- The Stationers` Company

JOURNAL
OF THE
W O R S H I P F U L C O M PA N Y
OF
S TAT I O N E R S
AND
N E W S PA P E R M A K E R S
STATIONERN S’
EWS
NUMBER 108
Patron: The Archbishop of Canterbury
DECEMBER 2009
Master: Richard D Brewster; Upper Warden: Christopher McKane; Under Warden: Nigel Stapleton
“A quitter never wins…
a winner who
falls down,
gets up one
more time”
Blind adventurer
Miles Hilton-Barber’s message
to Stationers (page 2)
INSIDE
➤ Print v Pixels?
➤ Gutenberg Bible Drama
➤ Golfing for Good
➤ Septuagenarian Skydiver
➤ Stationers’ Soft Sell
➤ Bookbinding Lives!
Stationers’ News / Page One
INSIGHT INTO A
BLIND ADVENTURER
Liveryman Albert Morgan is impressed by our
inspirational guest speaker at the Autumn Dinner
WHAT is a motivational speaker? If
any
of
the
Stationers
and
their guests had
vague ideas before
the Livery Autumn
Dinner, our guest
speaker
Miles
Hilton-Barber
–
blind adventurer,
pilot, mountaineer
and
extreme
marathon runner –
punched out the
true meaning in
dynamic style with
a presentation of
determination,
spirit and philosophy.
The evening
served as a splendid curtain-raiser
to Master Richard
Brewster’s aim to
raise £50,000 for
his chosen charity,
RNIB
(Royal
National Institute
of Blind People),
during his year of
office. A Gala
Dinner is already
planned for June
21 next year.
Miles Hilton-Barber lost his sight in
his early twenties but did not let it stop
him achieving his dreams. As a prominent after-dinner speaker, Miles has
woven together rich anecdotes with an
underlying philosophy of life that he
developed while overcoming his blindness. Introducing the speaker, our
Master commented that Miles had spoken at 450 engagements in 63 countries
“but had never before spoken at
Stationers’ Hall”.
If the guests had thought they were
in for a relaxing travelogue, Miles’ words
made many of us sit up straight in our
seats as he shared some of his own lessons for life, illustrated by dramatic
video footage of his exploits.
“Attitude determines altitude”
Among his records, Miles was the
first blind pilot to break the sound barrier and the first blind pilot to undertake a 55-day flight from London to
Sydney. He relied on revolutionary
speech-output technology on his
instruments for navigation, and was
accompanied by a sighted co-pilot.
“Attitude determines altitude,” he
declared. “Attitude is everything. Quality
of life is improved by you changing your
attitude. We can live our dreams
because the only limits in our lives are
those we accept ourselves.”
Graphic shots of Miles man-hauling
a sledge over 250 miles across
Stationers’ News / Page Two
Antarctica and completing ‘the toughest foot-race on
earth’ across the
Sahara Desert were
punctuated
by
more philosophy,
delivered in jet
stream fashion: “A
quitter
never
wins… a winner
who falls down,
gets up one more
time.”
Miles has run
marathons in some
of the hottest and
coldest places on
earth He has set
records in the air
and on land, including a new British
high-altitude record
for a tandem microlight (20,300 feet)
and a lap record for
a blind driver in the
Malaysian Grand
Prix in a 230kph
Lotus.
He
has
climbed the highest
mountains in Africa
and Europe, Mount
Kilimanjaro
and
Mont Blanc, and
reached 17,500 feet in the Himalayas.
The guests applauded as Miles
wrapped up his inspirational philosophy: “When I became blind, I felt I had
been delivered a bad hand of cards. But
I did not throw it down. It is always a
matter of playing a bad hand well.”
As part of the fund-raising campaign, Liveryman Martin Randall
sought the help of a team of ladies
to distribute and collect pledge
envelopes from the guests during
the evening. Martin reports: “We
received some very interesting
pledges in anticipation of next
June’s Gala Evening”.
Website: www mileshilton-barber.com
Print and Pixels:
Competitive or Complementary?
A forum for print, publishing and media industry experts
Report: Court Assistant William Alden
THE Autumn Event at Stationers’ Hall
on Monday, November 9, proved
beyond doubt that the Stationers’
Company continues to play a vital role
in the strategic development of the
media industry. In the words of one
Court Assistant who was present, it was
“Stationers’ at its best ever”.
