The Brigantes, the Association of City of London Liverymen in the North, was founded in 2014 by the then Sheriff Adrian Waddingham CBE and three northern 2014 Masters, with the blessing and encouragement of the then Lord Mayor Dame Fiona Woolf DBE DL.
The aim of Brigantes is to promote fellowship among Liverymen of the City of London with connections or interests – whether by birth-right, business, presence or simply desire - in the area of the north of England roughly from Leicestershire/Shropshire up to the Scottish Border country, in which over 1,800 Liverymen reside and was the pre-Roman territory of the Brigantes tribe.
Membership of Brigantes is open only to Liverymen of the City of London, members of the Company of Parish Clerks and members of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen, all in good standing with their Company. The Lord Mayor and the two Sheriffs are ex-officio Members of the Brigantes during their period in office.
The principal occasion is the annual Brigantes Breakfast, a formal lunch held in one of the north’s major cities in mid summer, attracting between 300 and 400 Liverymen and guests. The Brigantes Breakfast in July 2019 was at The Whitworth Hall, University of Manchester.
The day commenced at 10.30 with the now traditional annual Brigantes Lecture, this year given in the adjoining Museum of Manchester by the Director, Esme Ward, on the subject of ‘Heritage Futures’.
At the reception and lunch which followed, The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Rt Hon Alderman Peter Estlin, was the Principal Guest, accompanied by the two Sheriffs – Alderman Vincent Keaveny and the Hon Elizabeth Green.
28 current Livery Masters processed in with the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs and official guests, escorted by the Lance Guard of the Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry. 81 Livery Companies were represented in the Banqueting Hall.
The Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, Mr Warren Smith, gave the ‘Welcome to Manchester’ address, to which the Lord Mayor responded. The Bishop of Bolton, Rt Rev Mark Ashcroft, was Brigantes Chaplain for the day and said Grace.
Past Lord Mayor Dr Sir Andrew Parmley played the Hall’s mighty organ at intervals during the meal to wonderful effect. The Breakfast was also enhanced by a group of four professional singers who, over coffee, brilliantly performed a selection of songs from West End hit musicals, including Phantom of the Opera.
The Breakfast was ‘rounded off’ by two highly entertaining speeches from Past Lord Mayors Sir David Wootton and Dr Sir Andrew Parmley, and took the form of good-natured banter between two staunch northerners - a Yorkshireman and a Lancastrian respectively, suitably adorned with their white and red roses.
If you would like to attend any of these functions, or register to receive advance notice of dates and details, please email Fiona Robinson, the Brigantes Administrator, at livery@brigantes.org.uk
Past Master Edward Wilkinson
