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The office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth (previously Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire) has evolved from the position of the spiritual head of the former Great Synagogue in the City of London. The Great Synagogue was the first foundation of the Ashkenazi community in England following the readmission of the Jews in 1656 and traces its origins to the late seventeenth century. Gradually throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries other Ashkenazi congregations in London and the provinces came to acknowledge the religious leadership of the Rabbi of the Great Synagogue. He gave spiritual guidance and was consulted upon points of religious law and procedures.

In 1764 a dispute arose between the Great Synagogue and the Hambro Synagogue over an appointment of a rabbi to the Portsmouth Congregation, and the Rabbi of the Great Synagogue emerged as the leading figure. In time Askenazim Jews living in the British colonies overseas came to recognise the authority of the Chief Rabbi; the title itself dates back at least to the early nineteenth century.

Main responsibilities of the Chief Rabbinate:

1) Marriage authorisation: Before any marriage can take place in any synagogue under his jurisdiction in Great Britain the permission of the Chief Rabbi is essential. The relevant Orthodox religious laws represented by the Chief Rabbinate are thus adhered to by all concerned at the marriage.

2) Conversion: The sanction of the Chief Rabbi, or of a Rabbi whose requirements for conversion are recognised as valid by the Chief Rabbi, is required before any conversion is recognised by any congregation under his jurisdiction.

3) Appointment of rabbis: The synagogues under the jurisdiction of the Chief Rabbi must obtain a "Certificate of Religious and Moral Fitness" before they can be given positions.

4) Representation: The Chief Rabbi by long tradition is perceived as representing the Anglo-Jewish community on national occasions. He is patron to many non-Jewish as well as specifically Jewish charities, and charitable and educational foundations.

The position of a Chief Rabbi can be found in parts of western and central Europe and Israel. In Great Britian there is also the Chief Rabbi of the Spanish and Portuguese Community (known as the Haham) which antedates the emergence of the Ashkenazi community here. No such position exists in the United States where rabbis of individual congregations may nonetheless exercise influence.

Hermann Adler was born in Hanover in 1839 and was brought to live in England as a small child when his father became Chief Rabbi. He was educated at University College London, in Prague, where he was ordained, and in Leipzig where he gained a doctorate. In 1864 he became minister of the Bayswater Synagogue in London. He worked to extend the provision of Jewish religious education particularly in the east end of London and spoke out in defence of the Jews against hostile and prejudiced critics.

From 1879 until his death in 1890 Chief Rabbi Nathan Adler suffered ill health and his son carried out many of his duties for him. By the time of Nathan Adler's death it was widely assumed that Hermann Adler should succeed him. He was installed as Chief Rabbi on 23 June 1891.

Like his father Hermann Adler wished to establish religious conformity as far as possible and saw his Chief Rabbinate as a focus for Jewish unity. He preferred to avoid, not always successfully, the sharpening of religious discord in Anglo-Jewry. It was noted that in 1905 he attended the memorial service for F.D.Mocatta at the Reform Synagogue. His personal admiration for the scholar Claude Montefiore (1858-1938) survived their theological differences. Montefiore was kept on the Board of Jewish Religious Education despite the fact that he as a co-founder of the Liberal Jewish movement, which was to the "left" of the Reform and of which Adler was a sharp critic. Adler authorised some small modifications to religious ritual at the request of some synagogues under his jurisdiction.

Hermann Adler continued to work for the amelioration of conditions for Jews in Britian and abroad, in particular for Jews in Russia. He was very much at home within the upper echelons of late Victorian and Edwardian society: he was Vice-President of the Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; a governor of University College London; and a committee member of the King Edward VII Hospital Fund and the Metropolitan Hospital Sunday Fund. Edward VII referred to him as "My Chief Rabbi" and made him a Companion of the Royal Victorian Order. Adler decided (as his father had done) that his ministers should be styled as "reverends" rather than "rabbis": there was only one rabbi and he was the Chief Rabbi. It was some time before he authorised the use of the rabbinic title to ministers within the United Synagogue. Hermann Adler had great admiration for things English. He was less than comfortable with the newly settled Jews from eastern Europe and they with him. Adler himself advised the lay leadership of the United Synagogue that his successor should be a rabbi more acceptable to east-end congregations than he had been.

Hemann Adler died on 18 July 1911.

Immanuel Jakobovits was born in 1921 in Konigsberg (later Kaliningrad) in eastern Prussia. He moved to Berlin in 1928, when his father Julius Jakobovits was appointed Dayan to the Jewish community there. In the 1930s the family left Nazi Germany for Britain. Immanuel Jakobovits attended a Jewish school in Stamford Hill and then Jews' College and the Etz Chaim Yeshiva in London with a view to becoming a rabbi. In 1940 he and his father were interned briefly on the Isle of Man as they were classed as "enemy aliens". After his release Immanuel Jakobovits was appointed successively Rabbi of the Brondesbury Synagogue, the South East London Synagogue and finally the Great Synagogue. At the age of 27 he was appointed Chief Rabbi of Ireland. In 1958 he was appointed Rabbi of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue in New York and in 1967 he succeeded Israel Brodie as Chief Rabbi in Britain.

