The Society existed to assist the dependents of deceased clergymen.
The marriages took place in Fray Bentos and the surrounding areas of Uruguay and Argentina. The South American Missionary Society was founded in 1844 as the Patagonian Missionary Society, the name was changed in 1864. In the latter part of the nineteenth century legislation made Protestant missionary work very difficult, and the Society focused more on the provision of chaplaincies for exisiting Protestant communities and seamen.
The Waterloo Club was for card players. It met at the Sussex Coffee House, Bouverie Street.
The Claimant Widows' Funds supported the widows and orphans of clergy.
The fund was established in 1866 under the control of the trustees who were incorporated in 1899 and took over the business of the fund as the Colonial and Foreign Banks Guarantee Corporation. The business of the Corporation was transferred to the Alliance Assurance Company in 1920. The fund was based at 86 King William Street (1866-1900), 94 Gracechurch Street (1900-8) and 16 St Helen's Place (1908-20).
The Corn Exchange Benevolent Society was established in 1862 to relieve need, hardship or distress amongst those who were or had been engaged in the corn or grain trades.
The Institution assisted old and needy Cumbrians resident in London. Meetings were held at the Albion Hotel, Aldersgate Street.
The Institution was established in 1844 for the relief of 'distressed and decayed licensed Drovers'. In 1904 the Institution was amalgamated with the London Meat Traders' Association to form the London Meat Traders' and Drovers' Benevolent Association, but the Institution 'kept in being' during the period of the lease of Drovers' Hall and of Almshouses in Islington. The lease expired in 1953 when the Institution ceased to exist separately.
In 1826, a group of members of the licensed victualling trade formed a society, named the Licensed Victuallers' Asylum, to relieve decayed and aged members of their trade, and their wives or widows. The following year, they acquired land in the Old Kent Road, Camberwell, on which they subsequently erected 103 separate dwellings to serve as almshouses. The asylum was incorporated by royal charter in 1842. In 1921, the asylum was renamed the Licensed Victuallers' Benevolent Institution, which last appears in the London Post Office directories in 1960. Its subsequent history is unknown.
The St Alphage Society was formed in 1738 under the direction of the Reverend J. Broughton, secretary of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. A weekly evening lecture was supported from Society funds and in 1751 a school was opened to clothe and educate five (later increased to thirty) poor children. For many years the school was associated with the City of London First National Schools in White Street, Finsbury, but on the closure of these premises in 1879 an agreement was made for the education of 20 poor boys and 20 poor girls at the Aldersgate Ward School, then at 160 Aldersgate Street. The Society originally met in the vestry of St Alphage London Wall and subsequently at various locations across the City including (successively) Newgate Street, Cannon Street, Aldersgate Street and Little Britain. The Society disappears from trade directories in 1960.
The Welcome Charitable Institute was founded in 1882 to provide assistance to women and girls working in factories in the City. From 1967 to 1982 it was known as the Welcome Fellowship. It was dissolved in 1982. From 1882 to 1940 the Institute had premises in Jewin Street; after the destruction of these premises by enemy action in 1940, it worked from a number of addresses in the northern part of the City. The Institute maintained a holiday home at Littlehampton, Sussex, from 1911 to 1962.
The dispensary was established in 1829, by voluntary subscription, to supply the poor in the wards of Farringdon Within, Farringdon Without and Castle Baynard with free medicines and medical advice in sickness and childbirth. Medical services were provided free by doctors at their places of residence, or in patients' homes, and prescriptions dispensed at selected druggists whose expenses were reimbursed by the charity.
Tothill Fields was the name given to an open area between Westminster Abbey and Millbank. Tournaments were held there by kings living in the Palace of Westminster. Later the fields were used for cattle, growing food, horse racing, military parades, and bear baiting. A fair was held there every year. Duels were often fought here, and public punishments and executions held. The area was also used for burial pits during the plague. The fields were not developed until the 1830s.
Information from The London Encyclopaedia, eds. Weinreb and Hibbert (LMA Library Reference 67.2 WEI).
