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The Pensions Management Institute (PMI), based at Artillery Lane in the City of London, is a professional membership institute providing educational services for those working in the pensions industry. It offers a set of qualifications for pension managers and trustees, training and support services for its members, as well as running two Conferences and producing a number of publications, including PMI News, PMI Technical News and Pensions Terminology. It also produces responses to Government consultative papers, although it is not a lobbying organisation.

Established as the Institute of Pensions Administration in 1975, the Institute was initially sponsored by four pensions industry representative bodies (the National Association of Pension Funds, the Society of Pension Consultants, the Life Offices' Association and the Association of Consulting Actuaries) who each provided four representatives to sit on the Institute's Council. The Institute was incorporated as the Pensions Management Institute in 1976.

The Institute was initially run by a Council and four committees: Constitution and Membership, Education, Public Relations and Finance and Services. Nowadays the Institute is managed by a Board, made up of the President, two Vice Presidents, the Chief Executive and Financial Director. The Advisory Council advise the Board on the strategic direction of the Institute and provide technical input and expertise on industry issues. The Council is now made up of 16 fellows, elected by the members of the Institute. There are also four governance committees - Education, Finance, Membership and Commercial Development - and a number of other committees overseeing the Institute's work.

The Institute's President serves a two year term, and chairs the Institute's Examiner's Liaison, Officers and Disciplinary Committees as well as sitting on the Board and Council. In 2002 a Management Committee was introduced, answering to the Council and chaired by the President. The Management Committee includes three members of the Council and four senior Secretariat members.

The day to day running of the Institute is carried out by staff in eight departments - membership, qualifications, commercial development, finance, central office support, business development, professional standards and IT - overseen by the Chief Executive. This replaced the Secretary General position in 2005.

The Institute's members are divided between various grades of membership: elected fellows, associate, diploma, certificate, student and affiliate. The associate, diploma and certificate memberships are dependent on qualifications. The Institute also operates a network of eight Regional Groups across the UK and a Trustee Group to support individual trustees and Trustee Boards. The Institute sponsors the Association of Professional Pension Trustees (formerly the Independent Pension Trustee Group), a network established in 2003 which aims to 'encourage and promote the highest professional standards in those who practise as professional pension trustees' and 'promote the role of professional trustees'.

The Pensions Management Institute is the holding company for PMI Services Limited, originally Armagret Limited, a service company for the Institute. Another registered company, PMI Trustee Limited, is trustee for the Institute's staff pension scheme.

Set up in 1924 by royal warrant, the Royal Fine Art Commission (RFAC) acted as an advisory body to the government on all things architectural and aesthetic about the city. Although it lacked statutory powers, the Commission worked to influence and encourage decisions made about the built environment, urban design and the use of public space and amenities. These duties were extended in 1933, enabling the Commission to attract the government's attention to any development which impacted national urban design or the aesthetics of the public character. With increasing influence on planning permission submissions, the Commission's reach was further extended in 1946 by giving it the power to make inspections and request information on prospective projects. In post-War London, the Commission played a strong role in the planning and reconstruction of the city, from the design of new buildings to the alteration and re-use of existing ones. By the time it was decommissioned, the RFAC was an important influence on and part of the design process for the rebuilding and construction of new buildings nation-wide. It also had a major influence on the placement of memorials and statues, the style and use of street lighting and the construction of roads and motorways.

In 1999, the RFAC's functions were taken over by the newly established Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), which continued to act in this independent capacity until 2011.

Source of information:http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details/AssetMain?iaid=C35 http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110118095356/http://www.cabe.org.uk/about/what-we-do

The Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA) is the representative body for consulting actuaries. The Association was first formed as the Society of Consulting Actuaries in November 1951, and re-named as the ACA in March 1952. The members of the Association are all individual actuaries who work in the consulting sector, and are mainly qualified through membership of the professional body for actuaries, the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

The ACA was first proposed by Reginald Maudling, senior partner of Watsons, and James Bacon, senior partner of Bacon and Woodrow, as a way of ensuring that independent consulting actuaries were represented to both employers operating pension schemes for their staff and the government. In the 1950s independent actuaries were competing with large insurance firms to provide advice to employers, and collecting together as an association was seen as a way of raising independent consultants' status and making employers' aware that they were a source of disinterested professional advice. An association would also be able to provide a collective voice for consultant actuaries to government, who were increasingly interested in monitoring and controlling pension schemes in the 1950s. Maudling and Bacon were made joint Presidents at the ACA's foundation.

The ACA continues to promote the services provided by consulting actuaries and provide independent advice to decision makers on the need for and implications of legislative change in relevant areas, including responding to government consultations and publishing Parliamentary Pension Briefs for the benefit of MPs. The ACA also acts as a forum for exchanging relevant information among its members and exchange information with other organisations operating in the same fields. The ACA also publishes regular surveys of the pensions industry.

