THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF FARMERS grew out of the Company of Agriculturalists (subsequently altered to the “Company of Farmers”) of the City of London which had been established on 23rd September 1946. In December 1946 Lord Courthope, a Past Prime Warden of the Goldsmiths’ Company, accepted an invitation to become Master of the new Company.
The initiative came from the the Chairman's Committee of the British Red Cross Agricultural Fund which had been set up during the Second World War and was known as the Duke of Gloucester's Red Cross and St John of Jerusalem Appeal Organisation. The purpose was to raise funds for the war effort. The whole of agriculture and ancillary trades were united by this appeal and over £8.5million had been raised when the Fund closed in 1946.
In February 1951, a Petition was presented to the Court of Alderman and on 22nd January 1952, the Court granted the Prayer of the Petition. The Company's Grant of Livery was fianlly approved on 10th June 1952 and formally presented to the Master by the Rt. Hon. the Lord Mayor at the Mansion House on 31st October 1952. A Grant of Charter of Incorporation was formally made by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 29th July 1955.
The annual installation of the Master is held at the conclusion of the Company's Harvest Festival Service in October each year.
MEMBERSHIP
Entry to becoming a Freeman of the Company is by one of the following three paths:
1) By Patrimony - the right of a child born when his/her parent is a liveryman of the Company.
2) By Apprenticeship or 'Freedom by servitude' - for a period of not less than four yeas and not more than eight years, completion of apprenticeship will give admittance to the Company.
3) By Redemption - following proposal and seconding by Liverymen and approval by the Court, the candidate is elected a Freeman.
To become a Liveryman you must first become a Freeman of the Company and then obtain the Freedom of the City of London. A Freeman can then request to be clothed subject to a vacancy in the Livery.
THE MAIN AIMS AND OBJECTS OF THE FARMERS COMPANY
- stimulating the development of agricultural education
- providing financial assistance for overseas agricultural visits
- the provision of a common meeting ground for farmers and allied professions
- the promotion of a better understanding of the importance of farming in the economic life of the nation and the close association of farming with the City of London
Information Leaflet.
COAT OF ARMS - The Grant of Arms was in the following Terms:
Arms - Azure three ears of wheat in fesse slipped and leaved or a chief of the last.
Crest - A bull passant gules semee of mullets or armed and unguled gold.
Supporters - On either side a farm labourer proper holding in the exterior hand a sickle also proper.
Motto - "Give us our Daily Bread"
Badge - Two sickles interlaced Or.
The elements of the design rest upon the basic factors of farming. The ears of wheat in the Arms symbolise what has for all times been one of the principal sources of human food. The Crest of the celestial bull (Taurus) semee of stars represents the elements of livestock. The human element is exhibited in the two young farm labourers with their sickles. The Motto is an appropriate prayer derived from the Lord’s Prayer. The interlaced sickles in the Badge exemplify the garnering of the harvest.
Crest Detail