Barnard's Inn was one of the Inns of Chancery, possibly originally established to train medieval Chancery Clerks. By the 15th century the Inns were taken over by students, solicitors and attorneys, functioning as preparatory schools for those wishing to be called to the Bar. Barnard's Inn was established in 1435. The Inn became defunct and the premises sold in 1892.
The extra-parochial place of Barnard's Inn was co-terminous with the Inn of Chancery of the same name (on the south side of Holborn in Farringdon Without Ward). It was constituted a civil parish in 1858.
Early Commissioners of Sewers were solely concerned with land drainage and the prevention of flooding, not with the removal of sewage in the modern sense. In 1531 an Act of Sewers was passed which set out in great detail the duties and powers of Commissioners and governed their work until the 19th century. Gradually a permanent pattern emerged in the London area of seven commissions, five north and two south of the Thames, with, after the Great Fire, a separate commission for the City of London. The London commissioners had more extensive powers than those in other parts of the country; they had control over all watercourses and ditches within two miles of the City of London as well as newly constructed drains and sewers. After 1800 the London commissioners also obtained powers to control the formation of new sewers and house drains.
The first Commission of Sewers for the Westminster area issued under the 1531 Act appears to be that for "certen lymitts in and aboute Westminster in the countie of Midd" issued on 22 May 1596 (National Archives Crown Office Docquet Book, Ind. 4208). For the next 50 years the formula varied but the bounds of the commission always extended beyond Westminster. The first extant Letters Patent appointing a commission defines the limits as "extending from the Parishes of Hampton, Teddington, Twitnam, Isleworth, Hanwell, Cranford, Acton, Eling, Hammersmith, Fulham, Kensington and Chelsey in the County of Middlesex and the City of Westminster and precincts of the same and so to Temple Bar. And from thence within the Parishes of St. Giles in the Fields, Pancras, Marylebone, Hampstead, Wilsden, Paddington and to the River of Thames" (W.C.S. 1). It was not until 1807 that the area was defined by statute (Act 47, Geo. III, Sess I.c.7 (L. & P.)). It then included all parishes within what is now the County of London west of the City and north of the Thames as far as Stamford Brook, with part of Willesden.
Rapid building development in Westminster in the second half of the 17th century added greatly to the difficulties and duties of the Commissioners. By an Act of 1690 (Act 2, W. and M. Sess II.c.8) new sewers, when built, were subject to their supervision but statutory power to control the construction of new sewers or to build new sewers themselves was not obtained until 1807 (Act 47, Geo. III, Sess I.c.7 (L. and P.)). In 1834 the Commissioners obtained a Special Act (Act 4 and 5, W. IV, c.96) to enable them to construct a new sewer in Bayswater. By the 1840s they were conscious of the need to overhaul the whole of their organisation but the amending Act of 1847 (Act 10 and 11, Vic., c.70 (L and P.)) came too late for any effective action.
The Westminster Paving Commissioners were established in 1762 with responsibility for the maintenance of the streets and roads, including repairing paving and cobbles and improving drainage. The Commissioners' powers diminished as individual parishes began to establish their own committees for street maintenance.
Costa del Sol Anglican Chaplaincy was founded in February 1967.
The church was founded in c 1653 by William Kiffin at Devonshire Square, although the archives of the Devonshire Square meeting includes one volume relating to its constitutional predecessor, the Turners' Hall meeting, previously at Petty France, Artillery Lane and Walbrook, which moved to Devonshire Square in 1727 (see Ms 20228/1B); and several volumes of the meeting which, although at Devonshire Square between c 1664 and 1727, nevertheless dissolved itself in the latter year being received into the Turners' Hall meeting, when it moved to Devonshire Square. The unification was thus effected so that the Turners' Hall meeting could continue to enjoy a bequest to which it was entitled only as a distinct church. The Devonshire Square site was sold in 1870 and the meeting moved to a new chapel in Stoke Newington Road in 1871 (see Ms 20242). The Shacklewell Baptist Church, Wellington Place, Stoke Newington, founded in 1822, was united to the Devonshire Square church in 1884.
