Stationers – a well-stocked bar sponsored by Liveryman Sir Ray Tindle.
The Journalists’ Charity, originally
the Newspaper Press Fund, was founded
in about 1860 by a group of journalists
meeting in a London pub. It is the leading charity for all journalists in need.
THE GENEROSITY OF GOLFERS
The Stationers’ Benevolent Golf Classic – Report: Past Master Jonathan Straker
DESPITE weather forecasts to the contrary, we
had a beautiful day for our
second Benevolent Golf
Classic. Walton Heath, one
of the best golf courses in
the country, was in wonderful condition and a real test
of golf. We had 21 teams
enter this year from all
parts of the UK and it was
great to see a number of faces from last
year’s inaugural meeting.
The competition was an Individual
Stableford for all entrants and a Team
Prize for the best two scores on each
hole in each team of four. The individual
winner was Adrian Hensby with 37
points, supported by his team, Kingfield
Heath Team 1, who won the team prize
with a score of 86 points. A brave effort
in windy conditions.
There followed a fine luncheon and
Fordham – and to those
who made generous monetary donations to our worthy cause.
We’re delighted to say
we raised just over £11,600
in total.
A very special vote of
thanks to Geoff Cleaver
Walton Heath – The Old Course
and Alison Buckett. Alison
organised the administrathen the auction and raffle, which tion of the whole event and the fact it
together raised over £3,000 – a wonder- went so smoothly and enjoyably was
ful result and entirely due to the gen- very much down to Geoff and Alison.
erosity of those companies and They were supported by Stephen
Liverymen who donated some really Hilleard, who did sterling work on the
splendid prizes.
auction and raffle, and Hugh Sear and
A vote of thanks must go to the spon- Jonathan Straker, who were on the
sors, who, between them sponsored Committee.
seven of the 18 holes, breakfast, wines
We look forward to holding the
with lunch, the putting green, the event again next year and would welHalfway House and the golf balls – the come any comments as to how we may
latter in memory of the late David improve the day.
Golf Secretary Retires
to Nineteenth Hole
AFTER 15 YEARS OF DEDICATION to maintaining
the Stationers’ highest golfing standards, Liveryman Ray
Fogden is calling it a day. He has decided to hand over
the administration of the Company’s annual golf day, a
splendid occasion which he masterminded for many
years at the prestigious Berkshire Golf Club, Ascot.
Attendances each year have averaged 40 players but
regardless of the number, Ray’s attention to detail
remained the same, ensuring that the traditional standards of excellence were maintained. The days always
comprised matches played throughout, always with
breaks for the celebrated Berkshire Carvery Lunch. The
events always culminated with the Master presenting the
trophies and prizes. Always memorable.
Ray’s ultra cool manner and modesty mask the dedication he gives to any project he tackles and the Golf Day
is an example which the Company recognises and for
which it is extremely grateful.
In handing over his responsibilities, Ray has given
himself more time to spend with his family – and to continue playing golf both in the UK and in Portugal, where
he has built a lakeside villa north of Lisbon.
Good wishes from all of us go with him.
Ray’s work will be taken on by Freeman
Gerard Connolly, assisted by Liveryman William
Wass. Ray asks past, present and future golfers to
make themselves known to them and to give them
the support he had.
Ray Fogden was
made Free of the
Company in 1987
Ray and Christine Fogden at the wedding
and Cloathed in of their daughter, Nya
1988, sponsored by
Bill Timms and Keith Hutton. His entry to the Company was
delayed by injuries that Ray sustained in an horrific flying accident in 1995. His courage and tenacity through months of surgery and painful physiotherapy ensured that he would return
to running his printing company and to playing golf. Ray’s wife
and daughter gave heroic support and encouragement and it
is testament to this close trio of devotion that Ray has enjoyed
an active and fulfilled life.
Stationers’ Golfing Society
The Company’s records carry scant information about the
Golfing Society, which was formed in 1974 by Sir Alan
Greenaway (Master 1973), who also presented a gold and silver salver which bears his name and is presented each year. He
also set up the Inter-Livery Companies’ Challenge for which
the Prince Arthur Connaught’s Cup is awarded. The
Stationers’ team has been successful in this event at least six
times, most recently in 1999. Laurence Viney (Master 1984)
succeeded Sir Alan and was himself succeeded by Ray Fogden.
Question: were there any other Secretaries between
these holders of the office? Please let us know.
