Dr Robert Mullineux Walmsley, the first Principal of the Northampton Institute, was appointed in Sep 1895 at the age of 41, from some 94 applicants, and commenced work in Jan 1896. He had previously been First Senior Demonstrator at Finsbury Technical College, 1883-1887; Principal of the Sindh Arts College in Bombay, India, 1887-1888; on the staff of the City and Guilds (Engineering) College, 1888-1890; First Professor of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics, Heriot-Watt University, 1890-1895.
At a meeting of academic staff in Nov 1922 it was proposed that `a committee be appointed to represent the staff'. Draft rules were drawn up in Jan 1923 for the organisation, which determined that it be called the Northampton Polytechnic Staff Association (subsequently known as the Academic Staff Association or ASA). The business of its early years was concerned with social activities, redundancies, workload and leave allowance for summer holidays. A Staff Social Committee was formed from the main committee in 1930 to supervise social activities. In 1962 the ASA became involved in the actual administration of the institution, and were closely involved in the change to university status. The ASA has its place in the university charter as the forum from which academic staff are elected to Senate.
A Social Committee was formed by students to improve the social life of the Northampton Institute in 1910, and the Union Society was instituted in Mar 1912. A number of Northampton students were also instrumental in the foundation of the University of London Union in the 1920s. The Northampton Polytechnic Institute Day Students Magazine commenced in Dec 1912 but ceased publication in 1915 due to wartime restrictions. Its successor (the newspaper of both the union and past students' society), the Northampton Gazette, commenced publication in Jul 1919. The Students' Union started its own newspaper, the Beacon, in 1948. The Union was appointed its first sabbatical president in 1968, and moved into new purpose built premises in 1970. The Engineering Society was formed in 1905, and the energy of its own social activities served to promote the foundation of the Students' Union Society in 1912. The name of the society was changed to the Northampton Engineering College Engineering Society in 1913. The Principal, Dr Robert Mullineux Walmsley, was first President, and after his death, the `Mullineux Walmsley' lectures on engineering were instituted by the Society. Two prizes were available from the foundation of the Society in 1905, namely for the best papers read by a current and a past student.
The N'Ions is the association of past students of the Northampton Institute and City University, founded in 1909 as the Northampton Past Day Students' Association, and serving to promote the interests of the City University and its past students. The first annual dinner of the N'Ions was held in 1922, and branches were organised in the midlands and north west of England. Its magazine, the Northampton Gazette commenced publication in 1910, and following a temporary cessation during World War One, resumed joint publication with the Union Society in 1919. Its title was changed to The N'Ion in 1935. Following World War Two, two means of commemorating those former students killed during the war were instituted. A plaque was erected and a fund was established to enable undergraduates and graduates to visit other countries to enable them to gain experience in their chosen field by the observation of other nationals engaged in the same sphere of industry or research. The first award was made in 1951.
The North Woolwich Undertaking was founded in 1850. It was taken over in 1858 by the Victoria Docks Gas Company, which was in turn taken over by the Gas Light and Coke Company in 1871.
The North Western Polytechnic (NWP) - founded in 1896 - opened in Prince of Wales Road, Kentish Town, NW London, in 1929. It had more than 2200 students, mainly in evening classes, and an academic staff of 150, concentrating on social sciences, humanities and arts. By 1967 the NWP was the largest polytechnic in London. On 26 January 1971, as more polytechnics were designated, it was decided that the Northern and North Western polytechnics should merge to form the Polytechnic of North London (PNL), which then had its degrees awarded by the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA). In 1992 the Polytechnic won the right to the title of 'University' and to award its own degrees and diplomas as the University of North London, rather than those of the CNAA. In December 2001, the University announced that it would be merging with London Guildhall University, to create London Metropolitan University, London's largest unitary university and one of the country's largest higher education institutions.
The Metropolitan Asylums Board was established in 1867 and soon acquired three sites for infectious diseases hospitals. One of these was near Pond Street, Hampstead, where on 25 January 1870 Hampstead Hospital opened in temporary buildings for the reception of patients suffering from relapsing fever. Nurses were provided by the Anglican Sisters of Saint Margaret, East Grinstead. The hospital closed when this epidemic subsided, but was reopened on 1 December 1870 to admit patients suffering from a particularly virulent form of small pox, which was raging through London. This epidemic had passed by 1873. From 1873 to 1876 Hampstead Hospital was used for the accommodation of mentally handicapped children until the Darenth Schools in Kent were opened by the Metropolitan Asylums Board. Meanwhile permanent smallpox and fever hospitals were being built on the Hampstead site despite vigorous local opposition.
In the autumn of 1876 another epidemic necessitated the use of Hampstead Hospital for the treatment of smallpox again. Hampstead residents brought a series of expensive lawsuits against the Metropolitan Asylums Board to force it to close the hospital or severely restrict its use for smallpox or fever patients. As a result, a Royal Commission appointed to consider these problems in 1881 recommended that smallpox patients should be treated on hospital ships or adjoining riverbanks on isolated parts of the River Thames. Hampstead Hospital (renamed the North Western Hospital) now became entirely a fever hospital, treating mainly cases of diphtheria and scarlet fever. The Metropolitan Asylums Board infectious diseases hospitals were gradually removed from the provisions of the Poor Law, until after 1 January 1892 every citizen of London suffering from infectious disease was legally entitled to admission to an Metropolitan Asylums Board hospital for treatment free of charge.
In 1930 the Hospital was transferred to the management of the London County Council and was administered by the Central Public Health Committee, later the Hospitals and Medical Services Committee. In 1948 the North Western Hospital became part of the National Health Service as one of the Royal Free Hospital Group of teaching hospitals. For a report on the North Western Hospital by King's Fund Visitors in 1956 when it had become an integral part of the Royal Free Hospital see A/KE/737/14. The new Royal Free Hospital was subsequently built on this site.
When the National Health Service was established in 1948, it was divided into three parts.
The personal health services, including ambulances, health visitors, community nursing and midwifery were run by local authorities. General medical services, including general practice, dental and ophthalmic services were the responsibility of the executive councils. Hospitals were placed under the control of regional hospital boards. Within each region hospitals were formed into groups and responsibility for more routine administration was delegated to the hospital group management committee. Teaching hospitals were excluded from this system. They had their own boards of governors who were directly responsible to the Minister of Health. Within each hospital region joint committees were established to facilitate consultation and cooperation between teaching hospitals and the board's hospitals.
In 1974 the regional hospital boards, hospital management committees and most boards of governors were abolished. They were replaced by regional health authorities and area health authorities, which were responsible for the three formerly separate parts of the NHS. In 1982 the area health authorities were in turn abolished. Their powers were transferred to district health authorities.
In 1948 the North West Metropolitan Regional Health Board was formed with responsibility for Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, north west London, and Spelthorne. The North West Thames Regional Health Authority was formed in 1974 and was responsible for health services in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, the London Boroughs of Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster.
