Master
Margaret Clarissa Holland Prior JP
The Master: Margaret Clarissa Holland Prior JP
Margie followed her father, Redvers Prior, into The Worshipful Company of Gardeners, joining as an apprentice. He had been Master of the Needlemakers' Company of which she is also a Liveryman.She is a Liveryman of the Coopers' and a Past President of the Bishopsgate Ward Club.
Margie's City of London connections also include twenty years as a magistrate on The City Bench.
She became the Clerk to the Firefighters' Company seeing it through to full Livery status in 2001.
Margie was the Award Organiser and Fund Raiser for the Carpenters' Award, a biennial national competition sponsored by the Carpenters' Company for thirteen years. This competition, for fine joinery and structural carpentry in UK buildings, is known now as “The Wood Awards.”
Margie was a judge and committee member for The Flowers in the City Campaign, a judge for The London in Bloom Awards and The London Children’s Flower Society, and a committee member for The London Gardens Society She was a founder member and membership secretary of The Friends of Guildhall Art Gallery.
Margie's working life was in the hardwood timber trade, which included study visits and meetings with government officials and ministers worldwide. This led to encouraging young people and children in outdoor education and conservation in the UK. She is a founder member of The Forest Education Initiative which has over eighty groups throughout the UK. At present she is a Trustee of The Tree Council.
Now living in Jersey, Margie has a small allotment, where she grows heritage and native varieties of tomatoes. She led the Community of St. Brelade from 2007—2010 to be runner up in 2008 and winning Gold and Best Coastal Town for Britain in Bloom in 2009. She then presented St. Brelade’s entry for the Entente Florale Europe 2010, the largest environmental competition in Europe, achieving Gold and Winner.
Margie founded and chaired The St. Aubin Residents’ Association and the ‘Stop the Drop’ Campaign, an anti-litter crusade. She has taken numerous parties from schools, groups and companies out on beach clean-ups and conservation work on the Jersey headlands.
Her other interests have been with NADFAS, Marie Curie (City of London) and Brooke Hospital for Working Horses and Donkeys. Margie is a Trustee of The Jersey Society for the Protection of Animals. She has worked with and supported organisations which provide horticultural and gardening training for ex-Service personnel and is a keen supporter of ex-Service personnel having horticultural therapy and of the promotion of land based careers.
Her daughter, Tara, is also a Liveryman and Margie’s Steward for this year. Her son, Ben, who lives in Edinburgh, is a Liveryman of The Carpenters’ Company.
Upper Warden:
Dr. Heather Anne Barrett-Mold OBE
Dr Heather Barrett-Mold OBE was Principal and Chief Executive of Pershore Group of Colleges; now a consultant. As a senior manager Heather developed her skills in leadership and management but her initial subject area is biology/ecology, specialising in the management of chalk grassland.
Heather is a Vice President of the Institution of Environmental Sciences, is a Past President of the Institute of Horticulture and until July 2017 Vice Chair of the Science Council Board. Heather is one of the three UK representatives of the International Society of Horticultural Science. She is a member of the Perennial Board, a Governor for Capel Manor and involved in two other horticulture charities.
She was an expert for the Commission for Sustainable London 2012 which had a quality assurance role in the sustainable development of the Olympic Games.
Heather is married to Barry and their two children Claire and Andrew are now in their 30s. Claire is a Liveryman of the Company.
Renter Warden:
Peter Edward Waine
Peter Edward Waine
Peter Waine is a former chairman of CPRE and of both the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale and of the Tree Council. He is currently a trustee of The Gardens Trust. Peter is co-founder of Hanson Green, for many years the principal source for non-executive appointments, and has been on boards of public and private companies in addition to being a former visiting professor at both Warwick and Cass Business Schools.
A former member of the International Cricket Council and a trustee of
the Royal Opera House, Peter is author or co-author of two business
books, a business novel, a collection of poetry and of the history of
the campaigns that saved the English countryside. He is a former
Parliamentary candidate, local councillor and a current judge for the
Contrarian Prize. He is also Chairman of the Housman Society and was
a judge for the Wainwright Literary Prize in 2017.
Peter is married to Stefanie and has one grown up daughter and two granddaughters.
Spadebearer:
John Eric Gilbert
John Eric Gilbert
John is a garden designer based in London, specialising in urban spaces. He is also a part-time teacher of garden design and horticulture at Capel Manor College. He joined the Company after winning a Gardeners’ Company prize whilst a student at Capel Manor more than 20 years ago.
A former magazine editor, he now edits the Spade magazine and is actively involved in developing and maintaining the Gardeners’ website. An opera lover, he is married to Lynne. Their son Jayson and his family live in Brisbane.