ISSUE No. 27

FEBRUARY 2009

The Journal of The Imperial Society of Knights BachelorTrouthe and Honour

The Society’s Centenary The year 2008 saw the Centenary of theImperial Society and to mark the occasion anumber of events took place. The first of thesewas the unveiling of a Blue Plaque and this wasfollowed later on in the year by the CentenaryService and Dedication of the Knights’ Chapelin St Paul’s Cathedral.

The Society’s Blue PlaqueThe Society wasfounded on 27thApril 1908 at asolicitor’s office at31 Essex Streetjust off the Strand.This was subseq-uently destroyedby enemy action inWorld War II.

To mark theCentenary a blueplaque has beenplaced on the siteo f the o r ig ina lbu i ld ing a t 31Essex Street.

Members of the Council and their guestsgathered there on Sunday 27th April 2008

and, after a shortspeech, the 11thKnight Principal,Sir Robert Balchin,unveiled the BluePlaque exact ly100 years to theday after thefounding of theSociety by SirWilliam Bull MP.

The Chapel of the Knightsin St Paul’s CathedralAs members will be aware the Societyaccepted an invitation in 2005 from the thenDean and Chapter of St Paul’s Cathedral toestablish a new Chapel in the Crypt. Since theChapel was established, Knights Bachelorfrom all over the world have generouslycontributed towards the Appeal Fund.Work began on the Chapel early in 2008 andwas completed in October. It is situated a fewsteps away from the tomb of Sir ChristopherWren, architect and Knight Bachelor.

The result has been the creation, in Englishoak, of a beautiful place of worship which isnow the spiritual home of Knights Bachelor andan inspiration to all visitors to St Paul’s. Thecarving, by Houghtons of York, is exceptionallyfine. The Chapel and the adjoining seating inSt Faith’s Chapel may be used by KnightsBachelor (by arrangement only through theClerk of the Imperial Society and in accordancewith the Cathedral’s programme) for familyWeddings, Baptisms and Memorial Services.The Chapel of the Knights contains the stallsof the Officers and the Registers of KnightsBachelor, listing their names since 1257. Alsodisplayed, on loan from Wilkinson Sword Ltd,is Queen Victoria’s sword with which she gavethe accolade to many famous men.

The Knight Principalprepares to unveil

the plaque

Detailof the

carvingin the

Chapel

On Thursday 13th November2008, Her Majesty The Queen(Patron of the Imperial Society)accompanied by His RoyalHighness The Duke of Edin-burgh honoured the Society byattending the Centenary Serviceand the Dedication of theChapel of the Knights in StPaul’s Cathedral. The LordMayor of London was presenttogether with a congregation of1500 Knights Bachelor andtheir guests.

Before the Service began, theEnglish Schools’ Orchestraplayed a selection of music. At10.55 am a fanfare by the StateTrumpeters of the Blues &Royals heralded the arrival ofthe Sovereign at the West Frontof the Cathedral.

The Queen and the Duke ofEdinburgh were greeted by theLord Mayor of London, theBishop of London, the clergyof St Paul’s and the KnightPrincipal of the Imperial Societyand the Officers. A fanfarewas then sounded by theTrumpeters of the GrenadierGuards and the processionsmoved to their places under theDome.

During the Centenary Service,the Knight Principal readthe lesson, and the firstperformance of Sir JohnTavener’s superb new anthemHymn for The Sovereign was

sung by the choir, accompaniedby the City of London Sinfonia,in the presence of the composerwho had written it especiallyfor the occasion. The Bishop ofLondon, Prelate of the ImperialSociety, gave a memorableaddress and then The Queenand The Duke of Edinburghand the Officers descended tothe Crypt where the Dedicationof the Chapel took place.

The new Chapel was blessed bythe Prelate and a specialCentenary prayer was said bythe Society’s Provost, The RevdProfessor Peter Galloway OBE.The Queen and The Duke ofEdinburgh then signed aMemorial commemorating thefounding of the Chapel. Duringthe service the ceremonialsword Chivalry was carried by

The Centenary Serviceand Dedication of the Chapel of the Knightsin the presence of HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh

The Chapel of the Knights in the Cryptof St Paul’s Cathedral

The arrival of Her Majesty Below, left: The Queen is greeted by the Knight PrincipalBelow, right:The Queen meets Sir Richard Gaskell and Sir Donald Gosling

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburghlisten to the Prelate

Sir Paul Judge and the Spurs bySir Colin Berry. Esquires carriedthe Pennons of the ImperialSociety.

The Society’s Office hasreceived many letters ofcongratulation on the organi-

sation of what was a splendidand moving historical occasionwhich will long stay in thememories of those whoattended.

