At a first look it may not be easy to see the relevance of an organisation that is nearly 400 years old to the modern world of eye health. It holds meetings in a building constructed in the 17th century. It is governed by its ‘master and wardens’ who preside over ‘the Court’, its ‘learned clerk’ is effectively the CEO of the Company and its membership is made up of ‘freemen’ and ‘liverymen’, the latter of whom may attend ‘common hall’ each year to vote for the ‘sheriffs’ and Lord Mayor of the City of London. But start to look behind the pageantry and traditions of the company and you start to see a unique, vibrant, multi-disciplinary organisation as passionate and dedicated to preventing and treating vision impairment today as it was when it was founded in 1629.
A Bit of City History
The Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers (WCSM) is a City of London livery company. Livery companies started to be established in the 12th century, as the population of the city was growing, to protect the public by guaranteeing that the products and services sold by members of the companies were of reputable quality.
Today there are 110 livery companies in existence, many of which remain active in promoting their businesses of origin and in training and qualifying new entrants to their trades. What unites all livery companies is charitable giving, collectively donating over £60m each year.
Some Spectacle Makers History
The company was founded to protect the general public from unqualified sellers of spectacles. It received its Royal Charter on May 16, 1629, signed by King Charles I. It is thus the oldest optical body in the world and the original royal charter still sits in the Guildhall archives in London.
The company’s diverse membership is rooted in history. The first female freeman joined in 1699 and a lady, Francis Troulan, was among the first to pass the Company’s technical examinations in 1899. In 1990 Dr Anne Silk became the first female master and in 2015 the Company appointed its first female clerk (chief executive), Helen Perkins. The company has been open to membership beyond those in the optical professions since 1759 with members coming from allied healthcare professions, the City of London (32 Lord Mayors have been Spectacle Makers), friends and family of past members and, more recently, charity leaders. What unites all members is a shared commitment to support the treatment and prevention of vision impairment.
In the 1970s the company played an important role in the establishment of the College of Optometrists and was then instrumental in supporting the foundation of an independent faculty for dispensing optics which became, in 1986, the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO). In 2015 its provision of training for technicians and optical assistants moved to ABDO College and in 2019 the Company announced it would cease to offer examinations by March 2021, reflecting the greater emphasis on in-house training and development among optical employers.
Spectacle Makers Today
Since 1946 the company have been tenants of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries (founded a decade before the Spectacle Makers) and have permanent offices within Apothecaries’ Hall in Blackfriars, London. Apothecaries’ Hall is the oldest surviving livery hall in London. Built in 1672 it is a unique, atmospheric venue with portions of its walls pre-dating the Great Fire of London in 1666 (figure 1).
The Company today is built around four core platforms; ‘the craft’, charity, fellowship and City.
The Craft
Having been established to qualify and regulate those in the vision care profession, the Company retains its commitment to vision. Despite the name, the Spectacle Makers’ Company is a multi-disciplinary, apolitical organisation which brings unique insights into the category. As well as members who are optometrists, dispensing opticians and optical manufacturers, the company has ophthalmologists, vision scientists, orthoptists, optical charity executives, executives of professional bodies and academics as active members. There are then members from outside the optical professions, audiologists, accountants and educators who bring a broader view to the issues and opportunities surrounding vision care and vision impairment.
The Company’s Education Trust is a registered charity awarding grants and bursaries to support those developing their careers in vision care. Each year bursaries of up to £1,000 are awarded to successful applicants starting an accredited course in optometry, dispensing optics or orthoptics. The Education Trust also awards travel grants to ophthalmologists in training to support them in presenting papers at recognised conferences.
The Professorial Committee, led by Professor John Marshall MBE from UCL/the Institute of Ophthalmology, is a small group of eminent scientists and academics. This group judges and awards the company’s medal programme which recognises excellence in the prevention and treatment of vision impairment. The Crook Medal is the highest honour the company can bestow and has been awarded just 10 times since its inception in 1983. The Fincham Medal is awarded to those in mid-career and has gone to researchers working on myopia control, gene therapy and retinal disease among other areas. Finally, the company’s bronze medals accept nominations and are awarded annually to the best first paper by a vision scientist who has not yet completed their PhD (Master’s Medal) and for the paper judged to be the best in the fields of ophthalmology and or vision science in contributing significant new knowledge (the Ruskell Medal).
The professorial committee also organises the company’s turn to host the Four Liveries Lecture. This annual event is run with the Clockmakers, Scientific Instrument Makers and Lightmongers’ livery companies and features a lecture by leaders associated with one of the companies. Past lecturers have included the Astronomer Royal, lighting engineers, and physicists. Each, at the very top of their careers, providing unique and thought-provoking views on their discipline.
The company is also a participant in the annual Livery Schools career fair at the Guildhall in London presenting the wide range of careers in the worlds of optics and vision care to school students and career officers.