Under the Chairmanship of
Liveryman Nick Steidl, Richard Harris
gave a summary of his ground-breaking
report on the Future of Paper and Print
2008 – 2020. This report, commissioned
and published by the Company, provides a unique insight into the challenges that face ink-on-paper production over the coming decade. His findings were then discussed by a panel
comprising Robert Latham from
PaperlinX Europe, Will Oldham of UPMKymmene UK, Bertrand Lousteau of Sun
Chemical, Simon Juden from the
Publishers Association, John Charnock
from St Ives and Tom Whitwell from
Times Online.
Richard Harris presented a bleak picture of the four drivers for change in our
industry: the rapid advancement of digital media, changing attitudes to accessing
information online, environmental concerns and changes in technology. These
structural changes, combined with normal cyclical change, will reduce demand
for ink-on-paper in 2020 by almost a
third, leaving us with two critical strategic
questions: how can we develop new
products and markets and how do we
plan for a market in decline? We were
given four pointers to the way forward:
get close to the market, refocus our business models, innovate and stay flexible.
A fascinating debate followed, led by
responses from the panel and questions
from the floor which were ably moderated by Darryl Danielli, Editor of
PrintWeek. Despite some scepticism as
to the scale of the problem, there was a
general acceptance of the view: “We
know which direction the tide is running, we just don’t know the size of the
waves”.
In all the uncertainty, two important
truths emerged. First, ink-on-paper has
more functionality than might be
assumed in this digital age. As Tom
Robert Latham of PaperlinX Europe
answers a question under the
watchful eye of Darryl Danielli,
Editor of PrintWeek
Whitwell put it, “paper is a very good
place to put pixels”. A telling example of
this is Tesco’s online shopping which
combines a printed catalogue of products with the facility to order online, the
so-called ‘flick and click’ model. So the
future appears to lie in hybrid paper and
electronic products.
Second, the relative
environmental
impacts of ink-onpaper and electronic
publication are widely
misunderstood; in the
words of Will Oldham,
“the huge server farms
in the US use more
energy than the whole
of the paper industry”.
We have a major task
ahead of us in persuading consumers that paper
compares favourably with
digital media from an
environmental perspective.
In his summing up,
Nick Steidl expressed a
hope that the Stationers’
Company would revisit the
subject in five years’ time
“to see how high the waves
actually were”. The audience all agreed with this
and with the Master’s vote
Stationers’ News / Page Three
of thanks to UPM Kymmene who sponsored the event, Nick Steidl for commissioning the report and the Under
Warden, Nigel Stapleton, and the rest of
the Industry Group, who organised
another very successful event.
GOLFING FOR GOOD
The sun shines on the righteous!
Report: Court Assistant Jonathan Straker
The view from the Clubhouse
AN AMAZING break in the appalling
October weather allowed us to enjoy an
exceptional day of lively competition at
this year’s Stationers’ Benevolent Golf
Classic at Worplesdon, a course
described as the ‘secret gem’ of golfing
in Surrey.
Fund-raising this year has been as
difficult as we have ever known it but,
despite the depressing financial climate, the 12 teams who supported the
event on Thursday, October 9, were
rewarded by a really splendid day in
every respect. Worplesdon is a beautiful
course in fine condition. The staff made
us most welcome and the catering was
delicious.
We were pleased to welcome the
Master, Richard Brewster, both as a player and a team sponsor. He in turn welcomed everyone there and then presented the prizes.
Fierce Competition
The competition was fierce, with no
fewer than four players within 2 points
The Master congratulates Chris Fell
of each other, the winner being Chris
Fell of the Cambridge University Press
team with 39 points. On a countback,
Mark Watson of the Spicers team came
2nd with 37 points and Chris Stott of
Past Master John Waterlow (left) and Team
Stationers’ News / Page Four
Pukka Pads 3rd with 37 points.
In the team competition, John
Waterlow’s team ‘LLPW’ (named after
the initials of all the teams’ surnames)
won with 89 points – a creditable performance, with Cambridge University
Press coming narrowly second with 87
points and Spicers 3rd with 86 points.
Various other competitions on the day
were widely shared by an enthusiastic
group of golfers.
There were some splendid prizes
available in the auction and the bidding
was brisk and generous. The raffle for
prizes kindly donated by our friends
within the Trades of the Guild and other
supporters was highly successful.