The ACA hold regular 'ordinary' or 'sessional' meetings of members, traditionally held at St. Ermins Hotel, Westminster, where matters of common interest are discussed.

The ACA is run by a Chairman and committee. Sub-committees, or technical committees, were set up to carry out specific tasks or monitor a particular area affecting actuaries. Since 1992 a secretariat has been employed to provide administrative services for the ACA. The ACA have been based at the following locations: Norfolk House, Wellesley Road, Croydon (1991); 1 Wardrobe Place (1992-2001); Wanford Court, 29 Throgmorton Street (2005-2008); St. Clement's House, 27-28 Clement's' Lane (2009-2013); and 45 King William Street (2013-).

The London Schools Swimming Association was created in 1893 and promotes aquatic sports for all primary and secondary schools in the thirty two boroughs of London and the City of London.

Members of the Grand Priory of the Hospital Order of St John of Jerusalem in England saw a need to find a way to assist accident victims quickly since untreated injuries often led to death or disability. They decided to train ordinary people in first aid so accident victims could be treated quickly and on the spot and, in 1887, they set up St John Ambulance to do this. Classes were set up across the country, particularly in workplaces and areas of heavy industry but also in villages, seaside towns and middle class suburbs.

In 1887, trained volunteers were organised into a uniformed Brigade to provide a first aid and ambulance service at public events. In many parts of Britain, St John was the first and only provider of an ambulance service right up to the middle of the 20th century, when the National Health Service was founded. When there were far fewer doctors and hospital beds than today, St John nurses looked after the sick and injured in their own homes.

There were originally three charitable Foundations of the modern Order. One, which became The St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Foundation, was established in 1882. The St John Ambulance Association, which was concerned with training the public in first aid, was established in 1877. The third was The St John Ambulance Brigade, which provided first aid care to the public. It had its origins in 1873 and became a Foundation in 1887. The St John Ambulance Association and The St John Ambulance Brigade were amalgamated in 1974 to form the present St John Ambulance Foundation.

St John Ambulance was originally divided into two fields, teaching first aid to workplace employees via the St. John Ambulance Association and providing uniformed medical volunteers to cover public and private events via the St. John Ambulance Brigade. However, these two entities merged in 1968 to form a single unified St. John Ambulance, providing both training and first-aid cover.

For further details please see the website www.sja.org.uk

Founded in 1921, the Association was initially entitled the City of London Wholesale Linen Trade Association. Membership consisted of buyers and agents within the wholesale linen trade who paid an annual subscription to join. In order to reflect changes in the industry, this was later expanded to include those from the manufacturing and retail sectors. By 1962, the name had been changed to the City of London Linen Trades Association (CLLTA). Further changes in the trade led to greater links with soft furnishings and a further name change in 1992 to the City of London Linens and Furnishings Association (CLLFA).

The aims of the Association were: 'to encourage and maintain the feeling of good fellowship amongst the membership and the trade' and 'to enable interchange of views between buyers, agents and manufacturers in their mutual interest and of the trade as a whole'.

Committee meetings were held monthly, initially at offices of the members (first meeting at 25 Noble Street. Other addresses include 16 Little Britain and The Guildhall Chambers, City of London. The Association was run by a management committee enrolled at the publically held Annual General Meetings in January of each year. A Benevolent fund, administered by 5 trustees, was established in 1926. This fund was set up to support members, former members and their dependents with financial assistance in times of hardship or ill health and was registered with the Charity Commission in 1962 as the City of London Linen Trades Association Benevolent Fund (later the City of London Linens and Furnishings Association Benevolent Fund).

Membership peaked at over 300 members (in the mid-1990s). Annual golf days, snooker, cricket and bowls events were organised for the benefit of members and to raise funds.

In 1979 a vote was passed to accept female members and the first (and only) female President, Jean Biggs, was elected in 1985.

Owing to a decline in linen manufacturing, membership began to reduce and in 2011 the Committee and Trustees made the decision wind up the Association as of 31 December 2011.

The Guinness Trust (London Fund) was established to provide working class housing 'for the amelioration of the conditions of the poor labouring classes of London'. The Trust was made possible by a gift of £200,000 from Edward Cecil Guinness [Lord Iveagh], the great grandson of the founder of the Guinness Brewery in Dublin, Ireland. The organisation was formed by Deed of Trust on 4 February 1890 and enrolled into the Charity Commission under Working Classes Dwellings Act 1890. The Guinness Trust (London Fund) was incorporated and registered as a general charity on 28 February 1902 under the Charitable Trustees Incorporation Act (1872).