Stationers’ News / Page Four
‘CULTURE OF CYNICISM’
– Government and Media must act
POLITICIANS AND JOURNALISTS
must work together to combat “a culture of cynicism”, Lord Turnbull told the
Stationers at their Livery Autumn
Dinner.
The former Cabinet Secretary and
head of the Home Civil Service chose to
issue his call for action at Stationers’
Hall because, he said, the Company was
by history and membership part of, or
close to, the media.
“Both politicians and journalists are
held in low esteem,” he said referring to
public opinion polls going back 25 years.
“Low trust is not a new phenomenon.”
Sad Scene
Starting with the media, he said that,
all in all, it was “a pretty sad scene” of
mistrust, misrepresentation and triviality.
The tabloid press relentlessly
pushed the view that all those in a position of responsibility in public life – the
Royal Family, Ministers, MPs, councillors
and civil servants, as well as business
leaders – were uniformly incompetent,
self-serving and arrogant.
Given the choice, the press would
unquestioningly back any critic of the
government, he said, even “the demented ravings” of Harrods owner Mohamed
Al Fayed.
“It seems as though the mission of
much of the media is to foster a culture
of cynicism, to make us feel bad about
our institutions and to undermine any
sense of pride,” he declared.
While Lord Turnbull reserved his
sharpest criticism for the tabloid newspapers, with a side swipe at the BBC, he also
blamed the Government for attempting
to manipulate the media through selective distribution of information.
“Action is needed by both politicians
and the media,” he declared.
Reason, not anger
Taking issue in particular with Tony
Blair’s media adviser, Alastair Campbell,
he said the Government needed to
“purge the principles of Campbellism” –
primarily the confrontational assumption that anyone in the media not agreeing with the Government was “an
enemy to be defeated, screwed, stuffed
or worse.”
“Anger needs to be replaced by reason,” he said.
On the media side, he welcomed the
creation of the BBC Trust, but said it was
still a flawed and incompletely reformed
system.
“On the press side, I am less sure
what needs to be done, but I certainly
have no faith in the Press Complaints
Commission.”
Lord Turnbull said he did not want
to end on a pessimistic note, so he listed three factors on the positive side:
• The decline of the tabloids, which
were losing market share to the
‘free sheets’ and suffering competition from the electronic world of
blogs and websites like My Space
that bypass the traditional media.
• The downfall of numerous practitioners of ‘new journalism’ including Alastair Campbell, Peter
Mandelson, Greg Dyke and Piers
Morgan, as well as Gordon Brown’s
appointment of a civil servant as
Director of Communications at
No. 10.
• The new Statistics Act which establishes an information ‘Hub’ responsible for issuing official figures, separate from ministerial comment.
Lord Turnbull recalled an
affinity with the Stationers dating
back to his education at Enfield
Grammar School, north London,
which enjoyed “a fierce rivalry” with
the nearby and well regarded
Stationers’ School. Andrew Turnbull
went on to Cambridge, government
service in Zambia, 25 years at the
Treasury and a string of high level
official appointments, from economic private secretary to Margaret
Thatcher to Permanent Secretary at
the Treasury under Gordon Brown.
In 2005 he was made Baron
Turnbull of Enfield and now sits in
the Lords as a cross-bencher.
Report: Liveryman Stephen Somerville
– NEW CORPORATE MEMBER
The Stationers’ Company welcomes
Xerox (UK) Ltd as its newest corporate
member. Speaking for Xerox, senior
executive Anoush Dowlatshahi-Gordon,
said the Stationers had always been a
forum for the paper and media industries, and were now active in digital
technology. “We are pleased to become
more closely involved in one of the most
active Livery Companies and are looking
forward to participating in its activities
during this exciting period of change.”
Xerox is the Company’s 15th corporate member. The others, by order of
joining, are:
Heidelberg UK
Cambridge University Press
Sun Chemical
John Wiley & Sons
Polestar
Stationers’ News / Page Five
Paperlinx Europe
Flint Group
TSO
MAN Roland GB
UPM-Kymmene
Canon (UK)
R R Donnelley
OyezStraker
Kodak
TRADES OF OUR COMPANY – BOOKBINDER
CRAFT WORK IN WESTMINSTER
an exhibition of excellence
LIVERYMAN DOUGLAS EAST, in
his 24th year as Conservator at
Westminster Abbey Library, continues
generously to share his skills with the
pupils of Westminster School in his
capacity as extra-curricular Tutor in
Bookbinding and Conservation. This
year, the 19th annual exhibition of work
undertaken by his students, was held in
the School Library from 15th to 29th
June, and Past Master Vernon Sullivan
was among the stream of visitors who
saw and praised the usual high standard
of a wide range of work, reflecting the
different ages and lengths of experience
of the exhibitors and of their individual
and special interests.
