Worshipful Company of Grocers

(Redirected from Guild of Pepperers) Livery Company of the City of London

Grocers' Company
Grocers' arms: Argent a Chevron Gules between nine Cloves six in chief and three in base Proper.
Motto	God Grant Grace
Location	Grocers' Hall, Princes Street, London EC2
Date of formation	1345; 679 years ago (1345)
Company association	Spice merchants
Order of precedence	2nd
Master of company	Alderman Charles Bowman
Website	www.grocershall.co.uk

The Worshipful Company of Grocers is one of the 111 livery companies of the City of London, ranking second in order of precedence.

Established in 1345 for merchants engaged in the grocery trade, it is one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies.

History

Founded in the 14th century by members of the Guild of Pepperers, dating from 1180, the company was responsible for maintaining standards for the purity of spices and for setting of certain weights and measures. Its membership until 1617 included suppliers of medicinal spices and herbs when the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries was formed.

The guild was known as the Company of Grossers from 1373 until 1376 when it was renamed the Company of Grocers of London. In 1428, two years after building its first hall in Old Jewry, the company was granted a royal charter by King Henry VI of England.

A Great Twelve City Livery Company, the Grocers rank second in the order of precedence after the Mercers. It is said that the Grocers' Company used to be first in precedence, until Queen Elizabeth I, as Honorary Master of the Mercers' Company, found herself in procession after her coronation behind the Grocers' camel which was emitting unfortunate smells; as a result, the Mercers were promoted.

Today, the Grocers' Company exists as a charitable, constitutional and ceremonial institution which plays a significant role in the election of and supporting the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs of the City of London. The Company's motto is "God Grant Grace". The company also provides banqueting and conference facilities at Grocers' Hall situated in Prince's Street, next to the Bank of England.

Grocers' Hall

The earliest known Grocers' Hall was in Poultry, London, then known as Conningshop-Lane on account of the three conies or rabbits hanging over a poulterer's stall in the lane. It was built in 1428 on land once owned by Lord FitzWalter and let out "for dinners, funerals, county feasts and weddings". The roof and woodwork of the hall were destroyed in the 1666 Great Fire and afterwards a new roof was erected on the old walls while Sir John Cutler paid for a new parlour and dining room. The hall was again renovated in 1681 by the future Lord Mayor Sir John Moore. A new hall was built on the same site between 1798 and 1802 when part of the garden was sold to the Bank of England for the expansion of nearby Prince's Street. However, frequent and extensive repairs were required due to the third hall's defective foundations, which was replaced by a fourth hall, completed in 1893 on Prince's Street. The hall survived the Blitz with only minor damage to its north wing, but was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1965, apparently caused by a lightbulb left on in the grand staircase beneath an oak lintel which smouldered and eventually ignited. The fifth and final hall was constructed nearby in 1970, also on Prince's Street, is the Grocers' home today.

Past Masters of the Grocers' Company include Lord Mayors Sir Robert Leigh, Sir Robert Ladbroke, Sir Samuel Garrard and Timothy Coleridge, son of former Lloyd's of London chairman David Coleridge and brother of Sir Nicholas Coleridge.

The Master Grocer for 2022/23 is James Thompson. The Clerk to the Grocers' Company is Brigadier Greville Bibby and the Revd George Bush serves as Honorary Chaplain.

Guild church

St Mary-Le-Bow

School and military affiliations

The Grocers' Company is responsible for the maintenance of Oundle School in Northamptonshire, which depicts the Grocers' crest of a camel as its school badge. Other schools maintained by the company are the Elms School in Colwall, Herefordshire as well as Reed's School whose Annual Foundation Appeal has been held at Grocers' Hall for over fifty years. Furthermore, in 1876 the Company founded the Grocers' Company School, Hackney in the East End of London for the education of "sons of the middle classes". It was transferred into London County Council's control after that authority's formation in 1889, changing its name to Hackney Downs School; it closed in 1995. Hackney Downs depicted as its school badge a camel, for the Lower School, and a shield with cloves and the motto of the Grocers' Company for the Upper School; the Camel and Cloves are remembered to this day by old boys through the Clove Club. The Grocers' Company now maintains close links with and is the principal sponsor of Hackney's Mossbourne Academy, renowned for its excellent academic standards. The Church of St Paul, Homerton, in Hackney was founded by the Company in 1890, but became redundant in 1981: its edifice still displays the Grocers' coat of arms.

The Grocers' Company is also affiliated with HMS Queen Elizabeth, the first of the Royal Navy's new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, and with the Coldstream Guards, the oldest regular regiment of the British Army as well as XI (F) Squadron, Royal Air Force.

Eglinton Village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, was established by the Grocers' Company in 1619 under the name of Muff; the local Castle Credit Union has assumed use of the Company's crest, as has Eglinton Primary School.

The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Northill, in Bedfordshire displays the Grocers' coat of arms on a stained glass window by John Oliver, commissioned by the Company in 1664.