We raised over £6,500 on the day,
which reflects great credit on all those
people who were generous enough to
support us.
Congratulations to the organising
Committee, who were delighted with
the success of the event, and a special
thank you to Alison Buckett who
worked so hard to pull it all together.
CHARITY EXPLOIT
Skydiving Septuagenarian Stationer
– with Vertigo
LIVERYMAN Tim Benn has vertigo and a fear
of flying. A convivial fellow, he’s of a canonical age, clubbable and fond of the more
refined things in life. Not your obvious candidate to leap out of an aeroplane at 15,000
feet in a freefall parachute jump with the Red
Devils.
Unless there’s a strong motive, of
course.
The motive in Tim’s case was charity: he
wanted to make a dramatic gesture of support to raise money for a cause close to his
heart, The Scots Guards Colonel’s Fund – a
welfare fund set up “to ensure no wounded
Scots Guardsman in need goes without”.
Tim explains that he served in the First
Battalion Scots Guards in the 1950s during
the Suez operation and, as a young subaltern, had to deal with a fellow soldier who
had suffered a terrible injury. “Since then I
have known the difficulties and traumas
faced by service personnel in seeking to
rehabilitate themselves into civilian life following recuperation and recovery from serious wounds.”
A skydiving parachute jump with the Red
Devils Parachute Regiment Freefall Team
seemed like an unusual way of publicising
the welfare work carried out by the
Colonel’s Fund. And so, one Friday in
September, Tim took up the self-imposed
challenge, supported by his stepson, Jon
Townsend – “well known for his daredevil
activities” – and a posse of Red Devils.
Shock… followed by Awe
Tim describes it as a great leap of faith.
The clouds cleared to allow a dizzyingly clear
view of Wiltshire from 15,000 feet, and they
jumped. “Shock was followed by awe as, Dan
Dare-like, we hurtled 10,000 feet south in 90
seconds at 150 plus mph – before being
hauled back to some form of reality by the
chute. Full marks to the paras for a happy
landing.”
Tim’s target was to raise a sum of money
above the figure of the height from which he
dropped – and he succeeded. The total now
stands at £17,500. Donations can still be
accepted on the charity website: www.bmycharity.com/ V2/timothybenn – where you
can also see a video of the whole experience.
And the last word from Tim Benn,
Skydiver Extraordinary: “The rumour that
this was a way to pioneer a new form of
assisted suicide has now been scotched!”
Stationers’ News / Page Five
BOOKBINDING AND CONSERVATION –
A LIVING CRAFT
Report: Liveryman Leslie Lack
THIS YEAR, Westminster School
has been celebrating two
milestones in its modern
history: 25 years ago,
Bookbinding
and
Conservation
was
begun as an extracurricular activity
and 21 years ago,
the students’ work
was displayed in
the first of a series
of annual exhibitions.
Liveryman
Douglas East – now
well into his eighties –
has devoted all these
years teaching this craft to
interested pupils and staff.
‘A WESTMINSTER PILGRIM’
Presented to the Dean of Westminster.
Bound by James Male.
‘THE FOUNTAINS OF ROME’
Air-brushed onto white leather.
Presented to the Head Master.
Bound by Fortuné Penniman.
“The pressures on
extra-curricular time seem to
get greater every year, but we still
manage to put up an exhibition of the
year’s work.”
This was the introduction Douglas
gave to a party of Stationers
visiting this year’s
exhibition at
Westminster School in June. He
explained in detail the work that the
pupils do and how they progress, and he
is to be congratulated on the excellent
standard of work on show, comprising
many fine examples of finished books,
varying in size and bindings.
In these days when so many of our
Trades of the Guild are being given over
to new technology and mechanisation, it
is gratifying to know that, in this quiet
historical corner of Westminster, this
craft is still being taught for the
benefit of future generations. I felt privileged
to be one of the
Stationers visiting this
most
interesting
and worthwhile exhibition.
H o n o r a r y
Librarian, Andrea Cameron,
visiting the exhibition for the first
Continued on next page
‘THE
IMMORTAL GAME’
A history of Chess.
Bound by James Male.
‘VENEZIA’
Architectural drawings of the Grand Canal in Venice.
Bound by Henry Tann.
Stationers’ News / Page Six
Gift of Gutenberg Bible
CORPORATE Member XEROX UK
has presented the Stationers’
Company with a digital facsimile
copy of a 15th century Gutenberg
Bible, one of the first books printed
in Europe.
