Roger Monk was a successful businessman and philanthropist in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He initially purchased a commission with His Majesty’s Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms (previously the Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners) in 1792, and then later with the King’s Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard. In 1805 he was chosen by the Prince Regent to be Exon of the Yeoman of the Guard (later Senior Exon), an appointment he held until his death in 1831.
Monk was admitted to the Freedom on 2nd November 1784 via Servitude at the age of 29. Then, after nearly forty years as a member of the Tallow Chandlers’ Company, on the 4th of July 1822 Monk was elected to the Court as an Assistant, and in July 1826 he was elected Master.
Roger Monk is known not only for the magnificent portraits he gave to the Company, but also for a number of trust fund bequests. These included several annuities, specifically that £20 be paid each to five poor Liverymen or their widows, aged 50 and upwards to be named Mr Monk’s Pensioners.
Eventually, Mr Monk’s Pensioners was absorbed into the Company’s annual pension payments and so no longer exists today, but the Company’s relationship with the two Body Guards has continued. Monk’s bequests are still honoured by the Company today albeit translated into modern currency.
An annual Roger Monk Dinner is held by the Yeomen of the Guard, which is attended by all members of the Body Guard, past and present, and representatives of the Tallow Chandlers’ Company. Similarly, the Gentlemen at Arms hold an annual celebratory dinner to which the Tallow Chandlers’ Master and Clerk are invited.
.png)
