Spring Dinner, Armoury House, 10 April 2025
The Master and Wardens of the Company were delighted to welcome members and guests to our Spring Dinner at Armoury House, Honourable Artillery Company on Thursday 10 April 2025.
We packed a lot in during the evening. After the receiving line and reception, the Master Scrivener presented a Squadron Badge to the cadets of 329 Finsbury ATC Squadron, our affiliated Air Cadet Squadron. The Badge was commissioned by Past Master Barry Theobald-Hicks. Sadly, Past Master Barry is currently very ill and was unable to be at the dinner, so three cadets, supported by Flt Lt Jay Tresadern visited Barry at home earlier in the week for an informal presentation.
Alan Willis VR gave us a quick canter through the history of the HAC and Artillery Gardens, as well as pointing out some of the magnificent portraits in the room. The facts which drew most comment from the assembled company was that cricket had been played on the site as early as 1725 and that the very first hydrogen balloon flight in the UK took off from the garden.
A jazz music interlude was provided by Oskar Jones and Lucian McCauley from the minstrels’ gallery.
The Upper Warden, Andrew Claudet, proposed the toast to our guests, suggesting that a theme which linked all our guests was “comfort in troubled times”. He went on to say that The World Traders could help us navigate the new world order of tariffs, the Solicitors' Company could assist with challenges to the rule of law, and the Company of HR Professionals were on hand in case we need to make any changes at the top of government. The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists would stop the whole system from crashing, and if the unthinkable were to happen then we were comforted that we had representatives from our armed forces affiliates. Finally, he called on our principal guest, The Very Reverend Dr Mark Oakley, Dean of Southwark, to be on hand to provide us with spiritual guidance.
The Dean spoke of the Scrivener in Shakespeare’s Richard III, a man whose wit and good humour brings light relief in dark times, and reminded us of our inheritance as Scriveners in our reverence for the good use of language and our need, now more than ever, for trustworthy words.
The professional photographs taken by Marcus Jamieson-Pond, some of which are shown here, have been sent out to members who attended. If you were there and have not received the link, please get in touch with the Clerk.
#LiveryLife #CityOfLondon #Notaries #ScrivenerNotaries