The Master received the gift
from Corporate Associate Liveryman
Pete Smith, Xerox Marketing
Manager, UK & Ireland, during the
Livery Autumn Dinner in October.
The Gutenberg Bible is an icon of
the publishing revolution led by
Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the
European printing press, in Mainz,
Germany, in the 1450s. It was not his
first printed work but it was seen as
his major achievement.
In appearance the Gutenberg
Bible closely resembles the illuminated manuscript Bibles that were
being produced at the time.
Altogether 180 printed copies of the Bible are
believed to have been produced, 135 on paper
and 45 on vellum, but only a few are still in existence.
Xerox commissioned a digital facsimile of
excerpts from the Bible for the
Drupa 2000 printing equipment
exhibition in Dusseldorf as an example of the efforts being taken to preserve historical paper documents,
many of which are in danger of disintegration.
John-Pierre Gérault, Senior Vice
President Graphic Arts, Xerox
Europe, observes in his introduction
to the volume: “The Bible was the
first work to benefit from the new
printing technologies and to be circulated on a scale that was far from
limited. Six hundred years on,
thanks to digital technology this
highly symbolic and historic work
can now be accessed by many more
than the small coterie of readers at
large international libraries.”
Xerox felt that a copy of such an
important
document, celebrating
the original and preserving it for a wider audience through a digital image, should rightly be held at Stationers’
Hall, he said.
Continued from previous page
‘SWIMMING’
Derived from ‘The Boy with a Dolphin’
sculpture on Chelsea Embankment.
Bound by James Male.
time, applauded the high standards
achieved by the pupils. Liveryman
Stephen Somerville, Honorary Editor
Stationers’ News, attending the exhibition with Mrs Marie-Hélène Somerville,
said: “We were fortunate to enjoy a per-
sonal guided tour by Dr East. I had
already published reports on his work in
Stationers’ News, so it was a privilege to
meet the master craftsman himself and
admire at first hand the product of his
passion for fine books.”
Stationers’ News / Page Seven
In the picture, left to right,
Liveryman Leslie Lack, Professor
Marilyn Maus (guest from
Lakenheath US Air Base), Liveryman
Terry Shapland, Liveryman Dr
Douglas East, Liveryman Robin
Myers MBE, Past Master Vernon
Sullivan and Liveryman Keith
Hutton.
GUTENBERG BIBLE DRAMA:
STATIONER RUNS TENSE AUCTION
NEW YORK, April 1911
– It was the most stylish,
the most exclusive and
the most gripping of auctions. The prize, after all,
was the world’s most
expensive book.
The sale was conducted by Sidney Hodgson,
the leading book auctioneer of his day, specially
invited from London to
add a note of refinement
to the occasion –“with his
cultured British accent”,
a commentator noted.
The book was a 15th
Sidney Hodgson (1876-1973) was
Master of the Stationers’ Company
in 1949 and winner of the
Company’s Silver Medal in 1969 for
“his great work in keeping and
preserving the Company’s historic
records”.
Sidney Hodgson, Master
carried on winking as
bidders dropped out.
Soon his only rival
was the dealer for J.
Pierpont
Morgan,
owner of the richest
library in America,
including
another
Gutenberg Bible.
At $40,000 Huntingdon turned pale.
“Nothing doing,” he
whispered to Smith.
“Too much money.”
“Leave me alone,”
Smith replied. “If you
don’t want it, I’ll buy
century Gutenberg Bible, the jewel in
the library of the late Robert Hoe,
head of a great American printing
dynasty and a passionate book collector. It was a vellum copy, one of only
two in the United States, described in
the catalogue as “the handsomest and
most richly decorated Gutenberg
Bible in existence.”
The sale of the Hoe collection was held in a Madison
Avenue mansion. The distinguished audience comprised
the richest collectors and the
most prominent dealers from
America and Europe,
Hodgson ran a tight,
tense auction for the
Gutenberg Bible. He started
the bidding at $10,000. The
price was hit with a wink from
G D Smith, a prosperous
buyer and seller of literary
treasures. Smith was known
to represent Henry E
Huntingdon (‘Uncle Henry’),
who had made a fortune in
the railroad business and had
decided to assemble the
greatest private library in the
world.