Devonshire House Monthly Meeting was established in 1667 as a constituent meeting of London and Middlesex Quarterly Meeting. From 1 April 1943 it united with the Tottenham Monthly Meeting under the style Devonshire House and Tottenham Monthly Meeting.
The constituent meetings of the Devonshire House Monthly Meeting were: Barnet Grove, 1924-43; Bunhill Fields, 1889-1943; Devonshire House, 1667-1925; Gracechurch Street, 1850-62; Hoxton, 1916-24; Peel, 1860-1926; Stoke Newington, 1850-1943; and Wheeler Street, 1667-1742.
The Manuscripts Section also holds records of the Devonshire House Preparative Meeting, and records of the Gracechurch Street and Peel Preparative Meetings, which became part of the Devonshire House Monthly Meeting in 1850 and 1860 respectively.
The church met at White's Alley, 1681-1745; Paul's Alley, Barbican, 1745-79 (shared with another Baptist church); Hogg Lane (otherwise Worship Street), Shoreditch, 1779-1829; Trinity Place, Trinity Street, Blackman Street, Borough, 1829-32; Coles Street, Dover Road, 1833-40; and Stamford Street, Blackfriars Road, 1840-1.
The church was founded in 1648 by Rev George Cokayn. On his ejection from St Pancras Soper Lane in 1660, he moved with a number of the congregation to Redcross Street and again in 1692 to Hare Court. In 1857 the church merged with the St Paul's Congregational Church, Canonbury. It is now Harecourt United Reformed Church.
The meeting house was erected in Lime Street in 1672 and remained on the site until 1755 when the premises were purchased, and the community compelled to leave. The congregation divided into two branches, the main group going to Miles Lane, and the other to Artillery Lane.
A Congregational church was founded in Nightingale Lane in about September 1662, under the ministry of the 'Rev Mr Slaughter'. It continued on the same site until at least the late 18th century.
The church was formed in 1822 at Wellington Place in Stoke Newington and merged with Devonshire Square (Particular) Baptist Church in 1884. The building subsequently became the West Hackney Synagogue.
The Hospital was founded as an almshouse for 13 poor people in 1147 by Queen Matilda, wife of King Stephen, on land leased from the Priory of Holy Trinity Aldgate. The earliest reference to its dedication, to St Katharine of Alexandria, is in 1216. In 1254, the Priory's custody of the Hospital was challenged. The Hospital won the support of Queen Eleanor, wife of King Henry III, and in 1261 the Prior was forced to cede supervision of the Hospital to the Queen who had claimed the patronage. Thereafter, the patronage of the queen became traditional, and still continues. In 1441/2, a Royal charter granted the Hospital exemption from both the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Bishop of London and the secular jurisdiction of the City. In effect, the Hospital church became the "parish" church of the inhabitants of the Precinct and their parochial ties with St Botolph Aldgate ceased. The Hospital exercised petty criminal jurisdiction in Courts Baron and Courts Leet, more serious matters coming under the Justices of the Peace for the Ward of Portsoken; ecclesiastical matters, especially probate and marriage licensing, were dealt with by the Hospital's Commissary Court
The Hospital survived the Dissolution with its constitution unchanged. However, many archives appear to have been lost at this time. The earliest surviving document is now a Royal charter of 1292, and the administrative records only commence in the late 16th century. In 1825, the St Katharine's Dock Act allowed the destruction of the Hospital, most of the houses in the Precinct and some in the adjacent parish of St Botolph Aldgate. No provision was made for re-housing the inhabitants of the Precinct, although funds for the charity school were transferred to St Botolph's. The Hospital itself was recompensed for the loss of land and the Brothers, Sisters, Bedeswomen and a new school were accommodated on a new site in Regent's Park. The school provided charity education until 1915, but the Hospital, removed from its established sphere of influence, became a retirement residence for more affluent people.
To make its work more effective, the Hospital was refounded in 1914 by Queen Alexandra as the Royal College of St Katharine, and moved to premises in Poplar where it trained nurses and provided maternity and child health care. The chapel remained in Regent's Park. In 1948 the College was in turn reconstituted as the Royal Foundation of St Katharine and moved to buildings in Butcher Row, Ratcliff, where a new chapel was dedicated in 1952 thus once again combining worship and service to the community on one site.
