MIDDLEWICH'S CIVIC INSIGNIA

THE SEAL OF THE URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL OF MIDDLEWICH 1897

 Middlewich Town Council

by Dave Roberts,

The Civic Insignia of Middlewich, by which we mean the chains and badges of office worn by the Mayor and Mayoress (or Mayor's Companion) and the Deputy Mayor, are quite magnificent and bear comparison with those found in any other small town.

The Mayor's chain and seal has been in continuous use, year after year, since 1897. The badge worn by the Mayor's Companion (formerly the Mayor's Consort) is of more recent vintage, having been gifted to the former Middlewich Urban District Council in 1954. In 2019, the first (and, it appears, only) year of Middlewich's Community Mayor, the badge took on a completely unforeseen and very personal significance for Lynne Hardy, the first Mayor's Companion. But more of that later.

It's a privilege to be able to show you, possibly for the first time ever, exactly what our town's insignia look like, and we're very grateful to the Town Council for allowing us to do this.

Middlewich Town Council

The chain and seal of the Middlewich Urban District Council was presented to the town by local industrialist and philanthropist Sir John Brunner to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897.

There is an inscription on the back of the seal recording this fact, but unfortunately our photographic skills do not permit us to show you a clear picture of it. Here's what the engraving, now somewhat worn by the countless suits, ties, waistcoats and dresses of past Council chairmen and mayors, actually says:

Presented to

The Town of Middlewich

by

SIR JOHN TOMLINSON BRUNNER, BART. M.P.
FOR THE NORTHWICH DIVISION OF CHESHIRE

In Commemoration of the Sixtieth Year of

The Reign Of Her Most Glorious Majesty

QUEEN VICTORIA

June 1897

Middlewich Town Council

The council's seal and motto, which was used on the Urban District Council's letterheads and documents until the council ceased to exist in 1974, is borrowed from the coat of arms of the France-Hayhurst family of nearby Bostock Hall.

The crest as used on Middlewich U.D.C. paperwork prior to 1974

The design was also used by the Middlewich Heritage Society in its early years, the society going to the trouble and expense of having a printing block of it made in those pre-computer days.

 Evidence of the family's influence in the town can also be found in the Parish Church.

Courtesy of St Michael & All Angels, Middlewich

The coat of arms itself is now used on the sign outside the popular Hayhurst Arms pub and restaurant in Bostock.

Courtesy of THE HAYHURST ARMS

Virtus Semper Viridis translates as
'Virtue is always flourishing' or
'Virtue is always green'

When the Town Council came into being in 1974 it applied to use the seal and motto but this was refused on the grounds that the council which used it originally had, effectively, ceased to exist, meaning that the design had become the property of the Crown.

Many town councils, presumably being in the same position, decided to go to the expense of having new insignia made with the town council's name and newly created coats-of-arms on them, but Middlewich sensibly decided to carry on using the original UDC chains and badges, creating a pleasing sense of continuity and a link with the past. This policy also, of course, saved the council an not inconsiderable amount of money.

Obviously, though, the old design couldn't be used on council paperwork, hence the creation of the council's now familiar logo.

MIDDLEWICH HIGH SCHOOL

Eagle-eyed readers will, by now, have realised that the local High School badge

also has a familiar look to it

Middlewich Town Council

Here's the full chain and insignia, as worn by the Mayor. Bottom centre, just above the seal, is the Brunner crest. Does anyone know how Bibe Si Sapis translates into English?





UPDATE: We're grateful to Garnet Marshall, who is a member of the Brunner Lodge in Middlewich and tells us:

It's the motto from the coat of arms of the BRUNNER family. It translates to "if though art wise, drink"

Sound advice.

Middlewich Town Council

This will be familiar to anyone who has ever attended Sir John Deane's College, or its fore-runner, Sir John Deane's Grammar School. Sir John Brunner was a great benefactor of the school and the family crest is incorporated into the coat-of-arms still used by the college.

Courtesy of SIR JOHN DEANE'S COLLEGE

You'll notice that the college's version is missing the 'Red Hand' in the top left hand corner. During my days at SJDGS the hand was included in the badges on our blazers and there were always dark mutterings about some supposed connection with the Irish Loyalist movement, as the symbol was thought to be 'The Red Hand Of Ulster'. A simple misconception, it turns out. Sir John's red hand simply indicated that he was a Baronet. The school quietly dropped the symbol from its badge some time in the sixties, presumably to avoid such conjectures. To save any further confusion, the Red Hand of Ulster is a right hand, while the red hand indicating a Baronet is a left hand.

Coincidentally, Sir John Brunner died exactly one hundred years to the day that this article was written, on the 1st July 1919.

Around the Mayoral chain are fourteen medallions with the names and dates of Chairmen (and they were, as you can imagine, all men) of the Middlewich U.D.C. from 1897 until the end of the Great War and on into the mid-1920s. They read like a roll-call of (almost) every well-known Middlewichian name you can think of and are (running anti-clockwise):

HENRY SEDDON 1897-8, 1902-3

THOMAS HULME 1898-9

WILLIAM JONES 1899-1900, 1908-9, 1909-10

JAMES WILLIAMS 1900-1, 1910-11

THOMAS SUMMERFIELD 1901-2

GEORGE WILLIAMS 1903-4

EDWARD BAKER HARLOCK 1904-5, 1911-12, 1921-2

WILLIAM BOOSEY 1905-6

FRANK ALBERT LIDBURY 1906-7

JAMES SMALLWOOD 1907-8

CHARLES LAWRENCE 1908-9

JOSEPH POWELL 1912-13, 1924-5

JOSEPH ALBERT HULME 1913-14

OSWALD BARKER WHITEHEAD 1914-19

Middlewich Town Council

The Middlewich UDC Consort's chain of office and badge. From 2019 the term Mayor's Consort was replaced by 'Mayor's Companion' - though for the first year of the Community Mayoralty at least, most people seem to prefer the term 'Mayoress'. 

Middlewich Town Council

The Consort's insignia is of much more recent origin, having been presented to the Middlewich U.D.C. in 1954. And thereby hangs a tale...

The 'Mayor's Companion' (or Mayoress) for the first year of our town's Community Mayoralty, was my partner, Lynne Hardy.

Lynne originates from Huddersfield and has lived here for thirty years.

For nearly all of those thirty years her best friend was Ann Hough, a very well-known and well-loved Middlewich lady.

Sadly Ann passed away last October, and is very much missed by her family and her wide circle of friends including, of course, Lynne and I.

So imagine Lynne's feelings when we examined the civic treasures we've been looking at here, and she found that on the back of the insignia she would be wearing throughout the year were inscribed the words...

Middlewich Town Council

'Presented to the M.U.D.C.

by

MISS ANNIE HOUGH

of

MIDDLEWICH

1954'

A happy coincidence, to say the least, and there couldn't have been a better omen for the first year of this new and, we believe, unique type of Mayoralty.

But does anyone know who Miss Annie Hough was? Attempts to find out have all come to nothing so far and, for obvious reasons, we'd love to find out something about her. 1954 is, after all, within living memory. If you remember Annie, or know anything about her, feel free to contact us.

Finally, just a word about the terms used in this article. I am, as you'll have gathered, no expert on civic insignia, heraldry, family crests and coats-of-arms and the like. I've used the terms I thought appropriate. If you know better, please don't hesitate to get in touch and put me right.

There is, incidentally, one piece we haven't shown you, and that's the badge worn by the Deputy Mayor. We hope to add a photo of this in the near future.

I very much hope you've enjoyed this glimpse of our town's beautiful civic insignia.

With grateful thanks to:

MIDDLEWICH TOWN COUNCIL

DENISE FRENCH

NICCI ANTONEY

JONATHAN WILLIAMS

COLIN COULES (MAYOR, 2023.-2023)

UPDATE August 21st 2023

In August 2023 the Town Council finally obtained permission to use the old MUDC crest, and here it is, looking better than ever and injecting much-needed Civic Pride into our local affairs. It can be found on the council ranger's van and, increasingly, on MTC paperwork. Many thanks to Middlewich Town Mayor Colin Coules and Town Clerk Nicci Antoney.

A version of this article also appears on THE MIDDLEWICH YEAR

This version first published 1st July 2019
Revised and re-published 21st June 2020

re-published 24th June 2022

UPDATED and re-published 21st August 2023

A NEW MAYOR FOR MIDDLEWICH - TWENTY EIGHT YEARS ON...

Photo: Peter Cox

David Roberts

Monday 18th May 2020

Monday 18th May 2020 is a historic day for the town of Middlewich.

Tonight the Town Council, for the first time in its forty-six year history. will be meeting, not in the Victoria Hall, or the Wych Centre, or even the Council Chamber in the Victoria Building, but online.

The change has been brought about by the need for 'social-distancing' because of the current Covid 19 outbreak. Many town, borough and county councils are doing the same thing with, as the old phrase has it, necessity being the mother of invention.

LINK: FIRST EVER ONLINE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING 18th MAY 2020

One of the items on tonight's agenda is the annual appointment of the Chairman of The Town Council, successor to Russell Watkinson, the current Chairman.

In previous years the Council Chairman has taken on the role of 'Mayor of Middlewich' the terms 'Mayor' and 'Chairman' being, for most purposes, interchangeable.

Last year, as is well known, this all changed with the council's introduction of a 'Community Mayor' to act as the town's First Citizen and take on the ceremonial role previously carried out by the Chairman.

As is also well known things didn't quite work out as they should have done and the 'Community Mayor Project' is currently suspended, with the council seemingly still determined to make a success of what is, when all's said and done, still a brilliant idea.

This then, is the state of play on this 18th of May.

But we thought this might be an opportune moment to travel back in time no less than twenty-eight years to the 18th May 1992, when our old friend Peter Cox, well-known supporter of the Rail Link Campaign and founder member of the original Folk & Boat Festival among many other good causes in Middlewich was installed as Mayor of Middlewich,as successor to Gerard Devaney. Peter was proposed by Cllr Colin Barrass and seconded by Cllr Dot Roberts.

And the 18th May is also special because it's the birthday of our late, and still very much missed, Town Clerk, Jonathan Williams, who sadly passed away last September.

It's worth noting that Peter acknowledged the fact that his inauguration occurred on Jonathan's thirtieth birthday by including this note in his speech:

'...at this point I would like to say that it is a special day for our Town Clerk. It's the day when he leaves his twenties behind him. I would like him to receive these token gifts in appreciation for the work he does.'

Note: What those token gifts were is not recorded, but we're sure that Peter will let us know in due course.

Peter Cox and the then thirty-year old Jonathan Williams pictured together on the occasion of the launch of the Middlewich Waterside Trail on the 27th May 1992.
(Photo: Peter Cox/Middlewich Chronicle)

Peter made a complete record of his year as Mayor of Middlewich and we are grateful to him for allowing us access to it. It's a treasure-trove of information on just what was going on in Middlewich twenty-eight years ago and on the amazing amount of things that a committed and hard-working Town Mayor can expect to get involved with during his, or her, term of office. We look forward to many more glimpses into this invaluable archive.

Sadly, Peter hasn't been too well recently and we're sure that everyone will want to join with us in wishing him a speedy return to good health.

David Roberts
Editor,
The Middlewich Diary