WOR92595 50th Ann Brochure aw:Layout 1

The Worshipful Company of Launderers
50th Anniversary City Banquet
Great Hall
Guildhall
London EC2
By Kind permission of
The Rt Hon. The Lord Mayor
Tuesday 23rd February 2010
The Worshipful
Company of Launderers
Past Masters
1960-1962
1962-1963
1963-1964
1964-1965
1965-1966
1966-1967
1967-1968
1968-1969
1969-1970
1970-1971
1971-1972
1972-1973
1973-1974
1974-1975
1975-1976
1976-1977
1977-1978
1978-1979
1979-1980
1980-1981
1981-1982
1982-1983
1983-1984
1984-1985
1985-1986
1986-1987
1987-1988
1988-1989
1989-1990
1990-1991
1991-1992
1992-1993
1993-1994
1994-1995
1995-1996
1996-1997
1997-1998
1998-1999
1999-2000
2000-2001
2001-2002
2002-2003
2003-2004
2004-2005
2005-2006
2006-2007
2007-2008
2008-2009
Stanley W. Wells, Esq., MBE
Mr Deputy Cuthbert Skilbeck
Leslie E. Brown, Esq.
Robert Allen, Esq., JP
Charles Alva Rice-Hunt, Esq.
Ancliffe R. Prince, Esq.
C. Victor Best, Esq.
Arthur E. Bailey, Esq.
Vernon R. Jones, Esq.
Donald A. Hutcheson, Esq.
Arthur R. L. Oliver, Esq., TD, JP
Michael Ross, Esq., DFC
Neville M. Wells, Esq.
Jack Leicester, Esq., OBE
W. Desmond C. Robinson, Esq.
Eric W. Swetman, Esq., OBE
Arthur Kennedy, Esq., OBE
Brian W. Goodliffe, Esq.
Peter L. Macdonald, Esq., VRD
William J. Marle, Esq.
E. Stanley Hale, Esq.
Richard L. Seaman, Esq.
Stuart Laurie-Walker, Esq.
Jack Pennell, Esq.
Roy Le Poidevin, Esq.
Derek L. Hirst, Esq.
William H. Davidson, Esq., MBE
John C. H. Baker, Esq.
Oswald E. Longshaw, Esq.
Frederick H. Scott, Esq.
J. Anthony Dunn, Esq.
Melvyn F. H. Rogers, Esq.
James G. Crisp, Esq.
Brian St. John Mowbray, Esq.
James I. S. Fox, Esq.
David R. Browne, Esq.
Richard C. L. Orford, Esq.
Michael Bennett, Esq.
Thomas A. Elliott, Esq.
Peter C. Crane, Esq.
Dennis A. Hargreaves, Esq.
David M. Hart, Esq.
Margaret D. Sheppard
Alick Kennedy, Esq.
M. Paul Woolfenden, Esq.
Terence J. Winter, Esq.
Selwyn M. Burchhardt, Esq.
M. Paul Woolfenden, Esq.
Lord Mayor’s Welcome
The Worshipful Company of Launderers
Master
Murray R. F. Simpson
Deputy Master
M. Paul Woolfenden
Senior Warden
Martyn E. M. Lewis
Renter Warden
Colin Hill
Clerk of the Company
Jacqueline A. Polek
Master’s Welcome
On behalf of the Court of the Worshipful Company of Launderers, may
I welcome you to Guildhall and to our 50th Anniversary City Banquet.
Exactly fifty years ago today, Tuesday 23rd February 1960, forty progressive
leaders of their industry met in Tallow Chandlers’ Hall to celebrate the birth
of The Company of Launderers. They were brought together by the
Company’s first Master, Major Stanley Wells MBE, whose wisdom and
foresight, and that of his fellow founders, is honoured here this evening.
Laundry is an ancient craft; but we are a modern Company. Whilst
modest in comparison to many Companies within the City, our fiftieth
anniversary is a source of great pride to the Launderers and represents a
landmark in our history well worthy of tonight’s splendid celebration at
Guildhall. I should like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues in
the Company and particularly the members of the Organising Committee
chaired by Senior Warden Martyn Lewis for their diligent preparation which
has laid the foundation for tonight’s success. The generosity of the
market-leading commercial companies who have sponsored this event is
also gratefully acknowledged. Without this incredibly valuable support, it
would have been impossible to stage tonight’s event on such a scale and
with such professionalism.
The Launderers play a full and growing part in the life of the City of
London: sharing a splendid Livery Hall with the Glaziers and the Scientific
Instrument Makers; strongly supporting the British Red Cross at
Guildhall’s Christmas Market and other events; combining with other
water-related Livery Companies to form the much vaunted “Wet 10”;
processing with our fellow Modern Companies in the Lord Mayor’s Show;
celebrating our valued link with the Laundry Squadron of the Royal
Logistic Corps; competing on the River Thames in our Company’s Cutter,
The Princess Nausicaa and supporting charity, education, training and
benevolence both for the laundry industry and in the London Borough
of Southwark.
