The Court controls the activities of the Masons’ Company under the guidance of a Master, Upper Warden and Renter Warden.

Other members of the Court include several Past Masters and Court Assistants who have not passed the chair.

The officers change at Common Hall (essentially the AGM of the Company) in June each year, the Upper Warden is elected up to Master, the Renter to Upper Warden and a Court Assistant is elected into the Renter Warden position.

Volunteers on committees cover Finance, Craft & Training, Awards, Communications, Membership, Development Fundraising and Sponsorship and Social matters all of which report to the Court. We also run two independent charities the trustees of which are members of the Company.

Chris is a retired stockbroker who started trading on the market floor and became a member of The Stock Exchange before “Big Bang” and finished his career as an investment analyst at Peel Hunt specialising in Small companies and miscellaneous corporate clients.

He interrupted his City career to dabble in politics, spending some time as research assistant to Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Pattie, then MP for Chertsey & Walton, and standing for election to the now defunct GLC in 1977.

Beyond the Company he has a broad range of interests, the foremost of which are freemasonry and family history research. He also enjoys taking his wife of 45 years to rugby matches (both are longstanding season ticket holders at Wasps) and cricket matches at Lords, where he is a member of the MCC. He is a member of The Nelson Society, his great hero being Admiral Lord Nelson.

Speech by The Master given at Common Hall June 2019 =  Speech to Common Hall lunch Jun 2019

Speech by The Master given at Midsummer Court Lunch July 2019 = Midsummer Court Lunch 2019 speech

With a first degree in Geology, and a PhD in Materials, Christine served for several years as a Lecturer in Geomaterials at Queen Mary College, London University.  Her main areas of research were the use of industrial waste materials as cement replacement in concrete, the durability of concrete, and the durability of building stone.  Following a move to Kent she and her husband, Stephen, ran their Civil & Structural Engineering practice.

Christine has been involved in the Livery for over 25 years, serving as Master Constructor in 2009/10.  She is also a Court Assistant of the Tylers’ & Bricklayers’ Company, served as non-Aldermanic Sheriff in 2015/16, and is involved in numerous organisations across the City.

Now retired, Stephen & Christine enjoy sailing, having spent several summers cruising their Moody 47 in the Baltic, circumnavigating the British & Isles & Ireland, and the Biscay area.  They live on their arable farm near Canterbury.

Martin is a Chartered Civil Engineer of 35 years standing with corporate membership of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation.  He was educated to 1st degree level with a BSc (Hons) in Civil Engineering from the City University followed up with a Diploma in Management Studies (Local Government).

Martin has been responsible for many high profile schemes including the £35m Whitehall Streetscape Project providing anti-terrorism measures within a high quality award winning public realm scheme; Oxford Circus Diagonal Pedestrian Crossings; and  restoring two way working to Pall Mall, Piccadilly and St James’s Street where he got to meet Her Majesty the Queen, the  Duchess of Cornwall and Duchess of Cambridge at the opening ceremony.

He has worked for four London Boroughs (Westminster, Bexley, Bromley and Southwark) and the former Traffic Director for London.

Martin served Westminster City Council as a chief officer with responsibility for Westminster City Council’s roles as highway authority, street authority and traffic authority discharged through about 300 staff employed by the City Council and its providers.  Martin took part in a Top Gear programme on cycling in 2015 and had frequent TV and radio appearances for the portfolio of services covered by him.

Following Martin’s retirement from Westminster City Council in 2016,  he set up a business, City Transportation Solutions Limited, which helps property owners and developers implementing developments negotiate with local, regional and national government.

Martin is also a Director of the St James’s Conservation Trust, which works closely with residents and businesses to preserve and enhance the St James’s area in the City of Westminster.

1600-1850

1851 – Present