Cooks’ historian Paul Herbage outlines (in appropriate script) an eight-year struggle to draft a new Charter – the ninth in the Company’s history – and offload some very old rules.
The Company is receiving a Supplemental Royal Charter, confirmed by Her Majesty at a Privy Council Meeting in September and announced at our Company Banquet in October.
Dr Alan Borg’s excellent History of the Company points out that “The Mistery of Cooks of the City of London” have during the past six Centuries received eight Royal Charters always using the name the Mistery of Cooks of London rather than the title to which we are usually referred “The Worshipful Company of Cooks of London”.
Eight years ago a small problem arose prompting a discussion about the need to update the rules by which we were governed. Under the terms of the Charter of King Charles II one of the By-Laws was that the Election Court had to be held on the Feast Day of Holy Cross alias Holyrood Day (14th September). In 2013 the Master Bev Puxley planned a Cooks trip to Saint-Emilion that meant it wouldn’t be possible to hold a legitimate Election Court on the day that year. The long-term solution was to start work on preparing the ground for a Supplemental Charter that would enable the Company to operate more effectively in the 21st Century.
What followed was a long labour of love during which I’ve been massively supported by our Clerk, Peter Wilkinson, and three “legal” Past Masters – Fellow Historian Michael Messent, Oliver Goodinge and Michael Thatcher. It has involved the very careful drafting, redrafting and proof reading of the texts that make up three documents: a supplemental Royal Charter, a set of By-Laws, and a Set of Ordinances. Simply put these are increasingly more detailed rules under which we must operate. Changes to the first two require the consent of the Privy Council and changes to Ordinances require the formal consent of the Court of Aldermen of the City of London.
One principle we adopted was to disentangle some rules so that they could be updated more easily. This was achieved by having a set of Regulations (or Standing Orders) detailing the minutiae of how we conduct day-to-day business that can be changed by the Court without reference to a higher authority. Previous Charters and By-Laws which still technically remained extant include powers dating back to when we controlled the craft of Cookery.
Would members today really appreciate an unannounced visit from the Master with the power to inspect the meal they have just prepared?*
Livery Companies are not able to petition the Privy Council directly for a Royal Charter but have to seek the formal approval of the Court of Aldermen. They refer all documents to a sub-committeee chaired by a legally qualified Alderman, whose task is to ensure that changes don’t move to Regulations matters about which they would argue the Court of Aldermen should have jurisdiction. This required sending a detailed outline of what will ultimately form a new document of Regulations. Substantive changes to text of course required Court approval and another quirk of the Charles 11 Charter was that approval could only be given at the Election Court.
Eventually in September 2020 the documents were submitted to the Privy Council Office. They started a further meticulous scrutiny which identified other issues. First they needed to see a copy of the Charles 11 Charter. The Company’s copy along with others destroyed during the Blitz meant the only copy was at the National Archive, which was closed due to the pandemic. Also it was written in the script and language of the day which meant we needed it transcribed. Fortunately, we were able to engage a researcher at the College of Arms.
The second point was the question of our name as all previous Charters, including one of King George V1, refer to the Mistery of Cooks of London. We had to seek confirmation that the City of London were indeed happy for us to be called the Worshipful Company of Cooks of London.
Being granted a Royal Charter is just the first step – so that we might have something visible to hang on a wall. We have instructed a calligrapher to prepare the first vellum page, the Great Seal will need to be affixed and the whole document framed. Hopefully this will finally be presented to the Company next year and we can all celebrate.
*For more amusement of By-Laws that clearly aren’t appropriate in modern times look at Appendix Six in the Company History by Dr Alan Borg.
