INSTALLATION OF TWO NEW FREEMEN OF THE CITY OF LONDON: Ask most people what they know about the Freedom of the City of London and they will perhaps reply “is it something to do with driving sheep over London Bridge?”
For as with other long cherished customs and traditions it is wrapped in myth, fable and half truths.
Thursday June 15 saw the installing of two new members as Freemen of the City of London at the Guildhall London.
The Honorary Freedom bestowed on Blackwood Cllr Nigel Dix and Granville Hale is the highest honour the city of London can bestow.
Presentations of the Honorary Freedoms are normally made in the Guildhall’s Great Hall before the lord mayor, aldermen, council men and invited guests with full ceremonial splendour as befits the event, usually followed by a Mansion House banquet.
Freedom ceremonies take place daily and are conducted by the Chamberlain of London or the clerk of the court on the Chamberlain’s behalf.
The origins of the freedom date back to medieval times when craftsmen and women throughout Europe organised themselves into trade guilds.
The role of past honorary Freemen include Nelson, Wellington, Disraeli and Winston Churchill.
(Patricia Cook)
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