William Harpur
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William Harpur
Sir William Harpur (c. 1496 – 27 February 1574) was a merchant from Bedford who moved to London, amassed a large fortune, and became Lord Mayor of London. In 1566 he and his wife Dame Alice gave an endowment to support certain charities including education. The endowment became the Harpur Trust, which supports four independent schools in Bedford today. Career The name Harper (or Harpur) is mentioned around 1500 in connection with families from Bedford and Biddenham. Little is known about the life of William. He attended Bedford School whilst it was still administered by the Augustinian Canons of Newnham Priory. It is not certain whether he was a tailor. He was certainly a shrewd businessman. He went to London and was admitted to the guild of Merchant Taylors in 1533. There he would have come into contact with the leading citizens of the day. We know that in 1553 he was elected alderman for the ward of Bridge Without and, three years later, he was elected alderman of the more pr ...
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Lord Mayor Of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powers, rights, and privileges, including the title and style ''The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London''. One of the world's oldest continuously elected civic offices, it is entirely separate from the directly elected mayor of London, a political office controlling a budget which covers the much larger area of Greater London. The Corporation of London changed its name to the City of London Corporation in 2006, and accordingly the title Lord Mayor of the City of London was introduced, so as to avoid confusion with the mayor of London. However, the legal and commonly used title remains ''Lord Mayor of London''. The Lord Mayor is elected at ''Common Hall'' each year on Michaelmas, and takes office on the Friday before the second Saturday i ...
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Tailor
A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of tailor shops in Ancient Greece and Rome, as well as tailoring tools such as irons and shears. The profession of tailor in Europe became formalized in the High Middle Ages through the establishment of guilds. Tailors' guilds instituted a system of masters, journeymen, and apprentices. Guild members established rules to limit competition and establish quality standards. In 1244, members of the tailor's guild in Bologna established statutes to govern their profession and required anyone working as a tailor to join the guild. In England, the Statute of Artificers, passed in 1563, included the profession of tailor as one of the trades that could be entered only by serving a term of apprenticeship, typically seven years. A typical tailor shop ...
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Worshipful Company Of Merchant Taylors
] The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors is one of the 110 Livery company, livery companies of the City of London. The Company, originally known as the ''Guild and Fraternity of St John the Baptist in the City of London'', was founded prior to 1300, first incorporated under a Royal Charter in 1327, confirmed by later charters in 1408, 1503 and 1719. Its seat is the Merchant Taylors' Hall between Threadneedle Street and Cornhill, a site it has occupied since at least 1347. The Company's motto is ''Concordia Parvae Res Crescunt'', from the Roman historian Sallust meaning ''In Harmony Small Things Grow''. History The Company was at first an association of tailors. By the end of the 17th century, its connection with the tailoring trade had virtually ceased and it became what it is today, a philanthropic and social association – albeit that it has recently rekindled its links with Savile Row and is the principal sponsor and organiser of the prestigious biannual "Golden Shea ...
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Royal Exchange, London
The Royal Exchange in London was founded in the 16th century by the merchant Sir Thomas Gresham on the suggestion of his factor Richard Clough to act as a centre of commerce for the City of London. The site was provided by the City of London Corporation and the Worshipful Company of Mercers, who still jointly own the freehold. The original foundation was ceremonially opened by Queen Elizabeth I who granted it its "royal" title. The current building is trapezoidal in floor plan and is flanked by Cornhill and Threadneedle Street, which converge at Bank junction in the heart of the city. It lies in the ward of Cornhill. The exchange building has twice been destroyed by fire and subsequently rebuilt. The present building was designed by Sir William Tite in the 1840s. The site was notably occupied by the Lloyd's insurance market for nearly 150 years. Today the Royal Exchange contains Fortnum & Mason The Bar & Restaurant, luxury shops, and offices. Traditionally, the steps of the ...
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Holborn
Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its roots in the ancient parish of Holborn, which lay on the west bank of the now buried River Fleet, taking its name from an alternative name for the river. The area is sometimes described as part of the West End of London or of the wider West London area. The River Fleet also gave its name to the streets ''Holborn'' and ''High Holborn'' which extend west from the site of the former Newgate in the London Wall, over the Fleet, through Holborn and towards Westminster. The district benefits from a central location which helps provide a strong mixed economy. The area is particularly noted for its links to the legal profession, the diamond centre at Hatton Garden and Great Ormond Street Hospital. Origins and administration Holborn emerged from th ...