But above all, the Company celebrates
the craft of laundering and its modern
applications. The stunning table linen
provided this evening is just one example of
the contemporary innovative products and
services provided by today’s laundry and dry
cleaning industry.
I hope that our Founders would approve of
our stewardship of their legacy and look
forward to the next chapter in the history of
the Company: the next fifty years.
M R F Simpson
Master
2009/10
Brief History of the Company
Proposals to form the Company of Launderers originated in 1955 with
foundations being laid by Mr Ancliffe Prince and Mr Dorrill K Rollitt OBE.
The first meeting of the Launderers to consider the formation of the
Company was held in Tallow Chandlers’ Hall on 3rd July 1957.
A Constitution and Ordinances, prepared
with the considerable aid of Mr Randall
Monier-Williams, Clerk of the Tallow
Chandlers’ Company, were approved and
adopted at the inaugural meeting of the
Company on the 23rd February 1960. Mr
Stanley W Wells was elected Master, Mr
Deputy Cuthbert Skilbeck, Senior Warden,
Mr Leslie E Brown, Renter Warden along
with eight Assistants and Mr Dorrell K Rollitt
OBE as Clerk.
Major Stanley W. Well, MBE
A Benevolent Trust Fund, created in 1963, has proved to be of considerable
value. Charitable grants are made from the Benevolent Trust Fund to
worthy causes in the Laundry Industry; the City of London; the locality of
Launderers’ Hall and, at the Masters’
discretion, to other deserving charities and
appeals. The Launderers Company is a
major contributor, amongst other Livery
Companies, to the City of London Red Cross
Christmas Market and Appeal.
Also in 1963, the College of Heralds made a
Grant of Arms to the Company with the
Company motto - “Cleanliness is next to
Godliness” - beneath the Coat of Arms.
In 1970, the Company celebrated its tenth
anniversary by holding an exhibition at
Bakers’ Hall in the City of London to
illustrate both the antiquity of the craft of
laundering and the part which it plays in the
life of the City and all its inhabitants.
Senior Past Master
Neville M. Wells
By an Order of the Court of Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London
dated 11th December 1973, the Company was recognised as a City
Company without a Grant of Livery.
By an Order of the Court of Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London
dated 13th December 1977, the Company was constituted a Livery
Company of the City of London. The Letters Patent confirming the Grant
of Livery were presented to the Company by the Lord Mayor at a ceremony
at The Mansion House on the 10th March 1978.
At Guildhall on the 18th September 1980, the Lord Mayor unveiled a
Shield bearing the Coat of Arms of the Company which was donated by
Past Master Richard L Seaman.
In 1982, the Launderers’ Hall Appeal fund was inaugurated with the
intention of establishing a “home” for the Company in the City of London
for the next 150 years. The appeal received a magnificent response from
the Livery and Industry which enabled the Company to enter Launderers
Hall on the 1st October 1982 and to hold its first Livery Dinner in the Hall
on 18th October 1982.
The Company’s first Ladies’ Banquet to be held at Launderers’ Hall took
place on the 18th May 1983, when Her Royal Highness The Princess Anne
GCVO proposed the Toast to the Worshipful Company of Launderers.
During 1991/92, the first six female Freemen were admitted to the
Company.
On the 16th March 1998, Articles of Association between the Company
and the Laundry Squadron of the Royal Logistic Corps (TA) were
entered into, thus formalizing an association begun in 1992.
In June 2003, Margaret Sheppard became the first Lady Master of
the Company.
The Coat of Arms
The central feature on the shield of the Coat of Arms is a representation of
a mechanical washing machine, invented in 1782 by Henry Sidgier of
London. It operated on a rotary principle which set a trend for successive
machines for the next 200 years. Sidgier's machine comprised two cages,
one inside the other, the inner being perforated and fixed to a handle for
rotation by hand. As it was turned, with the garments inside it, water was
passed through the outer cage and the perforations of the inner cage to
clean the clothes by agitation. Surrounding Sidgier's machine on the shield
are three antique flat irons.
On the crest sits a domestic cat, the cleanest of all animals. Surrounding it
are lilies and sunflowers, symbols of purity, warmth and brightness.
The right hand, or dexter, supporter of the shield (to the viewer's left)
commemorates a royal laundress, Princess Nausicaa. The sixth book of
Homer's Odyssey recounts how the Princess and her maidens are surprised
by the shipwrecked Odysseus as they are washing the linen of the royal
household on the beach.
The sinister, or left-hand supporter (to the viewer's right), is an eighteenth
century laundrywoman of contrastingly humbler origins. She carries a dolly
which, with the tub, was long considered the only apparatus necessary for
the washing of clothes. It was a natural progression from the beating
of clothes in running water.
