Winter Gardens chair, council leader and Beyond Radio presenter among new Lancaster Freemen and Freewomen

Monday, 9 September 2024 15:22

By Greg Lambert @greglam72

The new Freemen and Freewomen of the city of Lancaster with the mayor, Councillor Abi Mills, mayor consort Jon Mills and Mark Davies, chief executive of Lancaster City Council

The new Freemen and Freewomen of the city of Lancaster include some familiar faces.

Professor Vanessa Toulmin, chair of the Winter Gardens Preservation Trust which owns the Morecambe Winter Gardens theatre, Councillor Phillip Black, leader of Lancaster City Council, and Beyond Radio presenter Paul Fisher were among those to be bestowed with the honour at a ceremony on Saturday.

City councillors Sally Maddocks and Matthew Black, and local music promoter Mark Simpson were also among those to be entered at a special 'court of admission' held at Lancaster Town Hall on Saturday.

The full list of the new freemen and freewomen is:

Ruth Akister, Darren Christopher Atkinson, June Baker, Matthew Black, Phillip Black, Wendy Jean Cardiff, Paul David Fisher, David Green, Jennifer Laura Hay, Yvonne Kent, Sally Ann Shelley Maddocks, Sarah Louise Maginness, Neil Monks, Barry Pinington, Mark Robert Simpson, Vanessa Toulmin, Gareth Walmsley and Katherine Margaret Wilkinson.

They had to apply to become Freemen and Freewomen, which is one of Lancaster’s most historic traditions.

Traditionally the honour carried a number of privileges including the right to ‘pasture a limited number of beasts’ on the Marsh, to enter the city free from the payment of tolls and also to bring goods through toll gates for sale at the Lancaster Market.

Nowadays the role carries few rights, but remains popular amongst those who are proud of their heritage.

Both men and women are eligible to apply if they meet one of the following criteria:

• To be the son or daughter of a Freeman or Freewoman.
• To have served an apprenticeship to a Freeman or Freewoman of the City for a period of seven years.
• To have been born within the old city boundaries.
• To have lived within the old city boundaries for a period of seven consecutive years.

In each case, the applicant has to be at least 16 years of age.

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