Welcome to the Website of the Worshipful Company of Scriveners

At a Court meeting held on board HQS Wellington on 17th July the new Master for 2008-09, William Brignall Kennair, was installed together with the new Upper Warden, Leslie Leonard Brace, the new Renter Warden, Ruth Margaret Campbell and the new Notarial Deputy, Edward Gardiner.   The Master paid tribute to the work of the Immediate Past Master, Sylvia Irene Maud Tutt, in raising the profile of the Company within the Livery movement and pledged to maintain the high standards set by his predecessor.   He looked forward to hosting a variety of events including, in January, a ceilidh.

                                               (Left to right) Upper Warden, Master, Renter Warden, Notarial Deputy


Welcome to three new Liverymen who were cloathed at the Court meeting, namely Richard Douglas Mair, Richard Justin Powell McCarthy and Victoria Beatrice Salmon.   Congratulations too to our latest Apprentice, Helen Louise Rodd, who was bound before the Court to her Master Peter John Rodd.

Liverymen Richard McCarthy, Victoria Salmon, Richard Mair and the Beadle

At  a reception following the Court meeting, this year's prize for calligraphy and heraldry was presented by the Master to Mrs Catherine Stables, a student at Reigate School of Art, Design and Media.   Mrs Stables has produced outstanding work in calligraphy, heraldic art and illumination over three academic terms.   She also won the painting prize awarded by the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers earlier this year.  

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On 8th July the then Master, Sylvia Tutt, led a party on a visit to LXX Squadron, RAF Lyneham, where we were briefed in person by the Commanding Officer, Wing Commander Tony Bull, who introduced us to the capabilities of the Hercules aircraft and described operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Following a spell on a flight simulator we were privileged to enjoy a 45 minute flight on a Hercules, flying at 2000 feet over Somerset and along the Severn Estuary.   In sunny conditions with good visibility we were afforded spectacular views of the countryside and the Severn crossings.   We are most grateful to the Wing Commander and his team for the time they spent with us, their excellent hospitality and their organisation.

Some eighty Liverymen and guests enjoyed the hospitality of the College of Arms at a drinks reception on the evening of Monday 30th June.   A number of exhibits were on display and short addresses were given by Garter, King of Arms and Lee Brace, Renter Warden and Chairman of the Membership Committee.   Sincere thanks are due to the College for their support.

The Worshipful Company of Scriveners is 44th in the order of precedence of the Livery Companies of the City of London.   As their name implies the Scriveners have always been, by definition, writers and they were originally known as Writers of the Court Letter.   Their occupation was the writing of confidential documents such as wills, charters and legal documents.   By contrast writers of books, and, particularly in the early years, church service books, were generally members of the Stationers' Company.   Nowadays the Scriveners' connection with the legal profession is through the scrivener notaries, who have traditionally practised in the City of London and are obliged to become members of the Company upon qualification.

Members of the Scriveners' Company come from a wide range of professional backgrounds and include solicitors, barristers, patent attorneys, genealogists, financial advisers, teachers, civil servants, members of the clergy and a wine consultant.   The  Company is also the traditional "home" for calligraphers, members of the College of Arms and those with interests in heraldry.

The Company's motto is Scribite Scientes - "Write, ye Learned Ones".

A more detailed account of the Company's history can be viewed here in pdf format.   There is also a published history of the Company available in hardback copy which can be purchased on application to the Clerk.  See contact details.

Professional activity includes regulating the standards and qualifications of the scrivener notaries, whose training makes them proficient not only in notarial practice but also in foreign laws and languages.

Civic functions entail upholding the right and duty of liverymen to attend at Guildhall in Common Hall to vote in the elections of the Sheriffs and the Lord Mayor.

The Company maintains a Charity Fund, from which annual grants are made to a variety of institutions,  charities and individuals.   Beneficiaries include students at a number of schools in the City of London, the church of St-Martin-within-Ludgate and the Welfare Funds of HMS Portland and LXX Squadron at RAF Lyneham.   A prize for excellence in calligraphy is awarded annually to a student at Reigate School of Art.

Social functions include a widening variety of lunches, receptions and visits to places of interest.   The latter have included the Bell Foundry in Whitechapel, Sir John Soane's Museum at Lincoln's Inn Fields and a weekend visit to Portugal.   The Company's Spring and Autumn Dinners in April and October are more formal occasions, as is the annual luncheon at Mansion House at which the Lord Mayor is presented with the Scriveners' Quill Pen with which he signed himself into office.   A list of forthcoming events can be accessed via this link.

Reception on board HQS Wellington following the installation of the Master and Wardens

There are three ways of becoming a member: by REDEMPTION (payment), by SERVITUDE (if you have been apprenticed to a member) or by PATRIMONY (if your father or mother was a member at the time of your birth).   A new member is first elected to the Freedom of the Company and becomes eligible to become a Liveryman once he or she has obtained the Freedom of the City of London.

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