The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers (or Fishmongers' Company) is one of the 110 Livery Companies of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, being an incorporated

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

of sellers of fish and seafood in the City. The Company ranks fourth in the

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

of City Livery Companies, thereby making it one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies.

History

The Company records an unbroken existence for 750 years – although undoubtedly it existed earlier – having received its first

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

in 1272. A predecessor guild was fined as ''

adulterine Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

'' in 1154. It took the name Stock Fishmongers' Company under another Royal Charter granted in 1508. Then, in 1537, it merged with the Salt Fishmongers' Company to form the Company with its present name. The most famous City fishmonger is Sir William Walworth, who, as

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 powe ...

in 1381, helped bring the

Peasants' Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black ...

to an end by stabbing the rebel

Wat Tyler Wat Tyler (c. 1320/4 January 1341 – 15 June 1381) was a leader of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt in England. He led a group of rebels from Canterbury to London to oppose the institution of a poll tax and to demand economic and social reforms. Wh ...

to death at Smithfield in the presence of

King Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...

. In 1383, Lord Mayor John Comberton de Northampton (a Draper) persuaded the City Common Council to declare that the Fishmongers should no longer have the power to monopolise trade in fish, and this was reaffirmed by Parliament. However, in a Royal Charter granted to the Fishmongers by Richard II in 1399, all their privileges were restored. The same Charter states they should elect six Wardens annually, the number which continues to the present day. Until the end of the 14th century the Fishmongers convened their own

court of law A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordanc ...

, called ''Leyhalmode'', at which disputes over fish and seafood trade were tried by the Wardens of the Company. From 1555 to the present day, the Company has acted as Trustee of

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...

Holt, Norfolk Holt is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the English county of Norfolk. The town is north of the city of Norwich, west of Cromer and east of King's Lynn. The town has a population of 3,550, rising and including the ward to ...

. In the early 17th century, the Company was granted lands at Ballykelly and

Banagher Banagher ( or ''Beannchar na Sionna'') is a town in Ireland, located in the midlands, on the western edge of County Offaly in the province of Leinster, on the banks of the River Shannon. It had a population of 3,000 at the height of its econ ...

in modern-day

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, by the Crown. It remained a major landowner there until the 20th century, and the villages contain some of the most interesting buildings erected in

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

by the Plantation companies. In 1714, the Irish actor

Thomas Doggett Thomas Doggett (or Dogget) (20 September 1721) was an Irish actor. The birth date of 1640 seems unlikely. A more probable date of 1670 is given in the Encyclopædia Britannica. Biography Doggett was born in Dublin, and made his first stage app ...

provided money to endow a boat race called Doggett's Coat and Badge Race in honour of the new king, George I of Hanover. The race was originally to be rowed annually on 1 August on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

, by up to six young watermen per boat who were not to be out of their apprenticeship by more than twelve months. The prize for the champion oarsman is a fine red coat embellished with a large silver badge on one arm, depicting the

White Horse of Hanover White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

with the word 'liberty' underneath. Since Doggett's death, the Fishmongers' Company continues to organise this event each year, and it is now believed to be the world's longest continuously-running sporting event as well as being the longest boat race in the world – 4 miles, 5 furlongs (7,400 m). By the 18th century, references to fish were hard to find in the Fishmongers' Company Court minutes, since the Company's main business had evolved into managing its extensive properties and administering its charities and trusts, such as

as well as St Peter's Hospital and

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

s at Newington in Surrey.

Functions

The Company is governed by its Prime Warden, five other Wardens and its Court of Assistants, comprising 28 appointed Livery members. In its early history, the Company established a monopoly over the sale of fish in the City of London and its environs. Although government legislation over the years has reduced such trade restrictions, the Company is still tasked with the important role of overseeing the quality of fish imported into the City, mostly via

Billingsgate Market Billingsgate Fish Market is located in Canary Wharf in London. It is the United Kingdom's largest inland fish market. It takes its name from Billingsgate, a ward in the south-east corner of the City of London, where the riverside market was origi ...

