Ramsgate Civic Insignia

Ramsgate received its royal charter on the 2nd of April 1884. On the 9th June in the same year, 6 Aldermen and 18 councillors met to elect the first Mayor of Ramsgate, a Mr. John Kennett of Nethercourt. Sir Moses Montefiore presented the town with the chain of office shortly before this, and on the 7th of July of that year, Messrs. Tomson and Wotton presented the town with the civic mace.
Sir Moses Montefiore was a frequent visitor to Ramsgate and in 1831 purchased Eastcliff Lodge with 24 acres, for the sum of £5,500. He was born in Leghorn in 1784 and was much loved by the people of Ramsgate. He died herein 1885 aged 100.

Before its closure in 1968, Tomson and Wotton was the oldest brewery in Kent and dates back to 1634. It stood on the present Waitrose site from 1854 until its closure.

The chain of office is 36 inches long and consists of 18 shields surrounded by a lifebuoy interlinked by 17 Persian ornaments, on each one is the Hebrew letter "mem" and on each shield the names of past Mayors. Suspended from the chain, illustrations of a ship's block and tackle form the badge, which is of Elizabethan design and crossed by the mace and sword. In the centre are the silver bars, which form a cross known as the "armorial bearings", and were granted to the town in 1884. (Armorial bearings must be registered with the college of arms).

Surrounding the badge is the richly enamelled laurel and wreath entwined by a ribbon of royal blue, bearing the town motto in Latin "salus naufragis salus aegris", which means "safety for the shipwrecked and health for the sick".

Since 1934, the 50th anniversary and incorporation, the use of supporters were allowed and these take the form of a lifeboatman and coastguard. In the top left hand quarter on a red background, is the county emblem, the Kentish horse "Invicta", meaning unconquered. This refers to the first king of Kent, King Vortigern, whose daughter Rowena married Hengist, a Viking warlord sent for by the king to help him drive his enemies, the Bards and Druids back to the north over the River Thames. They did this successfully and were given large parts of east Kent - including the Isle of Thanet. The rampant horse of Kent is thought to have been on his standard when he landed.

On the bottom left quarter, is the dolphin on a blue background. This refers to the town's importance as the home of the fishing fleet. When at its peak, it numbered over 200 fishing smacks and one could walk from one side of the harbour to the other on the decks of these boats.

On the top right quarter on a blue background, is a lion's head joined to the hulk of a ship. This is the badge of the Cinque Ports and signifies that since 1483, the town of Ramsgate is a limb of liberty to the town of Sandwich.

On the bottom right quarter on a red background is the golden lymhad or single masted galley. This signifies the importance Ramsgate had with the sea trade in and around the harbour. John Smeaton started work on the present harbour following the authorisation by parliament in 1750 and in the first 18 months, 52,000 tons of chalk had been removed.

The badge and chain of office is the work of the late Mr. James Phillips of New Bond Street in London and it is made from 18ct gold. The chain is 36 inches long and weighs 13 oz. the badge weighs 8oz. and at the last valuation in 1997, the chain was valued at £86,000 and the badge £49,000.

After the forming of the Jewish state of Israel, an offer of £250,000 was made for the chain, but was declined due to its historic value to the town.

The ceremonial mace as we see it today, is the highly ornamental descendant of the prehistoric club or bludgeon, the oldest universal weapon ever made by man. With the introduction of armour among fighting men, the club or bludgeon became more fearsome and capable of penetrating the strongest of armour. The war mace was about 2ft. long, one end had a bowl in which were embedded 4 or more spikes; at the other was a small bowl, which stopped it slipping from the hand of its user. This special weapon was first used by the bodyguard of Phillip II of France after he deserted the cause of the crusades between 1180 and 1223, and was also used by the sergeant at arms to Richard I.

The men of the church instead of a sword also carried the war mace or bludgeon into battle, so that they did not break the cynical rule that 'men of the cloth' could not shed blood by the sword! A good example of this is on the Bayeaux tapestry showing bishop Udo wielding a war mace.

By the end of the Tudor period, the war mace had evolved into the ceremonial mace that we see today. This came about by being standardised by royal decree in the reign of Charles I. He ordered all towns to obey Maundy, formed by an act of parliament in 1649.

The ceremonial mace is 3ft long and weighs 51bs. 5oz. and is of silver gilt, heavily engraved with the Scottish thistle which signifies the unification between England and Scotland. The four shields on the crown of the mace are the horse rampant, (the county emblem), the borough arms, the badge of the Cinque Ports and the names of the donors, Tomson and Wotton. (the commonwealth mace has an acorn on top of the crown instead of the orb and cross).

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