This is the Egyptian Hall at the Mansion House - scene of the Marketors' banquet with the Lord Mayor on July 27th, but also of the Lord Mayor's dinner for all the Masters, Prime Wardens and Upper Bailiff of the Livery Companies last Thursday evening. The Honourable Artillery Company provided a Guard of Honour of Pikemen and Musketeers and an orchestra, who played throughout.
A Master is usually accompanied by their Clerk to Livery events (very helpful for introductions and avoiding mistakes) but on this occasion we were invited with our spouses. My husband sat next to the Mistress Farmer and was delighted to discover that they knew several people in common, Roger having worked in farming for many years. I sat between two Common Councilmen, who explained to me what their roles entailed: they are like councillors of any other local authority, but with a very different constituency of residents, both individuals and companies. I learned that there is a large archaeological site under Billingsgate market waiting to be excavated - a set of Roman baths.
The Lord Mayor took the opportunity of giving a strong message to be disseminated to the Livery - see the next posting for details.
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