A further fund known as the Dublin Fund was established by Deed of Trust on 2 April 1890 for working classes in Dublin, Ireland. The Guinness Trust managed both the London and Dublin Funds until June 1903 when a bill for amalgamation of the Guinness Trust Dublin Fund and Dublin Improvement (Bull Alley Area) Scheme received royal assent. A new trust known as Iveagh Trust was formed to manage the Dublin Fund and 'all documents connected with the [Dublin Fund] were handed over accordingly' (see LMA/4656/A/02/002 page 85).

The following estates were purchased and developed with Guinness Buildings for working classes built from 1890s to 1930s in the Inner London area:
Brandon Street, Walworth;
Columbia Road, Bethnal Green;
Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith;
Kennington Park Road, Kennington;
Kings Road, Chelsea;
Lever Street, Finsbury;
Holloway Road, Islington;
Marlborough Road [later renamed Draycott Avenue] and Cadogan Street, Chelsea;
Pages Walk, Bermondsey;
Snowsfields, Bermondsey;
Stamford Hill, Stoke Newington;
Vauxhall Square [Vauxhall Walk], Lambeth.

In 1938 a Holiday Home was built at South Heighton, Newhaven, Sussex for tenants to use. Also Avenue Road Residential Club was developed in 1950s.

Later estates built post Second World War (post 1945) include:
John Street, Stratford, Newham [later the Lord Gage Centre];
Kennington Road, Lambeth;
Loughborough Park and Loughborough Road, Brixton, Lambeth.

From 1970s the Trust developed estates in outer London including Mortlake, Richmond and estates in the south and home counties.

In 1972 the Trust provided 3500 low-rented dwellings including special accommodation for the elderly and for younger working people. By 1979 the Trust had employed a Supervising Officer based at Roman Road, Bethnal Green for increased building work and by the early 1980s a Chief Estates Managers Department was formed to take control of matters relating to the estates. By 1985 the Trust had opened Area Offices for London and South East, South West, and Northern Regions.

In the mid 2000s the Guinness Trust Group was made up of The Guinness Trust, Guinness Housing, Wycombe Friendship (Charitable), Clapton Community Housing, Kennet Housing (Charitable) and Guinness Developments, Guinness Care and Support (Charitable) and Parchment Housing Group Limited. In 2012 the housing properties and operations of The Guinness Trust were combined with those of the other main housing divisions to form a single charitable community benefit society known as The Guinness Partnership Limited. By 2014 the Partnership was providing housing and services across England with more than 60,000 homes with 120,000 residents.

The Secretary handled most matters concerning the estates on behalf of the Trustees. The Trustees included members of the Guinness Family. By 1950s the Secretary's position became known as the Manager and Secretary. Secretaries included: Lee Knowles MP, Honorary Secretary based at Local Government Board, Whitehall (1889); Captain Thomas H Vickers (1890s); E W Winch (joined 1889; Secretary 1905-1935); Percival Laurence Leigh-Breese (Assistant Secretary 1931-1935, Secretary from 1935, Manager and Secretary by 1958); Ronald A W Lear (before 1980). Patrons included Lady Diana Princess of Wales.

Registered head office addresses: 5 Victoria Street (1891-1949); 11 St James's Square (1949-1967); 5 Iveagh House, Ormond Yard (1967-circa 1975); 4 Corporation Street, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire (circa 1975-); 17 Mendy Street, High Wycombe (2000s - 2015).

In-depth histories concerning the development of the Trust's work, personalities and life on the estates can be found in series LMA/4656/B/01/05, LMA/4656/F/01 and LMA/4656/F/03.

Prior to 1975 the firm imported and exported goods such as children's clothes to the Middle East. However from 1976, the firm began to specialise in importing greeting cards. The company had a storeroom in Paddington, later moving to the Avon Trading Estate in Kensington

Audrey Dewjee, one of the joint founders who at the time was based in Greenford, recounts:

"After a trip to America in 1975, Hussein and I started to import Black Greeting Cards in 1976 because we felt that everyone should have access to cards that reflected their ethnicity and lifestyle. Our company was called Westways Import-Export and later Westways Greetings. When we realised that Gay Greeting Cards were also available in America, we started to import them as well, from a company called Lip Productions Limited in Chicago [United States of America].

Like many of the best (but smallest) Black Greeting Card companies, Lip didn't survive for very long. While it flourished we imported cards from them and sold them wherever we could in London - to Gay's The Word and several of the leather shops. We also sold them from a little stall at the CHE [Campaign for Homosexual Equality] conference in York (I think that was in 1980). That was great because it felt like we were witnessing history in the making and we had played a tiny part! At Christmas Lip produced a beautiful range of designs, in colour, which quickly sold out.

