The Wardens

Upper Warden John Schofield

I joined the Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers at the invitation of Dr George Bird, becoming a liveryman in 2008 and joining the Court in 2015.

I am a medical doctor by profession having qualified at St George’s, University of London in 1981. For the last 30 years I have been a Consultant Histopathologist, diagnosing malignant disease by microscopic and molecular analysis of tissue samples. My particular medical diagnostic and research interests are the pathology of lymphoma, leukaemia and colon cancer. In 2014 I became visiting Professor of Pathology at the University of Kent. I am active in teaching the next generation of our doctors, encouraging research and innovation in pathology, and for the last seven years have been a trustee of the charity Bowel Cancer UK raising awareness of this common but dangerous disease.

I am married to Helen, a pharmaceutical physician and virologist with expertise in drug development, with two daughters – Emma, a recently qualified dentist and Lucy, a civil servant, all now living in South London. My hobbies include the study of art, architecture and antiques. Together, Helen and I enjoy travelling in the UK and abroad, and visiting the Pembrokeshire coast which provides a safe haven away from the bustle of the City.

In the Company, I have chaired the Communications committee and a subgroup of the Strategic Review 2020. I currently serve on the Finance, Craft, Communications, Treasures and Nominations committees, and organised the stocktake of the Company’s treasures in April 2021. After nearly two years of Company life seriously affected by Covid 19, I am looking forward to an exciting year where (we hope!) normal service will resume.

Renter Warden Christopher Causer

Previous profiles written for the Newsletter have contained information about my career and introduction to the Company, so this time I thought I would just say something about how I spent my time as Renter Warden in Nomination (RWIN).

The RWIN has two main responsibilities. First, I needed to take the minutes of Court meetings. This required the usual tact and diplomacy of the minute taker, since those who make oral contributions generally like their contribution to be noted, and the version in print needs to read better than a literal transcript would. The past year was challenging because taking notes of Zoom meetings is more difficult than minuting a live meeting. Checking who was present took longer too. Once drafted, the minutes are approved or edited by the Master. I am happy to report that last year’s Master did not choose to rewrite the minutes extensively!

The second responsibility is revising the Company’s constitutional documents as required from time to time. Following our Strategic Review, a substantial revision was needed and we took the opportunity to streamline the collection of documents and produce a more user friendly set of papers. There is now a proper Contents page, a uniform numbering system and a logical flow within the documents. Much duplication or triplication was edited out. Terms of reference were drafted for missing committees and Court appointees. All in all, the sort of thing that pleases a lawyer and which should make life easier for future Court members and the Clerk.

Finally, I sat on the Craft and Finance Committees, and I was much involved in planning for the 2021 Triennial Awards, delayed from 2020.

I am delighted to report that my successor as RWIN is Jenny Rolls, who is serving her second term on the Court and chairs the new Membership Committee.