The City of London was divided into wards for the purpose of government as early as Norman times. The wards had responsibility to keep the peace, supervise trade and oversee sanitation, and each ward has the right to elect an Alderman and Commoners to sit in the Court of Common Council. Coleman Street Ward adjoins Broad Street Ward on the east and south, Bassishaw Ward on the west and Cheap Ward on the south.
The school was established by subscription in 1718 for boys and girls, and used premises in Little Swan Alley and Copthall Avenue in the parish of St Stephen Coleman Street. In 1786 a school-house for girls was built by subscription in Crosskey Court, London Wall, on ground belonging to the parish of St Stephen Coleman Street. The schools for boys and girls were both subsequently administered by the National Society.
Sir John Cass was interested in the (practical and religious) education, clothing and advancement of the poor children of Portsoken Ward. His school was opened in 1710, but a ward school was probably maintained by voluntary subscriptions from about 1689. The 1748 Chancery Scheme provided for 21 trustees, a schoolmaster to oversee 50 boys and a schoolmistress for 40 girls. The trustees were to provide the children with clothing and a daily dinner. Boys were to be given a suit of clothing and apprenticeship fee at 14 and girls received clothing when they went into service at the same age. The school built by Cass and the rooms used above the Aldgate were demolished when the Aldgate was pulled down for road widening. The trustees leased a house in Church Row from 1762 (previously used as a Quaker boarding school). The Cass School moved from Church Row in 1869 to 25 and 26 Jewry Street which the trustees bought and rebuilt as a school. By 1869 the school was attended by 110 boys and 90 girls, all Church of England, in receipt of free education, clothing and dinners. In 1871 the Foundation also supported a school in Church Row and an infant school in Goodman's Yard. The school in Church Row was open to any child over 7 residing in the parish. "Well conducted" children were encouraged to proceed to the Cass School in Jewry Street. The Church Row school was taken over by the School Board for London in 1890.The infant school in Goodman's Yard, was maintained by the Foundation from 1871-91.
The school in Jewry Street was demolished in 1898 and a new School and Institute Building erected on the site and adjacent property. In 1908 the School was transferred to a new building erected on a site extending from Duke Street to Mitre Street, surrounding the disused churchyard of St James Duke's Place, where it now remains as a Primary School. The 1944 Education Act required separate provision for primary and secondary education. As a result the Secondary School amalgamated with the Red Coat School, Stepney, to form the Sir John Cass's Foundation and Red Coat School in Stepney Way. Before 1895, there was little separation of the administration of the Cass School and the Cass charity. The schoolmaster acted as clerk to the trustees, writing letters and taking minutes of their meetings. Before 1870 when the school managers' minutes begin, the board minutes (Ms 31010) are much concerned with the school. In particular Ms 31010/4-14 include (unindexed) admissions of children 1758-1894. The minutes and accounts groups of the archive also include other records from 1720 which relate to the school.
The City of London was divided into wards for the purpose of government as early as Norman times. The wards had responsibility to keep the peace, supervise trade and oversee sanitation, and each ward has the right to elect an Alderman and Commoners to sit in the Court of Common Council. Billingsgate Ward fronts the River Thames, running west from Tower Ward to London Bridge. The ward with its quays on the water front was home to a large fish market.
Billingsgate Ward School was established by subscription in 1714 to educate and clothe boys and girls. From 1852, 32 Botolph Lane was used as the schoolhouse and when the school united with Tower Ward School in 1874, this property continued to be used. St Botolph Aldgate Parochial School amalgamated with Billingsgate Ward School and Tower Ward School in 1905 to form the Sir John Cass Junior School.
Tower Ward School was founded by voluntary subscription in 1707 for girls and in 1709 for boys. In 1808 the school bought a house in Great Tower Street; 9 Black Raven Court was purchased in 1846 for use as a school house. In 1874 the school was united with the Billingsgate Ward School and both properties were subsequently sold.