This area of operations was similar to but not identical with the former North West Metropolitan Hospital Region, which comprised Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire (except Royston and east Hertfordshire) Middlesex (except Edmonton, Enfield and Tottenham) part of Berkshire (including Windsor and Maidenhead), part of Buckinghamshire (including Beaconsfield, Eton and Slough), the Metropolitan Boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, Islington, St Marylebone and St Pancras, and the northern parts of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Hammersmith, Kensington, Paddington and Westminster.
In 1994 the North West Thames Regional Health Authority was merged with the North East Thames Regional Health Authority to form the North Thames Regional Health Authority, with responsibility for Essex, Hertfordshire and north London.
Founded in 1945 by Rabbi Margulies, the 'Premishlaner Rebbe' for the Jewish Community in the area, the North West London Jewish Day School is still an active school for local orthodox communities of Brondesbury, Hampstead and St John’s Wood.
Rabbi Maurice Landy, the rabbi of the Cricklewood community, took on the development of the school and was involved as Honorary Principal and Chair of Governors and Trustees for over 40 years until his passing in 1996.
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 North West France Anglican Chaplaincy covered Le Touquet, Boulogne, Calais and Arras.
When the National Health Service was established in 1948, it was divided into three parts.
The personal health services, including ambulances, health visitors, community nursing and midwifery were run by local authorities. General medical services, including general practice, dental and ophthalmic services were the responsibility of the executive councils. Hospitals were placed under the control of regional hospital boards. Within each region hospitals were formed into groups and responsibility for more routine administration was delegated to the hospital group management committee. Teaching hospitals were excluded from this system. They had their own boards of governors who were directly responsible to the Minister of Health. Within each hospital region joint committees were established to facilitate consultation and cooperation between teaching hospitals and the board's hospitals.
In 1974 the regional hospital boards, hospital management committees and most boards of governors were abolished. They were replaced by regional health authorities and area health authorities, which were responsible for the three formerly separate parts of the NHS. In 1982 the area health authorities were in turn abolished. Their powers were transferred to district health authorities.
In 1948 the North West Metropolitan Regional Health Board was formed with responsibility for Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, north west London, and Spelthorne; while the North East Metropolitan Regional Health Board was formed with responsibility for Essex and north east London. In 1974 they were renamed as the North West Thames Regional Health Authority and the North East Thames Regional Health Authority. In 1994 the two services were merged to form the North Thames Regional Health Authority, with responsibility for Essex, Hertfordshire and north London.
North Thames Gas Board (1949-1973): one of 12 Area Boards formed when the gas industry was nationalised in 1949, following the passing of the 1948 Gas Bill. Supplied area of 1,059 square miles stretching from Bracknell, Marlow and High Wycombe to the south east coast of Essex. When formed it was made up of a merger of 12 statutory gas undertakings: Ascot and District Gas and Electricity Company, Chertsey Gas Consumers Company; Commercial Gas Company; (Chartered) Gas Light and Coke Company; Hornsey Gas Company; Lea Bridge District Gas Company; North Middlesex Gas Company; Romford Gas Company; Slough Gas and Coke Company; Southend Corporation (Shoeburyness); Uxbridge Gas Consumers Company and Windsor Royal Gas Light Company. The North Thames Gas Board was dissolved in 1973 when it became a region of the British Gas Corporation. Note - Consumers Gas Companies were set up in consequence of dissatisfaction with the existing supplier.
Gas Light and Coke Company (1812-1949): founded in 1812, this was the first company to supply gas to London. The Company absorbed 27 smaller companies and several undertakings during its period of operation, including the Aldgate Gas Light and Coke Company (1819), the Brentford Gas Company (1926), the City of London Gas Light and Coke Company (1870), the Equitable Gas Light Company (1871), the Great Central Gas Consumer's Company (1870), Imperial Gas Light and Coke Company (1876), the Independent Gas Light and Coke Company (1876), the London Gas Light Company (1883), Pinner Gas Company (1930), Richmond Gas Company (1925), Southend-on-Sea and District Gas Company (1932), Victoria Docks Gas Company (1871) and Western Gas Light Company (1873). In May 1949, after the passing of the Gas Bill 1948, the Company handed over its assets to the North Thames Gas Board.
Brentford Gas Light Company (1821-1926): founded in 1821 at the instigation of Sir Felix Booth, the company had works at Brentford and retorts at Southall and covered a wide area including Hammersmith, Kensington, Southall, Twickenham and Richmond. Merged with the Gas Light and Coke Company in 1926.
Harrow and Stanmore Gas Company (1872-1924): Harrow Gas Works founded in 1855 by John Chapman and rebuilt in 1872 as the Harrow Gas Light and Coke Company Limited and became a statutory company as the Harrow District Gas Company in 1873. In 1894 it became the Harrow and Stanmore Gas Company. Merged with the Brentford Gas Company in 1924. Both merged with the Gas Light and Coke Company in 1926.
Pinner Gas Company (1868-1930): founded between 1868 and 1872, merged with Gas Light and Coke Company in 1926.
Hornsey Gas Company Limited (1857-1949): formed in 1857, became statutory in 1866, controlled by the South East Gas Corporation from 1939 and merged with the North Thames Gas Board in 1949.
Staines and Egham District Gas and Coke Company Limited (1833-1915): founded 1833, merged with Brentford Gas Company in 1915.
North Middlesex Gas Company (1862-1949): founded in 1862, with works at Mill Hill.
Uxbridge Gas Company (1841-1861): founded 1841 by T Stacey; faced competition from the new Uxbridge and Hillingdon Gas Consumers Company from 1854 onwards (the companies were known as the 'Old' Gas Company and the 'New' Gas Company). Amalgamated with The Uxbridge and Hillingdon Gas Consumers Company in 1861.
Uxbridge and Hillingdon Gas Consumers Company (1854-1949): formed in 1854 in competition with the Uxbridge Gas Company; became statutory in 1861; after 1918 expanded rapidly and purchased surrounding companies including the Beaconsfield Gas Company, Great Marlow Gas Company and Maidenhead Gas Company. Known as the Uxbridge, Wycombe and District Gas Company from 1921; the Uxbridge, Maidenhead, Wycombe and District Gas Company from 1925 and the South East Gas Corporation from 1936. It merged with the North Thames Gas Board in 1949.
The North Thames Gas Board (1949-1973) was one of 12 Area Boards formed when the gas industry was nationalised in 1949, following the passing of the 1948 Gas Bill. It supplied an area of 1,059 square miles stretching from Bracknell, Marlow and High Wycombe to the south east coast of Essex.
When formed it was made up of a merger of 12 statutory gas undertakings:
Ascot and District Gas and Electricity Company,
Chertsey Gas Consumers Company;
Commercial Gas Company;
(Chartered) Gas Light and Coke Company;
Hornsey Gas Company;
Lea Bridge District Gas Company;
North Middlesex Gas Company;
Romford Gas Company;
Slough Gas and Coke Company;
Southend Corporation (Shoeburyness);
Uxbridge Gas Consumers Company and
Windsor Royal Gas Light Company.
The North Thames Gas Board was dissolved in 1973 when it became a region of the British Gas Corporation.
