The Geological Society had originally formed as a 'Geological Dinner Club' at the Freemason's Tavern, Great Queen Street, London, on the 13 November 1807. However whilst the Society flourished, attendance at the Dining Club rapidly declined. A fine of 10s 6d was imposed for non attendance without prior warning, but by 1809 the total stood at £37 16s of which only £6 6s had been received. By around 1811, meetings of the Club had ceased.
The present Club was revived in 1824 by 30 members of the Society, some of whom had attended the previous Club. The first meeting was held at the Thatched House Tavern, St James' Street, on 5 November 1824. The rules on establishment limited membership to 40, however this number was never achieved during its early years and was reduced to 36 members in 1836. From 1904, the membership was gradually raised and by 1999 stood at 202 members.
Fellowship of the Society was, from the first, an essential qualification, however subsequent classes of supernumerary and honorary ranks were introduced later. Guests could be invited, unless the dinners were 'closed meetings' which could only be attended by Club members. In 1973, it was decided that most of the dinners, except for closed meetings, could be open events, that is attended by any Fellow of the Society.
Traditionally, meetings were held on the evenings of every Ordinary Meeting of the Society, but are now monthly.
The Library of the Geological Society is considered to have been founded in 1809, when on 3 March of that year it was noted that 'presents have been made of some works on Geology and Mineralogy'. Much of the initial collection came through donations from Members and authors or exchanges with other organisations, and from the earliest period users could borrow material.
When the Society moved to Somerset House in 1828 the modest 1,000 or so volumes of the Library were housed in a single room. The Museum collections, on the other hand, were spread around the apartments, eventually taking up the entire second floor and part of the third as well as being displayed along the staircases and hall. However by the 1860s, the Library collection had multiplied at a far greater rate than the Museum, with books having to be housed in the Assistant Secretary's room, Meeting Room, Tea-Room and Council Room. Indeed by then, the Fellows considered the Library collections as being more important than the Museum. In 1869 (in preparation for the Society's move to Burlington House in 1874), the Museum collection was slimmed down and restricted to only those specimens which directly related to a published paper, however it still took up the majority of the second floor of the new apartments. As its use by Fellows gradually decreased, it was decided at the end of the 19th century that the Museum should be disposed of and the space be used instead to house the Library. Referred to as the 'Upper Library' (as opposed to the original 'Lower Library'), from 1911 it has been the main Library space for readers, housing the most heavily used material. Nowadays the Library collection consists of around 300,000 volumes of monographs, periodicals and textbooks.
The first 'Librarian' was Thomas Webster, who oversaw the Library alongside his duties as Keeper of the Museum, secretary, Journal editor, etc. His successor William Lonsdale was appointed in 1829, and the first extensive catalogues date from his tenure. On Lonsdale's final retirement in 1842, Edward Forbes took over the duties as Librarian and Curator, succeeded in 1844 by David Thomas Ansted. When Ansted's duties were revised, becoming Vice-Secretary, James de Carle Sowerby became Curator and Librarian between 1846-1848. There followed: James Nicol (1847-1850); Thomas Rupert Jones (1850-1862); Henry Michael Jenkins (1862-1868); William Sweetland Dallas (1869-1890); Louis Belinfante (1890-1916); C P Chatwin (1916-1919); Arthur Greig (1919-?1939); Emelyn Eastwood (1939-1946); Pamela Robinson (1946-1947); Miss A Barber (1947-1960); Mrs C E Nash (1960); Miss Ann M Paddick (1960-1962); Mrs J L Green (1962-1965); Mrs A M Tyler (1965-1970); Mrs Edeltraud Nutt (1970-1987).
Like other learned societies, establishing a membership body formed of like minded individuals was one of the core aims of the Geological Society of London when it was established in 1807. Up until 1825, when the Society was granted its Royal Charter, there were only two categories of membership - Ordinary Members and Honorary Members (the latter category modified to 'Foreign' Members from December 1814).
To become an Ordinary Member, a candidate had to be first proposed and recommended by at least three existing members, one of whom should personally know the prospective member. The proposal was in the form of an admission certificate, usually completed by the main proposer, which would be displayed in one of the public rooms of the Society. Voting would take place at the specified Ordinary Meeting, whereby if the candidate received approval from at least two thirds of the attendees he would be accepted as a new member. If he was not successful, his admission form would be destroyed. New members would pay a joining fee and sign a form obligating themselves to promote the aims of the Geological Society of London. Members who lived within a 20 mile radius of London would pay an additional annual fee, not applicable to those living outside of London as presumably they were less likely to use the Society's facilities.
Distinguished mineralogists and persons who had by their communications or contributions promoted the objects of the Society could be proposed as Honorary/Foreign Members. The system for proposal was similar to that of Ordinary Members but instead at least five existing members had to propose the candidate. Honorary Members did not pay the joining fee or annual subscription but could use the Society's facilities such as the Library or Museum, although they were not allowed to vote.
After the Society's official incorporation in 1826, the categories of membership were modified slightly to reflect the new Royal Charter - Ordinary Members became 'Fellows' but the honorary category of Foreign Member remained. It should be noted that it was not until the mid 20th century that formal qualifications were required for entry as a Fellow of the Geological Society of London. Additionally women were not allowed to join until 1919, the first official female Fellow being Margaret Chorley Crosfield who was elected in May of that year.