References

www.british-history.ac.uk
Jean Bellamy. "The Worshipful Company of Grocers". TimeTravel-Britain.com (History Magazine) July–September 2006 issue.
www.apothecaries.org
^ "The Worshipful Company of Grocers: Arms & History". Heraldic Media Limited. By 1373 the Company became known as Grocers or, more properly, grocers because they dealt in bulk, i.e. were wholesale merchants.
"A Modern Interpretation of Classic Cuisine: A Culinary Experience at the Grocers' Hall". London Launch, 24 April 2007.
"CIBSE Presidential address: Look back and learn to complete the circle". Voltimum: The First European Portal for the Electrical Industry. The CIBSE Annual General Meeting and Presidential Address took place at the Worshipful Company of Grocers on 3 May 2007.
Timbs, John (1855). Curiosities of London: Exhibiting the Most Rare and Remarkable Objects of Interest in the Metropolis. D. Bogue. p. 397.
www.mapoflondon.uvic.ca
www.theroyalexchange.co.uk
"Grocers' Company - Livery Companies of the City of London". liverydatabase.liverycompanies.info. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
www.stmarylebow.org.uk
"Reed's School". networkreeds.org.
"Roundcube Webmail :: Welcome to Roundcube Webmail". mossbourne.hackney.sch.uk.
^ G, Sludge (13 April 2009), Grocers' Company Foundation stone,former St Paul, Glyn Road, E5, retrieved 26 September 2020
Saint Paul, Homerton: Glyn Road, Hackney. <corpname>Church of England, St Paul's Parish, Homerton</corpname>. 1887–1981.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
"Lowest Price on Brand Shoes Fast Shipping in UK". castleandminster.co.uk.
"school-sites.org".
"Eglinton Primary School, Londonderry – The Good Schools Guide". The Good Schools Guide.
"Church of St Mary the Virgin, Northill". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 10 March 2016.

External links

v t e Livery companies and guilds in the City of London
Livery companies in order of precedence	Mercers Grocers Drapers Fishmongers Goldsmiths Skinners Merchant Taylors Haberdashers Salters Ironmongers Vintners Clothworkers Dyers Brewers Leathersellers Pewterers Barbers Cutlers Bakers Wax Chandlers Tallow Chandlers Armourers and Brasiers Girdlers Butchers Saddlers Carpenters Cordwainers Painter-Stainers Curriers Masons Plumbers Innholders Founders Poulters Cooks Coopers Tylers and Bricklayers Bowyers Fletchers Blacksmiths Joiners and Ceilers Weavers Woolmen Scriveners Fruiterers Plaisterers Stationers and Newspaper Makers Broderers Upholders Musicians Turners Basketmakers Glaziers and Painters of Glass Horners Farriers Paviors Loriners Apothecaries Shipwrights Spectacle Makers Clockmakers Glovers Feltmakers Framework Knitters Needlemakers Gardeners Tin Plate Workers Wheelwrights Distillers Pattenmakers Glass Sellers Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers Gunmakers Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers Makers of Playing Cards Fanmakers Carmen Master Mariners Solicitors Farmers Air Pilots Tobacco Pipe Makers and Tobacco Blenders Furniture Makers Scientific Instrument Makers Chartered Surveyors Chartered Accountants Chartered Secretaries and Administrators Builders' Merchants Launderers Marketors Actuaries Insurers Arbitrators Engineers Fuellers Lightmongers Environmental Cleaners Chartered Architects Constructors Information Technologists World Traders Water Conservators Firefighters Hackney Carriage Drivers Management Consultants International Bankers Tax Advisers Security Professionals Educators Arts Scholars Nurses
Companies without livery	Parish Clerks (Worshipful Company of) Watermen and Lightermen (Company of) Public Relations Practitioners Entrepreneurs HR Professionals
Category:Organisations based in the City of London

v t e City of London
City of London Corporation Parks and open spaces
Wards	Aldersgate Aldgate Bassishaw Billingsgate Bishopsgate Bread Street Bridge Broad Street Candlewick Castle Baynard Cheap Coleman Street Cordwainer Cornhill Cripplegate Dowgate Farringdon Within Farringdon Without Langbourn Lime Street Portsoken Queenhithe Tower Vintry Walbrook
Enclaves	Inner Temple Middle Temple
Localities	Barbican Blackfriars Broadgate Farringdon Holborn Minories Smithfield Temple
Attractions	20 Fenchurch Street Bank of England Museum Barbican Centre Clockmakers' Museum College of Arms Dr Johnson's House Finsbury Circus Guildhall Art Gallery Leadenhall Market London Mithraeum London Stone Mansion House The Monument Museum of London One New Change Prince Henry's Room Royal Exchange St Paul's Cathedral Smithfield Market
Notable structures	2 Hare Court 2 King's Bench Walk Aldgate Pump Bank of England Bevis Marks Synagogue Golden Boy of Pye Corner Guildhall Heron Tower Holborn Circus Lloyd's building London Stock Exchange Merchant Taylors' Hall National Firefighters Memorial Old Bailey Old Billingsgate Market The Gherkin Tower 42
Civil parishes	List of civil parishes in the City of London
Bridges	Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Railway Bridge Cannon Street Railway Bridge Holborn Viaduct London Bridge Millennium Footbridge Southwark Bridge
Rail and tube stations	Aldgate Bank–Monument Barbican Blackfriars Cannon Street City Thameslink Fenchurch Street Liverpool Street Mansion House Moorgate St Paul's Tower Gateway
Topics	Coat of arms Flag History Listed buildings at Grade I at Grade II* Livery companies Lord Lieutenants Lord mayors Lord Mayor's Show Public art and memorials Sheriffs Street names
Category