Freedom of the City of London

by Frances Baskerville*

‘Freedom of the City of London’ – One of the oldest surviving traditional ceremonies still in existence today, believed to have been first presented in 1237. From the Middle Ages and the Victorian era, the Freedom was the right to trade, enabling members of a Guild or Livery to carry out their trade or craft in the Square Mile.

When I was eleven years old, I was hardly able to look the Lord Mayor of London in the eye when he ‘sponsored’ my prospective entry to the City of London School for Girls.  My father had decided that I needed to be educated well and was prepared to pay for an exclusive girls school situated in the heart of the City of London.  Ultimately my schooling was an abject failure both academically and spiritually.  But, whilst there – and it was not for long – I soaked up the history of the City and understood the magnitude of business tradition there, the splendour of the pageantry regularly undertaken and the importance of being part of a very special place.  

Our school houses reflected areas of the city like Fleet (mine), St Bride, Ward and Tudor. The River Fleet runs under the city and has a fascinating story here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Fleet .  St Bride’s Church has a wonderful history of worship and music as well as dating from the earliest times AD43! https://www.stbrides.com/about-us/our-history/#chapter-1 ; Merchant of Brixton William Ward founded the school in 1881 having a  conviction that girls should be given a broad and liberal education and ‘Tudor’ Street lay behind the original site in Carmelite Street, Blackfriars. The big central staircase to classrooms was built from solid oak with each step well-worn in the middle and of course all you could smell was polish. Primarily academic, students spent time studying the history of the City, discovering the remains of London Wall, learning Latin of course and singing in St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street or the medieval St Giles, Cripplegate. 

The Coat of Arms of the City of London with its Latin motto Domine Dirige Nos – Lord, Direct Us – this was also our school crest and motto and I wore it with pride.

In general though I hated the uniform and did what all girls do when faced with an ugly skirt; I hitched it upwards into my belt the moment I left in the afternoon for the long journey home.  Walking through in the old streets I could see the small churches tucked away and often marvelled at the fact that the River Fleet actually still ran under my feet.  On the way to school, if  happening to get off the underground early, I could route myself through the wonderful Temple which seemed like a haven as it was always calm in the middle of the otherwise bustling warren of streets.  Backwards and forwards from magnificent buildings and  out into suburbia, I knew that the City was special, even then.  

Little did I know that nearly fifty years later I would be standing in the Guildhall, ready to receive The Freedom of the City of London.  I was now in front of the Clerk of the Guildhall Mr Murray Craig, swearing my oath to this rather imposing and fantastically knowledgeable man. 

“I do solemnly swear that I will be good and  true to our Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth the Second; that I will be obedient to the Mayor of this City; that I will maintain the Franchises and Customs thereof, and will keep this City harmless, in that which in me is; that I will also keep the Queen’s Peace in my own person; that I will know no Gatherings nor Conspiracies made again the Queen’s Peace, but I will warn the Mayor thereof, or hinder it to my power; and  that all these points and articles I will well and truly keep, according to the Laws and Customs of this City, to my power”

Freedom is given either through nomination or by being presented by a Livery Company https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/about-us/law-historic-governance/livery-companies   My parchment document, in the most beautiful calligraphy, is framed and in my hand.  Photos are taken.  I received a small red book entitled ‘Rules for the Conduct of Life’ (which date from the mid-18^th century). 

Example rules:

Rule VI.- The only sure way thus to die well, and at peace with GOD, is to live well.  It is a foolish thing to rely upon what is very improperly called a death-bed repentance, to which GOD has made no promise.  Repentance consists in a reformation of life ; and what an absurd thing is it for a man to pretend to reform his life when life itself is just at an end.

Rule XXV.- Be always a good manager of your time, and lay hold of each opportunity that offers for the doing of whatever is necessary to be done.  If you neglect a proper opportunity, you may not perhaps meet with it again; where-as, by laying hold of it when it offers, you will be able to dispatch much business in a little time ; and if you accustom yourself to rise early, you will find that you have time enough to do all the business that you have to do, and much more than persons who rise late will think possible to be done.

I felt I had come full circle and my only regret was that my father, being long gone, was not present.  He wasn’t proud of me for a long time but he would have been now.  In the grand scheme of things, I am glad that these traditions still exist even though perhaps they are not important; but anyway, in that moment I did feel very good about it all. I am so grateful to Captains Graham Pepper and John Freestone who nominated me and thank my good friends who supported me on that day.

*Frances Baskerville is Senior Vice President of CIRM – Comité International Radio-Maritime www.cirm.org