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The City of London has one of the strongest unbroken traditions of livery companies in the world. Over one hundred companies, some six centuries old, maintain strong, colourful, beneficial, traditional and independent lives, and many of them have beautiful halls. This book traces the history of the guilds and liveries in various countries and shows their influence on the government of the City, on which the Westminster model is based, on the actual trades, on royalty and on the history of Britain and other lands. The author compares the guilds of Britain with those of Europe and describes each of the City guilds, their halls, history, traditions, work and influence.

Softcover; A5; 122pp

About the Author

John Kennedy Melling was Master of the Poulters in 1980/ 1, by patrimony, his father being a liveryman, and his grandfather a freeman. He is also a Baker, a Farrier, whose history he edited, and a Constructer, leading that company on visits to Dusseldorf, Sheffield, York and Aberdeen. Former editor of The Liveryman magazine, and author of London and the Guilds of Europe and The Poulters of London booklet, he is a lecturer, historian, broadcaster and critic, playwright and author on subjects from antiques to crime fiction, from Alfred Hitchcock to museums. One of his books is the authoritative Murder Done to Death, the first ever survey of parody and pastiche in detective fiction. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, former Committee Member of the Crime Writer's Association, member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and of various chivalric orders, he is an International Life Vice-President of the American Federation of Police and was awarded the Order of Michael the Archangel by the US National Association of Chiefs of Police. He is a member of the NACOP Drug Task Force. A bachelor chartered accountant, he was born in Westcliff-on-Sea and lives in Blackheath and Westcliff.