Worshipful Company of Skinners
Encyclopedia
_by_w_jupp.jpg)
Livery Company
The Livery Companies are 108 trade associations in the City of London, almost all of which are known as the "Worshipful Company of" the relevant trade, craft or profession. The medieval Companies originally developed as guilds and were responsible for the regulation of their trades, controlling,...
of the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
. It was originally an association of those engaged in the trade of skins and furs
Skinner (profession)
A Skinner is a person who skins animals such as cattle, sheep, and pigs, part or whole. Historically, skinners engaged in the hide and fur trades.A "mule skinner", slang for muleteer, is a driver of mules....
. It has evolved into an educational and charitable institution, supporting schools such as Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School is a British boys' independent school for both boarding and day pupils in Tonbridge, Kent, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judd . It is a member of the Eton Group, and has close links with the Worshipful Company of Skinners, one of the oldest London livery companies...
in Tonbridge
Tonbridge
Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
, Kent; The Skinners School in Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in west Kent, England, about south-east of central London by road, by rail. The town is close to the border of the county of East Sussex...
Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
; The Judd School
The Judd School
The Judd School is a state secondary school in Tonbridge, Kent, southeast England. It was established in 1888 at Stafford House on East Street in Tonbridge, where it remained for eight years before moving to its present location on Brook Street, in the south of the town...
(also in Tonbridge) and The Skinners' Company's School for Girls
The Skinners' Company's School for Girls
The Skinners' Company's School for Girls was founded by the Worshipful Company of Skinners, a London Livery Company. It is a non denominational voluntary aided school and was opened in Hackney in 1890. It was then awarded specialist status in recognition of its excellent Business and Enterprise...
in Hackney, London.
Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors
The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors is one of the 108 Livery Companies of the City of London.The Company, originally known as the Guild and Fraternity of St...
. Although this cannot have been the origin of the phrase "At sixes and sevens
At sixes and sevens
To be "at sixes and sevens" is an English phrase and idiom, common in the United Kingdom. It is used to describe a state of confusion or disarray. The similar phrase "to set the world on six and seven", used by Geoffrey Chaucer in his Troilus and Criseyde, dated about the mid 1380's, seems, from...
", as the phrase appears in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
over one hundred years earlier, a connection between the event and the phrase is presumed to exist in some manner.
The Skinners are normally sixth in the order of precedence in even numbered years, and at seven in odd numbered years, but as the Lord Mayor for 2005/6 was a member of the Merchant Taylors' company they kept precedence. Merchant Taylors' kept precedence in 2006/7, their regular turn.
The Company's motto is To God Only Be All Glory.