North Thames Gas Board (1949-1973) was one of 12 Area Boards formed when the gas industry was nationalised in 1949, following the passing of the 1948 Gas Bill. Supplied area of 1,059 square miles stretching from Bracknell, Marlow and High Wycombe to the south east coast of Essex. When formed it was made up of a merger of 12 statutory gas undertakings: Ascot and District Gas and Electricity Company, Chertsey Gas Consumers Company; Commercial Gas Company; (Chartered) Gas Light and Coke Company; Hornsey Gas Company; Lea Bridge District Gas Company; North Middlesex Gas Company; Romford Gas Company; Slough Gas and Coke Company; Southend Corporation (Shoeburyness); Uxbridge Gas Consumers Company and Windsor Royal Gas Light Company. The North Thames Gas Board was dissolved in 1973 when it became a region of the British Gas Corporation.
The Phoenix Gas Light and Coke Company was incorporated by Act of Parliament (5 Geo.IV, c. lxxviii) in 1824. The Company served Southwark, Brixton, Deptford and Greenwich. It was amalgamated with the South Metropolitan Gas Light and Coke Company in 1876.
The South Metropolitan Gas Light and Coke Company was founded in 1834 to serve Southwark and other places in what was then Surrey and Kent. The following companies were amalgamated with the South Metropolitan: Surrey Consumers, 1879 (established 1854); Phoenix, 1880 (established 1824); Woolwich, Charlton and Plumstead, 1884 (established 1855); Woolwich Equitable, 1884 (established 1855). The Company was nationalised in 1949 and placed under the control of the South Eastern Gas Board.
The 1834 Poor Law Act led to improvements in the arrangements made for the education of pauper children. Poor Law Unions, and parishes regulated by local acts, were persuaded to establish schools and to appoint schoolmasters. The policy of separating the children from their parents (who were generally considered to be a bad influence on their children) and sending them, if possible, to the country was continued and in 1866 several Middlesex metropolitan authorities were sending children to schools outside London. The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1844 made possible a further development in this field which was of significance for the metropolitan area. Unions and parishes were empowered to unite and to form a School District which then set up a large separate school for the education of all the indoor pauper children of the constituents of the district. These were usually industrial schools where both boys and girls were taught the basics of a useful trade which, it was hoped, would provide them with better prospects in future.
The North Surrey School District was founded in 1849 and included the Poor Law Unions of Richmond, Croydon, Kingston, Lewisham, Wandsworth and Clapham, Chelsea and Kensington. The District constructed an industrial school for 500 children at Anerley, Upper Norwood.
Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.
Following a conference with the Ministry of Health on 24 September 1931, the Kingston-upon-Thames Borough Council, the Surbiton Urban District Council, the Maldens and Coombe Urban District Council, the Epsom Urban District Council and the Epsom Rural District Council appointed a joint committee to investigate the question of the centralisation of the sewage works in the Hogsmill Drainage Area. After discussions spread over several years, it was decided that such a scheme would be viable and the Hogsmill Valley Joint Sewerage Board was created with effect from 1 April 1940 by the Hogsmill Valley Joint Sewerage Order 1940. The Board consisted of three members from each of the constituent authorities who, following changes in local authority boundaries and the granting of charters of incorporation, were now the four corporations of Epsom and Ewell, Kingston-upon-Thames, Malden and Coombe and Surbiton. The Order, however, authorised the constituent councils to discharge the functions of the Joint Board concurrently in their districts until such time as the Board's new works should be completed. This concurrent jurisdiction lasted until 1960, when the name of the Board was also changed to the North Surrey Joint Sewage Board.
The Hogsmill Valley Sewage Works are situated in Lower Marsh Lane, Berrylands, Kingston-upon-Thames.
The Board's functions were transferred to the Greater London Council on 1 April 1965 by virtue of Section 35(1) of the London Government Act 1963.
The North Metropolitan Tramways Company operated horse-drawn trams in north and east London. The company was established in the 1860s. In 1896 the London County Council purchased sections of the North Metropolitan Tramways network, although the company continued to operate trams along the lines under a fourteen year lease; as until the passing of the London County Tramways Act, 1896, the Council's powers did not extend to operating a tramway undertaking itself. Once the lease expired the Council fully bought out the company's networks and began direct management of the operation.
The North London Synagogue was opened in 1868, although services had been taking place in the area since 1864. It was situated on John Street (now Lofting Road) in Barnsbury, Islington. The synagogue was admitted as a Constituent member of the United Synagogue in 1878. The opening of Dalston Synagogue caused a decline in membership and in 1958 the two establishments were amalgamated.
From: 'Islington: Judaism', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 117 (available online).
The North London Medical and Chirurgical Society was set up in 1891 by the Medical Committee of the Great Northern Hospital, later the Royal Northern Hospital. It was designed to act as a professional and social link between doctors of the neighbourhood, who met on a monthly basis in order to discuss clinical and other medical matters. In 1942 the society was suspended on account of the Second World War. A mixture of lack of interest and the fact that many members of the society had lost their lives during the conflict meant that meetings were not resumed after the War.
North London Magistrate's Court was based at 82 Stoke Newington Road, N16.
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.
Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.
In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.
Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.
The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.
In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.
The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.
Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.
Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.
The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.
In April 1850 Frances Mary Buss opened the North London Collegiate School for Ladies at 46 (later renumbered 12) Camden Street. Camden Town was then a professional neighbourhood near both Hampstead and the City, and 35 daughters of gentlemen and 'the most respectable' tradesmen assembled on the opening day. The girls received an education which from the first included Latin, French, natural science, and periods of recreation; German, Italian, and music were extras. The teaching encouraged thought and observation rather than learning by rote, and its success was immediate. By December 1850 there were 115 pupils and Miss Buss had founded 'the model for girls' Day Schools throughout the country'.
In 1870 Miss Buss decided to transform her flourishing private venture into a public grammar school for girls by transferring it to a trust which would carry on the work when she was no longer able to do so. New premises were acquired at 202 Camden Road; here there was a large schoolroom which could be partitioned by curtains, a similar room upstairs, two classrooms, and long passages for 'musical gymnastics'. The move allowed Miss Buss to found a second school, the Camden School, in the accommodation left vacant in Camden Street. The changed status of the school was confirmed in 1875, when a scheme for its administration was prepared by the Endowed Schools Commission. An appeal for an endowment fund for the two schools brought in gifts from several City companies, notably the Brewers' Company, which provided £20,000 for buildings and £600 annually from the Platt Charity, a Brewers' charity, while for scholarships there was an additional £2,000 from Dame Alice Owen's Charity. This enabled Miss Buss to proceed with her plans for a new school building in Sandall Road. The Clothworkers' Company granted £105 a year for scholarships and £2,500 for an assembly hall, which bore the company's name. The new school was opened in 1879 by the Prince and Princess of Wales. The latter had been the patroness of the schools since 1871. Meanwhile the Camden School had moved into new buildings in Prince of Wales Road in 1878.
Miss Buss was a pioneer in other directions, encouraging gymnastics, swimming, skating, hockey, and athletics. She incorporated in the new buildings the first gymnasium designed for a girls' school and obtained the use of the St. Pancras baths, but her proposal to make the girls 'really bold swimmers' by capsizing a boat in open water was not adopted. She started a school sports day, and in the interests of dress reform organized a tug-of-war between girls who wore stays and those who did not; the latter won. Miss Buss had little time for fainting girls, for whom she recommended the cold water treatment. She also encouraged the more usual accomplishments such as art, music, needlework, cookery, and handicrafts.