Jakobovits greatly extended the prestige and authority of the office. He was the first Chief Rabbi to sit in the House of Lords and during his term of office was perceived as the principal representative figure of the Jewish community.

He was the founder and first President of the Jewish Education Development Trust which sought to extend the provision of Jewish education by promoting school building projects; by improving the quality and extent of teacher training; by providing better teaching aids and text books; and by increasing the hours of Jewish study. In his twenty four years in office the percentage of children attending Jewish day schools increased from 16% to 30%. Close contact was maintained with Jews' College and a bi-annual journal, L'Eylah, was initiated jointly by the Office of the Chief Rabbi and the College.

Lord Jakobovits served as an active President of the Conference of European Rabbis. He was also much concerned with the problems experienced by Jews in the former Soviet Union and campaigned in their cause. In 1975 he became the first Western Chief Rabbi to visit the Soviet Union in an official capacity and preached in the Moscow Synagogue.

Jakobovits' other outstanding achievement lay in the field of Jewish medical ethics. It was the subject of his Ph.D. thesis in the 1950s and he wrote what was to become a classic text in the field, "Jewish Medical Ethics". He was consulted by agencies and individuals outside the Jewish community on the subject and continued to lecture and write throughout his Chief Rabbinate. In 1985 the Sir Immanuel Jakobovits Center for Jewish Medical Ethics was opened at the Ben Gurion University in Israel.

While in office Jakobovits was knighted and in 1988 made a peer (he was gazetted as Lord Jakobovits of Regent's Park). He was on friendly terms with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who seemed to have a better relationship with him than with some leaders of the churches. In 1985 the Church of England published "Faith in the Cities", a report critical of government policies for inner-city decline and the despair of deprived citizens living in areas of urban decay. The Chief Rabbi responded by writing his own paper "From Doom to Hope". He acknowledged the role of governments in regenerating cities but, citing the history of Anglo-Jewry as an example, emphasised the importance of self-help, hard work and individual self-reliance. "From Doom to Hope" was criticised by many, including some Jews, but had praise from others: a hundred and sixty Conservative MPs signed a motion approving his sentiments.

The Chief Rabbi developed the practice of his predecessors to engage in full dialogue with Christian churches and was a Joint President of the Council for Christians and Jews. In 1987 he received a Lambeth Degree as Doctor of Divinity from the Archbishop of Canterbury - the first Jew to do so. Theological differences notwithstanding he communicated with Reform and Liberal Jewish organisations and individuals and was ready to work with them in practical matters of communal concern.

Lord Jakobovits retired from office in August 1991. He died on 31st of October 1999.

The Collection is split into 2 main parts: (i) the records of John Mowlem and Co. Ltd; (ii) the records of the Improved Wood Pavement Company Ltd.

(i) John Mowlem (1788-1868) was originally from Dorset and had experience of quarrying in the area around Swanage. He started business in London in 1822 and built up a steady account with Vestries and other authorities responsible for paving and roads. As builders and contractors, John Mowlem and Co. undertook a lot of small jobs in mid-nineteenth century London. Business expanded towards the end of the century with notable work carried out for the Jubilee Celebration for Queen Victoria in Westminster Abbey in 1887. Further recognition for the Company was gained in 1902 when it received a Royal Warrant from the Prince of Wales; later Warrants were received in 1910 and 1920.

John Mowlem and Co. is better known today as a large contractor and much of the credit for this must go to the work of Sir George Mowlem Burt, civil engineer, and grandson of George Burt, a nephew and partner of the Company's founder. Under his guidance the Company undertook large scale public works such as the Admiralty Arch, the diversion of the low-level sewer at Millbank (for the London County Council), and other maintenance contracts for the Office of Works and the Port of London Authority. The Headquarters of I.C.I. in Millbank in the 1920's, and the Southampton Graving Dock (for the Southern Railway) in the 1930's were contracts which proved the Company's worth so that during wartime many government contracts were awarded to John Mowlem and Co. Ltd. These included the Royal Ordnance Factory at Swynnerton (1939-1942), many runways and tunnels and Phoenix Units for Mulberry Harbours, in all, contracts worth £29 million for the period 1940-1945. Post-war contracts included power stations at Braehead and Hunterston.

The Company was incorporated in 1903, reverted to being a Private Company in 1908 and reconverted into a Public Company in 1925. In 1982, the company was re-registered as John Mowlem and Co. plc.

(ii) The Improved Wood Pavement Company Ltd was incorporated in 1872 to acquire the patent of improved Wood Pavement combining the use of wood with preserving composition packed with stone, and for laying and maintaining same. The Company took over the business and contracts of Samuel Norris and Benjamin Berkley Hotchkiss, who had already laid some wood pavements in London and elsewhere. Bartholomew Lane, EC2 had been paved in December 1871.

The original offices were at 32 Lombard Street, EC2, moving to Victoria Street, EC4, in 1876: in 1922 to Blackfriars House, New Bridge Street, EC4. By 1914 the Company was a contractor for wood paving, wood block flooring, sawing, excavating, concreting and had saw mills and works at East Greenwich.

