Several generations of the Tallents family have served as Town Clerks to the Newark Town Council, for all but 40 years of the Council’s history.
The ‘Clerk to the Council’ is the only officer that the Newark Town Council is required to appoint. They are the custodian of official documents and records for the town as well as being a professional advisor to the Council.
It’s known that Newark has employed ‘a common clerk’ since the 3rd charter of 1579, and at that time this ancient role included collecting fees from market traders.
One of the traditional duties of the Town Clerk is the reading of the proclamation of a new Monarch to the residents of Newark by standing on the town’s Proclamation Stool at various points around the town.
The Proclamation Stool is an elm seat decorated with brass plaques commemorating the Coronations of British Kings and Queens, with the oldest recorded proclamation on the stool being King George IV (1820-1830).
Members of the Tallents family completed this task in their role as Newark Town Clerk on six different occasions:
Additionally, Thomas F. A. Burnaby had gone into partnership with William Edward Tallents and the firm became Tallents, Burnaby, Griffin and Co. around 1846. Later the firm changed its name to Tallents & Co. For more on the history of the firm, please CLICK HERE.