Hodgson briskly called for
$11,000. The big money in
the room quickly pushed the
price up to $21,000. There
were gasps from spectators as
the world’s auction price for a
Bible was broken. Hodgson
kept up the pressure. Smith
Stationers’ News / Page Eight
it myself.”
At $50,000 J P Morgan’s agent
shook his head. Hodgson let his hammer fall.
“Who’s the buyer?” voices in the
audience cried. “Who’s the buyer, Mr
Auctioneer?”
Hodgson looked at Smith. Smith
turned to Huntingdon, questioningly.
Huntingdon hesitated, then slowly
nodded his assent.
Hodgson announced, with elaborate courtesy, that Mr Henry E
Huntingdon of California had just succeeded Mr J. Pierpont Morgan as the
owner of the world’s most expensive
book. ‘Uncle Henry’ rose and took a
bow as the audience applauded.
Editor’s Note: This story is
adapted from “The Elegant
Auctioneers” by Wesley Towner,
published by Hill & Wang, New
York, in 1970. Stationers’
News is grateful to Liveryman
Margaret Rodgers, daughter
of Sidney Hodgson, for bringing
this incident to our attention
and lending us a copy of the
book. The Hodgsons were book
auctioneers in Chancery Lane
from 1807 to 1973. Four
Hodgsons, including Sidney,
have been Masters of the
Stationers’ Company since
1866.
Softly selling the Stationers
Recruitment Drive
for New Members
AFTER six centuries, The Stationers’
Company knows how best to sell itself:
softly, softly. That’s the style for an occasional series of New Members’ Evenings,
when potential recruits are invited to
come along to the Hall for a few drinks
and some low-key briefing by senior representatives of the Livery.
On one such recent occasion in
October,
the
Master,
Richard
Brewster, welcomed guests in the
Stock Room, introducing the Stationers’
Company as “the heart and soul” of the
businesses it serves: printing, publishing
and packaging, as well as old and new
media.
The Stationers’ Company was
unusual among the City Livery, he said,
in that it drew 90 per cent of its members from its own trades and industries.
It was active in a dynamic business sector that accounted for over £70 billion
turnover in the UK. Coupled with the
Company’s 600 years of history, this
combination represented a lot of traction. “We offer both breadth and depth,”
he said.
Pulling Power
The Company organised a range of
activities – social and professional, cultural and charitable – that appealed to
all tastes, Richard Brewster said. “We
hold more than 50 events a year, from
White Tie to No Tie, the latter being our
New Media workshops,” he added. In
addition, the Company was able to
attract speakers of quality and standing
such as Sir Martin Sorrell, Sir
Christopher Meyer and, next March,
Helen Alexander, President of the CBI.
“That’s what I call real pulling power,”
he remarked amid laughter.
Miss Jennifer Butcher
(interactive media)
Summing up, the Master said the
Company was well placed to offer its
members strong support for their 21st
century businesses, based on its enduring qualities of integrity and experience.
“We believe we are as relevant today to
our industries as we have been throughout our 600 year history,” he declared.
Freedom by
Redemption
The event attracted a gathering of
about 70, nicely balanced between
members and non-members. About half
of those present were senior Liverymen,
from Past Masters to current officers,
including Liveryman Martin Randall,
Chairman of the Livery Committee and
Liveryman Deborah Akers, Livery
Representative on the Court. Among the
guests were new Freemen, recently
joined, and ‘prospects’ at various stages
of contact with the Company, from early
curiosity to imminent initiation.
Chairman Randall managed the proceedings smoothly, keeping the group
moving around so that newcomers
could admire the Company’s fine rooms
and facilities. Treasures from the Archive
were on display.
After the Master’s welcome, the first
move was from the Stock Room to the
larger and more formal Court Room.
There we witnessed a live performance
of one of the Company’s traditional rituals: Admission to the Freedom by
Redemption, that is, the ceremony of
becoming a Freeman of the Company
‘by purchase’ (paying dues). This
method of entry is open to candidates
already working in the book or allied
trades. On this occasion there were four
new Freemen representing a range of
‘trades of our guild’ (pictured below).
The mace-bearing Beadle ushered them
into the presence of ‘the Court’ – the
Clive McKeough
(media & education)
Master and Wardens of the Company,
together with the Clerk, all robed – who
formally received their oath of allegiance. A touch of medieval pageantry,
perhaps, but quick and efficient, ending
with each new Freeman placing some
modern money in an ancient charity
box.
