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of the River Thames
From ancient
times the Thames has been a main highway for moving people and goods from the
Estuary to London and beyond. The use
of ferries was the only link across the river before the building of the first
London Bridge by the Romans. This was
the first blow to the watermen’s profession.
The flow of water through the arches created a weir effect that made
navigation particularly hazardous. Use
was made of the tide to achieve remarkable journey times between Gravesend and
upriver destinations. Evidence of the
River’s importance was provided by Stow, who in his survey of London of 1598,
related that forty thousand men earned a living on or about the river. Parliament had already found it necessary to
introduce some form of control, and through an Act of 1514 fares on the Thames
were regulated.
The watermen,
who carried passengers, however continued to act independently, and an Act of
1555 appointed Rulers of all watermen and wherrymen working between Gravesend
and Windsor. Thus the Company was
born. Its history may be studied
through successive Acts of Parliament.
The Act of 1555 also introduced apprenticeship for a term of one year
for all boys wishing to learn the watermen’s trade, and this was extended to
seven years in 1603 by a further Act.
At an early
stage in its life the company achieved two marks of distinction. In 1585 Arms were granted by Queen Elizabeth
and, before the end of the century, the Company established a Hall.
In 1700 the
lightermen, who carried cargo and who hitherto had been members of the
Woodmongers Company, succeeded in their petitions to Parliament, and an Act of
that year brought them into the Watermen’s Company. From then on lightermen were bound by the same regulations as
applied to watermen. In succeeding
years their numbers grew with the trade of the Port of London, while those of
the watermen diminished with the improvement of road transport in the cities of
London and Westminster.
As the strength
of the Royal Navy was built, Thames watermen were key targets for impressment
and over the years many thousands of watermen served, particularly in the
Napoleonic wars.
The Act of 1827
was important, in that for the first time the Company became completely
independent and a body corporate with its own seal. The Watermen’s and Lightermen’s Amendment Act of 1859
consolidated and extended the Company's powers, and it is this Act under which the
Company functions today.
During the nineteenth
century the Company accepted responsibility for fixing fares and appointing
plying places, the measurement and registration of boats and barges, and the
regulation and control of watermen and lightermen. However, by the Thames Conservancy Act of 1857 the sphere of the
Company’s operation was restricted to eastwards of Teddington Lock and, with
the birth of the Port of London Authority in 1908, and its Consolidation Act of
1920, the company lost all its duties with the exception of apprenticeship,
admissions to the Freedom and the care of its Charitable Trusts. Notwithstanding the transfer of
responsibilities to the new Port Authority in 1908, it requested the Company
continue its examination of applicants for licences as watermen and lightermen,
work which it continues today, and has now undertaken for more than four
centuries.
The Company’s
principal activities are:
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To operate
the apprenticeship and licensing regulations for the tidal Thames as agents for
the Port of London Authority.
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To provide
training opportunities for apprentices and other young people in watermanship
in general, and rowing in particular.
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To provide
almshouse accommodation for aged watermen, lightermen and their widows, and
other forms of charitable support.
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To
encourage interest in the use of the River as an environmentally friendly and
efficient mode of transport for people and bulk goods.
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To maintain
the Company’s finest traditions and to maintain its place in the life of the
City of London.
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To make the
best use of its Hall and other possessions, both for Company purposes and by
hiring the Hall to third parties.
Lightermen
declined rapidly from the early 1960s, largely because of the development of
new modes of transport, particularly the container. However, the River continues to be used for handling bulk goods,
including petroleum spirit, aggregates, cement and domestic waste, as well as
materials for large capital projects such as the Canary Wharf development and
the Jubilee Line construction.
There is a
thriving passenger boat industry with craft carrying tourists and charter
parties on a variety of routes between Greenwich and the Upper River. New large passenger vessels have been
introduced, and the piers are continually being upgraded to provide modern
amenities compatible with the investment in high class craft. With the development of larger and faster
vessels the Company has to be prepared continually to ensure that its standards
of training are of the highest quality to meet the increasingly stringent
navigation regimes.
The Company is
governed by a Court of Assistants. This
is led by the Master and four Wardens who are elected annually by the
Court. The Company has over 300 Freemen
who are either craft owners, or appointed because they have a special
connection with the River. It has some
816 Journeymen Freemen, both men and women who have completed a five-year
apprenticeship to a Master involving a rigorous training and assessment
programme. They operate the working
commercial craft operating on the tidal River above Lower Hope Point near
Gravesend.
The Royal
Watermen appointed to assist the Sovereign comes from the ranks of the
Company’s Freemen.