By present-day standards discipline appears to have been very strict; talking seemed to be the main evil, and 'every moment, almost every movement, was ordered'. There were many rules, breach of which involved signing the 'Appearance Book', but any form which went for half a term without a signature was allowed a 'gratification'-half an hour's free time-as a reward.
Miss Buss' successor at North London Collegiate, whom she had designated as early as 1878, was Mrs. Sophie Bryant, a mathematician and a brilliant teacher. In 1884 she had become the first woman D.Sc. and in 1894 she was one of the three women appointed to the Bryce Commission on secondary education. Miss I. M. Drummond, who was appointed to succeed Mrs. Bryant, was a former member of the staff of North London Collegiate and had been latterly headmistress of the Camden School. Miss Drummond relaxed some of the regulations and encouraged the free choice of creative activities in the arts and in school societies. In 1929, with the assistance of the Middlesex County Council, the school acquired 'Canons', a Georgian house standing in extensive grounds at Little Stanmore, and soon a section of the school was travelling there each morning of the week for lessons and games. Eventually it was decided to move the whole school to Canons, and the foundation-stone of a new building extending behind the house was laid in May 1939.
Source: 'Schools: The North London Collegiate School', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 1, pp. 308-310 (available online).
The North London Collegiate School for Ladies (NLCS) was opened by Frances Mary Buss (FMB) in the Buss family home in Camden St, London, on 4 April 1850, with 38 pupils. It aimed to provide an education for the daughters of the middle class community in which it was situated.
FMB was the head and the school staff consisted of a number of full-time assistant mistresses (known as governesses) and part-time masters attending when required. FMB's brothers Alfred and Septimus Buss also gave instruction. The school primarily catered for day pupils, but in 1866, the boarding house where some of the girls from more distant homes were accommodated, was taken over by Miss Buss and moved to a location closer to the school, with a second boarding house opening soon after at 15 Camden Rd.
FMB insisted that all the (women) teaching staff at the school should be trained at the Home and Colonial Schools Society, and introduced regular weekly staff meetings as a means of securing uniformity of action and exact teaching. Discipline was maintained through a system of deduction marks and memorised impositions, rather than corporal punishment. In an era when education of girls was seen as a health concern, FMB took step to pre-empt criticism of the school on these grounds. There was a constant emphasis on health at the schools, and callisthenics and gymnastics were practised regularly. In 1868 senior girls were even given a physiology course by Miss Chessar of the Home and Colonial Schools.
The opening up of external examinations to girls stimulated the academic function of the school. In 1863, NLCS submitted 25 candidates to the Cambridge University Senior Local Examinations. And in 1865, it was one of only two girls' schools to participate in the Schools Inquiry Commission. The same year, FMB devised the term Head Mistress, in order to demonstrate the parity between the sexes as heads of schools. The Schools Inquiry Commission found that very little funding was being devoted to the education of girls by charitable endowments, compared to that available to boys (12 schools for girls and 820 for boys). The report of this Commission led to the Endowed Schools Act of 1869, which required annual examinations to be held at all schools, unless pupils took approved public examinations or were being inspected. The Act was also responsible for the creation of 80 endowed schools. The Endowed Schools Commission established a curriculum along the lines already being pursued at NLCS.
In 1869, a public meeting was held to form a Trust to take over the ownership and running of the NLCS, and its name was altered to the North London Collegiate School for Girls. The trust deed was signed on 26 Jul 1870, with the trustees including Alfred and Septimus Buss, Charles Lee (vicar of Holy Trinity, Haverstock Hill), and a number of women (at the insistence of FMB). Later trustees also included two members of the 1965 Schools Inquiry Commission - Dr John Storrar M D (Chairman of the Governors, 1870-1874), and Dr A W Thorold, (vicar of St Pancras, and Chairman of the Governors, 1875-1892). Fourteen of the trustees were appointed to the governing body for both the NLCS and a new lower school established at the Camden St site under Miss Elford, when the NLCS moved to larger premises at 202 Camden Rd. By 1871, the new Camden school had 113 girl pupils.
NLCS was a self supporting school, reinvesting surplus funds in the improvement of teaching salaries. In 1870, it was the largest school of its type in the country. New buildings were necessary, and an appeal for funds was begun in 1870. A loan of £3 000 and a gift of £1000 from Miss Ewart, one of the Governors, was received, which allowed for the purchase of premises in Sandall Rd. Augmented in 1872 by the allocation of a part of the income of the Brewers' Company educational bequest, and a donation of £20 000 from the same Company, building work could begin. This however was delayed by the passage of the Endowed Schools Amendment Act, which was not signed until May 1875. Initially both schools were to be located on the Sandall Rd site, however in 1876, plans were drawn up for buildings on two separate sites, and a site in Prince of Wales Rd acquired for the Camden School, at the suggestion of the Charity Commission (formerly the Endowed Schools Commission). Further delays occurred while the Governors and the Charity Commission negotiated over concerns at the cost of building on two separate sites. Eventually, a further £8000 from the Brewers' Company, £2000 from Dame Alice Owen's charity and a loan of £6000 enabled building to proceed. A further donation from the Clothworkers' Company was used for the erection of an assembly hall at Sandall Rd. The Camden School buildings, Prince of Wales Rd, were opened in 1878, and the NLCS buildings, Sandall Rd, 1879. From then on FMB concentrated mainly on the further development of NLCS.
Recognition of the value of a proper education for girls meant that numbers of pupils rose steadily at both schools and by 1876, there were 449 at NLCS and 393 at the Camden School. In 1876, an inspection team from London University visited the School. By this time, subjects such as elementary physics, practical chemistry and botany had been introduced, enhancing the school's reputation for science teaching. More academic opportunities were opening up for women, Oxbridge colleges for women were being founded, and in 1878, the Convocation of London University, with Dr Storrar as Chair, approved the motion proposed by Septimus Buss for the admission of women to take degrees. FMB began to recruit women graduates to teach in her schools, and by1885, there were nine graduates on the teaching staff, eight of whom were her former pupils. She was also concerned that proper salaries were paid to the new and well trained graduates, introducing a savings scheme for the teaching staff and a pension schemes. Following FMB's death in 1894, the two schools came to be known collectively as the Frances Mary Buss Schools.
The second Headmistress of NLCS was Sophie Bryant (1850-1822), appointed in 1895. She had joined the staff in 1875, a brilliant scholar and teacher. She believed in the broadest possible education for children, rejecting the pressure from external exams on the School's curriculum. While emphasising intellectual education, she recognised its limitations and introduced the study of home crafts and household business.
NLCS enrolments declined along with the neighbourhood in the early 20th century. Numbers dropped from 480 in 1903, to 392 in 1910, then to 343 by 1914. In October 1913, the school increased from 10 to 25% the number of free places offered. However standards remained high, with 41 of the 46 in the sixth form matriculating, in 1911, and 23 of the 29 sixth form leavers in 1914, taking up university places.