Billingsgate Ward School was established by subscription in 1714 to educate and clothe boys and girls. From 1852 32 Botolph Lane was used as the schoolhouse and when the school united with Tower Ward School in 1874, this property continued to be used.
The united school merged with the combined Bridge, Candlewick and Dowgate Wards School in 1891 and this school combined with St Botolph Parochial School in 1905 to form the Sir John Cass Junior School.
The school was established in 1713 by voluntary subscription and minutes of trustees and subscribers survive from that date (Ms 31167). The school was held in Leg and Ball Alley, London Wall and was amalgamated with the Cass School in 1907.
Langbourn Ward School was founded in 1702 and on the expiration of the lease of its schoolhouse in 1874 was united with Cornhill and Lime Street Wards School.
The united school was conducted at the Cornhill and Lime Street schoolhouse in St Mary Axe until its amalgamation with the Cass School.
The Red Coat School, Stepney, has had various names including Stepney Parish Day Schools, Stepney Church School and the Charity School in the Hamlet of Mile End Old Town. It was established in 1714 by voluntary subscription for the clothing and education of a limited number of boys born within Mile End Old Town. The school-house was built on Stepney Green (though the boys were separately housed in Mile End Road for some time). In 1944 the school merged with the secondary department of the Cass School to become the Sir John Cass's Foundation and Red Coat School in Stepney Way.
Established in 1883 to administer the united charities of the Freedom (i.e. within the City) part of St. Botolph Aldgate. Monies were paid to maintain Tower Gardens and St Botolph Aldgate churchyard; almspeople at Lumley Almshouses, pensions and medical relief for poor of parish.
The City of London was divided into wards for the purpose of government as early as Norman times. The wards had responsibility to keep the peace, supervise trade and oversee sanitation, and each ward has the right to elect an Alderman and Commoners to sit in the Court of Common Council. Castle Baynard Ward is bounded on the north and west by Farringdon Ward Within, on the east by Queenhithe and Bread Street wards, and on the south by the River Thames.
The ward school is believed to have been established in the middle of the 18th century by subscription, and used a school-house on Sermon Lane. In 1875 it merged with the Vintry and Queenhithe Ward Schools, and the combined schools were administered by the National Society. The combined schools continued to use the Sermon Lane premises as the school-house for girls and infants and used the premises in Brickhill Lane, Upper Thames Street, formerly used by Vintry Ward School for boys.
The church of Saint Sepulchre, Holborn Viaduct, was first mentioned in 1137. It was damaged in the Great Fire of 1666 and was rebuilt in 1670-71. However the tower and outer wall survived and date from around 1450. The church is now the National Musicians' Church. The church is also known as Saint Sepulchre without Newgate as it stood just outside the Newgate walls. The parish was partly within the City of London and partly within the former county of Middlesex.
William Turner Alchin was born in 1790 in Billingsgate. He practised as a solicitor while also pursuing antiquarian interests. In 1845 he was appointed librarian at Guildhall Library, a post he held until his death in 1865.
The research was used for Bradford's article "St Sepulchre Holborn: Fresh facts from wills", in Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, New Series, Vol.VIII, 1940, pp.169-94. Charles Angell Bradford was a historian with several published titles including Heart Burial (1930); Blanche Parry: Queen Elizabeth's Gentlewoman (1935); Helena, Marchioness of Northampton (1936); Hugh Morgan: Queen Elizabeth's Apothecary (1939); and several contributions to journals, particuarly on the history of Saint Sepulchre, Holborn.
The church of Saint Sepulchre, Holborn Viaduct, was first mentioned in 1137. It was damaged in the Great Fire of 1666 and was rebuilt in 1670-71. However the tower and outer wall survived and date from around 1450. The church is now the National Musicians' Church. The church is also known as Saint Sepulchre without Newgate as it stood just outside the Newgate walls. The parish was partly within the City of London and partly within the former county of Middlesex.
