John Gayer or Gayre (baptised 1584 - died 20 July 1649) was an English merchant who was

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

in 1646.

Life

He was born in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

and baptised in 1584. He was the eldest son of John Gayer senior, a merchant, and Margaret Trelawney. Both his parents were Cornish by birth: the Gayer family came originally from

Liskeard Liskeard ( ; ) is an ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) east of Bodmin. Th ...

. Gayer moved to London, and at one stage of his career spent some years in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, where a strange event later led him to institute the Lion sermon. He became a city of London merchant and a member of the

Worshipful Company of Fishmongers The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers (or Fishmongers' Company) is one of the 111 livery companies of the City of London, being an incorporated guild of sellers of fish and seafood in the City. The Company ranks fourth in the order of precede ...

. He was one of the Court Assistants from 1617 to 1618, from 1622 to 1623, and from 1624 to 1626. He was a member of the committee of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

from 1626 to 1635 and was one of the Court Assistants from 1627 to 1630. In 1630, he became Treasurer of the

Levant Company The Levant Company was an English chartered company formed in 1592. Elizabeth I of England approved its initial charter on 11 September 1592 when the Venice Company (1583) and the Turkey Company (1581) merged, because their charters had expired, ...

for two years. He was one of the Court Assistants from 1632 to 1636 and was a member of the committee of the East India Company from 1635 to 1636. He became

Sheriff of London Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...

in 1635 for a year. On 27 October 1636 he was elected an alderman of the City of London for

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. The gate gave its name to ''Aldgate High Street'', the first stretch of the A11 road, that takes that name as it passes through the ancient, extramural Portsoken ...

ward. He was Prime Warden of the Fishmongers Company in 1638 and also became Colonel of the Trained Bands until 1642. In 1639 he was elected deputy governor of the East India Company. He was imprisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

in May 1640 with three other aldermen – Nicholas Rainton,

Thomas Soame Sir Thomas Soame (1584 – 1 January 1671) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1648. Life Soame was the son of Sir Stephen Soame and his wife Anne Stone daughter of William Stone, haberdasher of London and ...

and Thomas Atkins – for refusing to list the inhabitants of his ward who were able to contribute £50 or more to a loan for King Charles. He was a member of the committee of the East India Company from 1641 to 1649 and was knighted on 3 December 1641. In 1646, he was elected 310th

. He became president of

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

in 1648. He instituted the annual Lion sermon at

St Katharine Cree The Guild Church of St Katharine Cree is an Anglican church in the Aldgate ward of the City of London, on the north side of Leadenhall Street near Leadenhall Market. It was founded in 1280. The present building dates from 1628 to 1630. Formerly ...

Church, Leadenhall Street, London. The sermon was inspired by his time in the

Syrian Desert The Syrian Desert ( ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert, and steppe, covering about of West Asia, including parts of northern Saudi Arabia, ea ...

, when a lion passed him by without attacking him, leading him to believe that he had had a miraculous deliverance. The sermon has traditionally been preached on the theme of 'challenges to the Christian faith'. Gayer endowed St Katharine Cree with a fund to preach the sermon, gave money to charities, and bought a

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

for the church inscribed with his coat of arms. He married Katherine Hopkins, daughter of Sampson Hopkins of

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, by whom he had seven children. One of Gayer's daughters Katherine married

Sir Robert Abdy, 1st Baronet The Abdy baronetcy, of Albyns, in the County of Essex (first creation), was created in the Baronetage of England on 9 June 1660 for Robert Abdy. It became extinct on the death in 1759 of the 4th baronet. Abdy baronets, of Albyns, Essex (first c ...

, son of Anthony Abdy, Alderman and Sheriff. Another daughter Elizabeth married Francis Godolphin (1629–1670) and daughter Mary married

Sir Andrew Henley, 1st Baronet Sir Andrew Henley, 1st baronet (1622–1675), of Bramshill, Hampshire was an English politician and the first of the Henley baronets. He is best remembered for his celebrated quarrel with the future Duke of Bolton, which is recorded in the Diar ...

. His nephew was Sir John Gayer, Governor of Bombay.

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gayre, John 1649 deaths 17th-century lord mayors of London Year of birth unknown Businesspeople from Plymouth, Devon 17th-century English merchants