Next we moved from the Court
Room into the great Stationers’ Hall,
bedecked with the heraldic banners of
Past Masters who served as Lord Mayors
of London. There Liveryman Robert
Sanger gave us an erudite and entertaining account of the history of the
Company, from its origins as a medieval
‘mystery’ or trade guild, probably dating
back in some form to the Norman
Conquest, to the powerful position it
assumed as regulator of the printed
press from the 15th century onwards.
Even for those who thought they knew
the Stationers’ history, Sanger produced
fresh anecdotes. How many of us had
heard the embarrassing tale of the printer who committed a simple mistake, a
one-word omission, that cost him so
dearly? Unfortunately for him, the missing word was ‘not’ and he had dropped
it from the 7th Commandment, the one
about... adultery.
The final stage of the evening, still in
the Hall, was devoted to networking,
over drinks and canapés. Senior
Stationers circulated, softly selling the
advantages of membership. “I think I’ve
lined up at least two new recruits,”
Upper Warden Christopher McKane
remarked cheerfully as the evening
drew to a close. Others were similarly
optimistic. A successful membership
drive, it seemed, conducted at a smooth
and softly effective speed. The
Stationers’ way.
Report: Liveryman Stephen Somerville,
Hon. Editor
Professor Colin Smythe
(publisher)
Stationers’ News / Page Nine
Mike Waller
(specialist printers)
OBITUARY
Ivy Sharp
– with an edge to be blunt
ALMOST 300 people
attended the celebration of the life of
Stationer Ivy Sharp at
the church of St
Lawrence Jewry, next
the
Guildhall,
on
October 13. Many City
personalities spoke in
appreciation, including
former Lord Mayor Sir
Alan
Traill
and
Professor Barry Ife,
Principal
of
the
Guildhall School of
Music
&
Drama.
Liveryman Liz Wheatley,
the daughter of Ivy
Sharp, read Rudyard
Kipling’s If. The magnificent hymns and music,
selected by her longterm friend Robert
Stripe in accordance
with her wishes, blended to reflect Ivy’s life
and times.
Stationer
Past
Master
Patrick
Shorten made his own
personal dedication to
his friend, Liveryman
Ivy. He told the congregation: “The Stationers
is numerically quite a
large company with
nearly 500 Liverymen. One can be forgiven if one does not carry all the faces
and names of one’s fellow members in
one’s head. Forget a Past Master – some
other officers if you must – but you
never forgot Ivy Sharp
“She had that infectious enthusiasm
and single-minded sense of purpose,
which left you in no doubt what was on
her mind and what soon was to be on
yours. I am so deeply honoured and
touched that Ivy asked that I say some
words at this service today.
“Ivy joined the Stationers’ Company
soon after it had voted to admit women
Liverymen. She was the second woman
to be cloathed a Stationer. And if she
wasn’t the first woman Liveryman in our
Company she was undoubtedly the first
and only one to found a female dynasty,
with Elizabeth, her daughter and Diana,
her granddaughter, both Stationers.
“As recently as July 7 at the Hall for
the ceremony of the change of Master,
Ivy was magnificently present. When she
said goodbye to me I had a long and fragrant hug and she whispered that she
would not be visiting the Hall again. I
would not believe it, but once more I
must give Ivy best. She knew.
“So for all Stationers who were present then, we said our earthly goodbye in
July and now we can say our spiritual
farewell, and I do hope that St Peter
dealt with her admission efficiently, or
he will be up before the Master,” concluded Past Master Patrick Shorten.
Ivy Margaret Oliver was born on the
last day of December 1926. Her father
Alan was a chief petty officer in the Royal
Stationers’ News / Page Ten`
Navy and he took his
family on his long-term
postings abroad. As a
consequence Ivy spent
eight of her first 12
years on the island of
Malta, only returning to
Britain in the run-up to
World War II.
Ivy was always
aware of her lack of formal education, but that
did not stop her taking
an accounting job in a
fur broker’s office in
Bow Lane. She went to
study furriering at
evening school, where
she was told it would
take 10 years to learn
cutting, 10 years to do
machining and 10 years
to do finishing and lining. “Great” cried Ivy.
“I’m 30 now, so I’ll be
60 before I’m able to
make a fur coat!”