Charles Bridger was an antiquarian and genealogist. He published An Index to Printed Pedigrees, contained in county and local histories, and in the more important genealogical collections in 1867; while The Family of Leete: with special reference to the genealogy of Joseph Leete (1881) was published posthumously, based on his research.
Walter Chitty wrote Handbook for the Use of Visitors to Harrow-on-the-Hill, etc (1879); Historical Account of the Family of Long of Wiltshire (1889) and The Old Manor House, South Wraxall (1893).
During excavations, the remains of a Roman house were found in the crypt of Saint Bride's, alongside the foundations of seven different churches dating from the 6th to the 17th centuries. It appears that the first church was founded by Saint Bridget, an Irish saint of the 6th century. This church was replaced by a Norman building which in turn was rebuilt in the 15th century. After Wynkyn de Worde established the first printing press in Fleet Street, the area attracted many writers who were parishioners of Saint Brides; including de Worde himself, John Dryden, John Milton, Richard Lovelace, and John Evelyn. Samuel Pepys was christened here.
The church was destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666, and was replaced by one of Wren's largest and most expensive churches. The famous spire was added in 1701-03. Mr Rich, a pastry cook in Fleet Street, became famous for his wedding cakes modelled on the tiered arcades of the spire. In 1940 the church was badly damaged by bombing (allowing the excavations mentioned above). It was restored to the original designs. The parish was united with Holy Trinity Gough Square.
Information from The London Encyclopaedia, eds. Weinreb and Hibbert (LMA Library Reference 67.2 WEI).
Leonard J Maguire was a historian who specialised particularly in transcriptions of Baptist church records.
Theophilus Charles Noble was born in London in 1840. He was an author and antiquarian, publishing works including The Lord Mayor of London: a sketch of the origin, history and antiquity of the office (1860); Memorials of Temple Bar (1870); A Ramble round the Crystal Palace (1875); A collection of papers relating to the management and mismanagement of the Public Record Office, London (1875); Biographical Notices of T Wood DD, sometime Bishop of Lichfield (1882); The Spanish Armada and the Public Records (1888) and A Brief History of the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers (1889). In 1869 he received two special votes of thanks from the Irish Society after his publication of letters helped to defeat a Bill before the House of Commons which aimed to remove some of the Irish estates from the City of London companies. Noble died in 1890. His manuscripts were auctioned: see Catalogue of the library and collections (printed and manuscript) of T.C. Noble... consisting mostly of works on topography, chiefly of London... sold by auction... (London: Puttick and Simpson, 1890). This is possibly when the Guildhall Library acquired the papers.
Taylor appears to have been an employee of Le Grand, Sutcliffe and Gell of Southall, civil engineers and well drillers. They also had offices in Bunhill Row, EC.
William Hughes Willshire (1817-99) was a physician and collector of prints and books. He was the author of An Introduction to the study and collection of Ancient Prints (1874); A descriptive Catalogue of Playing and other Cards in the British Museum (1876) and Catalogue of early prints in the British Museum (1883).
Laurance Marriott Wulcko was born in 1901 and died in 1977. He was a local historian and the author of A Forgotten Contemporary of Copernicus. Some notes concerning Mikolaj Wulkowski, Voivode of Pomerellia, and his family (1943) and Some Early Friendly Societies in Buckinghamshire (1951).
Duties were payments to the public revenue levied upon the import, export, manufacture, or sale of certain commodities while metage was a duty paid for the official measuring of dry or liquid goods, such as coal, grain, salt. A meter was responsible for seeing that commodities such as grain were traded according to the proper measure. The City Chamberlain's Office of the Corporation of London had responsibility for overseeing the work of meters in checking incoming grain and other goods, especially in the Port of London.
The first recorded Mayor of London was Henry Fitz-Ailwyn in 1189. Since then, some 700 men and one woman have over the centuries held the position of chief officer of the City of London. The most famous of them all is Dick Whittington, who held office three times, in 1397, 1406 and 1419.
The Lord Mayor has throughout the centuries played a vital role in the life of the City of London and continues to do so today. In the City, the Lord Mayor ranks immediately after the sovereign and acts as the capital's host in Guildhall and Mansion House, his official residence. On behalf of the City and the nation he carries out numerous engagements at home and abroad.
