What does it imply to get the Freedom of the City of London?

BBC Radio London presenter Robert Elms has change into the most recent particular person to obtain the Freedom of the City of London, at a ceremony within the Guildhall.

It’s an honour that has been introduced to these from royalty and sports activities stars, to Hollywood actors and enterprise leaders. But what does it actually imply – and why is it seen as being related to sheep?

When Elms turned a freeman, he took half in a practice that is been round for some time.

“It is really, really old,” says Laura Miller, who because the City’s Clerk to the Court of the Chamberlain carried out the ceremony.

The frequent perception is the honour was first given within the 1230s, though Ms Miller says it was being “presented in some form” even earlier than that.

“It’s meant a lot of things over the centuries… The reason it’s stuck around and it’s still here today is it’s always relevant,” she says.

While being a “freeman” initially meant an individual who was not the property of a feudal lord, the definition modified over time. In London, it got here to imply somebody who had been granted the Freedom of the City and was subsequently allowed to commerce inside the Square Mile.

“It gave you the right to own things, to make money, to exist effectively in the City of London,” says Ms Miller.

“I always think that cities are made… and really the freemen of the City of London were the people who made the City.”

She says lately the Freedom of London is extra like a “voluntary citizenship” that offers recipients “a sense of belonging”.

“You do have access to networks of people who are trying to do things to improve London. It’s a great way of connecting with people.”

There are various routes to become a freeman, with the award open to folks of any nationality.

Some obtain a particular nomination as a result of they’ve made “a very concrete contribution to the cultural life of London”, says Ms Miller.

This is what Elms obtained, being a long-time London broadcaster and creator who additionally performed a serious half the Eighties New Romantic motion as a music journalist – and even gave the band Spandau Ballet their title.

Another path to the Freedom of London is by becoming a member of one of many City’s 113 Livery corporations, a few of which have been round for a whole lot of years and have been created as a approach for folks in comparable trades to work collectively to outlive.

“London was a challenging place, you had disease, you had war. You needed to band together,” she explains.

This additionally implies that it isn’t solely celebrities and dignitaries who obtain the Freedom, however folks from all walks of life, with ceremonies on the Guildhall being an everyday incidence.

“I was at a house party in Brixton and somebody was like, ‘what’s all this about? I mean, this is just a lot of old medieval stuff’… And I got quite cross and shouted out, ‘anyone here got the Freedom of the City of London?’ And about nine hands went up,” says Ms Miller.

“Just last week, I gave the Freedom to a bunch of plumbers.”

The ceremony itself is medieval “in essence”, in line with Ms Miller.

The candidate is invited to learn the Declaration of a Freeman and signal the Freeman’s Declaration Book.

A replica of the Freedom is then introduced together with a duplicate of the Rules for the Conduct of Life, which date from the mid-18th Century, with the act sealed with a handshake.

“It’s quite business-like, it’s quite sensible. Your freedom is a legal document – it’s actually underwritten by Magna Carta,” she says.

One of these to have been honoured lately is historian and broadcaster Dame Prof Mary Beard, who says the “wonderful” ceremony had “a real sense of history to it all”.

“What I remember most vividly is being shown some of the memorabilia of those who had received the Freedom before.

“And there was an awesome lunch afterwards!” she provides.

Prof Beard says it’s “the good reference to historical past that issues most” to her about being a freeman, although it did also give her “an opportunity to see one thing of the Old Bailey which was actually fascinating”, and “it has been a beautiful alternative for some new experiences”.

However, she factors out: “I have not finished any sheep-driving but.”

And so on to the part of the Freedom which so many people seem to connect it with – that every year a celebrity and hundreds of the City’s freeman drive a small flock of sheep across a London bridge for charity.

This quirk goes back to a time when there was only one crossing over the Thames into the City with tariffs being charged to use it – although not for those who had the Freedom.

“As a freeman or free sister, you can convey your items throughout and till the 12 or 1300s, actually essentially the most invaluable factor was sheep… so with the ability to convey them throughout that bridge with out paying further taxes was invaluable,” says Ms Miller.

It’s similar to another – if sadly mistaken – belief that if a freeman is discovered drunk and disorderly, a City police officer will simply take them home with nothing more said.

“This revolves round the truth that as a freeman, you have been invaluable… and also you did not wish to see all these necessary invaluable folks being dragged off by the press-gang to affix the Navy,” says Ms Miller.

During the seventeenth and 18th Centuries, men of seafaring experience in Britain could be physically forced into the service – and getting unsuspecting candidates blind drunk was one tactic used to lure them.

However, the Freedom gave people protection and “typically our constables or our beadles would dive in and rescue you while you have been drunk”, says Ms Miller.

Even so, she doesn’t advise today’s freemen to give it a go.

“Sadly, if one among our law enforcement officials within the City gives to take you dwelling on the finish of the evening, I feel it is likely to be a very totally different factor,” she laughs.

Elms considers the honour to be “one thing meaning rather a lot to me”.

“This is the town that has nourished me and intrigued me and given me my life, and I’m actually, actually honoured to be part of it.”

And it’s this being part of tradition which often means so much to those given the Freedom, according to Ms Miller.

“Everyone who lives in London is a part of London historical past in essence. But by doing this, you are becoming a member of this actually wonderful a part of historical past.”