With her considerable knowledge of the
trade, Ivy was offered
the assistant editor’s
job on Furs, the trade
magazine. Later she
became editor and also
the
Fur
Market
Correspondent on the
Financial Times’ commodities page. In
the mid-sixties, Ivy became the first
woman member of the Queenhithe
Ward Club, representing the Ward as a
Member of the Court of Common
Council.
Ivy Sharp had made her mark in the
City of London.
Albert Morgan
Ivy Margaret Sharp died on
August 15, aged 82. She was
first married to Frederick
Sharp and later to Leslie
Fellner. Ivy leaves a daughter,
Elizabeth, grandson Nicholas
and granddaughter Diana.
COMPANY NEWS
Cloathed in the Livery
TUESDAY 6 OCTOBER 2009
DAVID STUART ALLEN
Managing Director, Robert Horne Group
JOHN DAVID DUNSTAN
Retired Journalist
BRIAN HERBERT WILLIAM HILL
Publisher, Wildy & Sons Limited
RICHARD THOMAS HUDSON
Teacher and Proprietor of Greenbank Press
BRIAN JOHN MOORE
Director, Newman Thomson
ANTHONY PETER PAYNE
Antiquarian Bookseller
WILLIAM JOHN SMITH STEVENSON
Professor of Publishing,
University College London
JOHN DOUGLAS THOMSON
Director, Newman Thomson
Admitted to the Freedom
MONDAY 26 0CTOBER 2009
JENNIFER AMANDA BUTCHER
Customer Services Assistant,
Telecom Express
CLIVE MCKEOUGH
Retired, former Pearsons senior executive
COLIN PETER SMYTHE
Managing Director, Colin Smythe Limited
MICHAEL KEITH WALLER
Director, Ticketing and Security Products,
Tungate Group
MONDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 2009
TIMOTHY JOHN BONNETT
Sales and Marketing Director,
Houston Global Limited
ANDREW JOHN BUXTON
Managing Director, Howard Smith Paper
COLIN DAVID CAMPBELL
Managing Director,
Langstane Press Limited
JOHN DAVID DUNSTAN
Retired Journalist
CHARLOTTE LOUISA GOOCH
Head of Events, Guardian News Media
ANDREW MARK PRITCHARD JONES
Head of Sales, Media Systems
PETER WILLIAM LAKE
Managing Director, Sweet and Maxwell
JOHN ALUN SIEBERT
Chairman,
George Warman Publications Limited
John Graham WAITS
Managing Director,
Osbornes Stationers Limited
In Memoriam
L IVERYMAN
B A S I L C EDERIC B ICKNELL
28 June 1930 – 9 August 2009
Cloathed: 5 April 1994
FREEMAN
SIMON RALPH ALAN BOTT
9 August 1931 – 29 October 2009
Freedom: 2 February 1965
FUTURE EVENTS
JANUARY 2010
26 Women’s Networking Evening
FEBRUARY
1 Digital Media Group
17 Cakes and Ale
23 Samuel Pepys Evening
MARCH
1 Livery Luncheon
8 Annual Lecture & Dinner
15 Freemen’s Association AGM
& Luncheon
15 New Members’ Evening
APRIL
12 Archive Evening
23 Freemen’s association Annual
Dinner
MAY
5 Charter Dinner
12 Tour of Olympic Village
JUNE
1 Richard Joihnson ‘Bubble’
Service
Court & Livery Luncheon
14 Awards & Committees’
Luncheon
14 Industry Groiup Summer
Forum
21 RNIB Charity Gala Dinner
24 Election of Sheriffs, Guildhall
JULY
6 Common Hall,
Change of Master
Master’s Installation Party
A Letter from the Honorary Almoner
WITH a degree of sadness on my part,
my three year term of office as Honorary
Almoner comes to an end in July 2010,
when a new Almoner will be appointed
to the traditional and honourable post
that provides pastoral care and looks
after the Welfare Charity needs of one of
the oldest Livery Companies.
During my time in this role, I have
been very privileged to get to know not
only many members of the Company
and their families but also to visit the
people and charities such as Treloar
College that we are able to support
through your generous donations.
Treloar’s is a charity founded in 1907
by the then Lord Mayor of the City of
London, Sir William Purdie Treloar, to
provide education and training for
young people with physical disabilities.
I have visited it twice this year to meet
the staff and pupils. Seeing these handicapped youngsters is a moving experience, making me very aware of my own
good fortune. The College is very grateful to our Company for our donations
that help with the purchase of the
expensive equipment that they require
for their good work.