Showcases featured their achievements and, behind them, display boards
carried photographs of the binders at
work and the processes in sequence.
There were also two carousels – one
showing photographs of all the books
which had been bound and displayed
during the past four years, and the
other, comprehensive informative material cognate to bookbinding, including
methods of book-sewing; paper and vellum conservation; repair work after the
Florence flood of 1966; and, not least,
the Stationers’ Company.
Highlights of this impressive exhibition were:
• Familiar Trees bound in quartersawn oak boards and white-tawed
goatskin by James Male;
• the presentation volume to the
Head Master, Stonehenge by
Aubrey Burl, bound by Fortuné
Penniman;
• the presentation binding for the
Dean of Westminster, also by
James Male, A Book of Saints,
bound in royal blue goatskin and
decorated in gold;
• and, perhaps most spectacularly,
an entry in the 2007 National
Bookbinding Competition, The
Somme, bound by Oscar Dub in
the colours of the ribbon of the
British War Medal 1914-18, with a
replica medal and ribbon inset into
the front board.
One would be hard pressed to find
an annual accumulation of craft work of
the quality seen here, and the exhibits
merit an audience at Stationers’ Hall to
demonstrate that, even in mechanised
and digitised times, such traditional
skills still flourish under fine tutelage.
Floreat Douglas East!
Report compiled from various
sources by Keith Hutton
‘Tribute to
Liveryman
Douglas East –
Retired, Never!’
Familiar Trees
bound by
James Male
Stonehenge
bound by
Fortuné Penniman
The Somme
bound by Oscar Dub
A Book of Saints
bound by James Male
Stationers’ News / Page Six
Under
this
headline,
Stationers’ News (no. 99) reported in December 2006 that Douglas
East had submitted a doctoral
Thesis reflecting years of study and
research on the 14th century
Litlyngton Missal. With this issue,
we are delighted to report that his
determination and patience have
been rewarded.
As Douglas says: “…the last
rites of my Doctorate have all
been gone through and I am
now rated Ph.D with effect from
24th September…”
Douglas, 84 years young,
earns our praise and heartiest
congratulations.
TRADES OF OUR COMPANY – SUB-EDITOR
Hoisting the subs’ standard
The great and the good sub-editors who made it in Fleet Street.
Liveryman Bert Morgan tramps the alleyways of opportunity.
WHY do we need sub-editors
anyway? Journalist and broadcaster
Andrew Neil, and a famous newspaper
maker if ever there was one, was our
guest speaker at the Livery Spring
Dinner this year and discussed the ageold Fleet Street subject while in the
Court Room. “Editors run newspapers,
sub-editors drive them,” Neil said.
That great newspaper proprietor
Lord Beaverbrook ran one of the finest
newspaper groups for decades. Arthur
Christiansen was editor of the Daily
Express from 1933 to 1956 and kept a
tight grip on the daily work of sub-editors and reporters. Each day he would
issue a bulletin that was a ‘must read’ to
the whole editorial: “Keep blood off the
front page, if it is only coincidental.
Remember the readers’ stomach over
breakfast. Exclusive is a banned word
on this paper. Our aim is to make every
story exclusive.”
Occasionally Beaverbrook would
chip in his own memos to subs. “Do not
put question marks in headlines. We are
here to inform the reader, not ask them
for answers.” “There is no ‘k’ in
Fredericton” (Max Aitken’s home town
in Canada).
BEAVER AND THE
DUCK POND
The Beaver developed his own technique in hiring aspiring young blood
from around the country. He would
study young journalists’ copy in the various regional papers such as the
Yorkshire Evening post, the Scotsman or
the Western Morning News.
Beaverbrook eschewed personnel
managers and formal interviews. Once
he decided to engage a young journalist
of perhaps little more than 21 years, the
unwitting prospect would receive a
telegram: “Meet me by the duck pond
house, St James’s Park. 10am Monday.
Beaverbrook”
The smallish Beaverbrook would
walk his prospect round the pond,
hands clasped behind his back. He did
not offer jobs. His conversation would
open: “When you come to work for me”.
