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
Thomas Skinner (Lord Mayor of London, 1596) Thomas Skinner (Lord Mayor of London, 1596) Thomas Skinner (died 30 December 1596) was a master of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers and a London Alderman. He was elected Sheriff in 1587 and Lord Mayor of London in 1596. He gave to several hospitals in and about London. Skinner was the son of John Skinner, of Saffron Waldron, and married Blanche, daughter of William Watson, merchant to Queen Elizabeth I. In 1588 Skinner was Sheriff, conjointly with John Catcher, and succeeded Catcher in the Aldermanry of Cripplegate when Catcher was discharged due to financial difficulties. Skinner removed from Bishopsgate, where