The Hall is
first mentioned in the Act of 1603, and in Hollar’s View of the Thames in 1647
it is shown as being the mansion of Cold Harbour but when the Company actually
took possession of it from Earl Gilbert is not recorded. Cold Harbour is situated on the north bank
immediately east of the site of Cannon Street Railway Station. The mansion was completely destroyed in the
Great Fire of London and with it almost all the Company’s records. The Company rebuilt on the same site in 1670
and again in 1721, eventually moving to the present Hall upon its completion in
1780.
The architect of
the existing hall, William Blackburn, designed a small but beautiful hall in
Georgian style, comprising a Court Room, Parlour and offices. It suffered some bomb damage during the
Second World War; repairs were completed in 1951 and ten years later the
parlour was greatly enriched and a decorated ceiling introduced.
In 1984 a major
extension was built which more than doubled the size of the Hall. This was formally opened by Her Royal
Highness Princess Alexandra in 1984 and provides a pleasant Freemen’s Room
together with office space on the other floors. The Hall houses the company’s offices and is the venues for most
of the functions for Freemen and their guests held throughout the year. Rooms are available for hire for meetings,
presentations, functions and social events.
Details can be obtained from the Hall.
(Telephone: 020
7283 2373, Fax: 020 7283 0477)
The Arms Display
a boat on six silver and blue wavy bars, and on a chief a pair of crossed oars
between two cushions. The crest is an
arm holding an oar upon a wreath of silver and red; the supporters are two
dolphins, above the motto “At the Commandment of our Superiors”
In the
Ordinances of 1626 it is related that “poor and impotent freemen” may be
granted a pension of 6d a week. This is
the earliest remaining reference to the relief of aged freemen of the
Company. Payments for this purpose were
made from time to time, often in consequence of the river freezing over for
lengthy periods, and often to maimed freemen returning from the wars. Regular payments through the “Poor’s Fund”
were authorised in the Act of 1700, and the present day pensioners are paid in
December.
The early
Ordinances relate that the Rulers could license freemen to work on Sundays and
the extra receipts after the payment of the watermen were placed in a strong
box for the relief of the poor. From
time to time the Company received grants from the government to relieve watermen
hit hard by unemployment in the great frosts.
The Company also received compensation for the loss of ferries when
bridges were built across the river.
Considerable income was derived from the Court’s power to fine freemen
for bad behaviour and language.
Today payments
are made to well over 200 aged freemen or their widows, which are partly
financed through weekly contributions made by the freemen.
In 1839 Mr John
Dudin Brown, a master lighterman, presented the Company with land at Penge and,
together with the Court, raised the money to build forty-eight cottages to
answer the pressing need of the freemen returning from the Napoleonic Wars, and
those made redundant by the building of the docks and the introduction of steam
tugs. These cottages have survived
although they are no longer occupied by retired watermen. In 1973 fifty two new bungalows were built
in seven acres of grounds at Hastings.
The new bungalows and a Community Centre were officially opened by HRH
Princess Alexandra in 1974. Her Majesty
the Queen has further honoured the Company by transferring her Patronage from
the institution at Penge to the new one at Hastings.
In 1988 another
master lighterman, Mr William Vokins, built twelve cottages at Ditchling,
Sussex, and presented them to the Company for similar use. These are particularly fine almshouses set
in the rural atmosphere of the South Downs.
In 1961 the
court gratefully accepted from a freeman, Dr Philip Henman, a Deed of Trust
endowing “after school” education among port transport workers, with particular
emphasis upon apprentice watermen and lightermen. Today the Company’s charity work is in two parts – assisting the
young and the old. The Philip Henman
Foundation is continually being developed to provide new opportunities and
experience to those under training; general and covenanted donations and
legacies provide the income.
At the
Almshouses, which are run by a warden, the accommodation and community
facilities are being continually updated as funds permit. This ensures that the residents have the
benefit of comfortable and modern amenities.
This ancient
sculling race traditionally is open only to apprentices who have completed
their apprenticeship and taken up the Freedom of the Company within the twelve
months preceding the day of the race.
However, due to the small number of boys and girls being apprentices
each year, it has been decided that unsuccessful competitors may have a second
or third attempt in the following years.
The course from London Bridge to Chelsea is four miles and five
furlongs, and the prize of the orange-red coat and the silver badge is much
treasured by freemen of the Company.
The “wager” has been rowed every year since its inception in 1715 and
Thomas Doggett, the Irish comedian who founded it to celebrate the anniversary
of the accession of the House of Hanover to the throne of England, can hardly
have expected it to continue for so long.