The salary was sufficient that the chosen
candidate would never refuse. Owners
Beaverbrook’s
Editorial Copy Boy:
A stroll down Piccadilly
like Beaverbrook and Rothermere
always paid top wages to forestall any
newspaper newcomers to the industry.
So into Fleet Street and the great Daily
Express of the 30s, 40s, and 50s would
come the very young Peter O’Sullevan,
Clive Graham, Sefton Delmer, Desmond
Hackett and Frederick Ellis. Few journalists chose to leave the “Beaver” and
the Daily Express with its circulation of
four million daily.
Beaverbrook was seen at his best as
a journalist among journalists. Not that
his house was a cosy berth. He became
increasingly dissatisfied with the
smooth, calm, urbane Bert Gunn, the
Evening Standard editor, over a drop in
circulation. With iron-grey hair and a
smart double- breasted grey suit, Gunn
looked like a successful North American
businessman.
TYPEWRITER
THROUGH THE
WINDOW
The proprietor was only an occasional visitor to 47 Shoe Lane, although
he always saw the Standard as his baby.
One day he stormed in and let rip at
Gunn in the private editorial office. The
second floor was open-plan and Gunn
walked back across the room to the
small office used when an editor took
‘the bridge’ on major stories.
Gunn closed the door, picked up an
Underwood typewriter and hurled it
through the window, to crash onto a
Standard van parked in Plumtree Court
below. In those times, proprietors were
not into pay-offs. Gunn went to the
Daily Sketch to continue his calm,
smooth ways.
Cecil Harmsworth King may have
had the disadvantage of belonging to a
dynasty that could be overawing, in that
he had two uncles, Alfred and Harold,
the press lords Northcliffe and
Rothermere. It was perhaps natural that
King would eventually rise to the
heights of newspapers, running the
Mirror Group. Curiously for a
Wykehamist, and a product of Christ
Church, Oxford, he was content to hire
grammar schoolboys rather than university graduates.
“Give me an 18-year-old grammar
schoolboy, and I will give you an experienced journalist at 22. Give me a 22year-old graduate, and he will expect to
be economics correspondent the next
day”, was King’s attitude. The Mirror,
like other tabloids, often promoted subeditors to the editor’s chair. It was left to
the broadsheets to place graduates in
senior positions.
AVENUES TO
FLEET STREET
But there were other avenues to
Fleet Street. Willie Cudlipp was a commercial traveller who lived in Cardiff and
sold provisions to shops up and down
the Welsh valleys. He had four children,
Phyllis, Percy, Reg and Hugh. Percy got
a job on a local newspaper, inspiring an
extraordinary journalistic career race
which would take all three brothers,
from the local Gladstone Elementary
School, through locals and regionals all
the way to Fleet Street. Percy became
editor of the Evening Standard and then
the Daily Herald, Reg took over the
News of the World and Hugh, editor of
the national Sunday Pictorial at the age
Continued overleaf
Stationers’ News / Page Seven
Continued from previous page
of 24, went on to become Chairman of
the Mirror Group and of the
International Publishing Corporation.
He was created a life peer in 1974.
Another extraordinary story is that
of the three young subs who shared digs
in Hartlepool. The trio were David
English, Mike Molloy and Larry Lamb
(only his mother was permitted to call
him Albert). David English became editor of the Daily Mail, where Lord
Rothermere came to describe him as the
creator of the modern newspaper. Mike
Molloy became highly rated when he
took over the chair of the Daily Mirror.
At the helm of the Sun, Larry Lamb took
the tabloid to the heights of success. All
possessed the talent of turning events
into news.
‘TAKE CARE OF
THAT LAD’
Fleet Street was ever an opportunity
to enter a great industry and an open
door to Canadians and Australians. Ted
Pickering, that brilliant chief sub-editor
at the Daily Express, once a
Middlesbrough schoolboy, took many
tyros under his wing. There was one
young Aussie named Rupert Murdoch,
who stayed two years in the early Fifties
learning his craft down-table.
The Beaver said to Pickering: “Take
care of that lad, you never know where
he might end up…” ‘Pick’ became his
guide and mentor. They were to stay
ever close in business and as friends.
Murdoch came back to Fleet Street in
the late Sixties and decided there was
more to newspapers than just subbing.
