005 00 00
1658. “Paid for intertayning the Lord Maior and Aldermen att their going
to the funerall of the Protector
0001 16 04”
The Colonel Tichborne referred to in some of the entries of 1648 was Sir
Robert Tichborne who gained an unfortunate prominence in the times of
the Commonwealth. After successful trading he became a Colonel in the
Parliamentary army, and was appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London.
He also obtained a seat in Parliament, and in 1649 presented a petition
to the House of Commons in favour of the execution of Charles I. He was
a member of the High Court by whom the King was condemned, and signed
the warrant for his execution, in January, 1649. In 1650 he was Master
of the Company, and in the same year he served as Sheriff of London, his
colleague being another Skinner, Richard (afterwards Sir Richard)
Chiverton, whose Mastership, in 1651, succeeded his own. In 1655 he was
knighted by the Lord Protector, and in 1656 he filled the office of Lord
Mayor, in which he was again succeeded, in 1657, by Chiverton. In 1657
he was nominated one of Cromwell’s peers, and became known as Lord
Tichborne. A pageant was provided by the Company on his accession to the
Civic Chair, at a cost of several hundreds of pounds. As has been seen,
the Company availed themselves of his influence to secure the removal of
the soldiers who had been quartered at the Hall in 1648, and they were
not ungrateful for his protection. The following further entries in the
Renter Warden’s accounts refer to him:—
“1650, Maye 30. Paid for a dinner when our M’r. and Wardens went to the
Court of Aldermen about Alderman Tichborne
0000 13 00
June 15. Paid Mr. Woodall for warning a Courte of Assistance about
Alderman Tichborne
0000 02 06”
In the same year there appears among the “good debts due to the house”
the following:—
“Alderman Tichborne, our M’r., for his fyne to come into the Assistants
0025 00 00”
while in 1650–51 there appears among the payments:—
“Paid, allowed Alderman Tichborne out of his fyne according to an order
of Courte
0025 00 00”
1656–7. “Paid, given the Lord Maior by order of Courte towardes the
tryming of his house
0060 00 00”