Notable Dates | The Charter | Achievement of Arms | Family History Searches | British Optical Association Museum

 We know the names of the first Master and Wardens and the Clerk from the original Charter and some of the details of the lives of the members of the Company at that time from the Company’s rule book, the Book of Ordinances of 1630.  Important information has also recently come to light about the first Master, Edward Gregorie, who was a Master Goldsmith and Robert Alt, probably his Upper Warden and one of the founders and petitioners for incorporation of the Company.  After the death of Edward Gregorie, his widow Martha kept trade and family together by marrying Robert Alt.  She herself appears to have trained several Spectacle Maker apprentices.  Robert and Martha Alt were buried in the churchyard of St Ann, Blackfriars, only steps away from the Company's current base in Apothecaries' Hall.  

Like most of London, the Company suffered in the flames of the Great Fire of 1666. All the records, other than the Charter and the Book of Ordinances were destroyed. It is only thanks to the quick thinking of the Clerk, we believe, that these documents were carried safely away out of the City.

Digital copies will be available on this website in the near future. In the meantime, both the Charter and the Book of Ordinances are held with the London Metropolitan Archive and are available for public inspection by advance request to the Guildhall Library.

Click here to see photos of the 1629 Charter and details of its cost.

The Guildhall Library also holds all other important records of the Company including quarterage registers and minute books, including the first Minute Book of 1666, begun just after the Fire. 

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1665-68 John Turlington 1669 Richard Twigg 1669-70 John Radford 1671 John Verney 1672-73 Joseph Howe 1674-76 Jonathan Alt 1677-78 Thomas Goodman 1679-80 Thomas Handford 1681 John Throckmorton 1682 John Hicketts 1683 John Hill 1684 John Yarwell 1685 (Gregory Tingay) John Yarwell 1686 William Longland 1687 John Radford 1688 James Throckmorton 1689 Joseph Howe 1690-91 Thomas Hanford 1692 John Hicketts 1693 John Yarwell 1694 William Longland 1695-96 James Throckmorton 1697-1700 Thomas Mayle 1701 Thomas Stirrop 1702-08 Ralph Stirrop 1709-11 William Bembrick 1712-14 Joseph Cole 1715 William Saunders 1716 James Mann (senior) 1717 Isaac Burbridge 1718-19 Thomas Gay 1720-21 Edward Scarlett (senior) 1722-32 George Wildey 1733 Thomas Archer 1734 John Flower 1735-36 James Mann (junior) 1737-43 John Ward 1744 Mathew Loft 1745 Edward Scarlett (junior) 1746 Thomas Lincoln 1747 George Bass 1748 John Cuff 1749 John Howe 1750 