In 1863 a new category of honorary membership was introduced - Foreign Correspondent. A stage below Foreign Member, a Foreign Correspondent had to have distinguished himself as a geological investigator or communicated extensively with the Society but 'be a native of the British Dominions or of their dependencies, or be domiciliated therein'. Foreign Correspondents had no privileges at the Society, but from their rank would be elected Foreign Members who were not allowed to propose candidates, vote at general meetings or to fill any office at the Society, but were entitled to exercise all other privileges allowed to Fellows. There was a quota of 40 Foreign Correspondents and 40 Foreign Members allowed at one time, and as they didn't pay neither category of member needed to actually turn up to the Society in person. In 1974, the category was merged and renamed 'Honorary Fellow', limited to a maximum of 100, with not more than 15 coming from the UK.
Apart from Fellow and Honorary Fellow, the Society now offers another four grades of membership: Junior Candidate Fellow (for secondary school children between the ages 16-18); Candidate Fellow, previously Junior Associateship (for geology undergraduates, first introduced in 1945); Chartered Geologist (open to Fellows of the Society with no less than five years' postgraduate experience); European Geologist (licensed by the European Federation of Geologists and open to Chartered Geologists); and Chartered Scientist (licensed by the Science Council, open to those Fellows who have moved out of mainstream geological work since completing higher education, but who wish to register themselves as high calibre scientists and teachers of science).
The first rules of the Society, dating from 1808, called for an annual general meeting at the end of June, at which officers were to be elected, accounts presented and a subscription raised. In 1811 it was agreed that an anniversary dinner should be held on the day following the AGM. By 1818 the AGM and Anniversary Dinner were being held in February but are now held in June. A presidential address was first read by W H Fitton in 1828, and from 1835 the AGM included the presentation of medals and other awards.
Until 1979, the archives of the Geological Society were spread throughout the offices of Burlington House. Aided with an initial grant subsidy from the British Library which ran between 1979-1982, the Society was able to appoint an archivist and a conservator to at last look after the collections professionally. An archives store was constructed in 1981/1982 funded by the work of the Appeals Committee.
A further grant subsidy from the British Library was awarded at the end of 1983 for what became known as the Burlington House Conservation Project, which involved the conservation studio taking on work from local learned societies and the Royal Academy. However the external funding ended in 1986 and with the Society unable to finance the costly facility itself, the studio closed. Most of the equipment was later exchanged in lieu of conservation services.
From the earliest years of the Society, small committees were formed with specific organisational remits. The Committee of Trustees, appointed at the end of 1807, was the first, its task was to draw up the rules for the regulation of the fledgling Society and instructions to the honorary members to accompany notice of their election. When the Council was established in June 1810, the various 'standing' (that is permanent) committees tasked with overseeing the management of the Society's apartments, maps, publications, etc were formally appointed by and therefore reported to this senior body. Additionally 'Special' committees were formed on an ad hoc basis to deal with a specific issue or project, such as the refurbishment of the Society's apartments or the appointment of new staff, which could not necessarily be dealt with in the day to day business of one of the standing committees.
As the Society grew in size and complication, the 'Special' committees were more likely to be established as permanent committees of their own, however they would report to the hierarchy of the specific major standing committee which had appointed it rather than to Council.
With various reorganisations over the years and adaptations to modern management requirements, the names and functions of the standing committees has been frequently subject to change, with committees merging or being replaced by others.
The Geological Society was founded on 13 November 1807 for the purpose of 'making Geologists acquainted with each other, of stimulating their zeal, of inducing them to adopt one nomenclature, of facilitating the communication of new facts, and of ascertaining what is known in their science, and what yet remains to be discovered'. (GSL/OM/1/1, p1) This would be primarily achieved by holding regular meetings where members, later Fellows, could read papers or communications, show specimens and maps or donate material to the burgeoning Museum and Library. These 'Ordinary' meetings were initially held at the Freemason's Tavern until the Society acquired its own premises in 1809.
In its early days, all business concerning the running of the Society was discussed at the Ordinary Meetings, including the proposal and election of new Fellows. However, much of the overall responsibility for the management of the Society's affairs was taken over by Council which was first appointed on 1 June 1810.
By 1810, Ordinary Meetings were being held twice a month from November to June [the summer being a period when field trips would be undertaken], and overseen by the President of the Society. Non members could attend as long as they were introduced by a Fellow, however women were not admitted until the turn of the next century. There was a two year period during Leonard Horner's presidency (1860-1862) in which women were reportedly allowed as guests, but this attempt was seen as relatively unsuccessful as it was mainly Horner's daughters who came. Although the issue was raised on a frequent basis, it was not until 1901 when Archibald Geikie introduced two women to an Ordinary Meeting that the matter was settled. Women were finally be allowed to become full Fellows in 1919.
The Ordinary Meeting format had changed by the 1970s, the meetings being themed around a specific topic and hence developing into the special scientific meetings which are now held. However the bye-laws of the Society stipulate that only certain business, such as the election of new members and calls for Special General Meetings, can be held at Ordinary General Meetings. As the meetings calendar gradually moved away from the traditional Ordinary Meetings, the procedures of the OGM were inserted into other meeting events, especially during the 1990s. OGMs are now held five times a year after each meeting of Council, the only business essentially now conducted is the admission of new members.
