The working life of Museum of London

The race is on to locate the key commissioning agreement for the Lord Mayor of London’s grand State Coach. This week I’ve been approaching key media outlets in the hope that they can help track down the location of the family last known to own this fascinating historical document in time for an international conference on ceremonial coaches at the Museum in November.

The beautifully ornate coach was commissioned in 1757 for the princely sum of £860 and takes pride of place each year in the annual Lord Mayor’s Show.

When not on ceremonial duties, the Museum is working to provide the coach with a brand new home when our new Galleries of Modern London open in Spring 2010.

Find out more about our new galleries here

Our curators have been able to locate a copy of the agreement at the London Metropolitan Archive and the notes held with this copy indicate that the original was last known to be in the possession of one “Mr P.K Glover Esquire” from Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire in 1958.

Having been unable to locate the Glover family through conventional means, this week we launched an appeal on the local BBC radio station (Three Counties) and  in the Bucks Free Press to see if anyone knows of the whereabouts of either the family or the agreement.

We believe that the Glover family descended from a long line of 18th and 19th century coachbuilders from Tottenham in London and although not directly linked to the subsequent building of the coach (that we know of) it would appear that an interest in the subject continued.

So if you think you know a family member or indeed have information on the whereabouts of the agreement the Museum would really like to hear from you…

For now the search continues as I plan to approach key specialist and enthusiast publications.