Better halves of the Coachmakers – Gil Barrett

Pictured above: Gil Barrett with Past Master Julian Leach

This month we continue our series of articles about the ‘better halves’ of our Liverymen. Marie Gilberte (Gil) Barrett is the spouse of Hon. Court Assistant David Barrett.

I was born into the French colonial community of Mauritius, Indian Ocean, where I spent my very early years on a sugar cane plantation. My sugar factory manager father was offered a career opportunity resulting in our relocation to another sugar plantation in equatorial British Guiana (now Guyana) on the very northern edge of South America, and on the other side of the world. I was educated at the Ursuline Covent by British Nuns in the capital, Georgetown. This included learning English first. My family eventually moved permanently to England as I turned 17. Having been nomadic in the extreme, I did hope that once settling down with my husband David, while he pursued a career in automotive engineering, my roaming days were over; that was not to be.

The automobile industry is globally connected, and we were eventually transferred to the US for an alleged four-year project that grew to 17 years. I have often remarked that murderers don’t get that long in confinement! David calls me a ‘culture vulture’ because I love art, history, literature and architecture, sadly in Michigan, the Mid-West of America, it is literally a cultural desert.

I am sharing this potted history to illustrate that we were about as detached and far away from the City of London as you can get. Fortunately, that all changed after our return to London in 2008 when, by a sheer turn of fate, David became the Clerk to the Makers of Playing Cards Company. Thus began our long and immensely enjoyable engagement with the Livery.

David quickly realised that he wanted to be a Liveryman in his own right; the Coachmakers’ Company was the obvious choice. The City of London world further expanded for us with increased activity with our Ward Club, the City Livery Club, Civic events, the Livery Committee and David’s secretary term at the Fellowship of Clerks.

Our involvement with the Coachmakers’ Company increased substantially when David became Junior and Renter Wardens as stand-in during 2022-24. We have both gained so many outstanding friends at the Company and look forward to many years of warm fellowship. I hope in time to meet you all.