Livery companies have a proud history and traditions. Their survival has been achieved by fostering their professions, crafts and trades in a wide context, serving the community and promoting modern skills and professional development their fields.
Many of the most notable names in optics have been made masters of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers over the years and a historical notes section in the June 18 edition of Optician from 1965 details some of the luminaries and even the acrimony – right back to the 17th century.
John Yarwell was a master of the company on three occasions in the 17th century. He was made spectacle frames from horn, steel, tortoiseshell and leather and his work was popular with wealthy patients that could afford luxury materials. Microscopes and telescopes also formed a significant part of work – as was the case of many opticians of the time.
Yarwell partnered with Ralph Stirrop later in his career and the pair took on two apprentices, George Wildley and T Brandreth, who went on to establish their own company. The new kids on the block were very aggressive in their promotion at the time. The pair made bold claims about their wares, including spectacles that could allow someone to discern objects 20-30 miles away and microscopes that could magnify two million times.
Showing little gratitude to their former masters, the pair also wagered 10-20 guineas that their own instruments were better than those of their old mentors. As the article points out, this type of behaviour was no bar to advancement within the company and Wildley was made master for 11 consecutive years.
Peter Dollond was also a master of the company, along with four different generations of the Dollond family – which would become one of the most well-known names in optics.