The whole service was recordedand a DVD is available. Ifyou were unableto attend the mag-nificent CentenaryService you may wishto support our workby buying a copy.P lease use theenclosed form topurchase one.

Alternatively youcan contact thecompany which

made the recording: BCA Film,26 Rose Street, Wokingham,Surrey RG40 1XU – Tel: 0118977 6800/6900. The DVDs cost£12 each including VAT,postage and packing within theUK. Please add £5 for orders tobe sent overseas.

Other Events in 2008During the year the Society arranged threeLuncheons for members and their guests at theAthenaeum in London in April, July and October.We are grateful to Sir Brian Pitman, Sir JimmySavile and Sir Stelios Haj-Ioannou who spoke onthese occasions, as we are to Lord Jones ofBirmingham (Kt) who addressed the January 2009Luncheon.The Scottish Division also held a Dinner in May inEdinburgh and a Ladies’ Lunch in Glasgow inOctober. Our thanks go to Sir Michael Hirst,Chairman of the Scottish Division, for organisingthese events.

Forthcoming EventsLuncheons: It is planned to hold three furtherLuncheons at the Athenaeum in 2009 on thefollowing dates:

Thursday 16th April – guest speaker: Sir RoyStrong FSA, writer, historian and former Director ofthe Victoria and Albert Museum.

Wednesday 1st July (following AGM) – guestspeaker: Sir Jackie Stewart OBE, racing driver.

Wednesday 14th October – guest speaker: SirChris Bonington CBE, mountaineer, writer andphotographer.

Further details and an application form are being

sent out in February. Please return the applicationform to the Society’s office at least 3 weeks beforethe appropriate Luncheon.

Scottish Dinner: This will take place in Glasgowon Friday 8th May 2009. Details to follow.

Centenary Dinner: For your diary: The Societywill be holding a Centenary Dinner on Monday26th October 2009 at Goldsmiths’ Hall. Full detailswill follow later in the year.

2009 Annual Service & Reception: TheImperial Society’s Annual Service of Dedicationwill take place in the Crypt of St Paul’s Cathedralon Thursday, 2nd July 2009 at 11 a.m. The addresswill be given once again by the Society’s Prelate,the Rt. Revd. & Rt. Hon. Richard Chartres, Bishopof London. The Service will be followed by aReception at Stationers’ Hall, Ave Maria Lane,London EC4 which is a few minutes walk fromSt Paul’s Cathedral. Further details and anapplication form will be sent out shortly.

The Annual General Meeting: Notice of theSociety’s AGM is enclosed with this letter. TheAGM will take place at the Athenaeum, Pall Mall,London, SW1 at 12 noon on Wednesday 1st July2009, all members are invited.

The Queen signs the Memorial

The Queen & The Duke of Edinburgh depart

Designed and printed by Burford Printing C

o Ltd 020 7730 8765

The Society’s office is open from 9.30am - 5.00pm, Monday to Thursday

and visitors are most welcome to call in:

1 Throgmorton Avenue, London EC2N 2BY

Tel: 020 7374 8974 · Fax: 020 7374 8968

e-mail: iskb99@supanet.com

Website: www.iskb.co.uk

Changes toThe CouncilSince our last edition in 2007 the followingMembers have been elected as Members of theCouncil of the Imperial Society:

His Honour Sir Gavyn ArthurSir Rod Eddington – (Australia)Sir Michael Craig-Cooper CBE, TD, DL

The Society’s WebsiteThe Society has an Internet website calledwww.iskb.co.uk. The website includes itemsfrom The Story of the Knights Bachelor,illustrations, forthcoming events and thelatest edition of Chivalry magazine. There is

Obituaries It is with the deepest regret that wenote the recent deaths of a number offormer Members of the Council of theImperial Society:

Lord Lane of Horsell (Kt)–Formerly Chairman of the Council1986-1999

Sir Ian McFarlane – Formerly overseas Member (Australia)1985-2008

Sir Lewis Robertson – Formerly Chairman Scottish Division1995-1999

In the Imperial Society’s website, to

access the Members’ Area and Who’s

Who, members should do the

following:

Click “For Members” – then enter the

username ISKB (in upper case)

followed by the password lincoln (in

lower case). Once you have entered the

Members Area you can access the

Who’s Who website by clicking on the

Who’s Who logo.

To use Who’s Who and Who Was

Who go to the right hand side of the

page, and under subscriber login,

enter the username imperialsocietyfollowed by the password whoswho.

If you find it difficult to enter the

Who’s Who website, wait a few

minutes and then try again, as only

three members may access it at any

one time.

also a Members’ Area that can be accessed bytyping in the user name and password, whichare noted below. In the Members’ Area,members are able, free of charge, to accessWho’s Who & Who Was Who by clicking onthe Who’s Who logo.