The Livery and Freedom
The Company is a "living" guild and numbers among its members both professionals and amateurs who are actively involved in the craft. All are united by the common bond of gardens and gardening.
Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and the Earl of Wessex are Royal Liverymen. Their Majesties The King and Queen of the Belgians are Royal Freemen of the Company, reflecting the strong links between the two countries in the world of gardening.
As a City of London Livery Company, there are close links with the Corporation of London and members of the Company are strongly represented on the Court of Common Council. Since 1891, the year in which the Company was granted City Livery status, 11 Lord Mayors have been Gardeners. Of these, eight served as Master.
Admission to the Company is usually by one of four routes: Patrimony, Servitude, Redemption or Presentation. Candidates for admission to the Freedom and advancement to the Livery are subject to interview and recommendation by a committee appointed by the Court. A fifth category of membership is that of Honorary Freedom (Freedom Honoris Causa) which the Court has the power to award to persons who have distinguished themselves by public service or individual merit.
Read more about this topic: Worshipful Company Of Gardeners
Famous quotes containing the words livery and/or freedom:
“Whether, if you yield not to your father’s choice,
You can endure the livery of a nun,
For aye to be in shady cloister mewed,
To live a barren sister all your life,
Chanting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon.
Thrice blessed they that master so their blood
To undergo such maiden pilgrimage.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Picture the prince, such as most of them are today: a man ignorant of the law, well-nigh an enemy to his people’s advantage, while intent on his personal convenience, a dedicated voluptuary, a hater of learning, freedom and truth, without a thought for the interests of his country, and measuring everything in terms of his own profit and desires.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)