, the UK's largest

fish market A fish market is a marketplace for selling fish and fish products. It can be dedicated to wholesale trade between fishermen and fish merchants, or to the sale of seafood to individual consumers, or to both. Retail fish markets, a type of wet mar ...

. This responsibility is undertaken by the Company's fishmeters (inspectors) under powers established by a Royal Charter of

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

in 1604. The Company is closely involved with monitoring

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

and

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

fishing as well as the catching of shellfish throughout UK waters. It encourages research through grants and sponsorship and also publishes books on fish, such as ''Fish and Shellfish'' and ''The Fishmongers' Company Cook Book''. Thus, the Company retains many of its ancient trade duties, unlike some other Livery Companies, whose trades having become defunct through technological advances, act for the most part as charitable benefactors or ceremonial institutions. The Fishmongers' Company is also a significant educational charity. As well as Gresham's School, it has also long supported the

City and Guilds of London Art School Founded in 1854 as the Lambeth School of Art, the City and Guilds of London Art School is a small specialist art college located in central London, England. Originally founded as a government art school, it is now an independent, not-for-profit ...

and the

City and Guilds of London Institute The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies – to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has ...

. The Company comprises about 300 members, including a good representation of working

fishmonger A fishmonger (historically fishwife for female practitioners) is someone who sells raw fish and seafood. Fishmongers can be wholesalers or retailers and are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting, displaying, me ...

s. Liverymen of all City companies are members of Common Hall which entitles them to vote each year in the election of the

Lord Mayor of the City of London Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

, held on

Michaelmas Day Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christianity, Christian festival observed in some Western liturgical year, liturgica ...

(29 September) or the closest weekday, and also in the election of the

Sheriffs 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 ju ...

on Midsummer's Day. Voting is by show of hands, but should one liveryman call for a recount, a ballot is held two weeks later.

Hall

The Company's livery hall in the City of London is known as

Fishmongers' Hall Fishmongers' Hall (sometimes shortened in common parlance to Fish Hall) is a listed building, Grade II* listed building adjacent to London Bridge. It is the headquarters of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers, one of the 110 livery companies of ...

(sometimes shortened in common parlance to Fish Hall); its earliest recorded hall was built in 1310. A new hall, on the present site, was bequeathed to the Company in 1434. Together with 43 other Livery halls, this one was destroyed in the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the ...

in 1666 and a replacement hall designed by the architect Edward Jerman opened in 1671. This hall by Jerman was demolished to facilitate the construction of the new

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

in 1827. The Fishmongers' next hall was designed by Henry Roberts (although his assistant, later the celebrated

Sir Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

, made the drawings) and built by William Cubitt & Company, opening in 1834. After severe bomb damage during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

, Fishmongers' Hall was restored by Austen Hall (of Whinney, Son & Austen Hall) and reopened in 1951.

Gresham's School

Since 1555, the Company has acted as the

Trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

, in accordance with the wishes of Lord Mayor Sir John Gresham (1492–1556). Among other responsibilities, the Company provides more than half of the school's governors, including the chairman of the governing body, which meets at Fishmongers' Hall. In 1729, the Fishmongers' Company presented the school with "...a valuable and useful library, not only of the best editions of the Classics and Lexicographers, but also with some books of Antiquities, Chronology, and Geography, together with a suitable pair of globes". In May 1926, in accepting membership of the Company by right of patrimony, the future

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

said: "I hope that it may be possible for me, at some future date, to prove my interest by personally visiting Gresham's School, of which I have frequently heard such excellent accounts".

List of Prime Wardens

*''c.'' 1370: Sir William Walworth *1664: Abraham Johnson *1676: William Allington *1721–22: Sir John Fryer *1810–12: Richard "Conversation" Sharp, MP *1834–36: Sir Matthew Wood *1863–64:

William Cubitt Sir William Cubitt FRS (bapt. 9 October 1785 – 13 October 1861) was an eminent English civil engineer and millwright. Born in Norfolk, England, he was employed in many of the great engineering undertakings of his time. He invented a type of ...