When Lip ceased trading, we stopped selling Gay Cards because we couldn't find another 'respectable' supplier. By then, times and tastes were changing. There were more outlets and UK producers came on the scene, so there was no need for us to continue."
Audrey Dewjee 12 April 2016 (produced with kind permission of Audrey Dewjee).

The Greene Sisters, stage names Judy, Gertie and Jeanette were a close harmony singing trio. The girls were three of five children born to Rebecca Lazarus and Jacob Greenbaum in the East End of London; Gillian (1912-2000), Marcus (1914-1983), Janetta (1921-2007), Juliet (1922-2008) and Sylvia (1928- 2009).

Their father Jack worked in the leather trade and encouraged his daughters singing career over the years.
Rebecca their mother was the daughter of Jacob Lazarus a founding members of the staunchly orthodox Machzikei Hadath Synagogue in Spitalfields.

The trio were discovered by Sidney Phillips, bandleader and arranger in the late 1930's. They spent their early years touring Britain appearing on stage in Bradford, Liverpool, Aberdeen, Dundee to name but a few, and on the London Stage including Empire, Finsbury Park and the London Coliseum. They also performed in fundraising concerts in 1941 in aid of General Jewish Hospital (Shaare Zedek) Jerusalem and in aid of 10th London and 33rd Middlesex Battalions, Home-guard Welfare Fund.

They were a hard working trio moving from live stage performances to radio and latterly Television broadcasts, but they were probably most well known as performers on the popular radio series 'Hi Gang!' 'Hi Gang!' featured Ben Lyon and his wife, Bebe Daniels the Jewish Hollywood couple. Along with Vic Oliver, the well-known entertainer, they broadcast 'from the heart of London”'each week between May 1940 until 1949 to a home and forces audience.

Sadly the trio never made it in America as their father prevented them crossing the Atlantic to perform on Bing Crosby's wartime show. However the Sisters continued performing and in 1954 appeared on 'Showcase' where Benny Hill introduced artists and acts new to Television.

Sylvia was a gifted composer and wrote and arranged music for her sisters as well as occasionally performing with them or on her own. She also wrote a musical play 'A Great Guy' which was never performed but was published and copies of the play and the music also written by Sylvia survive in the collection.

The family moved to North West London in the 1940's to a home named 'The Harmonies' and although none of the children married they remained close.

Drivers Jonas and Company were chartered surveyors, estate management agents, valuers and auctioneers, and later property consultants. The firm was founded in 1725 by brothers Samuel Driver (1692-1741) and Charles Driver (1699-), bakers and nurserymen and landowners. The company remained as an independent partnership until the firm was acquired by Deloitte LLP in January 2010, and renamed Drivers Jonas Deloitte. Drivers Jonas was dropped from the name in 2013.

From the late 18th century the firm branched out into auctioneering and estate management for landed estates. Long-standing clients included: Chamberlayne Settled Estates (Southampton, Hampshire); Trustees of the Corporation of Trinity House (Wallace Falkner, House and Estate Agent and Collector of Taxes of 23 Trinity Street, Southwark managed the estates until 1 Jan 1948 when management passed to Drivers Jonas); Earl and Countess of Ilchester (Holland Park Estate, Kensington); Greenwich Hospital Department of the Admiralty; Grosvenor Settled Estates Trustees (Belgravia and Mayfair); Speer Trustees, Viscount Bertie of Thame, Surrey, Colonel Abel Smith, Sir Ronald Gunter (Earls Court and West Hampstead), Reverend George Pollen's Trustees (including Old Burlington Street, Savile Row, Westminster) and James Kent's Estates (including Hoxton and City Road area).

From 1935 the firm partnered G J Brown and Son, surveyors and estate managers of 34 Great George Street, Westminster (1907); 11 Little College Street, Westminster (1923). G J Brown and Son was closed and clients transferred to Drivers Jonas in 1953.

In the later 20th century the firm became leading property consultants specialising as managing agents of commercial property advising landlords and tenants of offices, shops and industrial space on service charges, rents and other costs. In 2007 the company's core values and brand were 'to add value for our clients by giving high quality property advice' as 'leading commercial property consultancy'.

Name changes reflected changes in partnership including:

A P Driver

E and G N Driver

Samuel and Robert C Driver

R C Driver and Company (1863)

Driver and Company, 'Surveyors, Valuers, Land Agents and Auctioneers' (1866)

Drivers and Company (1870s-1890s), 'Surveyors, Land Agents, Timber Valuers and Auctioneers' (1895)

Drivers Jonas and Company (from before 1907), 'Chartered surveyors, land agents and auctioneers, town planning consultants' (1968), 'Chartered Surveyors and Planning Consultants' (1984)

Drivers Jonas Deloitte (trading name for Deloitte LLP) (2010-2013)