The girls also participated in various clubs and societies, including a Hockey club, a Basketball team, a Science club with branches in photography, geography and gardening, Debating Society, Botanical Society, Dorcas Society, Missionary Society, and Sunshine League.
Sophie Bryant retired in 1918, and was succeeded by Isabella Drummond, who had joined the staff of NLCS in 1908. Drummond created more freedom in the school, reducing the rules, promoting self-reliance and intellectual enterprise in pupils, and espousing career advice. She also encouraged staff to develop their own subjects within the syllabus, and in 1919 introduced a sabbatical term for members of staff with more than seven years continuous service. She was also able to persuade the Governors to pay for supply teachers in the event of staff absences.
Following World War 1 there was a surge in school numbers, rising to 510 in 1919, with 600 pupils by 1925. The Sandall Rd site was becoming inadequate for a school this size. In 1927, the Governors decided to purchase Canons in Edgware, (the former home of the Duke of Chandos) for £17,000, and pupils travelled there once a week for sports and other activities until 1938, when the whole school moved to the Edgware site, and the Camden School For Girls took up residence in the vacated buildings in Sandall Rd.
In 1926 a cow shed in Bromley-by-Bow was purchased to commemorate 100 years since Frances Mary Buss' birth and was converted with the assistance of the Old North Londoners Association, for social services and a club premises for local children, It was known as Frances Mary Buss House.
Drummond retired at the end of 1940, and Eileen Harold was appointed the new Head Mistress having been formerly second mistress at Haberdashers' Aske's. During World War 2, approximately half the students were sent to Luton, though Edgware was outside the evacuation zone, most of the rest remaining at Canons. In 1944, Harold resigned to take up the post of Head Mistress of Haberdashers' Aske's, and was succeeded by Dr Katherine (Kitty) Anderson.
During Anderson's twenty year tenure the School became a Direct Grant Grammar School in 1945, and facilities were gradually expanded with the opening of the Drummond Library in 1954, a swimming pool in 1955, and a new drawing school in 1958. Pupil numbers rose and by 1956, there were 813 girls attending the school. In 1958, the school was inspected, and received a glowing report. Anderson was particularly enthusiastic that her pupils should have the opportunity to attend university. By 1964, 61 of the 123 leavers had university places, and another 42 were undertaking further training of different kinds.
Madeline McLauchlan was appointed Headmistress, in December 1964, taking up her appointment in Sep 1965. She handled the response of the school to the Public Schools Commission, established 1966, and the abolition of the Direct Grant Scheme, which had existed since 1926. It was replaced by a combination of bursaries and the Assisted Places Scheme, and NLCS became an independent school with charitable status.
The next headmistress, Joan Clanchy was appointed in 1986. She introduced a number of changes including moving the Junior School to its own building in 1987, and lessening the class size. In 1995, the First School was opened for girls aged 4 to 7 years.
The North Lambeth Divisional Labour Party was founded in 1926, when its constitution and rules were formally adopted and endorsed by the Labour Party's National Executive Committee. It consisted of members of Trade Union branches, Co-operative Societies, Socialist and other societies affiliated to the Borough Labour Party, plus any other men and women willing to subscribe to the Constitution who lived within the North Division of the Parliamentary Borough of Lambeth. Its objectives were to co-operate with the Borough Labour Party and to unite the forces of Labour within the Constituency, with a view to securing the election of Labour candidates to Parliament and local government authorities.
The Division was managed by a General Council consisting of representatives of affiliated bodies and individual members, Officers elected at the Annual Meeting of the General Council, and an Executive Committee consisting of the Officers and other members elected from the General Council. It also had Ward Associations, a Women's Section and a Young People's Section.
Raymond Colin Roberts was born in Monmouthshire in 1904. Between 1917 and 1933 he worked in various coal mining jobs, including being Miner's Organiser and Sectretary to the South Wales Miner's Federation. He was a student of Social Sciences at the Labour College in Earls Court, London, between 1923-1925, having won a scholarship from the South Wales Miners.
He was Political Agent and Secretary to the North Lambeth Labour Party from May 1933 to April 1941. An accident from his coal mining days meant he was exempt from military service during World War Two and instead was appointed as a Regional Shelter Officer. He was then trained as a Factory Personnel Manager and Welfare Supervisor under a Ministry of Labour scheme and subsequently became an inspector of factories.
North Hackney Central School for Girls was established in Millfields Road in 1895.
The North Finchley New Christian church was founded at 71 Gainsborough Road in 1952. It was a Swedenborgian church, following the religious teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg, a Swedish scientific and religious writer (1688-1772).
This hospital was founded in 1867 by Miss Mary Elizabeth Philips and Miss Ellen Philips, who were members of the Society of Friends. A house in Virginia Road, Bethnal Green, opened on 12 July 1867 as the Dispensary for Women and Children. It was soon decided that only children would be treated and as the North Eastern Hospital for Children the work was transferred to 125 Hackney Road, providing 12 cots. In 1870 the freehold of 327 Hackney Road was purchased and the hospital grew on that site, on the corner of Hackney Road and Goldsmith Row. The hospital was re-named the Queen's Hospital for Children in 1907. It opened a country branch called the Little Folks Home (named after the Little Folks magazine) at Bexhill -on -Sea in 1911. This was evacuated to Woking during World War II.
The Hospital merged with the Princess Elizabeth of York Hospital, Shadwell in 1942, and re-named the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children. Thereafter the hospital functioned on two London sites: Queen Elizabeth, Hackney Road; and Queen Elizabeth, Shadwell. A further site was opened at Banstead, Surrey, in 1948. The Shadwell site closed in 1963. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Group was formed in 1948 to administer the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on its three sites at Hackney Road, Shadwell and Banstead. On closure of the Shadwell site in 1963 it was amalgamated with the Hackney Group to form the Hackney and Queen Elizabeth Group. This arrangement lasted until 1968 when the Queen Elizabeth was detached from Hackney and placed under the Board of Governors of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street. The hospital functioned as part of the Hospitals for Sick Children until 1994 when Great Ormond Street became an NHS Trust. Queen Elizabeth was then managed by East London and The City Health Authority until April 1996 when it joined The Royal Hospitals NHS Trust (name later changed to Barts and The London NHS Trust). The Hackney Road site closed in 1998 when the bulk of its services transferred to The Royal London Hospital as the Queen Elizabeth Children's Service.
The North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board was one of the original 14 Hospital Boards and 35 Teaching Hospital Boards established in 1948. It reported directly to the Ministry of Health and was responsible for health services in north east London and Essex. In 1974 a reorganisation of the National Health Service resulted in Regional Hospital Boards being replaced by Regional Health Authorities and the North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board was replaced by the North East Thames Regional Health Authority. The new Regional Health Authorities reported to the Department of Health and Social Security and ultimately Parliament.
Formed in 1970 by the merger of Barking Regional College of Technology, Waltham Forest Technical College and West Ham College of Technology. Became University of East London in 1992.
No further information.
No further information at present.