George Stirrop 1751 Samuel Scatliff 1752 James Ayscough 1753-54 John Morris 1754-57 George Bass 1758-59 Thomas Ribright 1760 David Deane 1761-62 Peter Eglington 1763 Francis Watkins 1764-68 James Tomlinson 1769-73 Edward Nairne FRS 1774-81 Peter Dollond 1782-86 Henry Shuttleworth 1787-89 Charles Lincoln 1790-91 John Dollond 1792-93 Thomas Blunt 1794 John Bleuler 1795-96 Edward Nairne FRS 1797-98 Peter Dollond 1799-1800 John Field 1801-02 Peter Dollond 1803-04 Henry Lawson 1805-06 James Long 1807-08 William Gilbert 1809-10 John Bleuler 1811-12 George Dollond FRS 1813-14 Johnson Lawson FRS, FRAS 1815-16 Thomas Blunt 1817 Samuel Walker 1818-19 James Christie 1820-21 John Field 1822-23 Henry Lawson 1824-25 William Harris 1826-27 Richard Gude 1828-29 Robert Brettell Bate 1830 Andrew Smith 1831 James Harmer 1832 Thomas Bish MP 1833 George Carroll 1834 Ford Hale 1835-36 John Sivewright 1837-39 John Johnson (LORD MAYOR 1845) 1840-41 Alderman Sir James Duke MP 1842 Alderman Henry Lainson 1843 James Harmer 1844-45 Alderman Sir George Carroll (LORD MAYOR 1846) 1846 William Clarkson 1847 The Marquis of Downshire 1848-49 Alderman Sir James Duke MP (LORD MAYOR 1848) 1850 William Henry Palmer 1851 John Hill 1852 Sir Walter Buchannan Riddell Bt 1853 William Clarkson 1854 William Henry Palmer 1855 Ford Hale 1856-57 Frederick Salmon 1858 Alderman Sir William Anderson Rose (LORD MAYOR 1862) 1859 The Marquis of Downshire 1860 Alderman Sir James Duke MP 1861 William Tite MP 1862 George Dollond 1863 Thomas Carlyle Hayward 1864 William White 1865 Alderman Thomas Dakin 1866 Charles James Palmer 1867 Alderman Sir Benjamin Samuel Phillips (LORD MAYOR 1865) 1868 Alderman David Henry Stone (LORD MAYOR 1874) 1869-70 Alderman Andrew Lusk (LORD MAYOR 1873) 1871-72 Robert Nicholas Fowler MP (LORD MAYOR 1883 & 1885) 1873 Deputy Ben Slowman 1874 Philip Twells MP 1875 Alderman William A McArthur MP 1876 Alderman Sir Thomas Dakin (LORD MAYOR 1870) 1877 Alderman Sir William Anderson Rose 1878 The Rt. Hon. George Joachim Goschen MP 1879 Alderman Sir Benjamin Samuel Phillips 1880 Alderman Sir William McArthur KCMG, MP (LORD MAYOR 1880) 1881 Charles Hill JP 1882-88 Richard Septimus Wilkinson DL, JP 1889-90 William James Ford 1890 Alderman Sir Andrew Lusk Bt 1891 Alderman Sir Polydore de Keyser Bt (LORD MAYOR 1887) 1892 Colonel & Alderman Horatio Davies MP 1893 Alderman George Faudel-Phillips 1894 Sir Joseph Sebag-Montefiore JP 1895 William Martin Bickerstaff DL, JP 1896 Alderman Sir George Faudel-Phillips Bt, GCIE (LORD MAYOR 1896) 1897 Colonel & Alderman Sir Horatio Davies Bt, MP (LORD MAYOR 1897) 1898 William Henry Emilien Thornthwaite FRAS 1899 Colonel & Alderman Sir Reginald Hanson Bt, MP (LORD MAYOR 1886)

