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Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Company, originally known as the Guild and Fraternity of St John the Baptist in the City of London, was first incorporated under a Royal Charter in 1327; the charter was confirmed by later charters in 1503 and 1719.
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The Company was at first an association of tailors. By the end of the 17th century its connection with the tailoring trade had virtually ceased and it became what it is today - a philanthropic and social association. As a result it owns, supports or is associated with several schools, almhouses and other charitable institutions. It owns Merchant Taylors' School, Sandy Lodge & St. John's Preparatory School, Northwood, and is associated with Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby, Merchant Taylors' Girls' School, Crosby, Wolverhampton Grammar School, Foyle and Londonderry College, Wallingford School, and The King's School, Macclesfield. It is also associated with St John's College, Oxford, founded by Sir Thomas White (a Master of the Company) in 1555, and with Pembroke College, Cambridge.
It also donates prizes to St. Helen's School, Northwood. It gives support to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the London College of Fashion, the Textile Conservation Centre and the Royal Society of Arts. It also supports Treloar School/College in Hampshire which is a school/college for boys and girls with physical disabilities.
Under an order issued by Mayor Robert Billesden in 1484 the Company ranks in sixth or seventh place (making it one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies) in the order of precedence of the Livery Companies, alternating with the Skinners' Company. The annual switch occurs on Easter. Although this cannot be the origin of the phrase "At sixes and sevens", as the phrase is present in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer over one hundred years before Lord Mayor Billesden's decision, the decision is frequently connected to it. The Merchant Taylors are normally sixth in the order of precedence in odd numbered years, and at seven in even numbered years, but as the Lord Mayor for 2005/6 was a member of the Merchant Taylor's company there will be no change until 2008, as the Lord Mayor elected for 2006 was not a Skinner.
The Company's motto is Concordia Parvae Res Crescunt, from the Roman historian Sallust meaning In Harmony Small Things Grow.