CityandLivery

The Ward Clubs of the City of London are one of those curious creatures that exist only in the eco-system of the City and find no direct parallel anywhere else in the UK. Part social club, part residents' association, part platform for engagement with voters, and part fabric of the City's cultural heritage the Ward Clubs vary in age, size, vibrancy and engagement with the residents, workers, voters and institutions of their respective ward. This blog article explores the origins, role and relevance of the Ward Clubs in the 21st century, at a time when many (but not all) of them appear to have retired to comfortable obscurity as quiet social clubs for persons of a certain age, but perhaps they are needed more than ever to engage with the growing and changing City residential and working population. When did the Ward Clubs begin? The origins of the several of Ward Clubs may be found in early residents or rate payers associations, initially formed to keep down the rates in t...

This blog article was update on 13 January 2024. The City of London has many civic and ceremonial officers that are unknown, or long since lost to the civic apparatus of other towns and cities throughout the United Kingdom. Ancient offices such as that of the Ale Conners, the Bridge Masters, the Chief Commoner, the Clerk to the Chamberlain's Court, the Secondary, and the Undersheriff are just a few among the panoply of robe wearing; sceptre, mace or sword bearing custodians of the City's traditions. The Beadle is the one office holder which is common to both the City of London Wards and to its many Livery Companies, yet in typical City style the role is not the same in every Company and certainly not between the Companies and the City. Such is the way of the City that delights in creating myriad exceptions to, and variations on, a common theme!  The role of Beadle probably grew out of the ecclesiastical role of Verger, and to this day the Verger of St Paul's Cathedral w...