A Brief Chronology
A brief Chronology of the Company’s history
1670 Guild of Fannmakers petition to Parliament
1697 Date on Company Mace
1709 Charter granted on 19th April by Queen Anne
1710 Company’s Hall in Red Cross Street
1711 Drawing up of (failed) By-laws
1726 Silver fan added to the Company Mace
1741 By-laws revised
1747 First Extant Records
1759 Master Richard Ringwood added Company Arms to the Mace
1775 Earliest surviving Minute Book
1809 Company granted livery of 60 on 20th June by the Court of Aldermen
1846 Company entertained the Lord Mayor for the first time
1870 The first competitive exhibition of fans, under Queen Victoria’s patronage at South Kensington Museum. Also a period of low interest in the Company due to declining trade caused by foreign competition
1877 Rebirth of the Company under Master Sir Homewood Crawford
Banner of Company Arms presented
1878 Master’s Badge purchased by the Court
Company Seal presented
Second competitive exhibition of fans at the Drapers’ Hall
1879 Permission granted by the Court of Aldermen to increase the Livery Company from 60 to 100
1888 Sir James Whitehead became the first Fan Maker to become Lord Mayor
1897 Company presented a fan to Queen Victoria on 18th June, marking her Diamond Jubilee, and inaugurated the ‘Royal Autograph Fan’.
1899 Sir Alfred Newton becomes the second Fan Maker to be elected Lord Mayor
1902 Presentation of fan to Queen Alexandra on 24th June on her Coronation
1904 Sir John Pound becomes third Fan Maker to be elected Lord Mayor
1907 Sir John Bell becomes fourth Fan Maker to become Lord Mayor
1910 Company presents fan to Queen Mary on her Coronation
1915 Wardens’ Badges of Office presented to the Company
1917 Cook Fund established to benefit Liverymen of the Fan Makers in need
1918 Freedom of the Company presented to The Rt Hon Lord Morris for services to the British Empire
1926 Honorary Freedom of the Company presented to HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Mary
1934 Sir Stephen Killik elected fifth Lord Mayor
Inauguration of the Latchford Prize Competition
1937 Presentation of ostrich feather fan to HM Queen Elizabeth on her Coronation
1939 Air conditioning recognised by the company as a modern form of the craft of fan making
1944 St Dionis Hall, Lime Street, first used as the Company Hall
1945 Sir Charles Davis elected as the Company’s sixth Lord Mayor
1946 First presentation of a fan to the Lord Mayor’s Lady
1948 Honorary Freedom of the Company presented to HRH Princess Alice, The Duchess of Gloucester
First modern Fan Maker elected Master
1951 The Poor Fund was instituted by Trust Deed for the relief of poverty, to supplement the Cook Fund, to advance education and religion, and for general charitable benefit
1952 Church Hall of St Botolph Without, Bishopsgate, restored and opened on 23rd October by HRH The Duchess of Gloucester as the official Company headquarters
1953 Fan presented to HM Queen Elizabeth II on her Coronation
Geoffrey Woods initiated prizes at Cranfield Institute
1956 HRH The Duchess of Gloucester became the first member of the Royal Family to dine with the Company at Skinners’ Hall, and presented five fans to the Company
1959 Company celebrated its 250th Anniversary of Charter at the Fishmongers’ Hall and the Mansion House attended by TRH The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester
1960 Gowns for the Master and Wardens presented to the Company
1963 Burglary at the Hall resulted in the loss of Princess Alice’s fans (inherited from Princess Louise)
1966 Increase in the Livery from 200 to 250 granted
1968 Ladies permitted to attend the Annual Livery Dinner, at the Mansion House, for the first time
Past Master Hector Young initiated the Hector Young Fund
1972 THR The Prince and Princess Richard of Gloucester attend the Annual Livery Banquet at the Mansion House
Fan presented to the Princess to commemorate her marriage
1973 Fan Makers’ Charitable Trust Fund established, amalgamating the Cook Fund, the Poor Fund and the Hector Young Fund
1974 HRH The Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, presents 30 fans to the Company collection
1975 HRH The Duchess of Gloucester (formerly Princess Richard of Gloucester) received the Honorary Freedom of the Company on 10th April
The Fan Circle International inaugurated at the Fan Makers’ Hall
1985 HRH The Princess of Wales attends the Annual Livery Dinner at the Mansion House
1988 217 (London) Field Squadron Royal Engineers adopted by the Company
The first traditional fan maker for at least 60 years is admitted to the Freedom and the Livery
1991 Letters Patent issued for the Company’s Coat of Arms
1992 Company moved to Skinners’ Hall in Dowgate Hill
1993 Elizabeth Lansbury Nursery School adopted by the Company
1994 HMS Westminster adopted by the Company
1996 No. II Squadron (AC) RAF adopted by the Company
2000 Millennium Exhibition
2005 HRH The Duchess of Gloucester is installed as the first Lady Liveryman in modern times
2009 The Company celebrates the 300th anniversary of the granting of its Royal Charter