The civic and ceremonial role performed by the mayors under the old system is now carried out by the Civic Ambassador. The current Civic Ambassador is Councillor Akbar Chaudhary appointed in May 2008.

As well as the important job of chairing meetings of the council, the Civic Ambassador supports charities and good causes, promotes the borough, welcomes official visitors, opens galas and events, makes presentations, greets guests and speaks at hundreds of events.

The Civic Ambassador's charities

Each year the Civic Ambassador chooses one or more charities in Newham to raise money for. Throughout the year money is raised and paid into the Newham Civic Ambassador's Benevolent Fund (NCAB Fund), from where it is distributed at the end of the Civic Year.

This year the Civic Ambassador has chosen Community Links as his main charity for fund raising.

If you would like to help this worthy cause please contact the Civic Officer, Mark.James@newham.gov.uk. If you would like to make a donation, cheques should be made payable to the NCAB Fund and sent to the Civic Officer, Newham Town Hall, Barking Road, East Ham E6 2RP.

The Coat of Arms

Years ago, during battle, leaders could recognise friend or foe by the badge or symbols painted on their shields.

The coat of arms of Newham consists of a shield divided into two bands of colours, the top half red and the bottom gold and surmounted by a wreath in red and gold. On it are a ship in full sail, a pair of crossed hammers, a rising sun, a pommel, sword and three red chevrons and a gold crozier.

The ship recalls the docks and commerce and how sea trade brought wealth and prosperity to the borough, while the rising sun represents the fact that Newham is in the East of London and all vessels leaving the Docks sailed east.

The crossed hammers signify the Thames Ironworks and Railway Works that were another great source of wealth in the borough. Football fans know West Ham United as The Hammers and so the arms have another special significance for them.

The pommel and sword and chevrons are a reminder of Lord William de Montfitchet, who was the Lord of Hamme Manor in Norman times. His lands stretched up to Stanstead Mountfichet, which is north of Epping Forest and is now home to London's Stansted airport. The pommel and sword represent Lord Montfichet, his title and the three red chevrons are taken from the Montfichet family coat of arms.

After the Montfichets, much of what is now the borough belonged to a huge abbey called Stratford Langthorne or 'long thorn tree'. A gold crozier, as carried by an abbot or bishop, is shown on Newham's arms to remember this part of Newham's history.

The Abbey and its grounds lie under what is now Abbey Mills and the Three Mills studios, where the 'Big Brother' TV show was made and also beneath the underground rail depot built for the new Jubilee line. Until Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, Langthorne Abbey was one of the largest and most powerful in the country.

Overall, the basic design of the coat of arms is an adaptation of the one originally used by the West Ham County Borough. The motto, Progressio cum Populo, which translated from Latin means Progress with the People, was taken from the original East Ham coat of arms.

The Chains of Office

The chain of office pictured here is that of the former County Borough of West Ham. The outer chain was presented to West Ham by members of the first Borough Council in 1886 and the inner chain was presented by the West Ham branch of the National Association of Local Government Officers in 1936. Individual bars or links on the chain go right back to the first borough mayor in 1886.

The brightest bar, because it has been polished for 116 years, carries the name John Meeson. He was a lime burner, but his successors have been MPs, trade unionists, Doctors, teachers and people from all walks of life.

New chains of office were purchased in 2003 for the Civic Ambassador and the Deputy Civic Ambassador.

The Mace

The mace, which was presented to the County Borough of East Ham in 1931 by W.T. Clough on behalf of the Burgesses of the Borough. The mace is inscribed with the names of the contributors and includes the Coat of Arms.

The mace is the official symbol of the council's authority, dating back to the time when the Mayor and the leading citizens could be expected to wear armour.

The one weapon that could defeat sword, shields or steel helmets was the mace, a fighting stick with a heavy spiked weight on the end that could smash through all known defences. Nothing could resist it and it became the symbol of power carried in front of the mayor by the borough's strongest champion to ensure that no one argued or resisted.

Today, the mace is purely ceremonial, carried only at the annual Mayor Making, formal council sessions and the London Mayors' Service in Westminster Abbey.

Past Mayors

The Civic Amabassador fulfils the role previously undertaken by the Mayor. The following is a list of all those who have occupied this position since 1965.

1965 - 66 Terence Charles McMillan
1966 - 67 Alice Emma Gannon
1967 - 68 Arthur Frank George Edwards
1968 - 69 Abraham Wolffe
1969 - 70 Leonard John Simons
1970 - 71 Michael Davidson
1971 - 72 Edward Sylvester Charles Kebbell
1972 - 73 James Christopher Carter
1973 - 74 Joseph Charles Taylor
1974 - 75 Harry Bauckham
1975 - 76 Louis Arthur Wood
1976 - 77 Herbert Albert Taylor
1977 - 78 Constance Louise Bock
1978 - 79 Harold Edward Fitzsimons
1979 - 80 Marjorie Edith Helps
1980 - 81 Edward Daly
1981 - 82 Stanley Hopwood
1982 - 83 Julia Caroline Isabelle Garfield
1983 - 84 Herbert Thomas Philpott
1984 - 85 Charles Albert Flemwell
1985 - 86 Thomas Nolan
1986 - 87 John Richard Clow
1987 - 88 Fredrick Ernest York
1988 - 89 James George Newstead
1989 - 90 Raymond Massey
1990 - 91 Sarah Louise Murray
1991 - 92 Amarjit Singh
1992 - 93 William Chapman
1993 - 94 Sarah Jean Reeves
1994 - 95 Maureen Knight
1995 - 96 William Henry Brown
1996 - 97 Shama Ahmed
1997 - 98 Victor Francis Turner
1998 - 99 Abdul Karim Sheikh
1999 - 00 Riaz Ahmed Mirza
2000 - 01 Bryan Collier
2001 - 02 Sukhdev Singh Marway

Civic Ambassador

2002 - 03 Marie Collier
2003 - 04 Joy Laguda
2004 - 05 Patricia Holland
2005 - 06 Maureen Jones
2006 - 07 Pearson Shillingford
2007 - 08 Omana Gangadharan
2008 - 09 Akbar Chaudhury (Present)

Twin City: Kaiserslautern
Newham has been twinned with Kaiserslautern, in Germany, since 1974. Our Mayors and Civic Ambassadors have long played a central role in upholding this tradition.

Kaiserslautern is a small city on the edge of the Palitinate Forest. It is roughly half the size of Newham (population 109,000) and is best known for its role as host to 60,000 American soldiers during the early years of the Cold War. For more information visit their website.