OFFICES: Samuel Driver at Wandsworth and Charles Driver at Rotherhithe (1725-1741); Kent Street Road (later Kent Road), Southwark (1741-1816); 13 New Bridge Street, Blackfriars, Southwark (1816-1826); 8 Richmond Terrace, Parliament Street, Whitehall, Westminster (1826-1850); 5 Whitehall (1850-1863); 4 Whitehall (1863-1898); 23 Pall Mall (1898-1919); 7 Charles Street renamed Charles II Street, Saint James's Square, Westminster (1919-1956); Hertford Street (1956-1959); 7 Charles II Street (1959-1969); 18 Pall Mall (1969-after 1979); 16 Suffolk Street (before 1984-1997); 6 Grosvenor Street (from 1998); Drivers Jonas Deloitte (trading name for Deloitte LLP) registered at 2 New Street Square (2010-2013), head office: Athene Place, 66 Shoe Lane, City of London (2010-2013).

The company had branch offices:

1945: The Cross, Chester, Cheshire and 5 Rockstone Place, Southampton, Hampshire

1968: Evershot, Dorset and Southwark.

1979: Aberdeen, Scotland

1984: Norwich, Norfolk ['East Anglia' office], Aberdeen, Scotland and Toronto, Canada; and Glasgow, Scotland (by 1986), 30 Watling Street, City of London (from 1987); Mayfair, Westminster and Montreal, Canada (by 1989); Boston, United States of America (by 1990); Vancouver, Canada (by 1991); Germany (by 1992); Nottingham, Nottinghamshire (by 1993); Manchester (by 1994). Other places in Germany and United States of America; Birmingham (from 1998); the European network of offices expanded to Paris, France (2002), Frankfurt, Germany (2003) and Madrid, Spain (2007).

Customs and Excise Officers, including coastguards, did not have protection in case of death, injury, illness and old age. In response to this the Customs Annuity and Benevolent Fund was established by the Customs Office in 1816. The Fund was formed as a mutual insurance fund, to provide conditional benefit to widows, children and other immediate relatives of civil servants. Any person aged 16-65 was able to effect an Insurance upon their lives, answerable to their respective cases. The Fund was to be raised by subscription, both annual and occasional.

Initially named the 'Civil Fund' but 'Customs Annuity Fund' was substituted shortly after foundation, resulting from extension of the same benefits to all other departments under the Crown. Operated as 'Customs Annuity and Benevolent Fund' from 1879, 'Customs Fund' from 1893 and from 1896 it was incorporated by Act of Parliament as 'The Customs Annuity and Benevolent Fund Incorporated' but referred to as the 'Customs Fund'.

The Fund was based at Customs Office, London initially at City Gate House, Finsbury Square and later at Kings Beam House, Mark Lane, City of London.The organisation continued to operate as a Life Assurance and Pensions Mutual Company until it was acquired by National Friendly (National Deposit Friendly Society (NDFS), established in 1868) in 2004. The Customs Fund Division continued under NDFS.

Rotax Limited, manufacturer of automotive electrical equipment was originally based in 43-45 Great Eastern Street, City of London concentrating on equipment for motor cars. The firm moved its registered office and works in 1916 to Rotax Works in Willesden Junction, North Acton where it remained until at least 1970s, opening a factory in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire in the post-war period. Since 1920s Rotax developed links with Joseph Lucas Limited and later became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lucas. From the late 1930s Rotax became solely involved in the production of equipment for aircraft. Rotax Limited later came under a holdings company, Rotax (Holdings) Limited. Rotax Limited was renamed Lucas Aerospace Limited in 1971 reflecting Joseph Lucas group of companies reorganisation of aerospace-related activities.

First incorporated in 1957 as the Earls Court Standfitting Company Limited, the company changed its name to Showprops Limited in 1988. This company was a stand fitting and exhibition furniture rental business owned by Earls Court and Olympia Limited and later operated as a subsidiary under P&O Exhibition Services Limited.

Dissolved in 2004.

Registered offices:

1 Old Burlington Street, London Borough of Westminster (2004)

Company No. 00580792

Incorporated on 18 January 1993 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Granada Group PLC. The main trading object of the company was the provision of security services.

In 1994 the parent body changed when Sterling Granada Contract Services were acquired by Securiguard Services Limited, a member of the Rentokil group of companies.

In 2006 ownership again changed when the MITIE Group PLC acquired Initial Security Limited and all of its subsidiary undertakings from Rentokil Initial PLC.

The company never traded and was dissolved in 2012.

Registered Offices:

Felcourt, East Grinstead, West Sussex (1993 - 1997)

Garland Road, East Grinstead, West Sussex (1997 - 2012)

Company No. 2780369

Paul R. Dawson worked within the Pension Technical Information Service at Noble Lowndes and Partners Limited during the late 1980s and early 1990s providing information to staff, consultants, technicians and administrators on subjects including the 1989/1990 Social Security Bill, 1989 Finance Act, equalisation of pension ages and National Association of Pension Funds' annual surveys.