I mentioned to you last December
that because many widows felt cut off
from the Company when their husbands died, it had been decided to
invite them to the Hall on Ash
Wednesday for Cakes and Ale, followed
by the service in St. Paul’s Cathedral, to
enable them to meet old friends. Nine
widows and their guests attended the
event and many who were unable to do
so wrote to say how pleased they had
been to be invited.
The Company has decided to renew
the invitation for Ash Wednesday in
2010. Should you know of any widow or
widower who would like to be invited, I
would be grateful if you would let me
know their name and address by the
beginning of January. With the help of
Stationers’ News / Page Eleven
Deborah Rea who has compiled a list of
names for me, I also intend to send a
Christmas card this year to forty widows
and widowers to let them know that
they are still thought of by the Company.
I would like to thank the many
Stationers who have contacted me to
make me aware that a member of the
Company is ill or has a problem,
enabling me to write or speak to them.
With the winter months in front of us, I
would particularly like to ask you to contact me should you become aware that a
Stationer on our Supernumerary List, or
a widow of a Stationer, has a problem
which you feel I may be able to help
with.
Happy Christmas to you and your
families
Gerald Hill
Honorary Almoner
Telephone Number 01344 621 033
Email geraldhill@btinternet.com
Bank of England + More!
Report: Liveryman Deborah Akers, Livery Representative on the Court
THE LIVERY COMMITTEE has been very busy of late, organising some wonderful events.
On October 19, thirty of us, including the Master, were
treated to an exclusive tour of the famous Parlour Rooms at
the Bank of England. This is not a section of the Bank that
is normally accessible to the public, and we were extremely
privileged to be personally granted access by the Governor of
The Bank of England.
The surprise to me was the sheer size of the buildings,
with seven floors, three down and four up. The beautiful
mosaic floors and inner gardens are exquisitely designed. In
the 1980s the Bank housed 8,000 staff. Now they are down to
about 1,700, due to the setting up of The Financial Services
Authority and advanced IT systems. I believe there are a lot of
empty rooms now...
The Parlour Rooms are spectacular, with grand furnishings
and paintings. The room where the Monetary Policy
Committee meets has double doors, designed to stop eavesdropping!
The Bank has its own museum, which we visited; you can
pick up the gold bars but, alas, cannot take them home with
you. It is open to the public and I would strongly recommend
a visit.
After our tour of the Bank, we walked across to The Royal
Exchange building, where we had drinks and bites. This is also
a magnificent building where you can dine or snack throughout the day and evening. The shopping arcade is well worth a
visit! In all, it was a very successful event with funds raised for
our Foundation. A grand time was had by all.
This event was fully subscribed within 24 hours and
attracted a long waiting list, so I am now trying to arrange
another visit next year.
One event definitely not to miss in the New Year is the
Samuel Pepys Dinner, to be held on February 23, the great
diarist’s birthday. The year is 1674 and Samuel is dining at the
newly rebuilt Stationers’ Hall following the devastation caused
by the Great Fire. There will be music, singing, a jester – and
a hearty menu.
We have other events planned for the New Year. Firstly, a
lunch and a look ‘Behind the Scenes of St. Brides’ which is
planned for March. We also have a ‘Tour
of the Olympic Village’ in May. Please
look out for the booking forms and
reserve your places early to avoid disappointment. And please do send any
ideas for other events that we might
hold to Martin Randall, Livery
Committee Chairman, or myself.
Deborah Akers
S T AT I O N E R S ’ N E W S
H ONORARY E DITOR : Stephen Somerville, SUB-EDITOR: Bert Morgan
Published by the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers, Stationers’ Hall, Ave Maria Lane, London EC4M 7DD
Website www.stationers.org / email: admin@stationers.org / tel: 020 7248 2934 / fax: 020 7489 1975
The Company thanks:
Tim Friend for his valuable design and production services
All the scribes for their valued contributions
All photographers, including Gerald Sharp Photography,
Richard Alden, Alison Buckett and The Red Devils.
Printed by
Acculith 76,
Brake Shear House,
164 High Street,
Barnet EN5 5XP
Letters and contributions for publication will be welcomed by the
Honorary Editor at Stationers’ Hall.
The opinions and articles published in Stationers’ News do not
necessarily represent the views of the Company of Stationers and
Newspaper Makers or the Editor.
Stationers’ News / Page Twelve