Edward Pickering became Daily
Express editor and later moved up to
the top echelons at Mirror Newspapers
and News International. ‘Pick’ became
an Honorary Freeman and Liveryman in
Stationers in 1985, Rupert Murdoch was
cloathed in 2004. David English was
knighted in 1982, Larry Lamb in 1980
and Edward Pickering in 1977.
Bert Morgan was with the Evening
Standard from 1945-1968 and The
Daily Telegraph from 1968 to retirement as Chief Sub-Editor of the Business
Section in 1996.
STATIONERS’ GO DIGITAL
The historic Stationers’ Company has launched a Digital Media Group to
explore the impact of new technology on its members’ traditional print and
publishing trades.
The initiative follows the Company’s future-gazing conference last May,
‘2020 Vision’, which concluded that new technology presented more opportunities than risks for the Stationers’ trades. The Master, John Waterlow,
announcing the launch to an invited audience at Stationers’ Hall on October
2nd, said the new Group reflected the Stationers’ mission to help its members
tackle new challenges. “Our Company needs to be alive to the digital world,”
he added.
Liveryman Ian Bennett, chairing the Group, said what was needed was a
“shared vision” of the way forward, of the kind that inspired the great printing
pioneers, William Caxton and Wynkyn de Worde. “Without the application of
information technology we shall not be able to expand as we wish,” he said.
Guest speaker Alan Greenberg of Apple said the Internet was increasingly
becoming the first stage in all forms of publishing. The huge growth of blogging – “when anyone can become an author” – and the interactive developments known as Web 2 represented both dangers and opportunities, he said.
Concluding the meeting, Ian Bennett asked the audience to respond to a
questionnaire about the future activity of the group and announced that the
next meeting would be held on January 16th, 2008.
Editor’s Out-Tray
1. Readers may note that this issue features the spontaneous start of a new
series: Trades of our Company. Spontaneous because there was no conscious editorial decision to start with Bookbinder and Sub-Editor; these
articles simply landed in the Editor’s in-tray.
2. We should now like to ask readers to suggest – and indeed submit articles
about – other occupations that we can cover in future issues. There should
be scope here for a long-running series, given the variety of crafts, trades
and professions that fall within our guild.
3. Your Editor regrets that there have been no takers for our challenging offers
of cake, ale and champagne in previous issues. These offers close at this
year’s end.
Sentences handed down to me…
Lord Beaverbrook, owner of the Evening
Standard: Thank you for bringing a copy of the first edition up to me, sonny [aged 14]. You know, the
Establishment in this country don’t like accents – mine
Colonial, yours Cockney. How about we both start sounding the end of our words?
Lt Col William Thomas, Commanding Officer,
Klagenfurt, Austria: Look, lad, I know you have been
doing a very professional job as Editor of the Command
newspaper, but you are only an 18 year-old National
Service private and it is really the post for a regular captain. Of course, you have been requisitioning a Mercedes
convertible staff car – with an army driver – and sitting in
the back...
Lord Hartwell, as owner of the Daily Telegraph:
We must not let the circulation rise above 1.4m – I can’t
afford the extra pagination money to the machine room.
Kenneth Fleet, pioneering City Editor: You know,
Bert, working for the Telegraph is like working for the Coop. Everyone gets a good dividend and there’s nothing
left for the governors.
Maurice Green, one-time Telegraph Editor and
Latin scholar: This is an English language newspaper, do
not use foreign phrases in headlines as in this morning’s
edition, especially when they are wrong.
Paul Murphy, Stock Market Correspondent:
Please do not get too tense over my copy. If you gotta cut
it, cut it.
Stationers’ News / Page Eight
STATIONERS GO TIME TRAVELLING!
Report: Liveryman Sir Jeremy Elwes CBE
THIRTY-FIVE intrepid
Liverymen and their guests
went back to the early 18th
century and visited Dennis
Severs’ House in Spitalfields,
East London, on October
10th. It was a remarkable
journey through time.
This virtually derelict
house was bought in the
1870s by Dennis Severs, an
eccentric artist son of a
Californian garage owner.
Severs lived in each of the ten
rooms in turn with just a
bedroll, candle and chamber
pot. Over a number of years he collected antique furniture and objects to furnish each room as it might have been
two centuries earlier.
