Samuel Birch (Lord Mayor of London) advocacy of the Protestant ascendency in Ireland. In 1811, he was appointed one of the sheriffs of London, and on 9 November 1814 Birch entered on his duties as lord mayor. Tory though he was, he opposed the Corn Bill of 1815, and presided at a meeting of the livery in common hall on 23 February 1815, when he made a vigorous attack upon the intended prohibition of the free importation of foreign corn. The course he took on this occasion is commemorated by a medal struck in his honour on the obverse side of which is the bust of
Lord Mayor of London which proclaims the accession of new Sovereigns. The Council includes the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, as well as members of the House of Lords and Privy Counsellors. At the coronation banquet which followed, the Lord Mayor of the City of London had the right to assist the Royal Butler. The same privilege is held by the Lord Mayor of Oxford; the Mayor of Winchester may assist the Royal Cook. Such privileges have not been exercised since 1821, when the last coronation banquet (celebrating the coronation of George IV) was held. On formal occasions the Lord Mayor wears traditional