Origin of the Golden Lecture
William Jones, one of the Company’s earliest and most generous benefactors, bequeathed money to the Company in 1614 for a school and almshouses in Monmouth, where he spent his early years, and in Newland where he was born, as well as the appointment of preachers to spread the Gospel, particularly including the annual Golden Lecture.
More than 400 years later his school now educates almost 1400 boys and girls in Monmouth and is recognised as one of the best schools in Wales and the almshouses provide 25 warm and secure homes for elderly people.
The Golden Lecturer is required to deliver a sermon in a Church in the City of London and regular donations are made to the Dioceses of London and Southwark for the support of the Clergy there, still funded by the William Jones bequest.
The 2019 Golden Lecture was held at St Lawrence Jewry on 28th March and the speaker was the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE,
Bishop of London. The title of the Bishop’s Lecture was Seeking the Welfare of the City: The Role of the Church in Turbulent Times.