Cutlers to welcome first female Master

Pamela Liversidge will take charge of Sheffield’s Cutlers Company on Tuesday as the first female master in 387 years.

The guest list for the event at Sheffield’s Cutlers’ Hall is the biggest-ever according to the company, and will including business people, academics and politicians as well as 165 freemen, many of them active members of the business community in the Sheffield region.

The traditional ceremony will see the current Master, Prof Bill Speirs, formally hand over the badge of office to Mrs Liversidge.

Pat Speirs, Prof Speirs’s wife and the current Mistress Cutler, will formally hand her badge of office to Mrs Liversidge’s husband, Douglas.

A spokesman for the company said: “In a break with tradition, he will not retain the badge but will in turn present it to Jean Stone, wife of past Master, David Stone.

“She has agreed to take on the role of Mistress Cutler for local events and will be called the Hallamshire Mistress Cutler.”

Mr Liversidge, himself a past Master, will then be presented with a new badge of office as the Master’s Consort. The specially commissioned piece has been created by Sally Cox, a young silversmith based at Persistence Works in Sheffield.

Speaking yesterday, Mrs Liversidge said: “The Cutlers’ Company is an institution which has been around for hundreds of years but is still very relevant in today’s world.

“It is part of our civic society and an essential part of the local economy.

“I fully intend to uphold its traditions while ensuring it benefits from the forward-thinking step it has taken in appointing its first woman to the role.

“It is the start of a new chapter and I am keen to ensure that it is a good one.”

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