The Worshipful Company of Upholders

Members of the craft of upholder (or upholsterer) are recorded at very early dates, the earliest being Henry le Uphelder (1258). The name of the craft and of the practitioners have been variously spelt - sometimes within the same sentence! The first mention of upholders acting as an organised group occurs in 1346 when they petitioned the King for protection against unfair competition from France. They obtained ordinances and recognition as a separate mystery in 1360 and a grant of arms from the College of Arms in 1465 - one of the earliest of such grants.

Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries they sought to consolidate their position by obtaining Acts of Parliament to outlaw bad craftsmanship such as the use of materials other than properly treated feathers for stuffing and pillows, etc.

The Company, along with many other City Companies, supported the colonisation of Virginia and received it first Royal Charter (now unfortunately lost) from Charles I in 1626. A new exemplification was obtained in a further Royal Charter in 1668 from Charles II. The Charter laid down standards of craftsmanship and gave enforcement powers to the Company in respect of all upholders within the City of London and a seven mile radius. One of the powers granted was that of search so that improperly made products could be seized and destroyed.

For most of its existence the Company made use of the Livery Halls of other Companies. However, in 1645 Andrew Yardly, a Liveryman, made a gift of £500 for the purchase of a Hall, which unfortunately was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. Houses were built on the site from which the Company derived rent for many years. Ever since the loss of the Hall the Upholders have enjoyed the hospitality of other Companies in using their Halls for livery dinners.

The Peter Jackson Charity is the principal charity supported by the Company and dates back to 1707 and a donation of £800 by Mr. Jackson. The Court minutes refer to his 'extraordinary kindness and bounty' and to the acquisition of property as the main investment of the charity whose purpose was to pay each year on St. Andrews Day a sum of money to necessitous upholders. The Charity and its work continue to this day with fund raising and disbursement adjusted to modern circumstances. In 1750 an Act of Common Council was obtained in order to ensure all those practising as upholders (otherwise known as upholsterers) in and around the City should become Freemen of the Company. This had the useful effect of increasing the size and influence of the Company. A proud moment for the Company came in 1801 when one of its members, William Rawlins, was elected Sheriff of The City of London. He served as Master on no fewer than six occasions and was knighted in 1802. Although his business was upholstery he also founded an insurance company which became Eagle Star.

More recently, Past Masters Sir Sidney Wishart, Arthur Ley and Jonathan Charkham served as Sheriff in 1920/21, 1964/65, 1994/95 respectively. Recently, Past Master J.C.F.B. Byllam-Barnes has been elected to the Court of Common Council of the City of London.

The last time a Liveryman of the Company served as Lord Mayor of London was when Alderman William Hunter (Sheriff in 1844/45 and Master in 1845/46) reached the Civic Chair in 1851/52. A portrait of William Hunter hangs in the Mansion House and another (generously donated to the Company by Wickes plc) is displayed at the City of London Freemen's School. There were other Upholder Lord Mayors in earlier centuries but the distance in time means that details are sparse and uncertain.

In more recent times the Company has sought to encourage both traditional and innovative upholstery by awarding prizes to designers and manufacturers as well as bursaries to trainees.

A book on the history of the Company, "Featherbedds and Flock Bedds" has been published and recently updated (1999). It may be read at the Guildhall Library in the City. Alternatively it may be read now directly from our web site or you can download it for reading later.

If you would like to read the book now or save the information for later reading please use the buttons at the bottom of the scrolling window on the left. If you choose the 'Download' button you will open a page with information on how to do it and may then choose to go ahead or not. The files are not very large and will load in a few seconds or minutes depending on the speed of your modem. They can then be read or printed 'off line' using your web browser programme by opening the programme without connecting to the web and choosing 'Open File' (or 'File Open').

The book has been compressed into a *.zip file called UPHOLDER.ZIP - the file size is only 110KB and it contains the whole of the book and all of the Annexes. If you decide to download the book you will open a familiar Windows dialogue box asking if you want to open this file or save it to disk - choose save, then choose the folder (directory) where you want to store it on your hard disk. It must then be unzipped (using Winzip, PKzip, etc.) before you try to view the *.html files with your web browser.

Another booklet 'A Financial History of the Company' written in 1934 and recently re-printed by Past Master Gerald Trevor may also be read on line or downloaded for later reading by using the links provided to the left of your screen.

The Worshipful Company of Upholders, one of the City's more ancient Livery Companies, dating from the 14th century and 49th in order of precedence, continues to this day to fulfil its duty to support the Lord Mayor of London, the craft of upholstery and charitable works through the Peter Jackson Charity and the Neville Hayman Charity. Long may the Company continue to do so.

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