Four Liveries Event
The next Four Liveries event will be hosted by the Spectacle Makers on Thursday 12 October, 6pm at Governors' Hall in St Thomas' Hospital.
Members of the Spectacle Makers, Clockmakers, Scientific Instrument Makers and the
Lightmongers can book a ticket via the booking site linked below. Please note that tickets are
limited and are booked on a first come first serve basis. Email the Clerk's Assistant on
administrator@spectaclemakers.com if
you have any
questions.
Freemen Professor Christopher Hammond, Professor David O'Brart and Liveryman Professor David Gartry, three leading minds in the field of Ophthalmology, will spend the evening exploring the past, present and future of cataracts.
Who are the 'Four Liveries'?
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The Worshipful Companies of Spectacle Makers, Clockmakers, Scientific Instrument Makers and Lightmongers make up the Four Liveries. This inter Livery series between scientifically minded Companies has grown and evolved since it's beginnings in 1993.
The relationship between the Four Liveries developed from each Company hosting
individual lectures,
which they opened up to other scientific Companies, beginning with the Clockmakers'
'Tompion' lecture in 1993, followed by the Spectacle Makers' 'Newton'
lecture in 1994. The Scientific Instrument Makers joined the roster in 1996 with their
'Minerva' lecture and it wasn't until 2003 that the Lightmongers were invited to join
the roster, turning the series into the Four Liveries Lecture.
All the speakers have been eminent in their fields and are usually members of the host Company,
including at least two Astronomers Royal, Gresham Professors and the Director of the Science
Museum. All have striven to capture the interest of members of all four liveries, whilst providing
an accessible starting point for what can be niche areas of science and technological innovation.
After the pandemic in 2020, the Clerks of each Company agreed that the lecture series should be
adapted and revamped in response to the way complex information was now being delivered (with the
widespread and largescale use of video platforms like Zoom) and to need for strengthening comradery
through friendly, relaxed and thought provoking settings. And so the Four Liveries Lecture became
the Four Liveries Event.
Kicking off the new event format for the Four Liveries was the Lightmongers', who last year
organised and evening tour of the lighting design of the bridges over the River Thames.