This company was established in Edinburgh in 1809 as the North British Insurance Company, primarily for the business of fire insurance. It moved into life insurance after 1823. The company was renamed North British and Mercantile Insurance Company in 1862 at which time it also provided general insurance in the United Kingdom and overseas. It became a subsidiary of Commercial Union Assurance Company in 1959.
The North Australian Expedition explored North Australia from the Victoria River to Brisbane, 1855-1857. It was led by Augustus Charles Gregory (1819-1905) and was partly sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society.
W North lived in Fulham Road, London. He collected a variety of pamphlets, posters and drawings.
Olive North (later Olive Hanson), was one of the 764 people who survived the sinking of the RMS LUSITANIA, 7 May 1915. The Lusitania, travelling from New York to LIverpool, was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20, off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland. Olive arrived in Montreal on RMS Megantic, 16 June 1914, accompanied by her brother Frank, in order to visit her elder sister and family. Frank, a former soldier, was recalled at the out-break of war in 1914. Olive was returning to England aboard the Lusitania in 1915, ostensibly to marry her fiance, Percy Hanson, when the Lusitania was sunk. The wedding was postponed until August 1918. Olive, a non-swimmer was given a life-jacket by a steward. After several hours in the water, Olive was rescued from an upturned life boat by Captain John Sandham, the captain of the BROCK.
North entered the Navy as an assistant clerk in 1854 and served in the Crimean War. He was promoted to Assistant Paymaster in 1860 and Paymaster in 1870. In 1878 he was appointed to the survey ship ALERT, under Captain Sir George Nares. The first season was spent surveying in the Magellan Strait and the surrounding area. In the spring of 1879 Nares was recalled and succeeded by Captain J.F.L.P. Maclear. The ALERT carried out survey work in the Pacific, the Torres Strait (Prince of Wales Channel) and the Indian Ocean (Amirante Islands) before arriving home in 1882. North was promoted to Fleet Paymaster in 1886 and he retired in 1895 as Paymaster-in-Chief.
T H Oakley was a stockbroker of 2 Copthall Buildings, London, c 1885. The Company became known as Oakley Norris Bros (same address), c 1888-1966; then Norris Oakley Richardson and Glover. John Kenneth Ritchie, third Baron Ritchie of Dundee (1902-1975) and chairman of the London Stock Exchange, 1959-1965, was a senior partner of the company.
Norris and Collet, were London merchants trading with Sweden. Henry Norris, a London merchant trading with Russia and Sweden, was their factor.
Norris entered the Navy in 1889. In 1893 as a midshipman in the Nile, Mediterranean, he was an eye-witness of the collision between the VICTORIA and CAMPERDOWN. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1896, commander in 1907 and captain in 1914. During the First World War he commanded the ARLANZA , 1915, and then served at the Admiralty. In 1918 he was appointed Commodore of the Persian Gulf Squadron. He subsequently commanded British naval forces in the Caspian Sea and, in May 1919, with six armed merchant vessels, some coastal motor boats and an air unit, attacked thirty Bolshevik ships, fourteen of which were destroyed. He headed a naval mission to Persia, 1920 to 1921. During the next eight years Norris held several appointments afloat and ashore. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1924 and retired on his promotion to vice-admiral in 1929. He was promoted to admiral on the retired list in 1933.
Helena Florence Normanton (1882-1957) was born on 14 Dec 1882 to Jane Amelia and William Alexander Normanton in Kensington. In 1886 the family moved to Brighton. From 1900 Helena attended York Place Secondary School, Brighton (later renamed Margaret Hardy School, forerunner of Varndean School for Girls). From 1903-1905 she attended teacher training at Edge College, Liverpool. In 1907 Helena obtained a diploma in French language, literature and history from Dijon University. In 1912 she achieved her BA Hon First Class in History (London University). From 1913-1915 she was a senior mistress for History at Glasgow High School for Girls and lecturer to postgraduate students of Glasgow University in Principles and methods of teaching history and then a University Extension lecturer to the University of London. From 1918-1920 she edited India a political weekly.
On 24 Dec 1919 Helena was admitted as a student at the Middle Temple, the day after the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act received Royal Assent. On 26 Oct 1921 she married Gavin Bowman Watson Clark (d 1948). On 17 Nov 1922 Helena was called to the Bar, a few months after Ivy Williams had become the first woman to do so (but she did not practise). In 1922 Helena was the first woman to be briefed at High Court (successful divorce petition). In 1924 she was the first woman to be briefed at Old Bailey. Also in that year she was the first married British woman to be issued a passport in her maiden name ('as legal and only name'). In 1926 she was first woman to be briefed at the North London Sessions. In 1948 she was the first woman to prosecute in a murder trial (young soldier found guilty of murdering his wife) in the North-Eastern Circuit. In Apr 1949 she was the first woman KC (with Rose Heilbron)
In 1952 Helena drew up a memorandum of evidence as President of the Married Women's Association for consideration by the Royal Commission on Marriage and Divorce (criticism led to her resignation, withdrawing the memorandum and forming the Council of Married Women and submitting a revised memorandum to the Royal Commission). In 1956 Helena was the first recorded donor to the fund to create a new university in Sussex. Helena died in Oct 1957 and was buried at Ovingdean churchyard, Brighton.
Positions held : Treasurer and Secretary of the Old Bailey Bar Mess; Honorary member of the New York Women's Bar Association and of the women lawyers' association, Kappa Beta Pi (USA); Principal elected officer for Europe of the International Legal Sorority
Other interests : wrote extensively for Good Housekeeping magazine and other publications eg The Queen, Quiver; Associate Grand Dame for Europe of the International Society of Women Lawyers; Chair of the International legislative sub-committee of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women; Executive member of the National Council for Equal Citizenship; Executive member of the State Children's Association; First Secretary of the National Women's Citizens' Association; Founder and Honorary Secretary to the Magna Carta Society; Founding member of the Horatian Society.
Normansfield was founded in May 1868 by Dr John Haydon Langdon-Down and his wife, Mary, as a private home for the mentally handicapped, especially for the children of the upper classes whom they sought to educate and train to the full extent of their capabilities. The hospital opened in a recently built house in extensive grounds in Kingston Road, Teddington, close to Hampton Wick. By the end of the year 19 patients were in residence.
Under the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913, the main building became a certified house. The North Wing accommodated male patients while the South Wing was for women and children. Conifers and Trematon became approved homes, Conifers for higher grade women and Trematon for higher grade men. Education, occupational therapy, therapeutic work on the farm and in the kitchen garden and daily exercise in the hospital grounds was provided for the patients. Annual visits to the south coast were arranged for almost all the patients up to the Second World War.
The problems of maintaining a private establishment after the War and with the advent of the National Health Service proved overwhelming. Negotiations to sell the hospital to the Government resulted in the transfer of Normansfield to the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board on 22 June 1951. The hospital came under the immediate control of Staines Group Hospital Management Committee. As a result of the 1974 reorganisation of the National Health Service Normansfield was managed from 1 April 1974 by Kingston and Richmond Area Health Authority and the South West Thames Regional Health Authority. By 1993 Normansfield Hospital had become part of the Richmond Twickenham and Roehampton Healthcare NHS Trust. The Hospital closed in 2000 and the site has since been redeveloped.
