The Right Honourable, the Lord Mayor of London Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Ian Bowater, D.S.O.. T.D

The Right Honourable, The Lord Mayor of London Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Ian Bowater, D.S.O.. T.D.

AN INCENTIVE INTERVIEW WITH SIR IAN BOWATER, WHOSE THEME THE OF OFFICE IS ‘COME TO BRITAIN’ LORD M O D E OF LONDON

How does the City of London stand the barons in signing the Magna Carta A few weeks later he takes office - today in relation to the rest of the world? at Runnymede. As a result the City of in my case on 7 November, 1969, at what Well, I think it can be claimed to be the London was granted its Charter by King is a silent ceremony. The emblems of the centre of the financial and banking world John with only one reservation. This City - the jewelled sceptre, the purse and of at least this half of the globe. And was that the City had to report the name the key of the City - are handed by the as far as Britain itself is concerned a of the man elected Lord Mayor to the high officers to the outgoing Lord Mayor very large proportion of our invisible ruling monarch. who then passes them to the incoming exports pass through it. That is why, after a Lord Mayor is Lord Mayor who touches them and hands The ‘invisibles’ result directly from the elected, as I was last September, he goes them back. City . . . by that I mean the earnings of to the House of Lords to inquire through The following day he proceeds in the the insurance companies, commissions the Recorder of London of the Lord world-famous golden coach drawn by on sales and banking, the overseas Chancellor whether his election has met the six enormous horses supplied by earnings of loans floated in the City, the approval of Her Majesty the Queen. Messrs Whitbread, who are the only the freights earned by shipping com After receiving Royal approval he is then, owners of horses strong enough to pull it. panies administered in the City and in fact, Lord Mayor-elect. He proceeds to the Royal Courts of so on. I think if you went through the financial commitments of the largest companies in this country, you would have difficulty in finding a single one which was not in some way or other connected with the activities of the City. Britain as a whole is a very rich country indeed, although people sometimes talk as if it were very poor. This is quite untrue. Its overseas investments are greater than any other country in the world with the exception possibly of the United States. Having said that, if you were to ask me if this country is going forward or backwards, I would say that we are going forward because of its technology and amazing abilities in the field of specialised inventions. One has only to think of Watson Watt’s radar, Fleming’s peni cillin, Rutherford’s atom research, Whittle’s jet engines, Cockerell’s Hover craft - and many others besides. There is nothing to stop this country retaining a lead in world technology and science. The only thing that can prevent it is the frustration of all this being held on the leash; frustrations which emerge from politics and controls and all those things that cut down freedom of action; and particularly by excessive taxation. If some of these could be swept away the country would surge forward again to wider and greater horizons. You have asked me about the office of Lord Mayor and what the mayoralty stands for. First we must remember that I am the 642nd holder of the office and as some people held it several times, the office goes back more than 750 years. The first time the holder was known Sir Ian Bowater was page to his uncle as Lord Mayor of London in 1912; last November, as the Lord Mayor was after he joined when Sir Ian took office, he was attended by his eight-year-old grandson, John Doughty.