1900-01 The Rt. Hon. Sir William Hart-Dyke Bt, MP 1902 Alderman Sir Marcus Samuel Bt (afterwards Viscount Bearsted)(LORD MAYOR 1902) 1903-04 The Honourable Alban GH Gibbs MP (afterwards Lord Aldenham) 1905 Edward Levy-Lawson, 1st Baron Burnham 1906 Harry Hylton-Foster 1907 James Henry Davidson 1908 The Honourable WR Peel MP (afterwards Earl Peel) 1909-10 Colonel The Honourable Harry Lawson Webster Levy-Lawson MP (afterwards 1st Viscount Burnham GCMG, CH & 2nd Baron Burnham) 1911 The Lord Aldenham MA 1912-13 Alderman Sir Marcus Samuel Bt (afterwards Viscount Bearsted) 1914-17 Sir John FL Rolleston MP 1918-19 Alderman Sir Horace Brooks Marshall LLD (afterwards Lord Marshall of Chipstead KCVO, PC, MA, LLD) (LORD MAYOR 1918) 1920 Colonel & Alderman Sir Charles Cheers Wakefield Bt, CBE 1921 The Viscount Hill LCC 1922-23 Charles Edward Sebag-Montefiore 1924-25 Colonel & Alderman Sir Charles Cheers Wakefield Bt, CBE (afterwards Viscount Wakefield of Hythe) 1926-27 Lieutenant Colonel Edward Frederick Lawson DSO, MC (afterwards 4th Baron Burnham) 1928 Sir Osborn George Holmden KBE, DL, JP 1929-30 Sir Lionel Faudel-Phillips Bt, JP 1931 The Lord Aldenham MA 1932 Colonel The Viscount Burnham GCMG, CH 1933 Sir William Henry Champness, Deputy 1934-35 Sir Gomer Berry Bt, JP (afterwards first Viscount Kemsley GBE, KStJ) 1936-37 Charles Edward Sebag-Montefiore JP 1938-42 Alderman Sir William Coxen (LORD MAYOR 1939) 1943-44 Major General The Lord Burnham CB, DSO, MC. TD, MA (4th Baron Burnham) 1945 Lieutenant Colonel Gerald E Coke 1946 Alderman Sir Bracewell Smith Bt, KCVO, BSc (LORD MAYOR 1946) 1947-48 Alderman Sir Frank Newson-Smith Bt (LORD MAYOR 1943) 1949-50 The Honourable Lionel Berry (afterwards second Viscount Kemsley DL, KStJ) 1951-52 Walter Lucas Chance MA, JP 1953-54 Sir Frank William Morgan MC 1955-56 Frank William Law MA, MD, BChir, FRCS, LRCP, KStJ 1957-58 Gerald Edward Coke MA, JP 1959-60 The Honourable Lionel Berry (afterwards second Viscount Kemsley DL, KStJ) 1961-62 Roland Francis Champness MA, LLM, FSA, CC 1963-64 The Lord Crook KStJ, JP 1965-66 William Edwin Hardy FSMC 1967-68 Alfred William Hawes MC, FSMC 1969-70 Douglas Oldfield Rawling JP, FSMC 1971-72 Oliver Robert Marne Sebag-Montefiore TD, MA 1973-74 Leslie Eric Evershed-Martin OBE, FSMC, FBOA:HD, DCLP 1975-76 1975-76 Frank Max Wiseman OBE 1977-78 John Hart FSMC, FBOA:HD, DCLP 1979-80 Charles Alfred George Cook MC, GM, DSc, FRCS, FCOptom 1981-82 Richard Bertram Thorpe FCOptom 1983-84 Douglas Michael Rawling FCOptom 1985-86 Sir Richard Meyjes DL, FRSA, FInstD, CIMgt 1987-88 Professor Herbert James Ambrose Dartnall DSc, PhD, C Chem, FRSC 1989 Sir Nigel Mobbs JP, DL, DSc, CCIM, KStJ 1990 Mrs Anne Christine Arnold Silk FFDO, FBDO(Hons), FRSA, FRSM, Hon DSc 1991 James Leslie Kennerley Bankes MB, BS, FRCS, FRCOphth 1992 John Robert Stallwood FRSA 1993 Mohammed Jalie SMSA, FBDO(Hons), Hon FCGI, Hon FCOptom, MCIM 1994 David Evershed-Martin FCOptom 1995 Robert Alfred Ingham MA 1996 Clive Graham Stone FCOptom 1997 Peter Crockford Mills FCOptom 1998 Frank Goodwin Norville OBE, Hon. FCOptom. 1999 Anthony Hugh Chignell MBE, DO, FRCS, FRCOphth 2000 Brian Jack Mitchell FCA, FRCA 2001-02 George William Derek McLaren FBDO, FInstD, MCIM 2003 Robert William Chappell OBE, MPhil, DSc, FCOptom 2004 Nigel Homer Wingate FCOptom, FBDO 2005 John Roy Spencer Baker FBDO 2006 The Venerable John Anthony Morrison MA 2007 Robin Charles Henry Weathersbee, FCOptom, DCLP 2008 Joram Jacques (John) Fried FBDO 2009 John Stanley Shilling FRCS, DO, FRCOphth 2010 William Michael Barton FBDO(Hons), CL 2011 Professor John Marshall MBE, BSc, PhD, FMedSci, FRCPath, FSB, HonFRCOphth, HonFCOptom, FARVO, FLIA, FRSA 2012 Gordon Eric Jones C Chem, FRSC, FBCLA 2013 Christopher Ernest Hunt MBA, FBDO, FInstSMM 2014 Christine Margaret Tomkins BSc, MB, ChB(Hons), FRCS, DO, FRCOphth, FFFLM, FRCP, MBA 2015 Edward Bernard Middleton FCA 2016 Donald James Grocott TD, MA, FRSA, FIoD 2017 Felicity Mary Dorothy Harding MBA (OBE from 2019) 2018 John Alexander McGregor OBE 2019 Huntly James Russell Taylor FBDO