Saint John's Hill Workhouse was in use from the formation of Wandsworth and Clapham Poor Law Union in 1836. In 1870 an infirmary was constructed on an adjoining site. In the 1880's Wandsworth Board of Guardians built a new workhouse in Swaffield Road. From the opening of Swaffield Road Workhouse, all the buildings on the Saint John's Hill site were used as part of the infirmary. Saint John's Hill Infirmary was superseded as a general hospital by Saint James' Hospital, Balham, which was opened by Wandsworth Board of Guardians in 1911. From that date Saint John's was used mainly for the care of the chronic sick. In 1948 Saint John's Hospital became part of the National Health Service. It was administered by Battersea and Putney Group Hospital Management Committee and the South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. On 1 July 1964 the Battersea and Putney Group Hospital management Committee amalgamated with Tooting Bec Hospital Management Committee.
From 1 April 1972 to 31 March 1974 Saint John's Hospital formed part of the Westminster Hospital Group. As a result of the 1974 reorganisations of the National Health Service Saint John's became part of the Roehampton Health District of Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth Area Health Authority (Teaching). Between 1977 and 1978 Saint John's Day Hospital and Chest Clinic were built on the site. In 1982 Saint John's Hospital became the responsibility of Richmond, Twickenham and Roehampton Health Authority. In 1988, by then known as Saint John's Health Care Unit, it was transferred to Wandsworth Health Authority. The Hospital closed in 1990.
Normansfield was founded in May 1868 by Dr John Haydon Langdon-Down and his wife, Mary, as a private home for the mentally handicapped, especially for the children of the upper classes whom they sought to educate and train to the full extent of their capabilities.
The hospital opened in a recently built house in extensive grounds in Kingston Road, Teddington, close to Hampton Wick. By the end of the year 19 patients were in residence. From 1858 to 1868 John Langdon-Down had been Medical Superintendent of the Royal Earlswood Hospital, then known as the Asylum for Idiots. He brought with him from Earlswood to Normansfield some of his patients and three admission and discharge registers 1855-1868 which now form part of the Normansfield Hospital archives (ref. H29/NF/B/01/001-002, H29/NF/B/02/001).
John Langdon-Down continued to fulfil his responsibilities as physician to the London Hospital while establishing a consulting practice in Harley Street. Mary Langdon-Down was responsible for the day to day management of Normansfield and the supervision of the patients, conducting an extensive correspondence with many of their parents and other relatives. Most of the letters received by her from 1881 to 1888 and from 1897 to her death in 1900 survive. (See H29/NF/A/01/001-025, H29/NF/A/01/084-103).
Normansfield rapidly expanded firstly with the addition of two wings to the main building in 1872 to 1873, by which time the number of patients had risen to 57. The villas facing Kingston Road were purchased, as well as additional land including a plot of land running down to the River Thames on the far side of the lower road. By 1877 there were 115 patients and the building of the Entertainment Hall or Theatre and the farm was started. Broom Hall, now known as Conifers, was purchased in 1878 and in 1882 Eastcote, renamed Trematon, was bought. Further additions were the laundry built in 1883, the boathouse in 1884, the drill hall in the grounds of Trematon in 1889, and the clock tower in 1891/2. By 1892 there were 200 patients in residence.
John Langdon-Down died suddenly on 7 October 1896 aged 67. His elder son, Reginald, succeeded him as Medical Superintendent. On the death of Mary Langdon-Down on 5 October 1900, their two sons, Reginald and Percival, took over the management of Normansfield. Reginald's wife, Jane, a former nursing sister at the London Hospital, became responsible for the day to day organisation of the establishment.;Under the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913, the main building became a certified house. The North Wing accommodated male patients while the South Wing was for women and children. Conifers and Trematon became approved homes, Conifers for higher grade women and Trematon for higher grade men. Education, occupational therapy, therapeutic work on the farm and in the kitchen garden and daily exercise in the hospital grounds was provided for the patients. Annual visits to the south coast were arranged for almost all the patients up to the Second World War.
Jane Langdon-Down died in 1917 and Percival Langdon-Down died in 1925. In 1926 Normansfield became a limited company with Reginald Langdon-Down and Helen Langdon-Down, Percival's widow, as the directors.
The outbreak of the Second World War caused many problems for the running of Normansfield. Several bombs fell in the hospital grounds, damaging buildings, but fortunately without causing any injury. Stella Brain returned to Teddington with her family to assist her father in managing Normansfield. In 1946, Percival's son, Norman, became Deputy Medical Superintendent. In 1945 there were 160 patients in the main building at Normansfield with an additional 21 girls not under certificate, who had been transferred from Conifers which had been rendered uninhabitable by enemy action in June 1944.
The problems of maintaining a private establishment after the War and with the advent of the National Health Service proved overwhelming. Negotiations to sell the hospital to the Government resulted in the transfer of Normansfield to the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board on 22 June 1951. The hospital came under the immediate control of Staines Group Hospital Management Committee. The Langdon-Down family involvement with Normansfield continued with the appointment in 1951 of Dr Norman Langdon-Down as Medical Superintendent and with Lady Brain's appointment to the management committee in 1952. Many of the higher grade patients left. Conifers and Trematon ceased to be approved homes and the whole establishment became a certified institution until the advent of the 1959 Mental Health Act.
Money for repairing and upgrading the buildings was initially lacking, but gradually extensions and improvements were made, including the building of new day rooms in 1960, the installation of a new central heating system, rewiring, the conversion of an old farm building into an industrial unit in 1960, and the construction of two new wards and a block of staff flats in 1968. In 1971 responsibility for the education of children resident in the hospital was transferred to the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. A few children attended local special schools, while the Normansfield Education Unit now run by the local education authority was in 1974 transferred to Trematon.;An active League of Friends of Normansfield was formed in 1957 by Lady Brain, who became President, and Colonel Symmons, the Chairman. Money was raised to provide amongst other things, a school, a shop and clubroom for the patients, a hydrotherapy pool, and a holiday home, Bill House at Selsey, Sussex.
In 1970 Norman Langdon-Down retired. He was succeeded as consultant psychiatrist by Dr Terence Lawlor. As a result of the 1974 reorganisation of the National Health Service Normansfield was managed from 1 April 1974 by Kingston and Richmond Area Health Authority and the South West Thames Regional Health Authority. In the 1970s Normansfield became known as a "problem" hospital with bad relationships between Dr Lawlor, his medical colleagues and most of the nursing staff, the lack of adequate physiotherapy, speech therapy, dental care, and occupational therapy for the patients, low staff morale, the difficulty of recruiting and retaining sufficient good calibre trained nurses, the problems of caring for patients in run down, badly maintained and dirty buildings, combined with complex management structures and increased union activity within the N.H.S. On 5 May 1976, this resulted in a strike by most of the nursing staff who demanded the suspension of Dr Lawlor and walked out leaving the patients without proper care.
In order to resolve the strike the Regional Health Authority decided to suspend Dr Lawlor and to hold an inquiry. The Inquiry into "Staff Morale and Patient Care at Normansfield Hospital and in particular the circumstances leading to the withdrawal of labour by staff at the hospital on 5th May 1976, the action taken to deal with the situation and to make recommendations thereon" opened on 8 November 1976 sitting in private under the chairmanship of Gerald Kidner. It was adjourned 'sine die' after six days owing to the withdrawal of Dr Lawlor and the medical member of the panel, Dr Hatrick.