There is no electricity – candles and
fires provide the only lighting and heat-
ing – but each room has hidden sounds
and smells that produce a remarkable
effect on the visitor, a feeling that the
family has just left but will return. Halfempty wine glasses, discarded oyster
shells, pancakes on a grill pan, unmade
Father of Fleet Street
HONOURED
SIMON JENKINS, author
and journalist, unveiled a plaque
commemorating Wynkyn de
Worde, “the first printer in Fleet
Street”, in St Bride’s Church
where he was buried in 1535.
Commissioned
by
the
Wynkyn de Worde Society on
the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the Welsh slate plaque was
dedicated in a service on
November 15th conducted by
Canon David Meara, Rector of St
Bride’s and Chaplain to the
Stationers’ Company, in the
presence of the Master, Past
masters and Liverymen.
The prayers included one to
“illuminate and inspire writers,
publishers, craftsmen and all
who work with the printed
word.”
Known as the ‘Father of
Fleet Street’, Wynkyn de Worde
worked first with William Caxton
in Westminster. After Caxton’s
death, he moved the business to
Fleet Street to serve the legal
and ecclesiastical community
there.
beds and washing hanging
over the fireplace, all create
an atmosphere that is both
convincing and occasionally
disturbing: a pair of child’s
crutches, the cramped servants’ quarters.
Having climbed all the
stairs between the basement
and the fourth floor, several
of us walked the short distance
to
City
Limits
Restaurant (well known to
Freemen in particular) where
owner David Hughes made us
extremely welcome and produced two well-discounted wines for
our delectation.
All in all, a very unusual Livery
Committee function but much enjoyed
and which produced a useful contribution to the Company’s charities.
LETTER TO
THE EDITOR
From Past Master
Christopher T. Rivington
Sir,
I enjoyed reading the Immediate
Past Master’s revealing article on the
Norton family (Stationers’ News,
May 2007) and I should like to comment on one unimportant point in it.
The Master writes that the Norton
family’s record of providing twelve
entries in the Company’s list of
Masters is unlikely to be beaten. Yet
the record has been equalled. On
becoming Master in 1983, I was
assured by the then Clerk that I was
(only) the Twelfth Man in the
Rivington team of Masters! Of course
the Nortons’ record has, remarkably,
been achieved by only four family
members with multiple innings,
while the Rivingtons have needed
twelve to equal it, with a single
innings by each Master.
I hesitate to speculate on
whether in due course a thirteenth
Master’s name will appear from
either of the families.
Yours sincerely
Christopher Rivington
Stationers’ News / Page Nine
COMPANY NEWS
Court
TUESDAY 2 OCTOBER 2007
The Hon. Chaplain, The Reverend Canon
David MEARA, Rector of St Bride’s Church,
was re-invested for a further year, with thanks
expressed by the Master.
TUESDAY 24 JULY 2007
The Court received with gratitude a
donation of £1,000 for charitable purposes
from The Periodical Publishers’ Association.
Master and Wardens’
Committee
Cloathed in the Livery
TUESDAY 2 OCTOBER 2007
GORDON PETER CHRISTIANSEN
Managing Director, Colway Limited
JOANNA PARLBY
Joint Managing Director, Newark
Advertiser
NORMAN FRANK REVILL
Managing Director, MAN Roland
JAMES FREDERICK SACRE
Sales Representative, Ulverscroft Large Print
Books
TATIANA VON SAXE WILSON
Managing Director, Delancey Press
NONNA PATRICIA WOODWARD
Vice Chairman, North Wales Newspapers
PAUL JOHN WOOLLETT
Managing Director, Victor Tanberg & Co
TUESDAY 5 JUNE 2007
ALISTAR MARTIN HILL
Accountant Executive – The Friary Press
Admission to the Freedom
MONDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2007
ANNE PATRICIA BREWSTER
Self Employed, Advertising Executive
In Memoriam
LIVERYMAN
RICHARD GEORGE DICKINSON
10 November 1946 –
19 November 2007
Cloathed: 2006
LIVERYMAN (HIS HONOUR)
MICHAEL A A R COOMBE
17 June 1930 – 20 October 2007
Freedom & Cloathed: 2002
FREEMAN ERIC A EDWARDS
7 March 1921 – 7 October 2007
Freedom: 1972
FREEMAN
ALLEN JAMES GOODALL
2 August 1917 – 5 July 2007
Freedom: 1989