(''et al.''

George Cubitt, 1st Baron Ashcombe George Cubitt, 1st Baron Ashcombe, (4 June 1828 – 26 February 1917) of Denbies House, Dorking, Surrey, was a British politician and peer, a son of Thomas Cubitt, the leading London builder and property developer of his day. Education and car ...

) *1874–75: William Lawrence *1880-81: Jethro Hornblower *1883–84: Thomas Dakin, Lord Mayor *1887–88: Sir Andrew Lusk *1888–89:

James Clarke Lawrence Sir James Clarke Lawrence, 1st Baronet (1820 - 21 May 1897) was Lord Mayor of London and a Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 to 1885. Lawrence was the son of William Lawrence, an alderman of the City of London, and his ...

*1893-94:

John Warren John Warren may refer to: Medicine * John Warren (surgeon) (1753–1815), American surgeon during the Revolutionary War * John Collins Warren (1778–1856), American surgeon * John Collins Warren Jr. (1842–1927), American surgeon, son of John C ...

*1899-1900:

Richard Biddulph Martin Sir Richard Biddulph Martin, 1st Baronet (12 May 1838 – 23 August 1916) was an English banker and Liberal Party (and later Liberal Unionist) politician. Martin was the older of two sons of Robert Martin (1808–1897) of Overbury Court near T ...

*1901–02:

George Frederick Bodley George Frederick Bodley (14 March 182721 October 1907) was an English Gothic Revival architect. He was a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott, and worked in partnership with Thomas Garner for much of his career. He was one of the founders of Watt ...

*1902: Edward Rawlings *1921-22: Lothian Demain Nicholson *1925-26: Lothian Demain Nicholson *1961–62:

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

*1969–70: Sir John Carew Pole'CAREW POLE, Col. Sir John (Gawen)', in ''Who Was Who'' (London: A. & C. Black, 1920–2008
online edition
(subscription site) by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, December 2007, accessed 20 April 2012 *1972–73:

David Cairns, 5th Earl Cairns Rear-Admiral David Charles Cairns, 5th Earl Cairns, (3 July 1909 – 21 March 1989), was Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1971. Naval career Cairns joined the Royal Nav ...

*1977–78:

Kenneth Mackay, 3rd Earl of Inchcape Kenneth James William Mackay, 3rd Earl of Inchcape (27 December 1917 – 17 March 1994), was a businessman and an earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. He became Earl of Inchcape on 21 June 1939 after the death of his father, Kenneth Mackay, ...

*1989–90: Robert Kindersley, 3rd Baron Kindersley *1995–96:

Alexander McDonnell, 9th Earl of Antrim Alexander Randal Mark McDonnell, 9th Earl of Antrim, (3 February 1935 – 21 July 2021), known as Alexander Dunluce, was a Northern Irish landowner, peer, artist, and art restorer. He lived mostly at his ancestral home, Glenarm Castle, County ...

*1998–99: Simon Lennox-Boyd, 2nd Viscount Boyd of Merton *2000–01:

Merlin Hay, 24th Earl of Erroll Merlin Sereld Victor Gilbert Hay, 24th Earl of Erroll (born 20 April 1948), is a crossbench member of the House of Lords, chief of the Scottish clan Hay, and hereditary Lord High Constable of Scotland. Early life and education Lord Erroll, elder ...

*2001–02: Sir Thomas Stockdale *2014–15:

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

FCA *2017–18 : Princess Anne, The Princess Royal *2019–20 David Jones DL

Company Church

St Magnus the Martyr St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge, is a Church of England church and parish within the City of London. The church, which is located in Lower Thames Street near The Monument to the Great Fire of London, is part of the Diocese of London and un ...

Arms

Sources

External links

*
Fishmongers' Hall and Fish Street Hill at www.british-history.ac.uk

Gresham's School
Official site {{authority control 1272 establishments in England 1537 establishments in England Livery companies Companies of medieval England Charities based in London Corporatism Great Twelve City Livery Companies Worshipful Prime Wardens of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers