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Leathersellers’ Review 2024–2025
Obituaries
John Chard
Michael Lister
John Chard
Master 1991–1992
Master 1988–1989
Master 1991–1992
accountant, and he brought this expertise to his time on the Court. He was admitted to the Company by redemption in May 1952 and to the Livery only seven months later. He served on Court for 26 years, from 1978- 2004, and was for many years a member of the Policy Committee, the important body that recommends the Company’s overall direction and priorities. He was a frequent member of the Finance Committee, first serving in 1978 with a final stint in 2003-2004, and was a long-serving governor of Colfe’s School, serving as Chair of Governors from 1993-98. It was during this time that the school introduced co-education, which began in 1999. While he was Master, the opportunity arose to buy a 13-acre sports ground within walking distance of the school. The Leathersellers contributed £350,000 towards the purchase, and it went ahead – to the lasting benefit of Colfe’s. One of Michael’s main outside interests was football. His loyalties were not always fixed and depended somewhat on where he lived, but one of his clients was Chairman of the Wolverhampton Wanderers and Michael took a keen interest in the club, subsequently serving as its Finance Director from 2000- 2004. After his wife Shirley died he married Gay, the widow of Past Master Tony Russell, and moved to Suffolk, where he regularly attended matches of Ipswich Town (a.k.a. the Tractor Boys). His eldest son Tim is an international journalist and lives in Andalucia, and his younger James is a Freeman of the Company and lives in London.
John Chard, who died after more than 75 years as a Leatherseller, recorded his “awe and apprehension” on being installed as Master in July 1991 – but said at the end of his year in office that it had been the most memorable of his lifetime. It was certainly a busy year. Like all Masters, he attended numerous official engagements – 70 luncheons, 50 dinners and 18 receptions – and was pleased to note, in his record of his year, that he “still did not manage to put on any weight.” His fitness probably came from a long and healthy life as a farmer in Devon. It was also a memorable year for the Company as it commissioned the portrait of Diana, the Princess of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, to mark her association with HMS Cornwall , the Royal Navy ship with which the Company had a long association. John was invited to Kensington Palace for breakfast with Diana to discuss the portrait by David Hankinson. It was subsequently presented to the ship’s captain, but for safekeeping the original remained in the Hall, with a copy displayed in the ship. It turned out, sadly, to be one of only a few official portraits painted of Diana during her short life. John also had the important task of overseeing the selection of a new Clerk to succeed Captain Neil MacEacharn, who announced his retirement in December 1992. There were, as usual, many applicants, and from the final shortlist of four John and other senior Court members picked Rear Admiral Patrick Rowe to be Deputy Clerk until his succession as Clerk when Captain MacEacharn retired. John brought a straightforward, modest and engaging manner to his role as Master. He was an unpretentious man, who took the role seriously. Admitted
As Master from 1988–1989, Michael Lister implemented an important, lasting – and for some Court members very unpopular – measure that all Leathersellers would be obliged to retire from the Livery at the age of 75. There were complaints: several venerable Court members felt they still had plenty to offer in their later years. But eventually it was accepted as an important way to keep the Court lively and bring in some younger members. Many livery companies have now introduced a similar rule. Michael also oversaw another important development during his year: the redevelopment of Exchequer Court, the large building at the end of St Helen’s Place. This had proved a complicated deal: there was an agreement with a developer which had to be scrapped when the latter went bust, and there was something of a scramble to find another partner to see the project through. Michael had to act as a conciliator and go-between while negotiations went on. And he did so successfully, ultimately to the great profit of the Leathersellers – although this profit was delayed by the IRA bomb attack in April 1992, just a few months before the building’s scheduled completion. Exchequer Court was so badly damaged that it had to be demolished and rebuilt, not finally being finished until 1995. The Leathersellers’ charitable fund, which had hardly existed before, was set up with the income from Exchequer Court with an annual income of £1m, and this has been the basis of a fund that has now grown considerably and made the Leathersellers one of the largest donors in the livery community. Michael had a head for figures. After leaving Haileybury school, he was, for all his professional life, a chartered
by patrimony in 1952, he served as a Court Assistant for 20 years from 1981. During that time he also spent a number of years on the Charities Grants Committee, on the university exhibitions (student grants) panel and as a member of the Estates Committee. He regularly made the long journey up to London from Devon, where for years he and his wife Sally ran a farm, a passion he had had since working as an agronomic researcher near Maidenhead after completing national service in the Royal Signal Corps. He brought his modern ideas on farming to deepest Devon, bringing up two children there, Richard and Sarah. Richard is now a Liveryman on the Court; Sarah was tragically killed in a road accident just weeks from her 21st birthday. As a memorial to her, John founded the John Tallack Youth Centre in his hometown for the young people of Cullompton. He was passionate about this, and the Leathersellers helped to fund projects there via the annual grants to Past Masters. He later converted the farm into a golf and indoor bowling club with supporting catering, designed especially for the people of mid Devon. They eventually sold the centre and then spent a happy time travelling the world, celebrating their ruby wedding in South Africa and Mauritius. Sally died during the Covid-19 lockdown, and John moved into a centre in town before going into a care home for the last eight weeks of his life. He leaves a legacy as a conscientious and hardworking Leatherseller, deeply involved in the Company’s charitable activities – a role that his son Richard has also held for several years as Chair of the Charity Committee.
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