The motto “Cleanliness is Next to Godliness” comes originally from the
Talmud, the ancient book of Jewish law and literature. It came into
widespread use in England after its adoption by John Wesley for use in
his sermons.
50th Anniversary Menu
A TRIO OF MINIATURE TERRINE, PARFAIT AND MOUSSELINE
Wild Game Terrine, Foie Gras Parfait & Watercress Mousseline
FILLET OF DOVER SOLE WITH BOK CHOY
AND CORIANDER & CHILLI BEURRE BLANC
CANNON OF CARMARTHENSHIRE LAMB
BUTTERNUT TART TATIN AND MINTED
WHITE WINE REDUCTION
DAUPHINOIS POTATOES
BUNDLE OF BEANS AND BABY CARROTS
TIED WITH LEEK RIBBONS
TUILE BASKET FILLED WITH PEARLS OF
EXOTIC FRUIT SORBET
AND PRESENTED ON A KISSEL OF RED FRUITS
TWICE BAKED PARMESAN SOUFFLÉ
WITH PLUM CHUTNEY
A SELECTION OF BRITISH SWEETMEATS AND CHOCOLATES
COFFEE
WINES
Montagny 1’er Cru, La Buxnoise 2006
Chateauneuf du Pape Domaine la Croze 2004
Champagne Lagache Rose
LIQUEURS
Warres 1980 Port
Baron de Sigognac Armagnac
SUNG GRACE
For these and all thy mercies given
We Bless and praise Thy Name, O Lord,
May we receive them with thanksgiving,
Ever trusting in Thy Word:
To Thee alone be honour, glory
Now, and henceforth, for evermore,
-AmenFrom the “Laudi Spirituali”, A.D. 1545
Toasts
THE QUEEN
Proposed by The Master
(It is our custom to sing the first verse of the
National Anthem before the Toast)
THE PRINCE PHILIP DUKE OF EDINBURGH
THE PRINCE OF WALES, THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL
and the other members of the Royal Family
Proposed by The Master
(The first six bars of the National Anthem
will be played, but not sung)
THE LORD MAYOR,
THE CITY OF LONDON CORPORATION
AND THE SHERIFFS
Proposed by The Master
THE GUESTS
Proposed by Senior Warden Martyn E M Lewis
Response to the Civic Toast and the Guest coupled with the
Toast to the Worshipful Company of Launderers
The Right Worshipful the Lord Mayor Locum Tenens
Alderman the Lord Levene of Portsoken KBE
Response by
The Master
FINAL TOAST
Proposed by Senior Past Master Neville M. Wells
Music during dinner
by
THE BRASS QUINTET OF
THE ROYAL ARTILLERY
Led By Bombardier Martin Hinton
Anthem from Chess
The Magic Horn
Concerto for Two Trumpets
La Comprasita
A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
The Roaring Twenties
Carol of the Bells
Gabriels Oboe
Amazing Grace
Entry of the Gladiators
Sea Sketches
Post Horn Gallop
Arr. Bede
Michael Kamen
Vivaldi
Rodriguez
Arr. Gale
Arr. Nagle
Arr. Coombes
Morricone
Arr.Henderson
Arr. Holcombe/Battles
MacDonald
Koenig
March of the Master Launderers
The March of the Master Launderers, which is is played as the Master,
Wardens and chief guests take their places, brings in two traditional tunes
associated with 19th Century members of our Industry - ‘The Irish
Washerwoman’ and ‘Dashing Away with a Smoothing Iron’. The
forerunners of the present laundry machinery manufacturers are also
remembered by a few snatches of ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’ (1720).
Reproduction of original table plan
Company of Launderers
Inauguration Banquet
Tallow Chandlers Hall, London
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Tuesday 23rd February 1960
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R.H. Monier -Williams
C. Victor Best
Rev. J. F. D. Trimingham
Ancliffe R. Prince
John K. Gambrell
Vernon R. Jones
Walter Hughes
John Leicester
Russell J. Brereton
Leonard D. Sinclair
C.A. Rice-Hunt
Artbur R.L. Oliver
Balfour Millar W.R. Powles-Hunt
Michael Ross
Robert K. Ross
Charles J. Nichols
Arthur Kennedy
Frederick Rogers
W.G. Martyn Wilkins Gordon A. Noble
Herbert E. Davis
Eric W.Swetman
Lewis Hinkley
Norman O. Wright
Neville M. Wells
John Barnett
Stanley T. Burkett
Edward J. Lowes
The City Press
Donald E. Hutcheson
Dorrell K. Rollit
Fascinating Facts of the Time
THE TIMES
23rd February 1960
THE TIMES
27th February 1960
POWER LAUNDRY
4th Macrh 1960
A Brief History of Guildhall
As the home of the Corporation of London, Guildhall has been the centre
of City government since the Middle Ages. Today, Guildhall still plays an
important role in the City.
