II. TWO LORD MAYORS AND A SHERIFF

As we have already noted, at least since the beginning of the 12th century, and possibly since Saxon times, there had been Aldermen elected in the Wards, and from an early date, and until the second half of the 16th century, these aldermen were always chosen from the Twelve Great Companies. Since Saxon times there had been two Sheriffs jointly for London and Middlesex, who had originally been Royal appointees. Later these Sheriffs came to be elected annually by the aldermen and citizens, then after 1475 one of the sheriffs was elected by the Liverymen, the other being appointed by the Lord Mayor, and finally since 1694 both had been elected by the Livery. Usually one of the Sheriffs was an alderman, and one (now called the Lay Sheriff) was not, but there could be two Sheriffs who were Aldermen or two who were not.

In the second half of the 12th century the citizens had formed a council on the French model under an official called the Maior, and since 1189 there had always been a Mayor, who replaced the earliest Port Reeve and who since about 1400 had assumed the title of Lord Mayor. Probably the Mayor had always been chosen from the ranks of the aldermen and this became a legal requirement in 1435. Since 1385 it was recognised that the Lord Mayor must have served as a Sheriff, and until 1742 it was also regarded as a requirement that he “should also be a member of one of the “Twelve Great Companies”.

It will therefore be apparent that no Liveryman of a minor Company and therefore no Tyler and Bricklayer could have held the office of Alderman until the second half of the 16th century or that of Lord Mayor until the middle of the 18th century without having been transferred, or, as it was termed, translated, to one of the twelve. As it turned out, only three Liverymen have so far become Aldermen, all did so in the second half of the 18th century, all three subsequently held office as Sheriff, and two became a Lord Mayor, one of whom “translated”. All three received the no doubt unwelcome distinction of an entry in “City Biography”, a book published for its anonymous author in 1800, and containing largely scurrilous anecdotes of some sixty City Aldermen of this period. We will now consider the careers of these three Aldermen in turn.

The first of the Company’s Aldermen, Samuel Fludyer (1705-1768), was the son of a Liveryman of the Company also called Samuel who was excused service as Master in the year before his son’s birth , and whose family were wool merchants and clothiers in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. He was a Common Councillor between 1734-51, Alderman for Cheap between 1751-68, having translated to the Clothworkers Company in 1752, Sheriff in 1754-55 and Lord Mayor in 1761-62. Fludyer was also M.P. for Chippenham 1754-68, a director of the Bank of England 1753-68 and deputy Governor 1768. He received a Knighthood in 1755 and a Baronetcy in 1759 (which became extinct with the death of the 5th baronet in 1922).