INCENTTVF./70 1 Justice to be sworn as chief magistrate Mayor ceremonially greets the visitor for the Lord Chief Justice and this is and hands him a cask of silver containing what constitutes the Lord Mayor’s Show a scroll of welcome. A state banquet or pageant. follows at which the Lord Mayor The Lord Mayor has other respon presides. sibilities. He is Admiral of the port of A charming, and perhaps slightly less London and has certain constitutional formal occasion, is when a great states obligations. For instance, in the event of man or soldier is presented with the an accession to the Throne he is sum honorary freedom. In the recent past moned to attend the Accession Privy there have been names known throughout Council and that is the reason why he the world, including members of the is the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor. Royal Family, Sir Winston Churchill, He must also be informed of a Royal General Eisenhower, and many of the birth. Prime Ministers of Commonwealth coun In the event of a declaration of war tries. The Lord Mayor presides on a dais, he must receive it at once from the Prime surrounded by distinguished leaders of Minister and read it to the citizens. the land, and on either side in their In 1914 my uncle. Sir Vansittart Bowater, scarlet robes are the aldermen. The read the declaration; in 1939 my father Chamberlain delivers a speech eulogis The Walbrook Street entrance to the Mansion House, which is the door used by performed this duty. ing the person to be honoured and places the Lord Mayor of London and his visitors. The Lord Mayor must also receive in his hand a scroll welcoming him as an in state the Monarch if she chooses to honorary freeman of the city. On these is not elected on party lines, nor are the enter the City. He proceeds, with aider- occasions the Lord Mayor generally aldermen or common councillors. Every men and sheriffs to Temple Bar where gives a private or semi-private banquet man votes according to his own way there was once a Temple Gate and there in his own home, the Mansion House, of thinking. awaits Her Majesty. He presents to her to which two or three hundred disting In addition the Lord Mayor presides the Sword of State with point reversed. uished people are invited. over a number of specialised committees This is the sign of his allegiance. The During the year the Lord Mayor which deal with the business of the City Queen then touches the sword and presides over a number of state banquets and he maintains liaison by virtue of his places it back in his hands. This is a sign in the Mansion House, banquets given office with the principal institutions such that she accepts his allegiance and the to the judges, the bishops, the arts, the as the Stock Exchange, the Baltic allegiance of her loyal subjects, the sciences, the Diplomatic Corps, the Exchange, Lloyds, the Bank of England, citizens of London. bankers . . . the Institute of Bankers, Chambers of Thereafter he precedes her. Should the It is the Lord Mayor’s duty to preside Commerce, Chamber of Shipping - in Queen attend St Paul’s, the Lord Mayor, over the deliberations of the Court of fact all those institutions which represent in special ermine robe, precedes 'her, Common Council, which perhaps few the activities of the City of London.

Drawn by six dapple-grey shires, the Lord Mayor’s Coach leaves Whitbread’s Brewery in the A statue of the boy Dick Whittington, who City of London at the start of the Lord Mayor’s Show on the second Saturday in November. was to become four times the Lord Mayor. holding the sword above him up the people realise is the oldest parliament in The City still owns and administers steps of the Cathedral and lays it on the the country, going back beyond the time the markets: Billingsgate fish market, table in front of the Queen where she is of the Parliament of Westminster. In Leadenhall poultry market, Spitalfields seated. fact it was from the inspiration of the fruit and vegetable markets, Smithfield This is one of the most moving City Parliament that much of the pre- meat market. ceremonies which you will witness and is cedure at Westminster was derived. For The City’s greatest responsibilities are one of the great traditional rights of the instance, no business can take place until those connected with the administration City of London. the sword and the mace are placed on the of justice. The Central Criminal Courts, On state visits it is usual for the table in front of the Lord Mayor, who which are generally known as the visitors to be received by the citizens of sits as a kind of Speaker and President Old Bailey, are in fact the largest, London. This generally takes place at rolled into one, flanked on either side by probably the oldest and certainly the Guildhall and again the Lord Mayor the aldermen with the Common Council best-known of all the criminal assize appears in his royal robe. This is generally on the floor of the House. courts in the country and for that matter preceded by a state reception. The Lord There are no parties. The Lord Mayor in the world. Criminal court procedure

