Freemen of the Borough ceremony held at the Town Hall in Great Yarmouth

In a tradition that dates to when Great Yarmouth received its first Charter in 1208, being granted the Freedom of the Borough is a way to honour residents and is the highest recognition the borough is able to award.

Previous recipients include prime minister William Pitt in 1757 and Vice Admiral Lord Nelson in 1800. Organisations which have received the honour include The East Anglian Regiment, The Royal British Legion, Gorleston Lifeboat, Caister Lifeboat and Hemsby Inshore Rescue Service.

And now, at a special meeting on November 6, members of the council unanimously voted to grant the Freedom of the Borough to Cecil Page, Hugh Sturzaker, Jayne Biggs and Great Yarmouth Samaritans.

In the Assembly Room at the Town Hall, guests - including Deputy Lieutenant Henry Cator MBE - heard Cecil Page, 87, has been part of the town's Kingfisher ABC boxing club since its launch in 1964. Mr Page's father was one of the club's founders and, as well as competing for Kingfisher ABC, Cecil remains an ever-present mentor and volunteer. His award noted his commitment to community causes and his dedication that has inspired generations and touched the lives of thousands of people locally.

Hugh Sturzaker MBE was appointed General Surgeon to Great Yarmouth and Waveney Health District in 1979.

He was Lead Governor of the James Paget University Hospitals Trust for more than eight years and was Vice Chairman of the Great Yarmouth Minster Preservation Trust, a trustee of St George's Theatre and Chairman of the Great Yarmouth Cultural Heritage Partnership and is a member of the Great Yarmouth Town Board.

In 2012 he organised the first Great Yarmouth Arts Festival and introduced the carnival in 2014. Both are annual events of which he remains chairman. In 2017 Hugh founded the Civic Society of Great Yarmouth.

Jayne Biggs started Heart 2 Heart Norfolk after she and her husband performed CPR on their daughter, helping to save her life. The family then fought to have a defibrillator installed in Great Yarmouth and, in 2017, Jayne launched the charity which has now placed more than 400 public-access defibrillators in the community. Every week dozens of these defibrillators are activated helping to save lives.

The charity has placed 32 public defibrillators in Great Yarmouth alone, with more already in the pipeline.

Great Yarmouth Samaritans volunteers have worked with the community since 1968 and, in addition to staffing telephone helplines, provide outreach events such as the monthly emotional support session at the Well Drop-in Centre in Gorleston.

Each year the Great Yarmouth branch speaks to about 10,000 callers on the telephone as well as fundraising, cleaning and maintaining all other aspects of the branch. It also offers free talks and training to a range of local organisations.

John Fraunceys of Caister was the first freeman of Great Yarmouth and was admitted in 1312.

Traditionally there were two ways in which to gain the freedom of the borough - sons of freemen (provided they were born after their fathers had become a freeman) and apprentices of freemen who had served their masters for seven years could claim the right to be admitted.

On admission, freemen swore an oath of loyalty that was unique to Great Yarmouth.

Before 1835, only freemen could take part in the government of the town, reflecting their privileged position within the community. They were exempt from the town's customs duties and only they could act as traders or craftsmen in the town or vote in parliamentary elections.

The right to vote was removed in 1848 and other privileges had already dwindled away and the last of the old admissions by birth or apprenticeship was in 1892.

In some boroughs, it was possible for women to become freemen, usually when they took over the trade or business of a deceased husband. However, Cora Batley was the first woman to be so honoured in Yarmouth when she was granted the freedom of the borough in 1997.