Note: as Ordinary Meetings were, for the most part, held in the evening they are sometimes referred to as 'Evening Meetings' in the archival record.
The Society has its origins in a series of meetings convened at the beginning of 1807 by four amateur mineral enthusiasts - physician William Babington, pharmaceutical chemist William Allen and the Quaker brothers William and Richard Phillips - to organise the publication of Jacques-Louis, Comte de Bournon's monograph on mineralogy. Meeting in Babington's house the group, along with ten other friends who were also active in London's flourishing scientific scene, resolved to each contribute the sum of 50 pounds to cover the cost of the monograph's publication. (Published in the three volumes as 'Traite complet de la Chaux Carbonatee et de l'Arragonite', in 1808.)
Having enjoyed the meetings so much, many of the group continued to hold mineralogical discussions at Babington's house in Aldermanbury, London, usually at 7am before the physician began his rounds at Guy's Hospital. Other interested parties also joined the meetings and on the 13 November 1807, the new society was inaugurated at a dinner at the Freemasons Tavern, Great Queen Street, Covent Garden (the meetings being moved from breakfast to dinner time at the suggestion of Humphry Davy).
The minutes of the meeting record that there were thirteen founder members: Arthur Aikin (1773-1854), William Allen (1770-1843), William Babington (1756-1833), Humphry Davy (1778-1829), Comte Jacques-Louis de Bournon (1751-1825), James Franck (1768-1843), George Bellas Greenough (1778-1855), Richard Knight (1768-1844), James Laird (1779-1841), James Parkinson (1755-1824), William Hasledine Pepys (1775-1856), Richard Phillips (1778-1851) and William Phillips (1773-1828). The meeting resolved 'That there be forthwith instituted a Geological Society for the purpose of making geologists acquainted with each other, of stimulating their zeal, of inducing them to adopt one nomenclature, of facilitating the communications of new facts and of ascertaining what is known in their science and what remains to be discovered.' These aims were incorporated in the first constitution of the Society, formally adopted at a meeting on 1 January 1808.
Soon after its foundation the Society began to accumulate a library and a collection of minerals, rocks and fossils. In 1809 the Society moved into rented premises at 4 Garden Court, Temple, and in 1810 to 3 Lincoln's Inn Fields, where it shared larger premises with the Medical and Chirurgical Society, another society which Babington co-founded.
On 1 June 1810 the Society's first Trustees were appointed and later in the same month, 14 June, the first meeting of the Council took place. The Council resolved that the most important communications made to the Society should be published. Accordingly the first volume of the 'Transactions of the Geological Society' was issued in 1811.
With the increase in membership and activities of the Society it was found necessary to appoint the first permanent officer, Thomas Webster, in 1812. Although only part time, his duties included care of the Society's Library and Museum collections as well as those of draughtsman and secretary to the Council and Committees. The continual growth in the membership and of the collections of maps, sections and mineral specimens necessitated a further move in 1816 to 20 Bedford Street, Covent Garden.
In 1824 the Council decided to apply for a Royal Charter in order to allow it to bestow fellowships of the Society. The charter was granted on 23 April 1825 and the Rev William Buckland, Arthur Aikin, John Bostock MD, George Bellas Greenough and Henry Warburton were nominated as the first Fellows. At the following meeting of Council, the other 367 Society members were also granted Fellow status. Ironically many of these new Fellows, such as Greenough, held republican views hence why 'Royal' was never adopted into the Society's name.
The Society continued to meet at 20 Bedford Street until 1828 when it moved to apartments in Somerset House, Strand, which had recently been rebuilt by the Government for use as public offices and to house the Royal Academy and the Royal Society. The Society's apartments, including the two rooms of the museum, were fitted out to designs of Decimus Burton, architect of the Temperate House at Kew Gardens and Fellow of the Geological Society. The first meeting at Somerset House was held on 7 November 1828, and the Society remained there until removal to the present apartments at Burlington House in 1874.
The care of the Society's large mineral and fossil collections was always problematic. The Museum's first Keeper, Thomas Webster, was unhappy with the work load and also unpopular with the other Fellows. He was replaced in 1827 by the first official Curator, William Lonsdale, whose health broke down from overwork in 1836. During the following nine years there were another five curators who all resigned. In 1869, it was decided to abandon attempts to form a comprehensive collection, instead specimens should directly relate to papers read at the Society. Although the move to Burlington House meant that the collection was thoroughly weeded and catalogued again, after 1876 (after another resignation) the collection received only cursory attention. A Special General Meeting was called by a group of palaeontologists in 1901 to try and force the Council to take better care of the Museum. However their plan backfired and instead a motion was carried that the Museum should be disposed of. The contents were divided in 1911 between what we now know as the Natural History Museum and the Museum of Practical Geology (part of the Geological Survey) in Jermyn Street. The British Museum (now Natural History Museum) received the foreign specimens, while the domestic collection was given to the other institution.
The Society officially started its existence as a dining club but with the steady increase in the number of members (341 in 1815 to 400 in 1818), this aspect of its activities soon fell into abeyance. It was revived in 1824 with the foundation of the Geological Society Club which continues to hold dinners to the present day.