Improved Wood Pavement Company Ltd became associated with John Mowlem and Co. Ltd, government and public works contractors of Westminster and formed with them in 1941 the Mowlem Paving Co. Ltd. During the 1950s the Company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Mowlems and in 1959 it ceased to operate independently. Its name was subsequently changed to Mowlem Construction (Plant Hire) Ltd and it is now a subsidiary of John Mowlem and Co. plc though Mowlem Construction Co. Ltd.

A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.

Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.

An assignment of term, or assignment to attend the inheritance, was an assignment of the remaining term of years in a mortgage to a trustee after the mortgage itself has been redeemed. An assignment of a lease is the transfer of the rights laid out in the lease to another party, usually for a consideration (a sum of money).

Abstract of title is a summary of prior ownership of a property, drawn up by solicitors. Such an abstract may go back several hundred years or just a few months, and was usually drawn up just prior to a sale.

A covenant or deed of covenant was an agreement entered into by one of the parties to a deed to another. A covenant for production of title deeds was an agreement to produce deeds not being handed over to a purchaser, while a covenant to surrender was an agreement to surrender copyhold land.

From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".

Abstract of title is a summary of prior ownership of a property, drawn up by solicitors. Such an abstract may go back several hundred years or just a few months, and was usually drawn up just prior to a sale.

From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".

A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.

Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.

An assignment of a lease is the transfer of the rights laid out in the lease to another party, usually for a consideration (a sum of money).

Abstract of title is a summary of prior ownership of a property, drawn up by solicitors. Such an abstract may go back several hundred years or just a few months, and was usually drawn up just prior to a sale.

From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".

William Robinson was born in Tottenham in 1777. He was a barrister and practised as a solicitor in Bartlett's Buildings, Holborn, London. He also had a keen interest in topography and local history. He wrote The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Tottenham High Cross, in the County of Middlesex, comprising an account of the manors, the church, and other miscellaneous matter (1818, 2nd ed 1840); The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Edmonton, in the County of Middlesex (1819); The History and Antiquities of Enfield, in the County of Middlesex (1823); The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Hackney, in the County of Middlesex (1842); The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Stoke Newington, in the County of Middlesex (1820, 2nd ed 1842) and A Short History of Ancient Britain (1845). He also wrote several legal manuals and text books. He was elected fellow of the Society of Antiquaries on 25 March 1819. Robinson died in Tottenham in 1848.

These papers relating to Heston and Isleworth were collected for their general or antiquarian interest and relevance to the subject, rather than having a united provenance (that is, being produced by the same institution or business).

Peter and John Causton are described as merchants, importing from Spain; while James Causton was the game keeper of the manor of Butlers in Suffolk.

A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.

Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.

Abstract of title is a summary of prior ownership of a property, drawn up by solicitors. Such an abstract may go back several hundred years or just a few months, and was usually drawn up just prior to a sale.

From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".

Abstract of title is a summary of prior ownership of a property, drawn up by solicitors. Such an abstract may go back several hundred years or just a few months, and was usually drawn up just prior to a sale.

From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".

A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.

An assignment of term, or assignment to attend the inheritance, was an assignment of the remaining term of years in a mortgage to a trustee after the mortgage itself has been redeemed. An assignment of a lease is the transfer of the rights laid out in the lease to another party, usually for a consideration (a sum of money).

Probate (also called proving a will) is the process of establishing the validity of a will, which was recorded in the grant of probate.

Abstract of title is a summary of prior ownership of a property, drawn up by solicitors. Such an abstract may go back several hundred years or just a few months, and was usually drawn up just prior to a sale.

A covenant or deed of covenant was an agreement entered into by one of the parties to a deed to another. A covenant for production of title deeds was an agreement to produce deeds not being handed over to a purchaser, while a covenant to surrender was an agreement to surrender copyhold land.

From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".

Philip William Flower lived at Furzedown, Surrey. He was married to May, daughter of Jonathan Flower. Their son Cyril Flower was born in 1848. He became a Liberal MP and from 1892 a Liberal peer as Lord Battersea. He was married to Constance de Rothschild, but died childless in 1907.

Shepherd's Hill road runs from Archway Road, near Highgate tube station, to Park Road in Crouch End.

A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.

Noyes and Company, ironmongers, were based at Old Street.

Gardner's Trust for the Blind was created by the will of Mr Henry Gardner who, on his death on 9 January 1879, left £300,000 for the benefit of blind persons residing in England and Wales.

In accordance with the wishes of the testator the matter was referred to the Court of Chancery where a scheme for the administration of the fund was drawn up, dated 20 January 1882.

Income from the trust is used to give educational and other grants, and pensions, to blind persons of all ages. The trust has also founded scholarships at various colleges, schools and institutions for the blind.

Thomas and Edge Limited, builders, was founded by Edwin Thomas before 1914; he died before 1939. His son Arthur E. Thomas (Member of The Institute of Building) became Governing Director but was killed on active service in the Royal Air Force after he was called up in 1940. He had a son, Robin Thomas.

Other Directors were H.A. Godfrey; Leonard Henry Mildwater (Member of The Institute of Building and Associate Member of The Institution of British Engineers: originally joined the firm in 1914 to learn trade of carpenter and joiner, became General Foreman in 1929, Director in 1937 from which he resigned in 1946 to found his own company) and J.T.L. Wigmore, Director and Secretary.

