A butcher, an undertaker and a historical artefact excavator have all been admitted to the historic guilds and companies of the Durham City Freemen.

Vincent Syson, Chris Williams and Matthew Brookes were all sworn in as Freemen at the centuries-old Lammas Day ceremony at Durham Town Hall, overseen by the city Mayor, councillor Lesley Mavin.

Five years into his fledgling career saw time-served organ builder Mr Syson’s working life hit the wrong note due to the global financial crash of 2008.

Having successfully completed his apprenticeship with world-renowned Durham instrument makers Harrison and Harrison, in which he learned to play the organ, he found himself out of work.

With few alternative similar opportunities in the region, Mr Syson pulled out all the stops to successfully carve out a new career, as a butcher.

Read more: Durham Freemen Butcher's Company to celebrate 500th anniversary

The enforced career change proved no hindrance, however, as he went on to help to land a top national award for his new employers.

He honed his new skills in the renowned food hall at Fenwick’s store in Newcastle, working for the Northumberland Meat Company and Blagdon Farm Shop, before switching back closer to Durham, joining Broom House Farm Shop, in Witton Gilbert, where he has worked for the last six years.

Mr Syson was part of the small team which helped to claim the national accolade of the Best Farm Shop and Butchery of the Year at a ceremony in Exeter.

Speaking about his admission to the ranks of the freemen, Mr Syson said: “A career in organ building was something I set my heart on.

“But after completing my apprenticeship, there were simply no vacancies for qualified organ builders in this area.

“I was thrown in at the deep end with the butchery opportunity and have since gained a nationally recognised qualification in meat and poultry processing.

"I set out on a journey I never imagined I would have to make but I am proud of all that I have achieved, underlined by the national award, membership of the Butchers’ Company and all made possible by my factory apprenticeship.”

Fifty-year-old Mr Williams also served an apprenticeship,before in his case becoming a funeral director and embalmer, making him eligible under servitude to join the freemen.

His admission to the Butchers’ Company brings him together with father, Mac, now serving as warden, who has been an associate member of the Freemen of England and Wales for six years and was sworn in as a city freeman in 2020.

Earlier this year Mr Williams snr was appointed Recorder, an honorary position working in support of the city’s mayor at civic functions.

Read more: Groundbreaking appointments within Durham City Freemen

His son, Chris, is a father of two sons himself, aged 28 and 18, and declares himself, a proud “hands-on" granddad.

On leaving school he attended Peterlee College and studied for A levels, but it was always his ambition from an early age to enter the funeral profession.

He began a Youth Training Scheme (YTS) with Durham funeral director Norman Alderson in 1996 and took up a full-time role two years later.

Mr Williams has now remained with the century-old company for the past 27 years.

For Mr Brookes, who has just completed his first year studies at Durham University, entry into the ranks of the freemen provides double fulfilment.

It continues a family connection to the Drapers’ Company, which started with one of his forefathers, William Vest, a master tailor, who was born in 1796.

His great grandfather George and all of his (George's) brothers were freemen, as were his grandfather Arthur, along with his brothers Derek and Roland and Roland’s son Gavin, as well as Matthew’s uncle, Stephen.

Mr Brookes' mother Gillian, a medical secretary at Bishop Auckland Hospital, helped to create history in 2011 when she was among the 30 pioneering women sworn in, breaking down the men-only barrier to membership, which had survived for nearly 700 years.

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“I was happy to follow my granddad’s encouragement to help maintain the family tradition but, as an archaeology student, the more research I do into the history of the freemen, the more excited I got,” said Matthew, who lives in Bishop Auckland.

During his first year of study he has been involved, with other undergraduates, in a dig at Auckland Castle, examining the remains of the 17th and 18th Century bishops’ ice houses, as well as studying the remnants and line of the nearby Roman Road.

“History has long been my passion and when I complete my studies I hope to extend my work in field archaeology,” he added.