2 incentive/70 in all the English-speaking and Common what is today generally believed to be to be delivered that evening at a dinner wealth countries is derived from these the best example of British justice. or function. Perhaps after that you visit courts. Well, you have asked me what I felt one of the boroughs twenty or thirty At the present time there is unfor like when I was elected Lord Mayor. miles away for a reception. With luck tunately an attempt being mounted I would have been less than human if I you will get in bed about half past twelve. to take away the administrative authority had not experienced a sense of pride on You do similar things next day, but of the Lord Mayor and the City Cor being elected the 642nd Lord Mayor, you may be going to hospitals, schools poration and place it in the hands of a the 41st Haberdasher to be Lord Mayor or to visit a section of the City health High Court Authority. If this comes (my direct ancestor John Bowater was department at Gravesend. There are so about the City will no longer have its made a freeman of the Haberdashers’ many things you may be doing; every own Recorder and Common Serjeant, Company in July, 1600) and the fourth day is different. The Lord Mayor travels the Lord Mayor will no longer be the member of my family to hold this office. to a certain extent. Not a great deal Chief Judge Commissioner, the aldermen Having said all that, I experienced within the country, but he does preside no longer commissioners. In fact the other feelings as well. There is a sense of over the metropolitan boroughs who administrative authority of the City will mission: you must not only preserve have their meetings in various places. be removed and the Old Bailey judges the right traditions but you must further The Lord Mayor goes abroad for who were always considered part and the office in all its activities. You must British Weeks or on good will and trade parcel of the City and its works will go, do your utmost to see that its impact missions, or for some special reason. too. They will pack their bags and become on the citizens, and on the people beyond The last Lord Mayor went to Tokyo in circuit judges and for what reason? It is the City, is the right one and is never October and to Monaco, and the difficult to think of any good reason. allowed to lessen. Lord Mayor before him went to Stock When I, as Lord Mayor, went to the You have asked me, what is the Lord holm and America. As Sheriff, I accom Law Courts on the day I was sworn as Mayor’s routine? Well, it leaves very panied Sir Lionel Denny on his visits to Chief Magistrate to the Lord Chief little time for anything else. You start Chile and California. But the theme of Justice, he observed to me from the the day generally at nine in the morning my year is ‘Come to Britain.’ bench that change must come to many going through numerous incoming papers We receive a large number of overseas things and in many places and change is which are sometimes controversial. visitors to the Mansion House. They often good but where change is for Thereafter you receive people. You may range from heads of state, legislators, change’s sake it is no good and can be then sit on the bench because the leaders of various denominations and disastrous. Mansion House is the only private house businessmen. Tomorrow for example, One can only hope that this will be in Europe where justice is administered I shall be receiving some Japanese one of the matters where a suitable in a private court. visitors who have come from Tokyo in and timely compromise will prevent Generally there are various luncheons connection with Expo 70. During my the severing of a connection which has at which you are expected to speak and year I shall see many overseas visitors. weathered all the adverse conditions meet people, followed by appointments. All will be welcome - and honoured time and history has produced to become Then you find time to write a speech guests of the City of London •

Entering the City at Temple Bar in 1958, Her Majesty the Queen received the City Sword from the then Lord Mayor, Sir Denis Truscott,

incentive/70 3 r i i r T I j! The City of London is the richest square mile in the 1 Í I P j world—rich in history and rich materially as a centre of world trade. The City has not kept its SQTjAHE history to itself: trading institutions throughout the world have been influenced by London — MILE1 the twenty-century, twentieth-century City. The City is the oldest part of London. History tends to be interpreted in rather violence, and has many scars to prove it, Next in antiquity, occupying four times as the same way that news is presented - but it stands above all as a living symbol much ground area, is the neighbouring jerkily, in terms of war, assassination, of the permanence of trade, and its chief City of Westminster, wherein are lodged famine and revolt. For most people, how honours are those of peace rather than the Crown, Parliament and the executive ever, life runs more continuously, and the battle. offices of Government. To appreciate the greatest contribution to that continuity - Twenty centuries ago the site on which position of the City today, it is necessary and prosperity - is made by industry and the City now stands lay in an area of to trace its development over twenty cen trade. marshes and lagoons. In those days the turies - a story as old as Christendom. The City has seen its full share of Thames was joined here by tributaries which have since ceased to exist. The inhabitants were probably Britons, the people ultimately driven into Wales, Scotland and Ireland by the ancestors of the English. They called the place Llyn-din, meaning the Fort on the Lake. The basic way of life for these Londoners was hunting, though it is believed that London was known to merchants from Gaul and Belgium before the first Romans under Julius Caesar set foot in Britain in 55 bc. The Roman conquest of Britain in 43 ad was chronicled by Tacitus, who referred to Londinium, as the Romans originally called it, as ‘a town of the highest repute and a busy emporium Roman London in pre-Christian days at Contrast in the City: part of the Roman Wall for trade and trading.’ Walbrook, where stood theTemple of Mithras. (foreground) and a modern office building. At an early stage of the Roman occupation of Britain, which lasted until 4 1 0 a d , occupation was the sys capital of England, as it had now become, the invaders built a walled citadel on the tem of straight roads gave it fresh security by rebuilding its north bank of the Thames. This settle converging in the City protective walls and founding the Navy. ment steadily grew in importance and in on the site of London A weak king was Ethelred Unrede, who the middle of the fourth century the Bridge, of which the came to the Throne in 979, paid the Romans surrounded the whole town with most important was Danegeld, then unsuccessfully tried to a strong wall just over three miles in Watling Street, leading fight them off and was finally put out of length (its outline can be traced on the to the west. Those parts the City and off the throne by Canute. map on the back cover of this issue). This of Roman London This Danish king extracted from London wall put an end to attacks by tribesmen, which were not des a tribute of £11,000 which was reckoned the most violent of which was led by the troyed were buried; one important relic by one historian to be equivalent to one- British tribal queen Boadicea in ad 61. of the occupation, the temple of Mithras seventh of the gross national product of With the completion of the wall, London was excavated as recently as 1956. Even England at that time. was renamed Augusta in honour of the the Roman place-names were changed by The beginnings of City life outside the hereditary title of the Roman Emperor the Saxons, who, over the course of the original walled fortress date from the and at this time also the former town next 200 years, drove the Britons out of reign of the peaceable Edward the Con became a Christian city. the City (it’s possible that the surviviors fessor, who built the first Westminster After the Romans left their British made their escape to the west along Abbey in the eleventh century. Elis colony most of their settlements crumbled Watling Street) and re-named it Lunden- successor was the Norman, William the away and the most tangible legacy of their wic. One of the few remaining Roman Conqueror, the first Monarch to be words is street, a corruption of strata via, meaning a paved way. After one or two false starts, the Saxons became firmly converted to Christianity, and in the process became less aggressive and more interested in trade. London once more became an attractive port of call to the European merchants. The revived prosperity of the City made it the target of marauding Danes, who gave the Saxons a dose of their own medicine with several generations of pillage and black mail (Danegeld). Success or failure of resistance to the Danes depended on the strength of monarchs. A strong example was King Alfred, first King of all England The Temple of Mithras, whose head is shown who recaptured the City from the Danes ‘Street’ is one of the few words to remind above right, was not discovered until 1956. in 884, and realising the importance of the London of the era of Roman occupation. crowned in Westminster - on Christmas the ancestors of all the trade unions in the wool taxes for the Pope, but stayed to Day, 1066. The power of the City at the world, which came into being in the City trade on their own account. For many time is indicated by the wording of the to protect the interests of the tradesmen. centuries they controlled London’s money Charter which the conquering King gave We first hear of the title of Mayor of lending business, and Lombard Street is the citizens in return for their submission. London around 1190 in the person of still the centre of banking. The original document is still preserved Henry Fitzaylwin who held the office for Between the time of the conquest and Lombards: in the Guild Hall and it reads as follows: about a quarter of a century. The first the year 1290 there was a settlement of E.C.3 ‘William, King, greets William, bishop, Mayors to identify themselves with the Jewish money lenders around the area ...... — and Gosfrith, portreeve, and all the guilds of craftsmen and the common still known as Old Jewry, but they were burghers within London, French and people rather than the merchants and the subject to frequent persecution, which English, friendly; and I would have you Crown were Fitzosbert and FitzThomas, reached a peak under the reign of know that 1 will that ye be all law-worthy who held office in the time of the Plan- Edward i. In 1279 there was a wholesale that were in King Edward’s day. And I tagenet Kings Richard and Henry h i hanging of 293 Jewish men and women will that every child be his father’s heir respectively. These kings tended to accused of clipping the coinage, and after his father’s day; and I will not squeeze the City for cash; the Mayors eleven years later the whole colony was endure that any man offer any wrong to resisted strongly, with the result that ordered to become Christian or leave the you. God keep you.’ Fitzosbert was executed and FitzThomas country. This short but very significant state disappeared after being given safe con One of the most powerful influences to ment implied that the City possessed its duct by Henry. In the long run, however, take root in the City was a company of own authority, both spiritual and tem the City was to prove the stronger of the German merchants called the Hanseatic poral (the office of portreeve anticipated two factions. League, who monopolised the German the position of mayor; our modern word Foreign merchants and financiers were and Baltic trading. Londoners referred to sheriff is derived from shire-reeve). The drawn to the City in substantial numbers. them as Easterlings or men from the citizens were to be freemen and not under Their presence is marked by such place- East. These merchants tendered their names as Old Jewry and Lombard Street. own coinage of fixed weight, which was The Guildhall, scene of the Great Banquet on the jurisdiction of Norman overlords, The Royal Exchange is a permanent monument to the far-sightedness and patriotism of the Lord Mayor’s Day, was originally built by and the principle was established that Elizabethan merchant-adventurer Sir Thomas Gresham, who founded the original Exchange The Lombards were Italian merchants accepted everywhere as Easterling money, the merchant-guild about 560 years ago. Londoners could hand on property to in 1586. Queen Victoria opened this building, the third to occupy the site, in 1844. who originally came to England to collect and in time this was abbreviated to Sterling. their children as opposed to the feudal system whereby it would revert to an overlord. The agreement between the King and the City was, of course, a form of compromise. To secure his own position, William decided to build the Tower of London, a ■\ I v fi T a t work which was completed by his son William Rufus. The strong point of this fortress was the White Tower of which the architect was Gundulf, Bishop of pr f 1 Rochester. It is easily overlooked nowa J.M, I ^^gsgj days that churchmen were architects as well as teachers; a later feature of London, the Bridge begun in 976, was also the work of a priest-architect, Peter de Colechurch. The Tower of London, which overlooks the City from the south-east corner on the river side, has been referred to as ‘the padlock on the wall.’ It is actually outside the boundary of the City. William Rufus not only completed the Tower but he busied himself with the The Monument commemorates the Great development of the neighbouring City of Fire which razed the City of London in 1666. Westminster. He was killed by an arrow The seal of William the Conqueror (below), in 1100 and was succeeded by his brother who gave London its first Charter in 1066. Henry who gave the citizens a fuller Charter than that signed by his father. Among other concessions, they were to be allowed to appoint their own sheriff's. TheexistenceofChartersdidnot mean,of course, that difficulties between monarchs and merchants were settled overnight. The stability promised by those pieces of parchment took some seven centuries to be realised. There were periods of har mony under the wiser sovereigns, whose interests coincided with those of the City and its people, alternating with periods of tension and violence. Conflicts of interest also arose within the City itself - between the aristocratic merchants, for example, and the tradesmen. The livery companies of today were the original craft guilds, Though very much part of the City scene, Tower Bridge is not within the boundaries. It was designed by Wolfe Barry and built by the City Corporation of London in 1894 for only £800,000. incentive/70 7 6 incentive/70 prentices as they were called, would band together and behave in disorderly fashion, picking fights, especially with foreigners and strangers. Elizabeth ordered that any lad found guilty before a Justice of the Peace of such behaviour should be hanged forthwith. The Elizabethan age saw London take its place as the first seaport of the world. The man who did most to put the City in its predominant position was Sir Thomas Gresham. As the King’s Mer chant, he had the duty of negotiating loans for the sovereign from the rich Flemish merchants. His first achievement was to get the rate of interest reduced Like its counterparts in other countries, London’s Stock Exchange is no longer the leisurely from 14 to 10 per cent. He later advised place shown (right) in this Illustrated London News engraving of March 1854. Elizabeth to borrow from the merchants of London rather than from Antwerp. Another source of trade in the eleventh and patriotically threw them on the fire. He decided in Antwerp, which had 5,000 and twelfth centuries came from the The conflict between the Houses of merchants compared with London’s 500, pilgrims of London, who during their York and Lancaster which led to the that the reason for its prosperity was the journeys to and from Rome or the Holy Wars of the Roses, was finally settled simple fact that Antwerp had a central Land would tell foreigners about the by the City of London, who decided that meeting place, or exchange, for the wonders and prosperity of London. On the House of York, and the person of merchants known as the Bourse. their return they would encourage mer Edward iv, would