The firm's projects included work for Government Departments especially War Department contracts. Examples from 1937-1940 include seven barrack blocks and Institute at Aldershot, Hampshire; workshops at Feltham, signals establishments at Woolwich, and the construction of factories, laboratories, research buildings, office blocks and ranges at Woolwich Arsenal which took four years to complete. Jobs outside London included grandstands built at race courses such as Cheltenham Racecourse, Gloucestershire (in 1929) before the Second World War and buildings abroad including Africa. By 1930 the firm had a Birmingham office and was undertaking contracts in Cheltenham, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Brighton and Lewes, Sussex. In 1944 work outside London, overseen by Mildwater, amounted to 95% of the company's annual turnover, thanks mainly to contracts for the Air Ministry.

Offices were at Equitable House, 25 Greens End, Woolwich (the former premises of the Woolwich Equitable Building Society). The firm also occupied premises at Eton Road and the company's Works at the Royal Dockyard Wharf, Woolwich.

(Main source of information: a descendant of Leonard Henry Mildwater, September 2018)

Alan Payling was a bus driver for London Transport during the 1980's, based at Stamford Hill Bus Garage. In 1981/82, Payling was on the branch committee of Stamford Hill Bus Garage trade union, TGWU Branch 1/312, responsible for "Education and Information" and appointed a "Fare Fight Delegate" (ACC/3029/7). He was responsible for the distribution and reception of various trade union, transport and local community leaflets and magazines.

The Public Transport Workers Jobs Campaign (Leaside District) ran a printing workshop and resource centre which were used by individual trade union branches such as Finsbury Park NUR and Wood Green ASLEF (see annual report 1985/86 (ACC/3029/17)). The resource centre held material necessary to those campaigning in the transport industry and included GLC, LRT and TGWU material.

The Busworker group began as part of the campaign against one person operation of buses (OPO) in 1982/83. It derived partly from the LT worker group which was set up in 1982 to fight the proposed loss of jobs/services after the "Fares Fair" campaign. The Transport Worker (which incorporated Busworker Monthly) was a joint rail and bus newsletter for the dissemination of trade union information to all sections of London Transport. Alan Payling was on the editorial board of Transport Worker.

Whitelands Lodge, King's Road, Chelsea, was leased to the National Society (Church of England) for Promoting Religious Education, during the nineteenth century, for the purposes of their school, Whitelands College. The College was founded in 1841 as a training college for women teachers. It is now part of the University of Surrey.

The Metropolitan Benefit Societies' Asylum was founded in 1829 by John Christopher Bowles. The foundation stone of the Asylum which was situated in Balls Pond Road, Islington, was laid by the Lord Mayor in 1836. The Asylum was intended to provide accommodation for aged persons of either sex who were members of any friendly or benefit society and who lived in or near London. The almshouses were modernised in 1959. In 1964 twelve two storeyed houses for four tenants each were arranged around three sides of a quadrangle with a central hall to provide homes for a total of 48 men and women.

The firm of Collyer Bristow and Company, solicitors of 4 Bedford Row, London WC1R 4DF, has been in existence, albeit under different names, since the late 18th Century. The earliest document in this collection dates from 1781, when the partners were Dyneley, Bell and Dyneley.

In the mid-19th Century a member of the Collyer Bristow family joined the company, at which time it was known as Coverdale, Lee and Collyer Bristow. Between 1876 and 1922 a succession of partners passed through the firm, it became first Collyer Bristow, Withers and Russell, then Collyer Bristow, Hill, Curtis and Dodds and Collyer Bristow, Curtis, Booth , Birks and Langley, before setting on Collyer Bristow and Company in 1922.

The British Records Association (BRA) was founded in 1932. The association aims to encourage and assist with the preservation, care, use and publication of historical records. The work includes publication of guidance leaflets, a newsletter and a journal entitled Archives; and the organisation of an annual conference. The Records Preservation Section arranges for the transfer of records to suitable repositories.

Source: BRA website at http://www.britishrecordsassociation.org.uk/ (accessed July 2010).

The Beaumont family of Pinner were wheelwrights, makers of wheels and wheeled vehicles. In the 1860s and 1870s G Beaumont owned the business which was based on the High Street, Pinner

The Metropolitan Free Drinking Fountain Association, as it was originally known, was established by Samuel Gurney, MP, in 1859. As a charity it aimed to provide the poor living in London with a clean, fresh water supply. The cholera epidemics of 1848-9 and 1853-4 had demonstrated the need for such action. The first drinking fountain was erected in 1859 against the wall of St Sepulchre's Church, Snow Hill.

Although the Association was largely motivated by the need for a hygienic water supply, it also had the support of temperance organisations, who disliked the fact the beer was more readily available than water.

The Association was also concerned with animal welfare, and erected a considerable number of cattle and horse troughs in and around London. By 1865 the majority of drinking fountains also had troughs for dogs attached to them.

By the 1930s the emphasis of the Association's work had changed. There was no longer such a great need to provide drinking facilities for animals in London as livestock ceased to be herded through the streets to market, and horse drawn vehicles were no longer prevalent. The Association, therefore, concentrated on providing drinking facilities in parks and other recreational areas, as well as schools.

Despite its name the Association has never restricted its work to the London area. It has been responsible for the construction of fountains all over the British Isles, as well as in such countries as Australia, Africa, Japan and Korea.

