Durham fights to protect centuries of tradition

Aug 29 2008 by Neil McKay, The Journal

FOR more than 400 years, the citizens of Durham have traditionally chosen their own Mayor. The Mayor of Durham (whose full title is The Right Worshipful, The Mayor of Durham) is historically the oldest Mayoral Bodyguard outside the City of London and is ranked equal fifth in precedence in the country behind York, Belfast, and Cardiff.

Locally, the mayor ranks after the sovereign and Lord Lieutenant for the County, and is appointed each year by Durham City councillors.

But now councillors on a new local authority which does not come into being until next April plan to dispense with centuries of tradition.

Members of Durham County Council, which will become the new single unitary authority for the county next year after the abolition of the city council, intend to choose the city’s next Mayor.

But the decision outlined in a report yesterday has ruffled more than a few feathers. Durham City councillors argue that the 22 members on the new authority who live in and represent Durham City and its immediate surrounding villages, should become the new charter trustees, responsible for choosing the Mayor.

The current Mayor, Grenville Holland, said: “We could have people from as far away as Consett or Seaham Harbour, or indeed from Weardale and Willington, choosing our next Mayor, which is a ludicrous situation.”

Coun Holland, a graduate of both Oxford and Yale universities, who moved to Durham in 1965 and made his name at the city’s university working on the Apollo Space Programme for NASA, made an impassioned plea at County Hall yesterday to continue to allow Durham City people choose their own first citizen.

He said: “The City of Durham is 900 years old and it carries with it many traditions that simply cannot be bandied around as the political play ball of some modern institution.

“The office of the Mayor of Durham dates back to 1602, and is the fifth most senior in the United Kingdom. That seniority places it high amongst the Queen’s Kingdom and its historical importance is reflected through its many symbolic activities, not least in the Cathedral.

“To draw the trustees from the whole membership of the incoming unitary council, thereby involving members with little or no connection with our city, is politically driven and divisive.”

But Durham County Council leader Simon Henig insisted the recommendations in the report posed no threat to the office of Mayor of Durham City.

And he said that while there was a difference of opinion over who the charter trustees should be, the way forward could be re-examined if and when a town council was established in the city.

He added: “We all want town councils to be set up as soon as possible, but until Durham City gets one, we have to come up with interim arrangements to deal with things as they currently are.”

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How Mayor John Duck made his fortune...

ONE notable former Mayor was a certain John Duck, of Silver Street.

His story closely resembles that of Dick Whittington. He is known to have arrived in Durham in 1655 with the intention of becoming a butcher’s apprentice.

He approached every butcher in Durham but was refused work because he had no details of his place of birth. The concern seemed to be that he may be a Scot, and the employment of such was forbidden by the Butcher’s guild. When one butcher finally agreed to take Duck on, the Butcher’s Guild persuaded him to change his mind. Legend states that the dejected Mr Duck was wandering by the riverside when a passing raven dropped a coin of gold at his feet.

With this gold coin, John Duck went on to make his fortune. Evidence suggests he was not always law abiding in the way he accumulated his wealth. Mr Duck went on to become one of the wealthiest men in Durham, owning both land and collieries. In 1680, he became Mayor of Durham and progressed to the rank of a baronet when he became Sir John Duck of Haswell on the Hill.