Today, the Geological Society of London is the UK national professional body for geoscientists. It provides a wide range of professional and scientific support to its c 9500 Fellows, about 2000 of whom live overseas. As well as boasting one of the most important geological libraries in the world, the Geological Society is a global leader in Earth science publishing, and is renowned for its cutting edge science meetings. It is a vital forum in which Earth scientists from a broad spectrum of disciplines and environments can exchange ideas, and is an important communicator of geoscience to government, media, those in education and the broader public.
A Special General Meeting (SGM) could be called at any time for the purpose of taking special matters relating to the business of the Society into consideration. A certain period of notice had to be given to all Fellows who were resident in the United Kingdom, and no other business could be discussed other than that for which the meeting was called. Special General Meetings were mostly concerned with establishing, modifying or repealing orders or byelaws.
SGMs were abolished in 2001.
The first step towards marking the Centenary of the founding of the Geological Society of London was the motion of Horace Bolingbroke Woodward, presented before Council on 9 November 1904, to consider the appointment of a 'Record Committee' to oversee the compilation of a history of Society. The motion was passed, and the resulting work published as: Woodward, H B. 'The History of the Geological Society of London', London: Longmans, Green and Co, 1908.
The second step was the re-election of the experienced Sir Archibald Geikie as President of the Society for the sessions 1906-1908, in view of the Centenary (he had previously served as President between 1890-1892). Much of the preliminary arrangements for the Centenary were discussed by the Record Committee during its meetings, but Council additionally constituted a 'Centenary Committee' (which included members of the Record Committee) to formally draw up a programme and organise the proposed event. Although the Society was officially founded on the 13 November 1807, it was thought that the end of September would be more convenient for the majority of colonial and foreign guests. In all, over 900 individuals were invited to participate in the Centenary celebrations of which 307 actually attended.
The official Centenary celebrations were held between 26 September-3 October 1907, however a series of preliminary field excursions to places such as the Lake District, Lyme Regis and the Forest of Dean were held in the preceding week. The Centenary celebrations were opened by a formal reception held at the Institution of Civil Engineers, at 11am on Thursday 26 September, where congratulatory telegrams from individuals and organisations from all over the world were read out. This was followed by a Presidential address at 3pm, and the day brought to a close by a dinner at the Whitehall Rooms, Hotel Metropole where further speeches were given. A Conversazione was organised for the Friday but short excursions and visits to places of interest were also available over the next few days to those who wished them. The Society's apartments were opened to the visitors: the Museum was converted to a conversation, writing and smoking room; the Council Room became a ladies' drawing room; and the Meeting Room was used as cloak room and dressing room. The Geological Society Club also hosted a dinner to entertain the foreign and colonial delegates on the evening of Friday 27 September. The celebrations were rounded off by a visit to Oxford and Cambridge Universities, where a number of the foreign delegates received honorary degrees.
Born in Philadelphia, Henry George settled in California, where he became successful in the newspaper industry and wrote several books. He is known as the founder of 'Georgism', an economic policy advocating land value taxation as a replacement for other forms of taxation and asserting that land and natural resources belong to all humanity equally.
Richard and George Attenborough established themselves as pawnbrokers and jewellers at 204 Fleet Street in 1844. By 1847, George Attenborough (1821-94) was trading alone, though he was subsequently joined by his sons, Arthur Henry Attenborough and George Attenborough. They traded from a number of addresses, before settling at 193 Fleet Street from 1873, where the firm was based until 1987. They are also described in London directories as silversmiths, watchmakers, appraisers, diamond and pearl merchants, and bullion dealers.
George Barber was born in Deal, Kent. He set up business as a printer at the junction of Castle (later Furnival) Street and Cursitor Street, Holborn in 1861. Working originally as a legal printer, the business expanded to include general publishing, music publishing, lithography and advertising.
The firm first appears in London Directories in 1865 when its address is given as 16 Cursitor Street, Chancery Lane; from 1877 it is also given as 23 Castle Street which from 1886 becomes Furnival Street. From 1900 its address is given as 23, 24, 25 Furnival Street and 16, 17, 18 Cursitor Street. From c 1903-c 1921 it is referred to as the Furnival Press. In 1931-1932 an additional address at 19 Southampton Buildings, WC2 is given and in 1933-1934 15 and 17 Plough Court, Fetter Lane are shown. From 1936 23 Furnival Street is shown as the head office and in 1962 its address became 31 Furnival Street; in 1973 the firm moved to 61 Lilford Road, SE 5.
George Barber died in 1901 and his son Richard assumed control. In 1930 the firm changed its title to George Barber and Son.
George Green's School, 80 Manchester Road, Poplar was opened originally as an endowed charity school and then reorganised in 1884. Control of the school was handed to the London County Council in 1910.
The collection of scientific instruments accumulated by King George III and others was at one time housed in the King's private observatory, Richmond, Surrey (later known as Kew Observatory), built in 1769 to observe the transit of Venus, and included measurement devices such as clocks, thermometers and barometers, mechanical demonstration equipment including spring balances, levers and an Archimedes screw, electrical apparatus including Leyden jars, electroscopes and batteries; and navigational and astronomical instruments including globes, orreries, theodolites and telescopes. The collection was dispersed in 1841 with a small part remaining at Kew and elements going to the British Museum or Armagh Observatory. However, the bulk of its contents were donated by Queen Victoria to King's College London for public display and use in scientific demonstrations and experiments.