TRISTAN STEPHEN HILDERLEY
Managing Director, Ian Allan Publishing
Limited
PHILIP ANDREW WARNER
Managing Director, Warners
MONDAY 29 OCTOBER 2007
DAVID WILLIAM CORDEROY
Managing Director, IGEA Consultants
JOHN FREDERICK DICKINSON
Chairman, Garnett Dickinson Holdings
STUART BEANGE DUNCAN
Managing Director, Screaming Colour
Limited
ANDREW CRAWFORD GILFILLAN
Managing Director EMEA, Cambridge
University Press
MADELINE LOUISE PATERSON
Media Account Manager, The Open
University
MONDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 2007
CHARLES JOHN BRADY
Chief Executive, Wilmington Group
GRAHAM NICHOLAS BROMLEY
Deputy Managing Director, Hobbs the
Printers
MAURICE BROWN
Sales Director, Katun UK
GRAHAM JOHN DAVIES
General Manager, Sanyo Speechtek Limited
TREVOR JAMES FENWICK
Managing Director, Euromonitor
International Limited
DAVID THOMAS FRASER MACLEAN
Retired
SUSAN MARY JOHNSTON PANDIT
Dean of Printing and Publishing, London
College of Communication
ELAINE POOKE
Print Buyer, English Heritage
FUTURE EVENTS
DECEMBER 2007
11 Christmas Carol Service,
St Bride’s Church
JANUARY 2008
8
Members’ Open Evening,
Stationers’ Hall.
10 CEOs’ Dinner
14 “Supper being ended...” – Feasting
& Music at Stationers’ Hall
25 Burns Night Supper
FEBRUARY 2008
4
Digital Media Evening
6
Cakes & Ale – Ash Wednesday
Service, St Paul’s
13 Royal Opera House Lunch and
Tour
25 Liverymen’s Lunch
MARCH 2008
4
Careers Day
5
Lunch at Butchers Hall
10 Annual Lecture & Dinner. Speaker:
Gail Rebuck, Chief Executive,
Random House
17 Freemen’s Association AGM &
Luncheon
27 Casino Night
Stationers’ News / Page Ten
Obituary
ANNA GREENING
(1955-2007)
Robin Myers, Archivist Emeritus,
writes:
Anna Greening first came to
Stationers’ Hall in February 1985; I was
struggling to maintain the momentum
of deliveries to Chadwyck-Healey for
microfilming. There was no funding,
certainly none for paid assistance. But
Anna needed work experience before
enrolling for Aberystwyth’s archive
course. We struck a deal – she would
come for the price of her bus fare and
sandwiches.
For six months we slogged at rearranging shelving and listing the hitherto
uncatalogued archive. She was a
trained shorthand typist, and overnight,
at home – our typewriter was the steward’s manual cast-off – she typed up
our rough notes. Then came a breadwinning break with a firm of Swedish
debt-collectors (she had read Swedish)
which she found so uncongenial that
she soon returned to the Hall before
starting her diploma course. In the
vacations, she helped me finish my
book on the records, and typed it up
for the publisher.
In 1988, she qualified, married, and five
years later, had a son and added an
archival MA to her qualifications. She
had a true vocation, painstaking and
meticulous. With her tall and commanding presence (inherited from her
headmaster father) she seemed cut out
for life at the top, but she was not
ambitious, was surprisingly diffident
and self-effacing, happiest with the
challenge of chaotic, often unknown
archives. She did wonders, among
other places, at the Women’s Library;
Queen’s College, Harley Street and the
parish records at All Hallows by the
Tower. From time to time she returned
to Stationers – to catalogue the Tottel
papers, to stand in when I was off sick
for three months, to advise on knotty
problems, and finally to help with
‘Shakespeare at Stationers’ Hall’ in
2005.
If only she could have succeeded me as
archivist; but it was not to be; and on
October 4th, relatives, friends, fellow
archivists, and Bob Russell representing
the Company, filled her beloved All
Hallows to celebrate her life and mourn
the premature passing of a loved
friend, warm, talented, loyal, entertaining and jovial.
Stationers’ News / Page Eleven
BOOKSHOP
Cambridge University Press Bookshop
1 Trinity Street
Cambridge CB2 1SZ
Telephone 01223 333333
[email protected]
www.cambridge.org/bookshop
These, and many more gifts for
Christmas are available to buy
from the Cambridge University
Press Bookshop in the heart of
the City. Just contact us and we
will be happy to send you any titles
from our outstanding list at just
£3.50p&p regardless of quantity.
