Furniture Makers' Court Dinner for Masters and Clerks and a Perring Scholarship
6th October 2026Furniture Makers' Hall
A mid-afternoon train to Paddington for one of those evenings that make livery life so enjoyable: friends to greet, new people to meet, and dinner in one of the City's less familiar corners. The destination was the Furniture Makers’ Hall, tucked away in Austin Friars opposite the Dutch Church, where the Furniture Makers were hosting their dinner for Masters and Clerks.
I found myself sitting opposite the Master Girdler and next to Past Master Furniture Maker David Woodward. David asked to be remembered to our Past Master Paul Taberer, his contemporary and told me about his early career with Waring and Gillow. It was another example of how quickly a dinner such as this can turn a room full of strangers into a gathering of old and new connections.
The last time I was here, apart from tea during the Livery Halls’ Walk in September, was when I heard historian Tracy Borman give a fascinating talk on Anne Boleyn and local resident Thomas Cromwell. My blog of 16 July goes into more detail about the history of the Hall.
The lists of Past Masters by the front door include members of the famous Perring furniture-making family. I have recently discovered that our own Past Master Michael Walter was the recipient of a Sir Ralph Perring Scholarship in 1964/65, as the best Retail Furniture student at Kingston College of Technology, while he was working for Bentalls of Kingston.
Sir Ralph Perring was Lord Mayor at the time and presented the scholarship to Michael at the Mansion House. It enabled him to travel to the USA for work experience, where he spent most of 1965 at Gimbels, eventually finding himself running the Toy Department in the frantic run-up to Christmas.
On his return, Michael presented a report to Sir John Perring, then Managing Director of the family’s furniture business. The two became good friends, and when Michael was installed as Master in 2002, Sir John stepped in at short notice to be his Principal Guest.
It was rather nice to sit beneath portraits of the Perrings and reflect on their support for one of our own Past Masters more than 60 years ago.
There was an excellent speech from Master Furniture Maker Jessica Alexander, followed by an amusing reply from Prime Warden Dyer Mike Matheson. He framed the story of his Company as the bad boys of the City, forever getting into trouble with the authorities in previous centuries.
Thomas Cromwell, whose shade haunts Austin Friars, would probably have approved of such rough behaviour.