John Nussey (1794-1862) was the favourite medical attendant of King George IV. In 1825 he was appointed Apothecary in Ordinary to the King, and served William IV, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in a similar position. He attended Queen Victoria in several of her confinements, including that of the future Edward VII. He was Master of the Society of Apothecaries of London from 1833-1834 and a Member of the Court of Assistants for many years. His Court dress and sword are on display in the foyer of the College.
"Lawrence and Carlill", sugar refiners, are listed in various trade directories of 1817-1819 as being based at Lehman Street and Rupert Street, Goodman's Fields. By the 1820s the entries list Richard Henshaw Lawrence and Morton William Lawrence, sugar refiners, at the same addresses. They appear to have been in business until the 1840s.
It is unclear what improvement to the refining process Lawrence invented. He is mentioned in the book "Abridgements of Patents for Inventions relating to Sugar, 1663-1866" (Commissioners of Patents, 1871) with the note "No Specification enrolled".
George Nicholas and Son were wine merchants of 27A Old Broad Street.
George Peabody, a partner in Peabody Riggs and Company, merchants of Baltimore, with offices at 31 Moorgate, established his own business as a merchant at the same address in 1838. He ended his association with the American firm in c 1843 and removed to 6 Warnford Court in 1845. In 1852 he took Mr O C Gooch into partnership and the style of the firm changed to George Peabody and Company, merchants.
In 1854 it moved to 22 Old Broad Street. In the same year Junius Spencer Morgan became a partner and upon Peabody's retirement in 1864 the style of the firm became J. S. Morgan and Company (London Directories refer to it as Junius Spencer Morgan and Company until 1895). Edward Grenfell became a full partner in 1904 and the style Morgan Grenfell was adopted on 1 January 1910. Between 1918 and 1934 the bank was a private unlimited company, and in 1934 it became a private limited company.
George Raggett and Sons Limited, of the Hop Exchange, Southwark, were incorporated in 1907. The company took over Packham and Company Limited, Glasgow, in 1921 (in voluntary liquidation 1954; assets to Barclay Perlins 1955). They were bought by Barclay Perkins in 1953 and in voluntary liquidation in 1964.
George Routledge set up in business as a retail bookseller with his brother-in-law W H Warne as assistant, and in 1836 published his first (unsuccessful) book, The Beauties of Gilsand (a guidebook), moving to no 36 Soho Square in 1843. W H Warne was taken into partnership and the Railway Library of cheap reprints of works of fiction begun in 1848. Frederick Warne, W H Warne's brother, was taken into partnership and the firm of George Routledge and Co was founded in 1851, removing to no 2 Farringdon Street in 1852, when the firm published Uncle Tom's Cabin. Founded on the success of cheap editions of works of fiction, the firm rapidly expanded into the reprint market, catering for the growing literate population of the Victorian age. Routledge and Co opened a New York branch in 1854. Robert Warne Routledge, George Routledge's son, entered the partnership in 1858 and the firm was restyled Routledge, Warne & Routledge. W H Warne died in 1859. In 1862 Every Boy's Magazine, edited by Edmund Routledge (George Routledge's son), was started. The firm entered a contract with Lord Tennyson in 1863. Frederick Warne left the firm, Edmund Routledge became a partner, and the firm was renamed George Routledge and Sons, removing to no 7 The Broadway, Ludgate, in 1865. Routledge and Sons' publications included Kate Greenaway's Under the Window (1878), her first Almanack (1883), and Morley's Universal Library (1883). George Routledge died in 1888. Routledge and Sons was reconstructed under Arthur E Franklin of Keyser & Co banking house, in collaboration with William Sonnenschein and Laurie Magnus, in 1902. The firm of J C Nimmo Ltd, founded in 1879 by John C Nimmo (d 1899) and publisher of fine scholarly editions, was taken over by Routledge & Sons in 1903. Cecil A Franklin, son of Arthur Franklin, entered Routledge & Sons in 1906.
The firm of H S King & Co was formed in 1868 and Henry S King introduced the International Scientific Series in 1871. His business was purchased by Charles Kegan Paul (King's literary adviser since 1874) in 1877, when Alfred Trench joined as a partner. Kegan Paul, Trench and Co, formed in 1878, continued to publish the list begun by King, who died in 1879. Kegan Paul published R L Stevenson's An Inland Voyage (1878), signed up George Meredith in 1879, and published Sir James Knowles' 19th Century Review the same year, its other publications including Henry George's Progress and Poverty (1880), Last Journals of General Gordon (1885), and The Silence of Dean Maitland by Maxwell Gray (Miss Tuttiett).
Nicholas Trübner started his business in 1851, its publications including Bibliographical Guide to American Literature (1855), the Record (started in 1865), Samuel Butler's Erewhon (1872), the Oriental Series (started in 1872), Catalogue of Dictionaries and Grammars of the Principal Languages of the World (1872), and Sir Edwin Arnold's Light of Asia (1879). Trübner died in 1884 and in 1889 Messrs Trübner & Co and also George Redway joined Kegan Paul, Trench & Co, amalgamated and converted by Horatio Bottomley into Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co Ltd, although Alfred Trench fell ill and resigned that same year. The firm removed to Paternoster House, Charing Cross Road, in 1891. In 1895 Kegan Paul's profits fell and its directors resigned, whereupon Arthur Waugh took over management of the firm. Charles Kegan Paul retired in 1899 and died in 1902.
Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co were incorporated with Routledge and Sons to form Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd, with Cecil Franklin and Sir William Crookes among the directors, in 1912.
The firm of George G Sandeman, Sons and Company Limited, wine shippers and cotton merchants, was established in London in 1790 by George Sandeman (1765-1841). From the beginning he specialised in wines from the Iberian Peninsula, notably port and sherry. At first Sandeman ran the business from Tom's Coffee House in Birchin Lane, later renting an office at 24 Old Jewry. In 1805 he took a lease of 20 St Swithin's Lane for use as offices and wine vaults. This was to remain the firm's headquarters until 1969 when it moved to 37 Albert Embankment. In 1984, the firm moved to 17 Dacre Street.
George Sandeman was early in partnership with his elder brother who ran the business in Scotland. This partnership had dissolved by 1798, and after 1800 George Sandeman took a succession of partners from outside the family. Between 1800 and 1856, the firm was variously styled as Sandeman Robinson and Company, George Sandeman and Company, George Sandeman Gooden and Company, George Sandeman Gooden and Forster Limited, and Sandeman Forster and Company. The business expanded to include insurance and the export of British linen and cotton goods to the West Indies, Central America and Mexico.
George Sandeman was succeeded on his death in 1841 by his nephew, George Glas Sandeman, from whom all subseqent heads of the company descended. The firm became a private limited company in 1902, under the style of George Sandeman Sons and Company Limited. It became a public company in 1952.
George Frederick Ernest Albert was the second son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). He entered the Royal Navy whilst still a boy and served as a naval officer for many years. Prince George married Princess Mary of Teck (formerly engaged to his elder brother Albert, who died in 1891) in 1893. He became Prince of Wales in 1901 on the death of his grandmother, Queen Victoria, and King George V on his father's death in 1910. The Royal Family's surname was changed from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor in 1917, to assert their Britishness during the First World War. He celebrated his Silver Jubilee in May 1935, but died less than a year later. His eldest son succeeded him as King Edward VIII.
The firm of George White and Company, tea and (briefly) rubber brokers, first appears in trade directories in 1873 with premises at 23 Rood Lane. In 1904 the firm entered into partnership with Wilton Bartleet, an English tea broker working in Colombo, trading there as George White, Bartleet and Company (the London operation continued as before). The partnership with Bartleet was dissolved in 1912, but George White and Company continued to act as Bartleet's London agents. In 1910, the firm branched into rubber broking. However, this part of the business appears to have been hived off in 1927 with the creation of George White, Yuille and Company Limited, rubber brokers.
George White and Company changed its name to George White and Company (Tea Brokers) Limited in 1931, and to George White, Sanderson (Tea Brokers) Limited in c 1965. It merged in 1973 with Gow, Wilson Limited, tea, rubber and produce brokers of 82 Middlesex Street.
The firm of George White, Yuille and Company Limited disappears from trade directories after 1963; its subsequent history is unknown.
George White and Company and successors had premises: 23 Rood Lane (1873-1878); 2 Great Tower Street (1879-1887); 31/32 Fenchurch Street (1888-1930); 37/38 Fenchurch Street and 3 Mincing Lane (1931-41); Plantation House, Fenchurch Street (1942-1943); 112/113 Fenchurch Street (1944-53); Dunster House, Mincing Lane (1954-1969); and 80 Clifton Street (1970-2).
George White, Yuille and Co Ltd had premises: 31/32 Fenchurch Street (1928-9); 3 Mincing Lane (1930-59); 29 Mincing Lane (1960); and 48 Fenchurch Street (1961-1963).
The publishing house of Duckworth was founded in 1898 by Gerald de L'Etang Duckworth. In 1901 he was joined in partnership by George Harry Milsted. Thomas Balston became the third partner in 1923. Duckworth died in 1937, and in 1938 Mervyn Horder and Patrick Crichton Stuart bought interests in the firm and joined the Board of Directors. In 1950, George Milsted retired, and in 1955 Crichton Stuart moved on, leaving Mervyn Horder to become the Managing Director of the firm. By 1956 he had been joined by Charles Gifford as a director.
Such figures as Jonathan Cape and Anthony Powell were amongst the publisher's distinguished staff. Early authors included Hilaire Belloc, D. H. Lawrence and Evelyn Waugh. The firm also published the Sitwells, the plays of John Galsworthy and novels by Elizabeth Goudge. In earlier years, the firm published a wide range of material, including novels and plays, but by the 1950s it was primarily publishing educational material. Series published by the firm include the "Great Lives" series and the "Hundred Years" series, which was aimed at university students and gave accounts of the developments in various fields during the preceding hundred years. There were also two theological series - "Studies in Theology" and the Colet Library - and the "Modern Health Series", originally edited by Mervyn Horder's father, Lord Horder.
Gerechtigkeit ('Justice') was a weekly newspaper, the first issue of which was published in September 1933. It was founded by Irene Harand, an Austrian, who was also co-founder of Weltverband gegen Rassenhass und Menschennot (World League against Racial Hatred and Human Suffering). The paper was published for about 5 years and for part of the time in several European languages. Gerechtigkeit had a simple philosemitic message: anti-semitism was a moral outrage not only against Jews but also against Christian ideals; Nazism was a pagan movement, which, if not halted, would destroy European civilisation.