A Merry Christmas from
Cambridge University Press
Orphans, Widows, Grannies –
and Small Businesses
Each year the Master has an opportunity to select a charity which the Company supports.
This year, the Stationers’ Company is supporting a village community aid programme in East Africa,
ranging from nursery schooling to vocational training, plus a successful micro-credit scheme.
THE CHANGARAWE PROJECT was
founded in 1997 by Carolyn Walford in
London and Felistas Kalomo in
Tanzania. The aim: to help the poorest
of the poor in the village of Changarawe
in the central Morogoro Region of
Tanzania.
The first, modest step was to build a
nursery school. It opened with 22 children in 1999 and has grown rapidly. By
2006, with the construction of a third
classroom, the numbers increased to
100. The children stay in the school for
two years before moving to primary
school at the age of seven.
“The school is the focus of the charity, helping us to find orphaned children, widows and abandoned mothers,
or grandmothers with orphans to care
for,” Caro Walford explains.
“It is called ‘The Zawadi School’
which means ‘gift’ in Swahili.”
A wider educational programme to
help orphans throughout the whole of
their schooling and on into vocational
training was started in 2005. There are
currently 55 children benefiting from
this scheme and the number increases
by a further 25 children every January.
supporting orphaned grandchildren.
Twelve are employed in the school to
teach the children traditional stories and
games, and three others help out in different ways. They meet up once a
month to share a meal together, provided by the charity. This is known as ‘The
Grannies’ Club’.
Micro-Credit
Following a request by the village
community, the charity started a micro“We are delighted that The
Worshipful Company of Stationers
and Newspaper Makers are supporting the Changarawe Project for the
year 2007-3008,” Caro Walford said
“With this help we are planning to
give more support to the educational programme for orphans, who are
often treated as little more than servants in their adoptive homes.”
Grannies’ Club
The latest initiative is finding parttime paid employment for the many
grandmothers in the village who are
credit scheme for women in 2003. This
has been hugely successful and has
since been extended to young people of
both sexes. It now gives credit to 150
people at any one time to help them
start small businesses.
Cotton shopping bags and other
goods are made in the village and sold
in the UK with all profits from sales
going into the running of the school.
The charity is financed through two
endowment funds (including a separate
Nigel Lloyd Fund for the orphans’ educational programme) built up from public donations and fund-raising events. It
needs to raise an extra £5,000 - £6,000
annually to maintain the status quo. All
donated money goes directly into funding the charity – all administrative support in the UK is voluntary.
The Changarawe Project –
www.changaraweproject.org –
email: [email protected]
50 Chelsham Road,
London SW4 6NP
Tel: 0207 498 6228
Front cover picture:
Caro Walford, Felistas Kalomo
and Lucien Chamkulu, Orphan
Welfare Officer, with one of ‘our’
grandmothers and her orphaned
grandchildren.
The 200+ Club – Recent Winners
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
Michael Harrap
Jessica Bourne
Keith Hutton
Sir Ray Tindle
D G Trelford
Jack Faiers
Anthony Henfrey
David Pollock
Mrs J M Ward
Keith Barnes
Timothy Rix
Sir Jeremy Elwes
Kevin Eyers
Kevin Dewey
Jean Behn
Jonathan Straker
Betty Morgan
John Davies
David Fisher
Cynthia Haslam
Mandi Moore
Sarah Mahurter
Gerald Hill
Robert Bourne
Margaret Greenaway
James Cropper
Nick Steidl
Gillian Tollitt
Martin White
Clifford Jakes
Pauline Smith
S T AT I O N E R S ’ N E W S
H ONORARY E DITOR : Stephen Somerville, SUB-EDITOR: Bert Morgan
Published by the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers, Stationers’ Hall, Ave Maria Lane, London EC4M 7DD
Website www.stationers.org email: [email protected] tel: 020 7248 2934 fax: 020 7489 1975
The Company thanks:
Tim Friend for his valuable design and production services
All the scribes for their valued contributions
All photographers, including Gerald Sharp Photography
and Liveryman Tom Hempenstall
Printed by
Acculith 76,
Brake Shear House,
164 High Street,
Barnet EN5 5XP
Letters and contributions for publication will be welcomed by the
Honorary Editor at Stationers’ Hall.
The opinions and articles published in Stationers’ News do not necessarily represent the views of the Company of Stationers and
Newspaper Makers or the Editor.
Stationers’ News / Page Twelve