The Association still exists today and is known as the Drinking Fountain Association.

The Metropolitan Rifle Range Company was set-up to provide ranges close to London at which the Metropolitan Volunteers could practice rifle shooting. Directors included Colonel Deane of the 21st Middlesex; Lieutenant-Colonel Cantlon of the 2nd London; Major Cunningham of the 9th Middlesex and Major Gallie of the 21st Middlesex. Mr Mortimer was Secretary.

In 1892 the Company opened a rifle range called the Runemede or Runnymede Range, near Staines. This comprised 1000 acres of flat land bordered by a river, marsh land, a railway and a road, along which a concrete wall was constructed. Nevertheless, the range was later closed because of safety concerns, particuarly relating to the railway.

A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.

A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.

This company of brick merchants was formed in around 1914 and was based at Swinton House, 324 Grays Inn Road, WC1. It was also concerned with selling coal in the first few years of its existence and is believed to have folded in the mid-1960s.

The church of Saint George in the East, Stepney, was one of three Stepney churches built under the 1711 "Act for the building of Fifty New Churches in the Cities of London and Westminster or the Suburbs thereof" to be paid for by a tax levied on coal entering the City of London. The church was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor to serve the residents of Upper Wapping, however it was not consecrated until 1729 because of financial difficulties. It has a 160 foot tower. The east window was designed by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

The church was the centre of a controversy in the 1850s when the Presbyterian Bishop of London A C Tait replaced the high church rector with a low church preacher, causing demonstrations and unrest and the eventual temporary closure of the church.

The interior of the church was gutted during World War II, but the exterior was left intact. After the bombing, services continued in a shed at the rear. In 1963 a new church, by Arthur Baily, was built within the Hawksmoor shell. The original apse with its plasterwork and the font at the west end have been retained. There was space for an inner courtyard between the original west front and the new, which was built entirely of glass. On either side of the courtyard, the former galleries incorporate four flats which were given the Civic Trust Award in 1967.

The Sherborn family have been associated with East Bedfont in Middlesex for over 600 years. This association has taken many forms but most recently was the ownership of Fawns Manor, East Bedfont. The history of the family has been briefly recorded by the last of this long line of Sherborns, Derek Sherborn (see ACC/3259/SF1/025).

The Manor of Fawnes or Fawns was held from the Manor of East Bedfont. The manor is first mentioned as a manor in 1531, although reference to lands in this area held by the Fawne family date to the reign of Edward I. The manor was conveyed to the Crown in 1542 and from that date was held in chief. The manor had various owners, including Anthony Walker between 1583 and 1590, his son Thomas Walker up to 1618; Felix Wilson and his family until 1654; Thomas Darling and family until 1668. Records are then scarce until 1739, when Thomas Manning had the manor. By 1792 it was owned by Aubrey, Baron Vere. By 1911 it was the property of William Sherborn.

The Manor of Pates was also held of the Manor of East Bedfont, and was named after owner John Pate who held it in 1403. The manor was sold to Christ's Hospital in 1623, and they still owned it in 1911.

From: 'Spelthorne Hundred: East Bedfont with Hatton', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 2: General; Ashford, East Bedfont with Hatton, Feltham, Hampton with Hampton Wick, Hanworth, Laleham, Littleton (1911), pp. 309-314 (available online).

The first meeting of the London Trades Council was on 18 May 1860 in Shaftesbury Hall, Aldersgate Street. The Council had been established as a result of a campaign for a nine hour day in the building trade, and was intended "to cheer, instruct and advise in any trade difficulty", (Short History of the London Trades Council, 1935, Acc/3287/02/007), but became increasingly involved in political activity, particularly under two of its Secretaries - George Odger (1862-1872), and George Shipton (1872-1896).

There were trade councils in many industrial areas in the country at this time, but it was the London council which through its links with them and their equivalents abroad was considered to be the leader of British trade unionism. By the early 1870's the Trades Union Congress had been formed and it gradually took over many of the trade councils' functions and political impetus, although the latter remained in existence within the Congress framework. In 1945 Julius Jacobs became Secretary, and for the next seven years the Council became a voice for the Communist Party, distanced from the rest of the trade union movement. The result was expulsion from and deregistration by the Trades Union Congress in 1952; followed by the drawing up of a new constitution, election by the Trades Union Congress of a new committee, and a move into new offices in Rosebery Avenue. The Council is no longer in existence.

Nathan Adler was born in 1803 in Hanover, Germany and was the grand-nephew of Chief Rabbi David Tewele Schiff. He was educated at the universities of Gottingen, Erlangen, Wurzburg and Heidelberg and was ordained in 1828. In 1829 he was elected Senior Rabbi of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg and in 1830 appointed to the office in Hanover in his father's stead. In 1844 Nathan Adler succeeded Chief Rabbi Soloman Hirschell and was installed on the 9th of July 1845.

Nathan Adler worked to establish uniformity of religious practices. In 1847 he issued a code of Laws and Regulations which underlined the supremacy of the Chief Rabbi. He visited provincial congregations and took an active interest in settling or preventing communal disputes. In 1855 he founded Jews College in Finsbury Square, London. It was opened as a school and college, but the attraction of good schools outside the Jewish community and the movement of Jews from the area of the City led to the school being closed in 1879.