Denis Papin was born, 1647; Education: Angers; graduated (1669); Career: Assistant to Christian Huyghens (FRS 1663) in the laboratory of the Academie Royale des Sciences; moved to London (1675); assistant to Robert Boyle (FRS 1663) (1675-1679); Assistant to Robert Hooke (FRS 1663), Curator of the Royal Society (1679); Fellow of the Royal Society, (1680); returned to Paris (1680); Curator of the Accademia Sarottiana in Venice (1681-1684); Curator of Experiments at the Royal Society (1684-1688); Professor of Mathematics at the University of Marburg (1688-1695); moved to Kassel, where he assisted the Landgrave of Hesse with his experiments (1695-1707); returned to London (1707); died (c 1712).
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz was born, 1646; Education: Nicolai School; Leipzig (admitted 1661); Jena (admitted 1663); Altdorf; LLD (1666); Career: Employed by the Elector Johann Philipp von Schonborn of Mainz as an adviser on legal matters (1667); began work on his calculating machine (1671); went on a diplomatic missions to Paris (1672) and London (1673); Fellow of the Royal Society, (1673); on the death of the Elector, went to Paris, hoping for a post at the Academie des Sciences, but was disappointed; visited Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (FRS 1680); Adviser and Librarian to the Duke of Hannover (1676); Councillor at the Court of Hannover (1679); travelled through Germany and Italy in order to prepare a genealogy of the house of Brunswick and visited Vincenzo Viviani (FRS 1696) in Florence and Marcello Malpighi (FRS 1665) in Bologna (1687-1689); Privy Councillor in Hannover; in the service of Sophia Charlotte, Electress of Brandenburg (1700); involved in a dispute about calculus with Isaac Newton (FRS 1672), in which he was accused of plagiarism, a charge which was upheld by a commission of the Royal Society (1712); Privy Councillor to Peter the Great of Russia (1712); Imperial Privy Councillor at Vienna (1712-1714); returned to Hannover and unsuccessfully petitioned the Elector, now George I of Great Britain, for a post (1714); died, 1716.
In Germany in 1933, the Protestant faith was divided into 28 churches with 45 million members. On 4 April 1933, Hitler appointed Ludwig Müller as National Bishop to lead all protestants in an all embracing German Christian Church. As a result of the creation of the new German Christian Church, 200 pastors led a breakaway church, the Confessional Church. 7,000 of the 17,000 pastors in Germany joined the church and its leaders included Pastor Martin Niemöller, who felt that the church should be independent of the state.
German Educational Reconstruction (GER) was a voluntary organisation founded in London in 1943 with the aim of helping German refugee educationists to prepare for their post-war return to Germany. The main consideration was the restructuring of the German school system on 'democratic principles'. After World War Two the emphasis shifted toward promoting Anglo-German relations by acting as an information bureau and means of communication and exchange between British and German educationists. GER undertook a wide variety of activities, including organising conferences, lectures, and study groups; co-operating with other voluntary bodies; arranging visits and youth work; publishing and distributing memoranda, pamphlets and textbooks. Several prominent figures were associated with GER, including Eleanor Rathbone, Sir Ernest Barker, Karl Mannheim, Fritz Borinski, S.H. Wood, Erich Hirsch and Fritz Burchardt. It was wound up in 1958.
The German Evangelical Church in Islington was established in 1862 in a chapel in Fowler Road off Halton Street, Islington. Street directories suggest that it was closed by 1917.
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The German Evangelical Reformed Church was established in London in 1697 by Protestant refugees fleeing religious oppression in the Palatinate. William III permitted services to be held in the chapel of the Savoy Palace. A new church built in Duchy Lane, Savoy, on the site of a French Church was consecrated in 1771. It was closed and demolished in 1816 to make way for the construction of Waterloo Bridge. A new church was consecrated in 1819 in Hooper Square, Leman Street, Whitechapel, which was in turn demolished as the site was required for railway purposes. The replacement church built in Goulston Street, Whitechapel, in 1886-1887 was destroyed by bombing in 1941.
The German Evangelical Reformed Church was established in London in 1697 by Protestant refugees fleeing religious oppression in the Palatinate. William III permitted services to be held in the chapel of the Savoy Palace. A new church built in Duchy Lane, Savoy, on the site of a French Church was consecrated in 1771. It was closed and demolished in 1816 to make way for the construction of Waterloo Bridge. A new church was consecrated in 1819 in Hooper Square, Leman Street, Whitechapel, which was in turn demolished as the site was required for railway purposes. The replacement church built in Goulston Street, Whitechapel, in 1886-1887 was destroyed by bombing in 1941.
Flambards manor was held as a sub-manor from Rectory Manor, Harrow. The core of the Flambards estate consisted of free and copyhold land held from both Harrow and Rectory manor, on either side of the border between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Sudbury. William Gerard was living at the manor as a tenant from 1566, and in 1573 the property was conveyed to him in fee farm by John Spilman. Gerard and his descendants paid Spilman and his descendants an annual rent of £30. In 1656 John Spilman sold the fee-farm rent to John Bernard and Daniel Waldo. Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Gerard, was married to Warwick Lake and then Miles Stapledon. In 1767 members of the Lake and Stapledon families sold Flambards to Francis Herne. It then passed to the Page and Hoare families, and later the Northwick, Macgregor and Phelps families.
