About the Company
Our past
A livery company founded in living memory, out of the money British agriculture raised for the war effort — and 80th in precedence among the companies of the City of London.
- Raised by agriculture in wartime
- Over £8.5m
- Company of Agriculturalists formed
- 1946
- Grant of Livery approved
- 1952
- Royal Charter gained
- 1955
Before the Company
The oldest industry, and the last to be represented
Agriculture can be said to be England’s oldest and most important industry: the growth of the City depended for centuries on the supply of food to sustain its population.
Yet while evidence suggests some livery companies were active as early as 1155, it is thought farmers were not represented until far later — because they operated outside the square mile, unlike the related trades of Bakers, Butchers, Poulters, Woolmen and Fruiterers.
How it began
Out of the Red Cross Agricultural Fund
The Company’s origins lie in the Chairman’s Committee of the British Red Cross Agricultural Fund, set up during the Second World War to raise money for the war effort. The whole of agriculture and its ancillary trades combined to raise over £8.5 million.
To perpetuate the Fund’s good intentions, plans were laid to create a livery company. The Company of Agriculturalists of the City of London was formed in 1946, the grant of Livery as the Worshipful Company of Farmers was approved in 1952, and the Royal Charter followed in 1955.
The livery tradition
What a livery company is for
The livery companies of London — of which the Worshipful Company of Farmers stands 80th in precedence — were originally founded as trade guilds, to regulate the crafts and professions operating in the square mile and to help run the civic government of the City.
That included the election of the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs through assemblies at the Guildhall. The companies took part in ceremonial events and collective acts of worship, while pursuing an ethos of charity, welfare and education tied to their trade.
Read on
More of our history
Become part of the Company.
Joining as a Liveryman means a life-long fellowship of like-minded people from across farming and food. The Clerk will guide you from first enquiry to Clothing.