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The Worshipful Company of Drapers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London; it has the formal name of The Master and Wardens and Brethren and Sisters of the Guild or Fraternity of the Blessed Mary the Virgin of the Mystery of Drapers of the City of London but is more usually known as the Drapers' Company. The organization was founded in 1361; it received a Royal Charter three years later. It was incorporated, or became a Company, under a Royal Charter in 1438, and was the first corporate body to be granted a coat of arms.
Originally, the organisation was a trade association of wool and cloth merchants. It was one of the most powerful companies in London politics, over one hundred Lord Mayors having been members of the Company; the first, Henry Fitzailwyn, is thought to have been a draper. During the Plantation of Ulster, it held land around MoneymoreMoneymore is a town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, lying near Lough Neagh. It is now in the District of Cookstown. Its name comes from the Irish Muine Mor or Big Thicket''. It was the main town of the Northern Ireland plantation by the Drapers' and DraperstownDraperstown Baile na Scrine in Irish) is a small town in County Derry, Northern Ireland, in the Sperrin Mountains. It was founded by the Drapers' Company, although the area was previously known as Ballynascreen (see Irish). The town's visitor centre focus in County LondonderryFor other places with similar names, see Londonderry (disambiguation) and Derry (disambiguation). County Londonderry or County Derry Doire in Irish) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. It was named for its main town (later city and administrat.
Today, the company exists as a charitable, ceremonial, and educational institution. This has included providing the site and some of the buildings of Queen Mary CollegeQueen Mary, University of London (QMUL) (until recently Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London and still called that in its charter and occasionally still abbreviated to QMW) is the fourth largest College of the University of London. It is in the University of LondonThe University of London founded in 1836, is a federation of colleges which together constitute one of the world's largest universities. Somewhere between 10 and 20 percent of all UK students attend one of its colleges, which include some of the most pres, and administering almshouseSherborne, Dorset Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people (typically elderly people who can no longer work to earn enough to pay rent) to live in a particular community. They are often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those froms such as the Henry LucasThe Reverend Henry Lucas (c. 1610-December 1663) was Member of Parliament for Cambridge University from 1639 to 1640. In his will, he founded the Henry Lucas Charity with a bequest of £7000, to be spent on building an almshouse for poor old men and on emp Hospital. Drapers' Hall, opposite the London Stock ExchangeThe London Stock Exchange (abbreviated LSE is a stock exchange market located in London. Founded in 1801, it is one of the largest stock exchanges in the world, with many overseas listings as well as UK companies. The former Stock Exchange Tower, based in, is the base of the Company, and this is lent out as a banqueting hall to raise funds for corporate and charitable activities.
Three royal princes joined the Company, though none were expected at the time to become kings:
The Company ranks third in the order of precedence of Livery Companies, thus being one of the "Great Twelve City Livery Companies." The Company's motto is Unto God Only Be Honour and Glory.