4th February, 1812. A memorial signed by four freemen of the Company was presented to the Court, the purport of which was that the memorialists having been summoned to act as Ward Constables had refused to serve, and that thereupon actions had been brought against them, which, being tried before Lord Ellenborough, the verdicts were against them and they were ordered to pay the costs (£333 9_s._ 0_d._). The memorialists alleging that they defended the actions for the benefit of the Company and really to uphold its privileges, prayed that they might be reimbursed the costs, which, however, the Court declined to accede to, but ordered that £12, which had been paid to the Company for copies of the Charters, should be refunded. 1814. The Churchwardens of St. Olave, Silver Street, having assessed the Hall at £172, they were requested to attend the next Court which they did, and the following delightful method of settling these matters is recommended to the Authorities nowadays. 1st November, 1814. The parish officers of Saint Olave Silver Street attended & stated to the Court that the Vestry of that Parish had taken the subject of the Poor rate into consideration, and considering the great increase of the rate they left it to the Company to say what they were agreeable to be rated at; the Court proposed to say £100 per annum; the gentlemen (having withdrawn) were then called in and informed of such proposal, with which they cordially acquiesced. 2nd April, 1816. Alexander Rowland the younger [of Macassar oil fame] of Kirby Street Hatton Garden, Barber was admitted to the Livery. 3rd May, 1825. The Livery stand, being in a decayed and useless condition, was ordered to be sold. 2nd May, 1826. But as a purchaser could not be found, the Master offered to give £5 for it, which was accepted, and this, together with an additional £5, was ordered to be given to the Committee for the Relief of Distressed Manufacturers. 5th February, 1861. Mr. John Atkinson gave £100 consols for the purpose of distributing the dividends thereof in the purchase of Bibles and Prayer Books for the poor members of the Company. 7th February, 1862. Mr. John Atkinson’s Will reciting a munificent bequest to the Company is set out in the minutes of this date. 3rd February, 1863. A Statement of the property left by Mr. John Atkinson is recorded in a letter from the Solicitors to his Trustees directed to the Court, and entered in the minutes of this date. [Illustration] [Illustration: PORTION OF THE MASTER’S SILVER GARLAND (DATE 1629).] PRECEDENCE. The Barbers’ Company is ranked the seventeenth in order of the City Companies, and is the fifth after the “Twelve great Companies,” the thirteenth being the Dyers, fourteenth Brewers, fifteenth Leathersellers, sixteenth Pewterers, seventeenth Barbers, eighteenth Cutlers, etc.