From: 'Harrow, including Pinner : Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 203-211 (available online).
The History of the County of Middlesex notes that Sir Gilbert Gerard, elder brother of William Gerard of Flambard, and Gilbert's son Sir Charles Gerard, owned lands near Harrow.
From: 'Harrow, including Pinner : Other estates', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 211-218.
This discount house was established in 1870 as Gerrard and Middleton, under the leadership of William Duff Gerrard. It was renamed Gerrard and Company in 1874 and Gerrard and Reid in 1892 following the admission to the partnership of Sandeman Reid, son of a Northumberland engineer. The business operated on a small scale, but it expanded following its merger with Tallack and Company (established 1932) in 1934, a key personality now being John Kellock who joined from Dawnay Day in 1937. In 1946 Edward Clive, another partner, left to form Clive Discount Company Limited.
Prior to the Second World War, Gerrards had been a bill broker, but thereafter it became a fully-fledged discount house. It acquired limited liability in 1948 and in 1958 Minster Trust Limited acquired a substantial interest when capital was increased to £0.5 million. However, Minster soon withdrew and the business was grown under K H Whitaker's management. Capital was increased to over £1 million in 1959 and discount facilities were made available at the Bank of England for the first time. The business was converted to a public company in 1962.
In 1969 Gerrards acquired the City's second largest discount house, National Discount Company Limited, and in 1970 it was renamed Gerrard and National Discount Company Limited. In the 1970s and 1980s the business grew rapidly and diversified away from its original activities; Gerrard and National Plc was formed in 1986. At the time of the deposit of the records, the traditional discount house business was being carried on by Gerrard and National Limited, a subsidiary of the holding company, Gerrard and National Holdings Plc.
The business was based in offices at the following addresses: 14 Union Court, Old Broad Street, 1870-1875; 3 Newman's Court, Cornhill, 1876-1904; 7 Finch Lane, 1905-ca. 1916; 6 Birchin Lane, c 1916-1924; 10 Bell Yard, Gracechurch Street, 1925-1933; 11 Birchin Lane, 1933-1955; 54 Threadneedle Street, 1956-1958; 36 Lombard Street, 1959-1964; 32 Lombard Street, 1965-1987; and 33 Lombard Street, 1988-date.
The National Discount Company Limited was formed in 1856 with a subscribed capital of £200,000. It was the first joint stock company, other than the short-lived Overend Gurney and Company Limited, in a sector dominated by private partnerships. It avoided the worst of the 1866 Overend Gurney Crisis, which claimed many of its competitors, and expanded rapidly in the late 1860s and 70s when it was London's largest house. Following the formation of the Union Discount Company of London Limited, it became the second largest house and held this position until recent times. Cunliffe and Fowler was acquired in 1877. In 1969 Gerrard and Reid Limited acquired the business which ceased trading in 1970. The Gerrard business was then renamed Gerrard and National Discount Company Limited.
The National Discount Company had offices at 25 Birchin Lane (1856-8) and 35 Cornhill (1858-1970).
Monique de Lestrange studied at the l'École Pratique des Hautes-Études in the Laboratoire d'Anthropologie du Musée de l'Homme; worked in Youkounkoun, Senegal, [1946]; married fellow anthropologist Robert Gessain and spent time with him in Guinea, 1946-1955; she published several works, notably on the subject of the Coniagui, an ethnic group from Guinea and Senegal.
The Geheime Staatspolizei or Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany, under the overall administration of the Schutzstaffel (SS).
The Geheime Staatspolizei or Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany, under the overall administration of the Schutzstaffel (SS).
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The Bishop of London was held to exercise responsibility for Anglican churches overseas where no other bishop had been appointed. He retained responsibility for churches in northern and central Europe until 1980, but his jurisdiction in southern Europe ceased in 1842 on the creation of the diocese of Gibraltar. In 1980, the Bishop of London divested himself of all overseas jurisdiction and a new diocese of 'Gibraltar in Europe' was established.
The Anglican Chaplaincy of Ghent rented St John's Church, Ghent, in the Place Saint Jacques between 1885 and 1948. Since then various premises have been used by the congregation. The chaplaincy was within the Diocese of London until 1980 when a new diocese of Gibraltar in Europe was established.
George Duncan Gibb was born in Montreal, Canada, on 25 December 1821. He studied medicine at McGill University and graduated in 1846, being appointed immediately afterwards as Surgeon to the Canadian Militia. He moved to Dublin to pursue his studies, becoming a Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. In 1853, Gibb moved to London being at first Physician at St Pancras General Dispensary which he left to take up the post of Assistant Physician to the Westminster Hospital in 1863.
Throughout his stay in London, Gibb added various qualifications to his name, FGS (1855), MRCP (1859), LLD (1864 from Quebec) and most notably 'Sir' which was attached to a supposed baronetcy - a title which he adopted after research into his family history discovered it to be 'vacant'.
Gibb wrote numerous publications on laryngology, his family history, unusual meteorology and Canadian geology. He died on 16 February 1876 from lung disease.
This company carried on business as merchant traders and agents in Canton, China, and was part of the Inchcape Group of companies.