Many changes to the composition and administrative framework of Anglo-Jewry took place during this Chief Rabbinate. Important Jewish institutions such as the Jewish Board of Guardians and the Anglo-Jewish Association were founded. In the 1860s Adler encouraged proposals for the union of Ashkenazi congregations under one management and the United Synagogue was created by Act of Parliament in 1870. It was also a period when some Jews examined their approach to their faith; some broke away from traditional observance to worship at the newly formed West London Synagogue, the first Reform congregation in Britain. The number of Jews in the country grew, especially from 1881 with the arrival of thousands of refugees fleeing from pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe. In 1850 the Jewish population in Britain as around 35,000; in 1914 it stood at 300,000.

In the last decade of his life Nathan Adler had poor health and retired to Brighton. His son Hermann Adler acted for him as Delegate Chief Rabbi until his death on 21st January 1890.

Bow County Court was located at Bow Road, E3. The district of the Court included Bromley, Stratford, West Ham, Buckhurst Hill and parts of Shoreditch, Bethnal Green and Whitechapel.

The County Courts have had varied and extensive jurisdictions under numerous Acts including compensation for injured workmen by employers under the Workmen's Compensation Acts 1897 and 1925.

Wandsworth Prison was built in 1849 as a Surrey House of Correction and was intended for those serving short sentences. It was designed by D R Hill of Birmingham to hold 1000 prisoners, and the first male prisoners were admitted in 1851 and the first female prisoners in 1852. In 1877, when prisons were nationalised, it became a short-term prison and in 1878, it took over from Horsemonger Lane as the hanging prison for South London. It came to be used for recidivists and, after the First World War, part was taken over as the Boys' Prison for London, under a separate governor and regime from the main block. Boys were assessed here and, if appropriate, allocated to Borstals. In 1929, this function was transferred to Wormwood Scrubs. More recently, the prison has been used to hold convicted persons awaiting sentence and as the centre for allocating long-term prisoners to other prisons outside the London area.

South Hackney School began its life as Lauriston Road Central School, which opened in March 1911 in an area that was then a fashionable suburb of London. After World War One air raids over London, the school moved into an existing school building in Cassland Road in 1917. It is believed that this Cassland Road building was the last Higher Grade School built by the London School Board before county councils took over responsibility for education in 1904.

The name of the school changed in 1913 to Hackney Council School, which reflected its role as one of the new central schools established in 1911 by the London County Council to provide education for brighter children whose parents could not afford the fees and who had not won a scholarship. According to Mr. Chew, Hackney Central's headmaster from 1911 to 1943, these schools 'were intended to put boys and girls on the road they could travel best'. Hackney Central Secondary School covered a fixed catchment area of elementary schools, and began with a commercial bias towards shorthand, book-keeping and typing. The syllabus developed towards more general education, although passing public examinations was not the primary aim of the central schools.

The school in Cassland Road was bombed during the Blitz and many children were evacuated to Northampton. In 1944 the school was forced to use another building in Lauriston Road and a new headmistress, Miss Beswick, took charge. The inter-war years started a tradition of school journeys and music and drama activities. The war had caused severe disruption with pupil members falling to 280, but the 1950s saw a period of growth and development.

Although the changes established by the 1944 Education Act refined the role of secondary education and the central schools, Hackney Central was one of the few schools allowed to select its pupils until the comprehensive system was introduced. But when the Education Committee decided that a school should not be allowed to bear the name of a borough, Hackney Central was forced to change its name in 1951 to Cassland Secondary School. The name derived from the old estate of Sir John Cass, a prominent educationalist, on whose grounds the school stood. The Sir John Cass Foundation gave permission for the family badges and shield to be worn on the uniform, and old pupils became familiarly known as 'Old Casslanders'.

The company was founded in Leicester in 1884 by Henry Curry as H.Curry and Sons and was carried on in partnership until 1922 when Currys Limited was registered as a private company. In 1927, it was incorporated under the Companies Acts, 1908 to 1917, as a limited company called Currys (1927) Limited. It was renamed Currys Limited in 1930, and in 1981 was re-registered under the Companies Act 1980 as a public company and renamed Currys Group plc.

The business began as the manufacture and retail through high street shops of bicycles and related items. The first shop was opened in Leicester in 1888. The company rapidly expanded by opening more shops and, in 1927, it acquired the Campion Cycle Company Limited. By this date, it had opened 134 shops throughout the South of England, the Midlands and the Eastern counties and had also made rapid progress in the manufacture and sale of gramophones, wirelesses and other electrical goods. The company acquired other subsidiary companies and continued its expansion especially in its electrical sections. This side of the business eventually became dominant.