It is now claimed to be the oldest annual sporting event in the world.
The Company is
particularly fortunate for the numerous articles it possesses reflecting its
history and life on the Thames. It has
a small but select collection of silver, of which the “Bachelor’s Bowl” (1695)
and the “Great Tankard” (1717) are the oldest pieces. For a period of 165 years the Bowl was used by aged widows of the
Freemen of the Company at every Court of Admissions to the Freedom. The old lady filled the Bowl with ale and
gave each young freeman a draught as he left the Court Room, in return for
which he handed her a shilling.
Of modern silver
the standing salt cellar presented by Mr Charles Alexander, a freeman,
commemorating the six brothers and their father, is hallmarked 1953, and the
contemporary Beadle’s Staff, presented by Mr D E Layton, a freeman, in 1965,
commemorating his family’s 300 year association with the Company, are
noteworthy examples.
John Taylor the
Water Poet, Thomas Mann the Honest Waterman, and the first winner of Doggetts
Coat and Badge, are the subjects of three of the Company’s paintings in oil. Comprehensive collections of prints and
books on the River, including the works of John Taylor, are among the many
benefactions of Mr R R Francis, a Past Master of the Company. Mr Francis bequeathed £5000 to form a fund
for the purchase of additions to the Company’s collection of plates and books
and other valued possessions connected with the River.
Among other
interesting articles are naval relics and, in particular, a bone model of a 104
gun ship of the line reputed to be the largest in the world, which was won in a
6d raffle on the London Corn exchange in 1840.
A recent
addition has been the collection of coats and badges and skiff backboards won
by apprentices and freemen in regattas on the river, mainly during the
nineteenth century. This collection is
being added to continually and forms a most interesting insight into one of the
pastimes of members in those days.
Old and
interesting documents relating to life on the river are acquired regularly and
placed in the Company’s archives.
John Taylor’s
prolific writings in prose, poetry and doggerel provide a fascinating and
entertaining picture of life in this time.
Apprenticed to a Westminster waterman, he was pressed into the navy on
seven different occasions, making thirteen voyages in all. He supported the watermen against the
removal of the theatres from the south bank to the north bank and against the
introduction of sedan chairs and hackney carriages onto the streets of
London. With the Company he was
successful in keeping the carriages from London for 35 years unless the
journeys ended at least two miles from the river. Taylor was well received in most of the royal courts of Europe
and was self-styled “Queen Majesty’s Poet”.
Jack Broughton
won Doggett’s Coat and Badge in 1730 and became a champion prize fighter of
England four years later. He ran his
own school of boxing and was the first man to introduce gloves and science into
the sport. He produced his famous code
of boxing, which was only superseded by the Marquis of Queensberry’s rules, and
was rightly styled the “father of British boxing”.
Harry Gosling
was born of a well-known Thames family and became prominent in the Trade Union
movement. He was a member of the London
County Council for many years and Member of Parliament for Whitechapel. He became Minister of Transport in 1924.
In his youth
Ernest Barry was perhaps the finest sculler ever apprenticed. He held the English sculling championship
between 1908 and 1914 and was champion of the world on five occasions between
1912 and 1920.
The 1st
Viscount Leathers of Purfleet P.C., C.H. 1883 – 1965
Among his many
other distinctions Lord Leathers was perhaps known for his work as Minster for
War Transport during the Second World War.
Sir Alan Herbert
and his “Water Gypsy” were well known to users of the River and the initials
“APH” are as familiar to lovers of the Thames as they are often quoted in the
literary and theatre worlds.
The Company is
proud to have had six Lord Mayors of London numbered among its freemen:
Matthias Prime Lucas, elected in 1827; Sir Rupert De la Bere, Bt. KCVO, elected
in 1952 and Sir Lionel Denny G.B.E. M.C. J.P. elected in 1965. Air Commodore the Honourable Peter Vanneck
G.B.E. A.F.C. D.L. was admitted in 1978 during his mayoralty and Sir
Christopher Lever, G.B.E. DMus was elected in 1981 and was later admitted to
the Freedom of the Company on 15 October 1986.
Sir Roger Cork was Lord Mayor in 1996/7 and has recently been admitted
to the Freedom.
The Company
today seeks to maintain its traditions in a changing world, whilst ensuring
that the best training is given to its young people to meet the high standards
of watermanship required today. The
Hall continues to be the focus and meeting point for Freemen. The Watermen’s toast continues to be
“Master, Wardens and Gentlemen…I give you the Toast to the Company of Watermen
and Lightermen of the River Thames, root and branch. May it continue to flourish forever.”
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