Noble Lowndes set up his own brokerage firm in 1934, which would later became Noble Lowndes and Partners, initially specialising in Estate Duty. Lowndes' first pension scheme was set up in April 1936 and was based on individual endowment contracts. In 1949 Noble Lowndes and Partners became a limited company.

Lowndes was particularly active in assessing suitable areas for international expansion and overseas development began in 1947 when the Irish Pensions Trust Limited was set up in Dublin. Noble Lowndes and Partners continued to expand, becoming an international business specialising in the design of company pension schemes, insurance broking, and life assurance with established subsidary companies in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, as well as a network of branches throughout the United Kingdom. By 1960 Noble Lowndes had expanded into Europe, the Far East and the United States and had become one of the largest pension consultant firms in the world with a quarter of British companies having a pension scheme devised by Noble Lowndes.

Noble Lowndes retired in 1966 and the firm was later acquired in 1969 by the merchant bankers Hill Samuel.

Registered office address: Sackville House, 143-149 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 6BP.

Nicholas Wakelam's longest accounting appointment was at Thorn EMI where he was involved with the Pensions Fund Trust.

Thorn EMI was a major British company involved in consumer electronics, music, defence, retail and television broadcasting and was the successor to Thorn Electrical Industries Limited and EMI. On 16 August 1996, Thorn EMI shareholders voted in favour of demerging Thorn from EMI and the company was split into EMI Group plc and Thorn plc.

The family business was established in the early 1800s in London and traded as pawnbrokers and jewellers. The main company, G.W. and A.E. Thomson Limited occupied premises at 36 Chalk Farm Road. The company established several branches which were situated at:

105 Uxbridge Road 'Shepherd's Bush Branch'

756 - 158 Holloway Road Branch

228 Kilburn High Street

63 Praed Street

The Holloway Road Branch was subject to an armed robbery in 1983 in which a staff assistant had been party. The branch closed the following year.

In 1954 an additional business was opened at 158 Portobello Road which was incorporated as A. E. and D. A. Thomson Limited.

In 1963 a further additional business was opened at Watford which was incorporated as D. A. Thomson and Sons Limited. This business closed in April 1982.

The companies traded as 'Thomsons.'

Saramar Limited was a mail order business run by the family. It was incorporated in 1964. The company ceased to trade in March 1998 and dissolved in 2000.

The London Archaeologist Association was founded in 1968 and the first issue of London Archaeologist magazine was produced late that year. The association is a registered charity.

The magazine is produced by a mixture of professional and amateur archaeologists and covers the 'London' area, which allows a flexible approach. The annual membership subscription covers four issues of the magazine plus a supplement devoted to excavations, fieldwork and details of books and articles on London's archaeology.

As well as publishing London Archaeologist, the charity undertakes educational activities, administers the London Archaeological Prize, and supports publication of archaeological work.

Founded in the 1960's, the Jewish Vegetarian Society is an international charity that promotes vegetarianism throughout the world.

Founded in 1978, the Jewish Research Group published and exhibited research by its members. The 'Heritage' series of publications produced material to further understand the Jewish settlement in North London.

Community Health Councils were established in England and Wales in 1974 "to represent the interests in the health service of the public in its district" (National Health Service Reorganisation Act, 1973). Often referred to as 'the patient’s voice in the NHS', each Community Health Council (CHC) served the public and patients in its local area by representing their interests to National Health Service (NHS) authorities and by monitoring the provision of health services to their communities.

CHCs were independent statutory bodies with certain legal powers. CHCs were entitled to receive information about local health services, to be consulted about changes to health service provision, and to carry out monitoring visits to NHS facilities. They also had the power to refer decisions about proposed closures of NHS facilities to the Secretary of State for Health. For this reason, CHCs were sometimes known as the ‘watchdogs’ of the NHS. The co-ordinated monitoring of waiting times in Accident and Emergency departments led to ‘Casualty Watch’ which gained national press coverage. Locally, many CHCs represented patients’ views by campaigning for improved quality of care and better access to NHS services, and by responding to local issues such as proposed hospital closures.

Each CHC had around 20 voluntary members from the local area. Half were appointed the local authority, a third were elected from voluntary bodies and the remainder were appointed by the Secretary of State for Health. Members met every month to six weeks and meetings were usually open to the general public. Guest speakers or guest attendees were often invited, particularly when a specific topic or issue was under discussion.

All CHCs employed a small number of paid office staff and some had shop-front offices, often on the high street, where members of the public could go for advice and information about local NHS services. CHCs published leaflets and guidance on a wide variety of topics from ‘how to find a GP’ to ‘how to make a complaint’.