Acquisitions made by the company: 1927 Campion Cycle Company Limited: At the date of acquisition, the company had been established for more than 40 years. It had 20 branches in the Midlands for the retail trade of bicycles, motorcycles and accessories. In 1930, it ceased retail trade (which was taken over by Currys Ltd.) and became a finance company to finance hire-purchase business done by Currys Ltd. At this time, it was renamed Basinghall Finance Company Limited and in 1933 was renamed Basinghall Industrial Services Limited. 1927 Belcher (Radio Services) Limited: This trade and repair service company was acquired as an existing subsidiary of the Campion Cycle Company Limited. It was renamed Belcher Electronic Services Limited in 1963, Currys Group Service Limited in 1972 and CGS Limited in 1981. 1935 H.B. Rogers Limited: The company was formed in 1934 as an importer and wholesaler of electrical goods. In 1935 it was acquired by Basinghall Industrial Services Limited. It was renamed Currys Micro-Systems Limited in 1979. 1937 Ideal Rental Services Limited: The company was formed in 1937 to handle the renting of wirelesses, and was acquired in the same year by Basinghall Industrial Services Limited. It was renamed Carousel Colourhire Limited in 1980. 1948 Triumph Holdings Limited: The company was formed in 1948 and in the same year became an associated company of Currys Limited. It was renamed Phoebus Holdings Limited in 1954 and Starbond Limited in 1970. 1957 T Bridger and Son Limited: The company was formed in 1953 for the retail of domestic electrical appliances, television and radio. It was renamed Bridgers Discount Limited in 1981. 1976 R W Proffitt Limited: The company, concerned with the retail of domestic electrical appliances, television, radio and audio equipment, was previously part of the retail chain of Loyds Retailers Limited, a subsidiary of Philips Electronic and Associated Industries Limited. 1979 W.R. Stott (Shopfitters) Limited: In 1979 Currys Limited acquired 49% of the share capital of the company.

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters was founded early in 1891. The impetus for the formation of the Society arose because some young portrait painters felt that their work was being excluded by the Royal Academy (of which they were not members) and so planned firstly an exhibition, then a Society of Portrait Painters. Members of the Society included Archibald John Stuart Wortley (the first President); James Jebusa Shannon; Percy Jacomb Hood; and Arthur Melville. The first exhibition was held in June 1891.

In 1911 the Society, by the permission of George V, gained the status of a Royal Society. Despite financial instability and problems finding venues for exhibitions the Society flourished and attracted critical and public attention; the annual exhibitions becoming an established part of the art calendar. The Society can boast a distinguished list of past and present members. In 1986 it became a Registered Company and in 1987 a charity.

Samuel Fisher was a leading member of the Anglo-Jewish Community and a well-known figure in London local government.

He was Mayor of Stoke Newington Metropolitan Borough 1953-1954 and Camden London Borough 1965-1966. He was Chairman of the London Labour Mayors Association 1966-1977. He was made a life peer in 1974.

His influence was felt on a number of London wide bodies such as the Metropolitan Water Board where he was Chairman and national bodies such as the Board of Deputies of British Jews where he was President. A musical of his life was written entitled The Sammy Fisher Story. He died in 1979.

Lyons was founded in 1886 as a catering business, earning a reputation as caterers for exhibitions at Newcastle, Glasgow, Paris and London's Olympia. In 1894 it was incorporated as a public company and established its head office and food factories at Cadby Hall in Hammersmith. The company rapidly established a chain of Teashops, Cornerhouses and Restaurants with the opening of the first Lyons Teashop in 1894 in Piccadilly, the Trocadero Restaurant in 1896 and the First Lyons Corner House in 1909 in Coventry Street. To keep pace with this expansion, the factories were moved to Greenford in Middlesex in 1920 and the largest tea packing plant in the world opened. Further progress was made during the Second World War with the development of the FROOD a revolutionary frozen cooked food process. The company is also famous for its work in less obvious fields - from 1941 to 1945 it operated a munitions factory at Elstow near Bedford on the reputed site of the slough of despond. In 1954 it developed LEO (Lyons Electronic Office), the first computer in the world capable of use for commercial work.

Further growth came in the 1970s with the acquisition of a number of businesses both in the UK and overseas. In 1978, Lyons became the food division of Allied Breweries which was renamed Allied-Lyons in 1981. In 1990 the head office was moved from Cadby Hall to Greenford. In 1994 Allied-Lyons decided to dispose of its food manufacturing operations and to change its name to Allied Domecq. The individual companies were sold off and Lyons head office closed in 1995.

The company was founded in 1903 at a meeting in Shoreditch Town Hall attended by representatives of 13 local authorities: the Metropolitan Boroughs of Battersea, Deptford, Fulham and Shoreditch; the Boards of Guardians of Camberwell, Fulham, Poplar, Shoreditch, Stepney, and Whitechapel; East Ham District Council, Romford Urban District Council and the Poplar and Stepney Sick Asylum District.

The company was part of an attempt to save municipal authorities, and therefore ratepayers, money by mutual assurance rather than paying inflated premiums to private insurance companies. It kept the money in the public domain. The company expanded with a network of branches being formed: by 1946 over 1250 local authorities had policies with the company. In the early 1990s the company became part of the Zurich Insurance Group.

These are the files of Alan Whittleton, former Secretary of the Association.

Sheer Metalcraft Limited (Company No.367412) was formed in 1941. Its registered office was at 22 Mare Street, Hackney while the company also occupied premises on the Weybridge Trading Estate and 20 Angel Factory Colony, later 20 Lea Valley Trading Estate, Upper Edmonton, London N18. The company was bought by A.V.P. Industries Limited in 1949. In 1962 Sheer Metalcraft Limited changed its name to Sheer Pride Limited. From March 1968 its registered office was Harbet House, Lea Valley Trading Estate, Upper Edmonton, London N18.

