Royal Warrant wheelwright’s head spinning over his MBE
A WHEELWRIGHT with a Royal Warrant to the Queen who can trace his family business back to the 14th century has been honoured.
Gregory Rowland, 52, from Honiton in Devon, has been given an MBE for services to heritage crafts.
He has worked for the family business, Mark Rowland and Son, for 32 years, having started out as an apprentice to his father Mark.
Mark set up the business in 1964, but the family have documents showing that their relatives were involved in the wheelwright business as far back as 1331.
“It’s not a continuous business, but we’ve got wheelwrights in our family from 1331, and it was actually about seven miles from where I am now and it was the same name back then, which is quite odd,” Mr Rowland told The Daily Telegraph.
The company is one of just two that looks after the Queen’s carriages, although Mr Rowland is not permitted to disclose the exact nature of his work for Her Majesty.
He said that while it was an honour to have the Royal Warrant, it only comprised a small part of his business.
The majority of Mr Rowland’s income is from making gun carriages for field gun competitions. “Although this is an old traditional craft, and we have to keep all those skills alive, you’ve got to be progressive as well,” he said.
The Queen has also personally honoured her bloodstock and racing adviser John Warren, by making him a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.
The honour recognises distinguished personal service to the Queen, her family or her representatives, and membership is at the sole discretion of
‘This is an old traditional craft and we have to keep these skills alive, but you’ve got to be progressive as well’
the monarch. Mr Warren set up his first bloodstock company in 1980 and has gone on to be responsible for a number of championship-winning horses.
Last October, when speaking of the Queen’s induction into the British flat racing hall of fame, he said: “Her Majesty’s fascination [with racing] is unwavering and her pleasure derives from all of her horses – always accepting the outcome of their ability so gracefully.”