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Rood (unit)
A rood (; abbreviation: ro) is a historic English and international inch-pound measure of area, as well as an archaic English measure of length. Etymology ''Rood'' is an archaic word for "pole", from Old English ''rōd'' "pole", specifically "cross", from Proto-Germanic ''*rodo'', cognate to Old Saxon ''rōda'', Old High German ''ruoda'' "rod"; the relation of ''rood'' to '' rod'', from Old English ''rodd'' "pole", is unclear; the latter was perhaps influenced by Old Norse ''rudda'' "club". In Normandy, where the rood was also used (before being replaced by metric units around 1800), it was known as a ''vergée'', from the French word ''verge'' (stick, rod), which was borrowed in English (see virge). Measurement of area Rood is an English unit of area equal to one quarter of an acre or . A rectangle that is one furlong (i.e., 10 chains, or 40 rods) in length and one rod in width is one rood in area, as is any space comprising 40 perches (a perch being one square rod). The ''v ...
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Acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texa ... and United States customary units#Units of area, US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square yards, or 43,560 square feet, and approximately 4,047 m2, or about 40% of a hectare. Based upon the International yard and pound, international yard and pound agreement of 1959, an acre may be declared as exactly 4,046.8564224 square metres. The acre is sometimes abbreviated ac but is usually spelled out as the word "acre".National Institute of Standards and Technolog(n.d.) General Tables of Units of Measurement . Traditionally, i ...
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Elizabeth I Of England
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed when Elizabeth was two years old. Anne's marriage to Henry was annulled, and Elizabeth was for a time declared Royal bastard, illegitimate. Her half-brother Edward VI ruled until his death in 1553, bequeathing the crown to Lady Jane Grey and ignoring the claims of his two half-sisters, the Catholic Church, Catholic Mary I of England, Mary and the younger Elizabeth, in spite of Third Succession Act, statute law to the contrary. Edward's will was set aside and Mary became queen, deposing Lady Jane Grey. During Mary's reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant reb ...
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Knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Greek ''hippeis'' and '' hoplite'' (ἱππεῖς) and Roman '' eques'' and ''centurion'' of classical antiquity. In the Early Middle Ages in Europe, knighthood was conferred upon mounted warriors. During the High Middle Ages, knighthood was considered a class of lower nobility. By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior. Often, a knight was a vassal who served as an elite fighter or a bodyguard for a lord, with payment in the form of land holdings. The lords trusted the knights, who were skilled in battle on horseback. Knighthood in the Middle Ages was closely linked with horsemanship (and especially the joust) from its origins in th ...
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Sheriff Of The City Of London
Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the justices at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, since its original role as the court for the City and Middlesex. The sheriffs live in the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, during their year of service, so that one of them can always be attendant on the judges. In Court No 1 the principal chairs on the bench are reserved for their and the Lord Mayor's use, with the Sword of the City hanging behind the bench. It is an invariable custom that the Lord Mayor of London must previously have served as a sheriff. By a "custom of immemorial usage in the City", Howell et al., p. 191 the two sheriffs are elected at the Midsummer Common Hall by the Liverymen by acclamation, unless a ballot is demanded from the floor, which takes place withi ...
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St Bartholomew's Hospital
St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (died 1144, and entombed in the nearby Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great), a favourite courtier of King Henry I. The dissolution of the monasteries did not affect the running of Barts as a hospital, but left it in a precarious position by removing its income. It was refounded by King Henry VIII in December 1546, on the signing of an agreement granting the hospital to the Corporation of London.''St Bartholomew's Hospital''
''Old and New London'': Volume 2 (1878), pp. 359–363. Retrieved 30 January 2009
The hospital became legally styled as the "House of the Poore ...
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Thomas Gresham
Sir Thomas Gresham the Elder (; c. 151921 November 1579), was an English merchant and financier who acted on behalf of King Edward VI (1547–1553) and Edward's half-sisters, queens Mary I (1553–1558) and Elizabeth I (1558–1603). In 1565 Gresham founded the Royal Exchange in the City of London. Origins Born in London and descended from an old Norfolk family, Gresham was one of two sons and two daughters of Sir Richard Gresham, a leading merchant mercer and Lord Mayor of London, who was knighted by King Henry VIII for negotiating favourable loans with foreign merchants. Education Gresham was educated at St Paul's School. After that, although his father wanted Thomas to become a merchant, Sir Richard first sent him to university at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He was concurrently apprenticed in the Mercers' Company to his uncle Sir John Gresham, founder of Gresham's School, while he was still at Cambridge. Agent in the Low Countries In 1543 the Mercers' Compa ...
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