Within the guiding principles and statutory duties of the legislation, CHCs developed organically in response to the needs of the communities they served and for this reason considerable variation can be found in the records of different CHCs.

Harrow Community Health Council was created in September 1974. Half of its members were nominated by the boroughs of Brent and Harrow. The CHC Initially met at Harrow Hospital and then in a conference room of the Brent and Harrow Area Health Authority in Signal House, Lyon Road from February 1975 onwards. The CHC later had offices on Junction Road.

Community Health Councils in England were abolished in 2003 as part of the ‘NHS Plan (2000)’. The last meeting of Harrow CHC was held in October 2003.

CARL Communications Limited was founded in 1972 with the first 'Pensions World' magazine published in September of that year. Based at 60 Thames Street, Sunbury on Thames, the firm produced six titles alongside 'Pensions World'. Having formed through an initiative of The National Association of Pension Funds, 'Pensions World' absorbed NAPF’s newsletter, the 'Information Bulletin' and eventually the NAPF had a bulk subscription and distributed it to all their members. The company was sold to Tolley Publishing of Croydon in 1986. The publication remained the official Association journal while CARL Communications’s other work continued under a new partnership, Carl Associates.

The Shabbaton Choir is a voluntary male-voice choir, drawn from the ranks of several synagogue choirs. It was formed in 1986 under the musical direction of Stephen Glass, and performed for the first time in the Wigmore Hall under its founding name the B'nai Brith Festival Singers.

The choir performs at concerts and synagogue services throughout the UK and undertakes concert tours abroad. It has recorded many times for the BBC and has featured regularly on radio and television broadcasts in the UK and abroad. It has also recorded several albums of its music.

The group's hallmark is its innovative choral arrangements. Its aim is to bring out clearly the mood and meaning of the words, thus making orthodox services more meaningful. Arrangements and new compositions are undertaken the musical director, originally in partnership with Chazan Lionel Rosenfeld.

In 1990 the group was renamed the Shabbaton Choir and Stephen Levey took over as musical director in 1991.

Since 2003 the choir has visited Israel regularly to perform, under the title Solidarity Through Song, where they sing at hospitals and medical centres and to victims of terrorist attacks. The choir has also visited Germany and sung at the sites of concentration camps.

Land at Rotherhithe was granted to the Bishop of Worcester in 893, but Rotherhithe is not mentioned in the Domesday Book. In 1127 land there was granted to the Abbey of Bermondsey, who held it until the dissolution when the lands were taken by the Crown. In 1608 the manor was granted to Robert, Earl of Salisbury. From 1692 onwards it passed to many owners including the Bennet, Scawen, Swinfen, Wager, Gashry, Goldsworthy, Gomm and Carr-Gomm families. The Gomms sold parts of the land to the Surrey Commercial Docks and for Southwark Park. The last manorial court was held in 1846.

Source of information: 'Parishes: Rotherhithe', A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4 (1912), pp. 83-92.

The Manor and Prebend of Wenlocks Barn was situated in the parishes of Saint Luke, Old Street and Saint Leonard Shoreditch. Tenants included St Bartholomew's Hospital, the Chamber of London and the Prebend of More.

Francis John Tyssen established extensive land holdings in Hackney (see below). His estates were left to his daughter Mary Tyssen. Her grandson William George Daniel (1801-55) took the surname Daniel-Tyssen. He married Amelia Amhurst. Their son William Amhurst Tyssen (1835-1909) adopted the surname Tyssen-Amherst in 1852, changing it to Tyssen-Amherst in 1877. His estates included 9488 acres at Didlington Hall, Norfolk, as well as the Hackney estates in London.

THE MANOR OF LORDSHOLD, HACKNEY: The principal manor of Hackney, now known as Lordshold, was formerly held by the Bishop of London who surrendered it to King Edward VI in 1550, together with the manor of Stepney. Both manors were granted by the King to Thomas, Lord Wentworth, Stepney in 1550 and Hackney in 1551 and remained in the Wentworth family until the confiscation of the Earl of Cleveland's estates in 1652. In 1633, however, the Earl of Cleveland had mortgaged the manor to Sir Thomas Trevor and Thomas Trevor. The redemption sum was not repaid and the term was assigned to Anne, Viscountess of Dorchester in trust for Viscount Bayning, whose executors Sir Thomas Gleinham and Henry Gleinham assigned it to Richard Wallcott, Richard Wallop, William Smith and Francis Glover. The remainder of the term was acquired by William Hobson in 1660, whose coheirs sold it to John Forth, Alderman of London and, after a dispute in Chancery between the Wentworth and Forth families, this assignment was confirmed in 1669. In 1676 the manor was sold to Nicholas Cary and Thomas Cooke, goldsmiths and was subsequently purchased by Francis Tyssen in 1697.