best suit their com Gresham, who had lost his only son, chants to go abroad by recounting mercial interests. He was a popular king devoted his own great wealth to giving descriptions of the markets they had seen and his reign produced brisk trade, the merchants of London a similar during their pilgrimages. prosperity and peace. meeting place. His Royal Exchange was Edward n was an oppressive king, but The Tudor era, which began with opened by Elizabeth in 1571. Fortunately it was during his reign that the Craft Henry vii, made an unpromising start. for London, Antwerp was sacked by the Guilds were raised in status to livery Henry vii was an extortionist and Henry Spaniards four years later, and thanks companies and began to achieve an vm carried out wholesale destruction to Gresham’s foresight London stepped almost despotic power in the government of Catholic monasteries, churches and in to take her place as the prime trading of the City. No one could vote, for many famous monuments. The reaction, centre of the world. This happened during example, unless he was a member of a under Queen Mary, was a violent and the period that the sailors of London and craft guild. cruel persecution of Protestants. Devon were opening up English routes to Under Edward n the livery com America and the East. Other significant panies came fully into their own. This developments of this time were the young king, in exchange forthe cash need deprival of the Hanseatic merchants of ed for conducting his French campaign, their export monopolies, and the arrival in gave charters to many companies, and England of persecuted Flemish wool- enrolled himself in one of them—the weavers, with the result that within a linen-armourers (now called the Mer century London’s chief export was cloth chant Taylors). The companies not rather than wool. now only controlled the elections but set Gresham’s commercial policy brought rigid standards for purity and quality of about the foundation of the great British food and workmanship of all kinds. trading companies, which not only The power of the companies was not brought prosperity to London but led to the liking of the peasants and com to the establishment of a great part of the moners, who rebelled during the reign British Empire. The Eastland Company of Richard n in 1381, but the rebel traded in the Baltic; the Russian Com leaders, Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, lost pany brought the silks, tea and spices of their heads, and the revolt was put down Asia from beyond the Caspian. The by the Mayor and Sheriffs. This lesson in In dignity, if not in actual height, the dome of Turkey Company and the East India the power of the City was lost on St Paul’s Cathedral still dominates the City. Company lasted into the 19th century. Richard, who proceeded to put taxes on The Hudson’s Bay Company thrives the City, which responded by appointing The potential greatness of London was today—and is this year celebrating the Henry rv in his place (Richard was laid realised when Queen Elizabeth i came 300th anniversary of its foundation. out in the City in St Paul’s Cathedral so to the Throne. She was a strong ruler, The most powerful demonstration of the that the people ‘might believe for certain which was always popular in the City City’s authority came during the Stuart that he was dead’). The next king was and she did away with extortion. The era, which was inaugurated by James I. Henry v, the victor of Agincourt in 1415. City was pleased to lend money to such When he was refused a loan the Scottish The Lord Mayor who welcomed the a sovereign, and when Elizabeth asked king became angry and threatened to triumphant King on his return was the for fifteen ships and 5,000 men to fight remove his court from London altogether. legendary Richard Whittington, who the Spanish Armada the City gave her The Lord Mayor humbly accepted that gave Henry a magnificent banquet in his double this force. Even in those relatively his sovereign could do as he wished, own private house. It is said that at the prosperous and stable times we find but asked that when he departed he height of the banquet Whittington pro evidence of behaviour remarkably should leave the River Thames behind duced the King’s bonds, representing parallel to the present phenomenon of him. Charles i, also ignoring history, £60,000 lent to him to finance the war, student protest. The apprentices, or made an enemy of the City by demanding 8 incf.ntive/70 an extortionate loan; this led directly to years. It was completed in the reign of his defeat and execution at the hands of Queen Anne, in 1708. A commercially the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. The notable event of the times took place two reaction to Cromwell was the restoration years later when Britain’s first General of the Monarchy in the person of Charles Post Office was established in the City. II, with the City’s blessing, in 1660. With The last clash of wills between the gay disregard for the past, Charles Monarch and the City Corporation of decided that the best policy for the king London occurred in the reign of George in was for him to takeaway the Charter of the in 1773. It ended inconclusively. The City City of London, govern it himself and wished to present a petition against the obtain personal access to its exchequer. American war, on the grounds that it He was succeeded by his brother James n ‘interfered with business and that it was who determined not only to keep the City a war of brother against brother, and ‘in commission’ but to restore the that it was scandalously conducted.’ The Catholic religion. King and the then Lord Mayor of The reaction of the City of London was London, John Wilkes, were unable to to invite William of Orange to take over reach agreement as to where the petition Visitors to the Stock Exchange, averaging 500 should be presented, and there the matter daily, add to the bustle of Throgmorton St. ended. The City today has a working popula Word, Our Bond’ expresses the fact that tion of half a million people, though only all negotiations are by word of mouth. 5,000 actually reside within its bound Nowhere in the history of London is the aries. Inevitably, the density of activity centre of international trade more strik actually taking place in the square mile, ingly demonstrated than in the system of coupled with the devastation caused by commodity exchange, totalling nineteen German bombing in the last war, has in all, which deals largely with overseas resulted in re-development of the City products and is concerned with future as with a strong emphasis on multi-storey well as present business. The City’s buildings. The character of the old City commodity exchange covers such varied survives in the street plan, in the preser products as furs, wool, coffee, rubber, vation of the ancient buildings which tin, tea, grain, sugar, diamonds, zinc, survived the war—and in the institutions copper, copra, cocoa and lead. and offices of the City itself. One of the The London Commodity Exchange, a most welcome of the post-war develop At the City's heart is the Bank of England, merger of the former Commercial Sale the ‘Old Lady of Threadneedle Street,’ ments has been the cleaning of some of Rooms and the Rubber Exchange, is in which has been state-owned since 1946. the City’s most precious buildings, Mincing Lane. Trades represented in its including St Paul’s Cathedral, which until Plantation House headquarters include the Throne, and James departed quietly. recently had not been washed down From this point, 1688, there was no since 1710; in places the dirt was a foot violent confrontation between the Crown thick. The City Corporation of London and the City, and this was the last oc was the first local authority in Britain to casion on which the City exercised its introduce clean air legislation, so that a ancient right to appoint a Monarch. good chance exists that the London The major event of William’s reign was monuments which have been cleaned will the founding of the Bank of England by remain clean. the Scotsman William Patterson in 1694. Development of the City of London is Though originally a private concern the continuous, and it is planned that by 1980 Bank of England later acquired the ex all but seventy of its total area of 677 will clusive right to note issue in England and have been completely rebuilt. Wales and it was nationalised in 1946. Possibly the most basic of the City's Until the 17th century London had financial institutions is the Stock Ex been a dirty city for most of its history. change, which is being rehoused for the The great turning point towards clean third time in its 200 years of existence. liness came after 1665, when one in five Originally the stockbrokers used to meet of the population of half a million died in in the coffee houses around Change the greatest of the many plagues which Alley; for this reason the attendants in A typical City pub in Leadenhall market. had afflicted London over the centuries. the Stock Exchange today are still referred In 1666 the Great Fire destroyed the City to as waiters. Over the next two years the cocoa, copra, oil seeds, essential oils, along with the lingering traces of the Stock Exchange will be gradually moving pepper and spices, ivory, jute, hemp, plague. Some 200,000 people were home into a new 26-storey block, which has cost rubber and shellac. The Rubber Market less, yet astonishingly there is no record £10m. It will be the most modern Stock meets in the Main Exchange, and adjoin of a single death. Exchange building in the world as well as ing this are separate rooms for the Sugar Plans were made to rebuild the City on one of the oldest institutions of its kind and Corn Markets. The Vegetable Oil classical lines and to do away with the and (with Wall Street and Tokyo) one of Terminal Market, the Fishmeat Terminal winding alleyways but the citizens were so the largest. The Stock Exchange welcomes Market and the Apple Terminal Market quick to rebuild on their own sites that visitors, who average 500 a day. hold their ‘calls’ in sections of the Main the City’s street plan remains broadly as Another international institution which Exchange. The Corn Exchange, in Mark it was before the Fire. The rebuilding of had coffee house origins is the Baltic Lane, is the most important cereal market St Paul’s Cathedral under Sir Christopher Exchange, whose functions include in the United Kingdom, with a member Wren, who was also the architect of more charter, sale and purchase of ships ship of about 650 firms and with about than 50 churches within the City, took 37 throughout the world. The motto ‘Our 165 having stands on the floor. Although INCENTIVF./70 9

Collection Number: A1132 Collection Name: Patrick LEWIS Papers, 1949-1987

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