The word “guildhall” is said to derive from the Anglo-Saxon “gild”
meaning payment, so it was probably a place where citizens would pay their
taxes. The present Guildhall was begun in 1411 and, having survived both
the Great Fire of London and the Blitz, it is the only secular stone structure
dating from before 1666 still standing in the City. It is likely that at least
one earlier guildhall existed on or near the current site. References to a
London guildhall are made in a document dating back to 1128 and the
current hall’s west crypt is thought to be part of a late 13th century
building. Remains of a long-lost Roman amphitheatre discovered in 1987
underneath what is now Guildhall Yard indicate that the site of Guildhall
was significant as far back as Roman times.
The Great Hall is the third largest civic hall in England, where royalty and
state visitors have been entertained down the centuries. It has been the
setting for famous state trials, including that of Lady Jane Grey in 1553.
The imposing medieval hall has stained glass windows and several
monuments to national heroes including Sir Winston Churchill.
The monuments surrounding Great Hall date back to the eighteenth
century. The oldest, erected in 1772, was dedicated to Lord Mayor William
Beckford who is represented addressing a remonstrance to King George
III, after the King had apparently rebuffed an address from the City.
Legend has it that the two statutes of Gog and Magog represent the
conflict between the ancient inhabitants of Britain and the Trojan invaders.
This resulted in the founding, 1000 years before the beginning of the
Christian era, of Albion’s capital city New Troy upon which site London is
said to stand. The ancestors of the giants, eventually set up in Guildhall in
1708, were paraded in the mid-summer pageants of the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries.
Britain’s two most foremost naval and military heroes also take their place
among the statesmen represented. The monument to Admiral Viscount
Nelson depicts the Battle of Trafalgar with Neptune and Britannia grieving
at his death, while the City of London records his great victories. That of the
Duke of Wellington depicts the last
charge at Waterloo, the Duke standing
between Peace and War, holding his
Field Marshal’s baton in one hand and
the Peace of 1815 in the other.
Both the Old Library and the Print
Room are now used as reception rooms
and beneath Guildhall lie the largest
medieval crypts in London, which are
also now used for reception purposes.
The Origins of Beating Retreat
The ceremony of Beating Retreat has its origins in the practicalities of early
warfare when the drum was used for all signals on the battlefield. Beating
the Retreat was a signal for troops to disengage from combat as light faded.
This custom was also used to warn outlying troops to withdraw to the
confines of the encampment before the picquets were set for the night.
One of the first references to the custom of Retreat is in the 'Rules and
Ordynaunces for the Warre' dated 1554, where it is called 'Watch Setting'.
In 1727 Humphrey Bland's 'Treatise of Military Discipline' stated: 'Half an
hour before the gates are to be shut, generally at the setting of the sun, the
Drummers of the Port Guard are to go upon the ramparts and beat a
Retreat to give notice to those without that the gates are to be shut.'
There appeared to be some confusion between Retreat and another
custom of 'Tattoo' which was a beating of drums within the billeting areas
to order the troops to their quarters. Twenty years later, whilst in Flanders
during the war of the Austrian succession, The Duke of Cumberland made
the first clear distinction between Retreat and Tattoo, when he ordered 'The
Retreat is to be daily at Sunset and the Tattoo is to be beat at a later hour
as ordered by the Commandants of individual encampments'.
The original call of Retreat was beaten by drums alone, and it was some
years before fifers were added to play tunes. The bugle came later still and
the present ceremony of having a band parade is a modern innovation to
add spectacle. The ceremony of Beating Retreat in the Royal Navy
and Royal Marines rose to importance in the 1930s when the then
Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean Fleet, Admiral Sir William Fisher
KCB, CVO, chose it as an impressive spectacle to perform when his Fleet
visited foreign ports. The Massed Bands of the Fleet were added to the
Corps of Drums and the ceremony was concluded with the bugle call
•Sunset• as the White Ensign was lowered.
The Company of Launderers first Annual
Banquet held at Tallow Chandlers Hall
Her Royal Highness the Princess Anne
and Past Master Richard L. Seaman 1983
The RLC setting up their mobile laundry unit
The Company’s Cutter taking part
in the Nelson Flotilla 2005
The Company’s Court 2010
Event Sponsors
Fishers Services Limited
Armstrong Commercial Laundry Equipment
Clay & Abbott
Clean Linen Services
Hilden
Huebsch Originators
Jensen Group
Lapauw
Tibard and Tonrose
Cuttings from Power Laundry have been reproduced by kind permission of
Laundry and Cleaning News
Photographs of this Banquet can be purchased from www.sharpphoto.co.uk