Goldsmith Hall - 2nd half of the 19th century

The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company and formally titled The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London, is one of the Great Twelve 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 f ...

. The company's headquarters are at

Goldsmiths' Hall Goldsmiths' Hall is a Grade I listed building at the junction of Foster Lane and Gresham Street in the City of London. It has served as an assay office and the headquarters of London's goldsmith guild, the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, o ...

, London EC2. The company, which originates from the twelfth century, received a

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, but s ...

in 1327 and ranks fifth 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. Its

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

is ''Justitia Virtutum Regina'',

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for ''Justice is Queen of Virtues''.

History

The company was first established as a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

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 ...

for the

goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...

trade. The word ''hallmarking'' derives from the fact that precious metals were officially inspected and marked at Goldsmiths' Hall. Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths' Alms Houses, Acton

Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths' Alms Houses, Acton

In 1812, twenty almshouses were built on the former Perryn estate in Acton, on open land west of London. The almshouses were built on land which had been left to the company by John Perryn in 1657. In 1891, the Goldsmiths' Company founded the Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute, which went on to become

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wo ...

. Today, the company is one of the few Livery Companies still to play a formal role in its ancient trade. The Goldsmiths' Company oversees

The Goldsmiths' Company Assay Office The Goldsmiths' Company Assay Office in London (also known as Assay Office London or the London Assay Office) is the oldest assay office in the United Kingdom. The company has provided hallmarking services since The Goldsmiths Company was founded ...

, where objects made of precious metals are tested for purity, and then marked with an official symbol should they pass the necessary tests. At the

Trial of the Pyx The Trial of the Pyx () is a judicial ceremony in the United Kingdom to ensure that newly minted coins from the Royal Mint conform to their required dimensional and fineness specifications. Although coin quality is now tested throughout the year ...

, the Goldsmiths' Company is also responsible for checking the validity of

British coinage British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

List of recent Prime Wardens

*1950: W. Godfrey Allen *1951: W. Godfrey Allen *2004: Bryan Toye *2008:

Grant Macdonald Grant Macdonald is a silversmith and goldsmith company based in London. History Founded in 1969 by Grant Macdonald, Grant Macdonald began as a silversmith workshop and became a limited company in 1977. By the early 1980s Grant Macdonald produ ...

*2012: Hector Miller *2013: Richard Agutter *2014: William Parente *2015: Dr Timothy Schroder *2016: Michael Wainwright *2017: Judith Cobham-Lowe *2018: Michael Prideaux *2019: Timothy Schroder *2020: Richard Fox *2021: Dame Lynne Brindley *2022: The Lord Bridges (695th)

Goldsmiths' Centre

In 2012 the Goldsmiths’ Centre, a space for workshops, exhibitions and events, and education including apprentice training, opened in Clerkenwell.

Current activities

In July 2017, the Goldsmiths' Company announced it was to become a founding partner of the new Museum of London, donating £10 million to the new site. It also announced a contribution of £250,000 to

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries, which opened in 2018. The Goldsmiths’ Company supported two large educational initiatives, providing funding for a science initiative in primary schools created by

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

and the National Theatre’s programme of streamed recordings for primary schools.

References

External links