A new Committee of Inquiry under the chairmanship of Michael Sherrard QC was appointed by the Secretary of State for Social Services in pursuance of his powers under Section 70 of the National Health Service Act 1946. This gave the committee power to receive evidence on oath, to compel the attendance of witnesses and for the production of documents. The proceedings were to be held in public unless some "grave and weighty reason" was shown otherwise. Its terms of reference were "To inquire into patient care and staff morale at Normansfield Hospital and in particular into complaints made by staff at the Hospital and others; to inquire into the causes and effects of the unrest at the Hospital and the action taken to deal with the situation; and to make recommendations."
The Committee of Inquiry sat for 124 days from 10 February 1977 to 10 February 1978. Its report was published in November 1978. A copy of this (ref. H29/NF/F/08/001) can be found amongst the archives relating to the Inquiry deposited in the London Metropolitan Archives by the Administrator of Normansfield Hospital in 1986. The archives also include an almost complete set of transcripts of proceedings of both inquiries, copies of documents submitted to the Sherrard Inquiry, some of files from which these documents were copied, transcripts of disciplinary proceedings resulting from the report, and some of the Area Nursing Officer's files relating to nursing at Normansfield after the Inquiry.
By 1993 Normansfield Hospital had become part of the Richmond Twickenham and Roehampton Healthcare NHS Trust. The Hospital closed in 2000 and the site has since been redeveloped.
Florence Priscilla Norman (1883-1964) (nee McLaren) was the daughter of the 1st Baron Aberconway and sister of the Liberal politicians Henry D McLaren and Francis McLaren. In 1907 Priscilla McLaren became the second wife of Sir Henry Norman, also a Liberal MP. Both the McLaren and the Norman families were strong supporters of the women's suffrage movement. Priscilla herself was an enthusiastic suffragist, though not a militant, and before the war held the post of Hon Treasurer of the Liberal Women's Suffrage Union. When hostilities broke out in 1914 she and her husband ran a small voluntary hospital at Wimereux, in northern France. She was awarded a CBE for her war services. After the founding of the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in 1917 she became Chair of its Women's Work Subcommittee, responsible for recording the work of women during the war: the large Women's Work Collection held by the Museum is her committee's legacy. Norman remained a Trustee of the IWM for over 40 years, and was an active member of many other organisations, notably the League of Nations and the National Adoption Society. She was also interested in mental health issues and was the first woman to be appointed to the board of management of the Royal Earlswood Institution in 1926. During the Second World War Norman joined the Women's Voluntary Service, driving a mobile canteen in London through air raids. She died in 1964 at the Château de Garoupe, her home in Antibes, France.
George Warde Norman was born in Bromley, Kent, and educated locally and at Eton College. Instead of going to university he joined the family firm, which traded mainly in timber but also handled insurance and banking. He played cricket and studied history and literature in his spare time. He was elected a director of the Bank of England in 1821. Retiring from the family business in 1830, with an ample fortune, Norman settled to writing on political economy, particularly on monetary principles and taxation. He also wrote a remarkably candid autobiography (1857-1858).
Born 1891; educated, Eton; Trinity College Cambridge; joined 9 Lancers, 1913; served in France, 1914; commanded 9 Lancers, 1936-1938; commanded 1 Armoured Reconnaissance Brigade, France, 1940; Colonel 9 Lancers, 1940-1950; retired, 1946; High Sheriff of Kent, 1950-1951; member of Kent County Council, 1949-1955; died, 1974.
Scholar in Theology, Lambeth; Tutor to Women Theological students, King's College London, 1945-1954; organised [and conducted] prayer groups, study group weekends and silent retreats at Pleshey, Essex; resigned from King's College, 1954; organised and conducted prayer group meetings at St Mary the Boltons and Westminster Abbey and the St Faith's Fellowship, Westminster, [1954-1965].
None given.
Non Such Tea Estates Limited was registered in 1924 to acquire estates in the Nilgiri Hills in the south of India. Harrisons and Crosfield Limited (CLC/B/112) acted as secretaries / agents until 1965. Harrisons and Crosfield and the Rubber Plantations Investment Trust both had shareholdings in the company. Harrisons and Crosfield Limited sold its shares in 1966. See also CLC/B/112/MS37225.
James Noakes was a carpenter based in Holborn, who moved to Newington. Another branch of the family lived in Essex.
Hideyo Noguchi was an American-based Japanese bacteriologist who discovered the agent of syphilis in 1911.
No information available at present.
Noel entered the Navy in 1859. He served as a midshipman in the Hannibal, Mediterranean, from 1859 to 1861 and in the SHANNON in the Mediterranean and West Indies from 1862 to 1865. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1866 and served in the RATTLER, on the China Station, until 1869. Following this he took courses in the Excellent and at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth. He was appointed Gunnery Lieutenant of the MINOTAUR, Channel Squadron, in 1871. In 1873 he went in the Active to the West Coast of Africa, where he commanded the seamen landed with the force under Sir Garnet Wolseley (1833-1913). He was promoted to commander in 1874 and appointed to the Immortalite, Detached Squadron. From 1878 to 1881 he served in the Royal Yacht, VICTORIA and ALBERT, and was promoted to captain in 1881, but then had several years on half-pay. In 1884 he served on the Admiralty Torpedo Committee and in 1885 was appointed Captain of the ROVER, Training Squadron, until 1888. The following year he became Captain of the TEMERAIRE, on the Mediterranean Station. In 1891, on the same station, he commissioned the NILE, which ship was the next astern when the VICTORIA and CAMPERDOWN collided. He was appointed a junior Sea Lord in 1893 and was promoted to rear-admiral in 1896. In 1898 he was appointed second-in-command, Mediterranean, and was involved in settling the disturbances in Crete. Noel was made Superintendent of Naval Reserves and commanded the Home Fleet from 1900 to 1903. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1901 and was Commander-in-Chief, China, 1904 to 1906, and at the Nore from 1907 to 1908. He was promoted to admiral in 1905 and Admiral of the Fleet in 1908, retiring in 1915.
The Reverend the Honorable Baptist Wriothesley Noel was born in 1798, eleventh son of Sir Gerard Noel Noel of Exton Park and his wife Diana, Baroness Barham. His brother was the 1st Earl of Gainsborough (2nd creation). He was educated at Trinity College Cambridge before entering the Church. For many years he officiated at St John's Chapel, Bedford Row, where his sermons were popular with upper-class worshippers. In 1848 he declared himself a dissenter and joined the Baptist church. He was a supporter of Evangelical groups including the City Mission. He was married to Jane Baillie with whom he had 4 sons and 4 daughters. He died in 1873 aged 75.
Noel's son Ernest appears in this collection. Ernest Noel was born in 1831 and was the Chairman of the Eagle, Star and British Dominions Insurance Company.
Information from The Times, Tuesday, Jan 21, 1873; pg. 8; Issue 27592; col C.