Our Story
Incorporated in 1709 during the reign of Queen Anne but very active as the Guild of Fan Makers from at least the reign of Charles II, today’s Fan Makers’ Company is the youngest of the ‘old’ City Livery Companies being the last to receive a Royal Charter for nearly 300 years and becoming the 76th Livery Company in order of precedence. Those that have followed have usually been incorporated by the City alone.
The Company, like other Livery Companies, is one of those sturdy oaks rooted in the past but maintaining its strength through new ideas and adaptation, in our case to the exciting of the aerospace age and renewing it’s freshness year by year.
YMG Report 2019
The Young Members group of the Company had a successful year in 2019. It started in January when a group of us went Go Karting at Capital Karts, followed by dinner at Canary Wharf. A great time was had by all. In May, Past Master John Hayes was kind enough to take us...
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Past Master, Dr Michael Smith has written this article explaining his involvement in Project AA810
The restoration to flight of an extremely rare Spitfire with its amazing provenance; and the associated nation-wide Sandy Gunn Aerospace Careers Programme. Prime Minister Winston Churchill was concerned, very concerned, as to the location of Tirpitz, sister ship to...
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Presentation of a bespoke ladies’ fan to HRH The Duchess of Sussex
In keeping with tradition since the time of HM Queen Victoria, on particular occasions the Worshipful Company of Fan Makers present a unique fan to Members of The Royal Family. Consequently, following her marriage to HRH The Duke of Sussex last year, the Master (Dr...
read moreRoyal Affiliations
The Fan Makers’ Company is honoured to have HRH The Duchess of Gloucester as our first Lady Liveryman. The Duchess is part of a long line of Royal Ladies associated with the Company. Granted its Royal Charter by Queen Anne in 1709, the Company received great encouragement from Queen Victoria as it struggled to fend off competition from foreign fan imports and further support from her fourth daughter, Princess Louise, herself an accomplished artist. HRH The Princess Royal was admitted as an Honorary Freeman in 1926 and HRH The Princess Alice, then Duchess of Gloucester, in 1948 followed by her daughter-in-law (today’s Duchess of Gloucester) in 1975.
A Master’s year: part five of five ‘reflection’
It is often said that the Mansion House Banquet in December is the culmination of the Master Fan Makers’ year. In a sense, it is. It takes place almost at the end of the calendar year, ten months into the Company’s annual cycle, and is undoubtedly a truly wonderful...
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A Master’s year: part four
After the summer break, business as usual commenced in September with a General Purposes and Finance Committee meeting. Other work that month included the Livery and Recruitment Committees, and the production of a suitably fine fan for potential presentation to a...
read morePress release: Fan Makers to support the re-establishment of a fan craft in the United Kingdom
The Worshipful Company of Fan Makers, one of the 110 Livery Companies in the City of London is pleased to announce that it has received a substantial bequest that will be used to help re-establish the craft of fan making within the United Kingdom. In May 2017 the...
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