FREEMEN AND POVERTY

Southland Times, Issue 21274, 20 December 1930, Page 4

FREEMEN AND POVERTY

MANY CASES IN LONDON. UNPLEASANT REVELATIONS. That there are 21 Freemen of the City of London living in abject poverty was revealed recently. They are the last surviving members of the Fellowship of Porters, which was incorporated in 1155. Every member of the fellowship had to be a Freeman of the city. In 1894 the Fellowship was disbanded. Now there are only 21 of the old members left, and their average age is 75. Sitting in a little basement room in Stamford Street, London, Mr William C. Murphy, the youngest of the survivors, told a reporter of the poverty of these Freemen. "There arc no privileges whatever attached to being a Freeman of the City of London —the wealthiest city in the world,” he said. “In the past few years many of my brothers in the Fellowship have died in the workhouse. The fact that they were Freemen did not prevent their’ burial in pauper's graves. "Little did we think when we were made Freemen of this great city of ours that we would ever be reduced to the lowest ebb of poverty. Look at my home.” He waved his hand round the mean little room, lit only by an oil lamp. “It isn’t, very luxurious, yet it is very much better than some the other porters have. "When I think about them it nearly breaks my heart. Tommy Boteler, who joined the army when he was well over 60, lost the sight of both his eyes in the war. He’s in St. Dunstan’s now. I’ve tried to get some sort of little pension for these fine fellows, but I haven't been successful.”