Historic Links Between the Plumbers and Painters’ Hall – 19 August 2025
As the Company customises to our new offices at Painters’ Hall, some research into past connections has revealed fascinating historical ties between the Worshipful Company of Plumbers and the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers.
The story begins with Herbert Duncan Appleton, born in Stockwell, London, in 1853. Trained as an architect, he became a Liveryman of the Painter-Stainers’ Company in 1887. His father, a prosperous tea merchant of Coleman Street, enabled Herbert to establish himself in professional circles. At this time, Herbert was overseeing works at Painters’ Hall and the Chambers in Little Trinity Lane.
In July 1890, aged 37, Herbert married Bessie Took. Shortly afterwards, with the agreement of her adoptive father, Solicitor Searles Valentine Wood, Herbert changed his name by deed poll to Herbert Duncan Searles-Wood. The following year, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
The Plumbers’ connection begins with James Stenhouse Shaw, who became a Liveryman of the Painter-Stainers’ Company in 1884. James worked alongside his brother George Shaw, a plumber, Common Councillor of the City of London, and Master of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers. In March 1886, George Shaw, as Master, chaired the very first meeting of the Register of Qualified Plumbers by the WCoP. This body became known as the “Registration Committee.” It was agreed that either the Master or one of the Wardens of the Plumbers would always chair the committee. The Registration Committee continued its work until 1909, when it was replaced by a new body, the London Council for the National Registration of Plumbers, no longer requiring a Plumber’s Company Master or Warden to preside.
At this point, Herbert Duncan Searles-Wood, architect and Painter-Stainer Liveryman, was elected Chairman of the new Council. In 1913, he went on to become Master of the Painter-Stainers’ Company, and in the following year the Company purchased further properties in Little Trinity Lane. The surveyor in charge of the work was none other than Searles-Wood, at a cost of around £11,000.
In 1918, Searles-Wood presided over a meeting of the London Council for the National Registration of Plumbers, held at the offices of W. D. Caroe, then Master of the Plumbers’ Company, in Westminster. His long service continued into the 1930s. In 1930, when W. H. M. Smeaton (a past Secretary to the Council) was elected Master of the Plumbers, a lecture on “Registration from the Employers’ Point of View” was given. At this meeting, Searles-Wood expressed his regret that more Masters and operatives had not joined the Council, urging that wider membership would help secure legislation to ensure only those truly qualified could practise the craft — a development which he believed would greatly benefit both the trade and the health of the public.
Herbert Duncan Searles-Wood F.R.I.B.A. died on 22 December 1936, after serving as Chairman of the London Council for the National Registration of Plumbers for 27 years — a record of dedication unlikely ever to be equalled. His influence extended widely: he was a leading member of the Royal Sanitary Institute, the Institution of Structural Engineers, the Institute of Arbitrators, King’s College, the Brixton School of Building, and many other bodies.
These historic links between Painters’ Hall and the Plumbers’ Company highlight once again the long tradition of cooperation between London’s ancient Livery Companies, rooted in service to both craft and community.
Written by John Carnaby