Records lost in the Great Fire of London 1666
...
1629 Thomas Copley
166- Edward Winne
1677 Henry Burman
1687 Charles Burman
1689 Robert Smith
1690 Richard Mallaber
1698 Francis Speidell
1719 George Stone
1723 John Williams
1727 Thomas Bury
1737 William Adams
1749 James Lowther
1754 James Wharton
1759 Edward Bennett
1770 Thomas Whittell
1800 James Boudon
1811 John Sewell
1866 Colonel Thomas Davies Sewell FRAS
1916 W Sewell Singer
1926 Sir William Champness, Deputy
1948 Roland Champness MA, LLM, FSA
1966 Colin James Eldridge LLB
1998 Lieutenant Colonel John Salmon OBE, LLB
2015 Mrs Helen Margaret Perkins MA(Oxon), FCIS, FCSI

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The Society of Apothecaries was incorporated by royal charter from James I in 1617. The Letters Patent gave the Society the right to "have, purchase, retain and appoint a certain Hall, or Counsel-House" in the City, but it was 15 years before it could afford one.

Cobham House in Blackfriars was chosen. Situated in the precinct of the former Dominican Priory of the Black Friars, the property had originally been their guesthouse. The Society bought it for £1,800 in October 1632 from the executors of Lady Anne Howard, sister-in-law of Lady Cobham (who was the wife of the 11th Baron and daughter of Lord Howard of Effingham).

Destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, the Society immediately set about re-building the Hall. Work was completed in 1672 and an 'Elaboratory' was included for the first ever large-scale manufacture of drugs. This was located at ground level along the eastern side of the courtyard, underneath the Great Hall.

A major restoration and building programme was carried out in the 1780s, in part because of the huge expansion in the pharmaceutical trade operations at the Hall. This resulted in a new west and south range to the courtyard and additional premises behind the original, eastern block. Formerly bounded by large iron gates on the western side, entry to the Hall was now from the street through a central archway.

The Apothecaries' retail pharmacy, which had been located on the northern side of the courtyard, gained a separate entrance on Water Lane (now Black Friars Lane) in 1823. Its steps and wrought-iron railings are still evident. The colonnade in the courtyard where the main door, surmounted by the Society's Arms, is now located was enclosed in 1929. The Entrance Hall features the main staircase which was constructed in 1670.

Although the Hall underwent major re-development in the 1980s, its external appearance has altered little since the late-eighteenth century. It is the oldest extant livery company Hall in the City, with the first-floor structure and arrangement of the Great Hall, Court Room and Parlour remaining as re-built between 1668 and 1670.

The central 24-branch candelabrum suspended from the ceiling was presented to the Society by Sir Benjamin Rawling, who was Sheriff of London and Master in 1736.

The windows on the east and west sides of the Hall contain stained glass Coats of Arms of Past Masters and former Officers of the Society, and portraits hang on the walls.

The Irish oak panelling in the Great Hall dates from 1671. There is a carved screen at the south end of the room, a minstrels' gallery at the north end, and an oak floor.

The Court Room is carpeted, and completely panelled in oak in a style similar to that in the Great Hall.

The room is dominated by two large stained glass windows, one depicting the Society's Coat of Arms, the other the Stuart royal Arms. Portraits adorn the walls and the painting which hangs over the fireplace is that of Gideon de Laune, Royal Apothecary to Queen Anne and founder of the Society. It was presented to the Society of Apothecaries in 1641.

The Parlour is a carpeted, brightly-lit and air-conditioned room and is well suited for small meetings and receptions.

The room contains a large, wall-to-wall showcase in which many of the Society's apothecaries' drug jars and pill tiles are displayed. It adjoins the Court Room and there is a connecting door between them.

The Spectacle Makers' Office within the Apothecaries' Courtyard was established in 1946, after a previously nomadic existence in taverns, originally, and then in other Livery Halls.  There is no clear evidence to suppose that Spectacle Makers before the Fire of 1666 had their own Hall.  The minute books of 1666 carry no mention of the Company having been deprived of a Hall or a regular meeting place.

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