Less apparent to many is the Company’s input into consultations and policy discussions impacting eye care in the UK. As an apolitical body, the company can call on members who are key opinion leaders within their own professions, establishments and businesses to provide input and feedback. Occasionally these discussions do receive publicity as they evolve into structured debates, either at existing conferences or as stand-alone events open to members. These ‘moots’ or ‘eye-to-eye’ sessions are able to attract top experts in their field and by being small and inclusive drive fierce debate and discussion. Recent events have included the role of technology in the future of vision care, how optical professions can better work together and the need for qualifications for support staff. Privately, those who meet within the Company’s walls are able to share views and perhaps influence opinion more quietly.
Charity
In keeping with other City Livery Companies, charity plays an important role for the Spectacle Makers. In addition to the education trust already mentioned, the Company’s charity also provides grants to support organisations providing services for vision-impaired people, small-scale research, eye health training and education and organisations that increase access for the visually impaired in business or leisure activities.
The Company also awards longer term development grants to successful applicants. Most recently a three-year grant was awarded to Goalball to develop the sport at a grassroots level. Goalball is a unique team sport devised in the 1940s for vision-impaired athletes. It is played with a ball that has bells embedded in it and, to create an equal footing for all players, eyeshades are worn to block any light perception (figure 2). Goalball is a Paralympic sport.
Figure 2: The England Goalball team in training
Fellowship
The Royal Charter of 1629 established the ‘Fellowshippe of Spectacle Makers of London’ and fellowship, in its modern meaning, is the third platform on which the company is built. Liverymen of the company have unique opportunities to meet and network with an extraordinary group of people. As Mike Harris, chair of the membership committee, puts it: ‘As an independent optometrist in practice, I know of no other place where I can meet with heads of the optical professional bodies, leading academics and educators to have open discussions about our professions and the challenges and opportunities ahead.’
By being connected with other City of London Livery events, Liverymen of the Company have opportunities to meet with leading figures from other fields; pioneers in information technology, opinion-leading dental surgeons, top educators, lawyers and military leaders to name just a few. In many cases the opportunities to meet with those from other livery companies is at one of the many Livery Halls, incredible historical buildings that are not generally open to the public.
The Spectacle Makers Society is the social arm of the company. It organises a wide-ranging programme of events open to all members with any profits going directly to the Company’s charitable work. In many cases the events are at locations which would be otherwise difficult to access, for example dinners at the Magic Circle and overlooking the Mary Rose, a mess evening at the home of an affiliated regiment and trips around Cambridge and Winchester ending with formal dinners in the respective university and guildhall.
The City
Capital cities contain government leaders and attract press attention. The Company has a unique role as the voice of vision within the City of London. Again, its influence is quiet but can be brought to bear to highlight the importance of vision and eye health. In 2018 the Company participated in the annual Lord Mayor’s Show to promote the importance of vision care and regular eye examinations to the half million or so lining the streets of the city and a TV audience of millions (figure 3).
Figure 3: Spectacle Makers taking part in the Lord Mayor’s Show 2018
Sixteen of the City of London’s Lord Mayors were spectacle makers and the election of Alderman Vincent Keaveny to Aldermanic Sherriff of the City in 2018 creates the potential for a spectacle maker to be Lord Mayor in November 2020. This will further promote the standing and the aims of the company.
Spectacle Makers Tomorrow
Throughout its nearly 400-year history the Spectacle Makers’ Company has seen and adapted to change and this continues as they look to the next 400 years. Over the next few years the last of the optometrists who qualified as FSMC will retire and that qualification, still seen occasionally in some practices, will disappear. While maintaining its roots and membership in vision and visual impairment the company is increasingly diversifying its membership beyond the traditional ‘three Os’. New Freemen are coming in from associated sensory professions, audiology and orthoptics, from charity and caring professions and this is also reflected in the wider membership of the governing body, the Court, no longer the white male domain of 40 years ago.
With active social media accounts promoting the importance of vision care and eye examinations and a developing LinkedIn community supporting access to mentors and coaches within the optical professions, one could say that the Company is returning to its roots. It will continue to support the craft, through educational grants, recognition of research excellence and career development across all professions. It will continue to build a strong charitable position to support the alleviation and management of those with vision impairment. It will continue to promote fellowship through networking across the optical profession and the wider community. The company is an open one; anyone with an optical qualification can apply for freedom of the Company and any person committed to improving vision, no matter what their specific profession, can get involved and participate in shaping the next 400 years of Spectacle Makers.
As the traditional clerk’s toast at the end of each event says: ‘The master, wardens and fellowshippe of spectacle makers of London; may they flourish − root and branch – for ever’.
Ian Davies is an optometrist now working as an independent motivational speaker, coach and business consultant. He is Renter Warden of the WCSM.
References:
- Law, FW 1978 The Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers. A History.
- Eldridge C (2019) The Spectacle Makers: The first 300 years in Minutes. Amazon.