1 Installation Dinner at Cutlers' Hall
5th June 2014As the new Master, my first duty was to preside at the Installation Dinner at Cutlers' Hall. Joining me on the receiving line were Arthur Richards, Senior Warden, Chris Allen, Renter Warden and Ralph Edmondson, Fourth Warden. The Third Warden, Charles Miller, was abroad on business and he will be admitted at the Autumn Court in September. Congratulations to them all and I look forward to working with them.
The present Hall was the fifth owned by the Cutlers' Company and was opened in 1888. The first mention of a "House of the Cutlers" was in 1285 and the Company received its Royal Charter in 1416 from Henry V. The main features of the Livery Hall are the Victorian hammerbeam roof and the Barge Banner mounted high on the end wall, which was used for the Lord Mayor's procession in 1763. We have not been to this Hall for many years and it was a pleasure to see inside such an architectural gem.
We had the treat of two very amusing speeches, one from Fourth Warden, Ralph Edmondson and the other from the Principal Guest, His Honour Judge Richard Hone QC. The Judge sits next door at the Old Bailey and specialises in murder cases. The evening concluded with music from soprano, Elizabeth Karani, a Tobacco Pipe Maker scholar at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, accompanied by Juliane Gallant. Elizabeth brought the house down with a sparkling aria from Strauss's Die Fledermaus.