The Master’s Diary

Everyone tells me that being a Livery Master is a busy job. Here’s how I’m spending the year.

Glass Sellers’ events are highlighted. If you’d like to know more about them, join in or support the Glass Sellers charity – please drop me an email

January 2015

12th | City Freedom ceremony for new Livery Freeman
19th | Glass Sellers’ Charity Meeting
20th| Annual Leave to 8 February (I’m going to need to charge my batteries!)

February 2015

13th | Tasting for Spring Dinner, Clothmakers’ Hall
16th | Prize Giving, Mall Galleries, Worshipful Company of Painter Stainers
18th | Glass Sellers Ravenscroft Innovation Lecture
26th | Tacitus Lecture, Guildhall

March 2015

03rd | Spectacle Makers’ Masters & Clerks Lunch
05th | Hackney Carriage Drivers’ Company Spring Court Dinner
10th | Glass Sellers’ Court Meeting and Spring Dinner (Guest Speaker, Sue O’Brien OBE, CEO Norman Broadbent)
11th | Mariners’ Lunch, HQS Wellington
18th | Chartered Secretaries’ & Administrators’ Lecture, Saddlers’ Hall
19th | Lord Mayor’s Dinner for Masters, Mansion House
20th | United Guilds Service, St Paul’s Cathedral
24th | Architects’ Peter Milo Memorial Lecture, RIBA
31st | Lunch with Judges at the Old Bailey

April 2015

08th | Glass Sellers’ Succession Committee, Guildhall
08th | Needlemakers’ Dinner, Saddlers’ Hall
13th | Dinner Bakers’ Company, Bakers’ Hall
15th | Lunch Actuaries’ Company, Watermans’ Hall
20th | Actuaries’ Banquet, Mansion House
22nd | City of London Lecture, Guildhall
23rd | Judging for the Master’s Glass Commission Competition, Coopers’ Hall
27th | Lady Masters’ Association Meeting and Dinner, Guildhall
29th | Lunch Plumbers’ Company, Wax Chandlers’ Hall
29th | Insurers’ Banquet, Mansion House
30th | Lunch Guild of Young Freemen, Charterhouse
30th | Lecture Air Pilots’ Company, The Royal Aeronautical Society

May 2015

12th | Buckingham Palace Garden Party (and on my birthday!)
13th | Postal History Exhibition Private View & Reception, Guildhall
14th | Distillers’ Company City Debate and Supper
15th | Launderers’ Mansion House Banquet
19th | Glass Sellers’ F&GPC Meeting
19th | Security Professionals’ Lecture, Wood Street Police Station
22nd| Visit to Stoke Park and Cardinal Wiseman schools, Coventry
27-28th and 30th | Glass Festival and Biennale at Stourbridge

June 2015

03rd |Livery Live Livery Reception and Buffet, Pewterers’ Hall
03rd |Constructors’ Company Sir Christopher Wren Banquet, Mansion House
05th| Masters’ Weekend at Ironbridge
10th | Reception, St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, Bishopsgate
11th | Glass Sellers Court Meeting and Charity Dinner (Guest Speaker The Rt Hon Tony Baldry)
12th | British Glass Focus Conference, Manchester
16th | Innholders’ Celebration Dinner, Guildhall
17th | Livery Education Conference, Staple Hall Inn
18th | Scientific Instrument Makers’ Banquet, Drapers’ Hall
19th | Jailed and Bailed at The Tower (help me reach my Bail)
19th | Cocktail Reception, C.O.L. & N.E. Sector Cadets, Walthamstow
23rd | Affiliates Dinner, Royal Navy, Faslane
24th | Election of Sheriffs, Guildhall
24th | Armed Forces Flag Raising Day, Guildhall Yard
25th | Building Crafts College “End of Year Show” Reception , Carpenters’ Hall
29th | Glaziers’ Company Summer Dinner, Glaziers’ Hall
30th | Launch of the “Magna Carta” edition of the City of London’s Freeman’s Guide, Information Technologists’ Hall

July 2015

01st| Informal Lunch, Chair of Livery Committee, Guildhall
06th| Unveiling of wall hanging embroidered by Fine Cell Work, Glaziers’ Hall
07th| Dinner with Innholders’ Company, Innholders’ Hall
13th | Viewing of portrait of Dame Fiona Woolf and launch of Lord Mayors’ Portraits book, Wax Chandlers’ Hall
13th| AGM for Sheriffs and Recorders’ Fund followed by Reception, Old Bailey
14th| Apothecaries 1815 Dinner, Apothecaries’ Hall
16th | Annual Service of Dedication by the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor, St Paul’s and Reception at Apothecaries’ Hall
20th | Police Foundation Lecture, Drapers’ Hall
24th | Glass Sellers’ Friends and Family Friday Church Service St James Garlickhythe followed by Lunch at The Capital Club
30th | Livery Masters Inaugural City of London Church Walk
30th | Banquet, Guild of Young Freemen, Charterhouse

August 2015

2nd | City of London & NE Sector Army Cadet Force Annual Camp Competition Day

September 2015

15th | Presentation of Shrieval Chain to Sheriff-Elect, Dr Christine Rigden, Stationers’ Hall
16th | A Short Talk under the Dome, St Paul’s Cathedral and Reception
18th | The Big Breakast, Hackney Carriage Drivers EuroDisney send off (at 6.30am!) Canary Wharf
21st | Launderers’ Joyce Kennedy Memorial Lecture, Glaziers Hall
24th | Presentation of Shrieval Chain to Alderman, Sheriff-Elect Charles Bowman, Grocers’ Hall
24th | Glass Sellers’ Court Meeting and Dinner (Guest Speaker: Adrian Waddingham CBE)
29th | Breakfast, Election of Lord Mayor, Guildhall followed by Lunch at Wax Chandlers’ Hall

October 2015

05th | Playing Card Makers’, Annual Banquet
07th | Musicians’ Company, Evensong and Dinner
12th | Glass Sellers’ Mansion House Banquet (Guest Speaker: Angela Knight CBE,)
20th| Musicians’ Company Masters & Clerks Dinner, Mercers’ Hall
29th | Agincourt Celebration, Westminster Abbey
29th | Lord Mayor’s 800th Anniversary Awards Trust Reception, Mansion House

November 2015

02nd| Cross Laying, Memorial Garden, St Paul’s Cathedral
02nd| Lord Mayor’s Prize Day, City of London School
04th | Lady Mayoress At Home, Mansion House
05th | Pattenmakers’ Company Masters’ & Clerks’ Luncheon, Tallow Chandlers’ Hall
11th | Presentation of Beethoven Piano Award, Guildhall School of Music, Barbican
13th | Silent Ceremony, Guildhall
14th | Lord Mayor’s Show
17th | Actuaries’ Lecture, Staple Inn
23rd |Lord Mayor’s Address, Mansion House
26th| Barbers’ Company Dinner, Barber Surgeons’ Hall
27th | Lecture Power, Reputation and Influence in the 21st Century by Dame Fiona Woolf DBE, Carpenters’ Hall
30th |The Mercers’ Company Livery Concert, Mercers’ Hall

December 2015

2nd | Citizenship Ceremony, Guildhall
7th | Launders’ Carol Service, Southwark Cathedral followed by Supper
8th | Glass Sellers’ Court Meeting and Installation Dinner for the new Master – (my year is done!)