In January 1976, Harold H. Poster, chairman of the company, a director since 1943 and chairman for most of that period, died suddenly. Following his death, the A.V.P. Group of companies was acquired by Lonrho Plc who in 1979 transferred Sheer Pride Limited from its A.V.P. Sub-Group to its John Holt Sub-Group. Company No. 367412 subsequently changed its name to Rainbow Engineering Limited and then to Jagplace Limited . In 1987 the John Holt Sub-Group transferred Company No. 367412 to Firsteel Group Limited, another subsidiary of Lonrho Plc. Lonrho Plc then sold Firsteel, excluding Company No. 367412, which is believed to have been the subject of a management buyout. At about this time the business moved to Hirwaun, Mid Glamorgan. When the business went into receivership around June 1995 it was being conducted by DMI Fabrications Limited trading as Sheer Pride.

The Honorary Consulting Surgeon of the Finsbury Dispensary was Arthur Evans. The Dispensary was founded in 1780 and was situated at Brewer Street, off Goswell Road, EC. It offered advice and medicine and was cheaper than hospital attendance.

Lyons was founded in 1886 as a catering business, earning a reputation as caterers for exhibitions at Newcastle, Glasgow, Paris and London's Olympia. In 1894 it was incorporated as a public company and established its head office and food factories at Cadby Hall in Hammersmith. The company rapidly established a chain of Teashops, Cornerhouses and Restaurants with the opening of the first Lyons Teashop in 1894 in Piccadilly, the Trocadero Restaurant in 1896 and the First Lyons Corner House in 1909 in Coventry Street. To keep pace with this expansion, the factories were moved to Greenford in Middlesex in 1920 and the largest tea packing plant in the world opened. Further progress was made during the Second World War with the development of the FROOD - a revolutionary frozen cooked food process. The company is also famous for its work in less obvious fields - from 1941 to 1945 it operated a munitions factory at Elstow near Bedford on the reputed site of the slough of despond. In 1954 it developed LEO (Lyons Electronic Office), the first computer in the world capable of use for commercial work.

Further growth came in the 1970s with the acquisition of a number of businesses both in the UK and overseas. In 1978, Lyons became the food division of Allied Breweries which was renamed Allied-Lyons in 1981. In 1990 the head office was moved from Cadby Hall to Greenford. In 1994 Allied-Lyons decided to dispose of its food manufacturing operations and to change its name to Allied Domecq. The individual companies were sold off and Lyons head office closed in 1995.

Messrs Joshua Ashby and Sons were millers and corn merchants at Brixton Mill, Blenheim Gardens (formerly Cornwall Road), Stockwell, Lambeth.

"In 1817 John Ashby of Brixton Hill, miller, obtained a lease for 99 years from Hall of two acres of land (plot 84) on the south side of a new road to be called Cornwall Road (now Blenheim Gardens), together with a "Brick corn Mill" and other erections. The windmill was erected in 1816-17 at the south-west corner of the two acres. Save for a brief period in 1862-4, when the sails of the mill were removed and new machinery installed, the windmill was in continuous use by the firm of Ashby until 1934. It has been listed as a building of architectural and historic interest under the Town and Country Planning Act, 1947, and in 1955 the London County Council purchased the site for an open space. The mill is built of stock brick, painted over, and is surmounted by a gallery and a wooden boat-shaped cap; the gallery was added later. The ancillary buildings are of brick-nogged and weather boarded construction with pantile roofs."

From: 'Stockwell: Brixton Hill area', Survey of London: volume 26: Lambeth: Southern area (1956), pp. 100-105.

The British Tyre and Rubber Company, known as BTR plc since 1982 was one of the largest companies in the UK with a one time stock market capital value of over £6.5 billion. It was originally registered in 1898 as the Leyland and Birmingham Rubber Company Ltd, specially formed to acquire the undertakings of Leyland Rubber Company Ltd, Birmingham; India Rubber Company Ltd and Stanley Morrison and Co. Ltd. Most of the companies that were taken over by, or associated with, BTR plc were concerned with rubber products of all types : from tyres to shoes and even hair, but there were also links with the communications industry and more general trade within the British Empire, including India and Australia.

The Commercial Gas Light and Coke Company was formed in 1837 to combat the British Gas Light and Coke Company after it had obtained a monopoly. Commercial later bought the British's London district for a knockdown figure. Deed of settlement, 1839. Incorporated by Act of Parliament, 1847. Nationalised 1949, placed under control of North Thames Gas Board.

The Crystal Palace District Gas Company served Norwood, Dulwich, Streatham, Brixton, Sydenham, Forest Hill, Beckenham, Bromley, Croydon, Lambeth and Anerley.

History:

Deed of settlement, 10 March 1854, registered 1854 under Joint Stock Companies Act. By deed of demise from Sydenham Gas and Coke Company, 16 August 1854, acquired that company's works. Incorporated by Act of Parliament, 1858. Name changed to South Suburban Gas Company from 1 August 1904. Nationalised in 1949 and placed under the control of the South Eastern Gas Board.