The right of citizens to elect their own Mayor dates from the Charter granted by King John to the City in 1215. The election of Lord Mayor is held at the end of September each year in Guildhall. The assembly, known as Common Hall, consists of all liverymen of at least one year's standing together with certain high officers of the City. All aldermen who have served the office of sheriff and who have not already been Lord Mayor are eligible.
The City of London have had the right to control their own police force, anciently called 'the watch', from time immemorial. The Watch was controlled through the Watch and Ward Committee under the government of the Aldermen. Constables were appointed annually and were responsible for peace and good order. Constables were chosen from householders acting in rotation, although they often paid for a stand-in to be hired instead. Marshalmen and Night Watchmen were appointed to assist them. In 1693 an Act of Common Council was passed stating that 1000 Watchmen should be constantly on duty in the City from sunset to sunrise - this was called the 'Standing Watch'. In 1737 an Act was passed allowing the Common Council to pass an annual order settling the number of Watchmen and imposing taxes for their maintenance. This was known as the 'Nightly Watch Act'.
From around 1737 attempts were made to create an equivalent day force. For several years Extra Constables were sworn in to provide assistance to Ward Constables. In 1800 an experimental force of professional police was created to ensure policing during the day as well as at night. In 1834 the Common Council formed the Day Police Committee to send a deputation to the Court of Aldermen asking them to consider ways of providing a permanent day force. In 1838 the Common Council attempted to levy a rate to support a new combined police force for day and night, however, proposals were being put before Parliament to make the City of London part of the Metropolitan Police District. This was strongly opposed by the Corporation and in 1839 they put a Bill into Parliament which led to the 'Act for regulating the Police in the City of London'. This Act established that the Corporation should appoint a suitable person to be Commissioner of the Police Force of the City of London and that they should form a Police Committee to provide supplies for the force and maintain their buildings.
In 1911 it was decided to form Police Reserves to cope with any civil disturbances which might arise, and to avoid recourse to military assistance. Two reserves to the City Police were then formed: the first Police Reserve, consisting of pensioners from the regular police prepared to rejoin when required in time of emergency; and the second, or Special Police Reserve (later renamed the Special Constabulary), consisting of citizens of suitable age and physical fitness, who would register their names as willing to undertake to serve as special constable in the event of an emergency arising to require their services. The registered members were formed into divisions, and provisional arrangements made for calling out and swearing them in emergency arose. In 1939 the strength of the Special was 2014. Many members of the Special Constabulary undertook full time police duties during the war, temporarily becoming members of the branch of the Civil Defence organization known as the Police War Reserve.
The City of London Livery Companies originated in medieval guilds, organised around specific trades, which controlled prices and working conditions and provided welfare for members fallen on hard times. Guilds became known as livery companies as they wore unique uniforms, or liveries. Entry to a company was by three methods: patrimony (if one's father was a liveryman), apprenticeship or redemption (purchasing entry). All liverymen gained the Freedom of the City of London.
The Library Committee was responsible for the direction of the Guildhall Library and Art Gallery, other Corporation libraries, the Barbican Art Gallery and the Guildhall Museum (now part of the Museum of London). On 24 Oct 1985 the Common Council agreed to transfer the Greater London Record Office to the Corporation following the GLC's abolition on 1 Apr 1986. It was recommended that the Library Committee should be responsible for the GLRO once it was transferred to the Corporation, and its title was changed to the Libraries, Art Galleries and Records Committee to reflect this wider scope. In April 1998 the transfer of responsibility for the Barbican Art Gallery, from the committee to the Barbican Centre Committee, caused a further change of name to The Libraries, Guildhall Art Gallery and Archives Committee.
Following the creation of the Libraries, Archives and Guildhall Art Gallery Department (through the merger of the Libraries and Guildhall Art Gallery Department and the Joint Archive Service) the name of the Committee was again changed in April 2005. The new title, reflecting the departmental reorgansation, is the Libraries, Archives and Guildhall Art Gallery Committee.