THE MANOR OF KINGSHOLD, HACKNEY: By the 13th century, the Knights Hospitaller had acquired considerable lands in Hackney which passed to the Priory of St John of Jerusalem on the abolition of the Order. When the Priory was, in turn, dissolved by King Henry VIII, this estate was granted to Henry, Earl of Northumberland. Although the Earl conveyed the manor to Sir Thomas Audley, the Lord Chancellor, in 1535 for the King's use, the Earl kept possession until his death in 1537 when it reverted to the Crown. From that time the manor was known as Kingshold. In 1547 Edward VI granted it to William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke who sold it to Sir Ralph Sadler in the same year. In 1548 it passed to the Carew family until 1578 when it was alienated to Sir Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon. He conveyed the manor to Sir Rowland Hayward in 1583 and after conveyance to Elizabeth, Countess of Oxford in 1596 and Fulke Grevile in 1609, it reverted to the Crown. In 1614 it was granted to Thomas Lande and Thomas Banckes who sold it to Hugh Sexey. In 1647 the manor was acquired by William Hobson, whose sons-in-law alienated it to Sir George Vyner in 1668. In 1694 it was purchased by John Sikes, one of the coheirs of Sir Thomas Vyner who sold it in 1698 to Francis Tyssen.

THE MANOR OF GRUMBOLDS, HACKNEY: The manor of Grumbolds formed part of the Rectory of Hackney, the advowson of which was originally vested in the Bishops of London as lords of the superior manor, until both were separated from the see in 1550. It then seemed to continue to pass with the ownership of Lordshold.

Clink Liberty was the name commonly used for the manor of the Bishop of Winchester in Southwark. It had been granted to the bishops by King Stephen. The bishops usually had a role as royal ministers, and as the importance of Winchester decreased they commonly lived in their Southwark palace, Winchester House. The first mention of the 'Clink' occurs in 1530, when the king granted the offices of bailiff and keeper of the manor of the Clink to Thomas Dawson and William Burdett respectively. In the religious upheavals of the 1530s onwards the lordship was taken by the Crown and in 1551 this was confirmed when the Dean and Chapter of Winchester vested the manor in the king. However, the Elizabethan bishops of Winchester often lived in Southwark. At this date the house fronted the river and had its own wharf and stairs.

In 1642 the house was turned into a prison by Act of Parliament. In 1649 the trustees for the estates of bishoprics sold the "Winchester Liberty or Clink Liberty" to Thomas Walker of Southwark. On the Restoration the lordship reverted to the bishopric of Winchester, but was not used again as the episcopal residence, and was rented out to several tenants and the building deteriorated. By 1863 the property had been parcelled out to various buyers including the Metropolitan Board of Works, the Charing Cross Railway Company and the wardens of St Saviour's Church. The rights of lordship were vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

Information from: 'The borough of Southwark: Manors', A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4 (1912), pp. 141-151 (available online).

The manor of Stepney, also known as Stebunheath, was recorded in the Domesday Book as owned by the Bishop of London, and was probably part of the lands included in the foundation grant of the see of London circa 604. At this date the manor included Stepney, Hackney, and parts of Shoreditch, Islington, Hornsey and Clerkenwell; although parcels of land were later granted to other institutions and people, such as lands in Clerkenwell given to the priory of St Mary, Clerkenwell, and the Knights Hospitallers.

In 1550 the manors of Stepney and Hackney were surrendered to the King, who granted them to Lord Chamberlain Sir Thomas Wentworth. The manor stayed in the Wentworth family until Thomas, Lord Wentworth, the earl of Cleveland. He incurred large debts and was forced to mortgage the manors. The family eventually lost Hackney manor but retained Stepney until 1695 when it was sold to William Herbert, Lord Montgomery. In 1710 he sold it to Windsor Sandys. By 1754 it belonged to the Colebrooke family who held it until 1939. In 1926 all remaining copyholds were converted into freeholds.

The manor house at Stepney was used as a residence of the bishops of London and the Stepney meadows provided hay for his household's horses. The house later became known as Bishopswood or Bishops Hall, and later Bonner Hall.

Information from: 'Stepney: Manors and Estates', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11: Stepney, Bethnal Green (1998), pp. 19-52 (available online).

Tooting Graveney Manor was held by the abbey of Chertsey from around 675. The abbots rented out the manor to various tenants, including the de Gravenel family who gave their name to the area. The overlordship of the abbey lasted until 1428. The estates were held by the Dymoke family from 1393 till 1593, when they were sold to James Harrington, who conveyed them to Sir Henry Maynard. In 1692 the manor was conveyed by the Maynards to the Rushouts in a marriage settlement. It subsequently changed ownership several times, coming to William James Thompson in 1861. Thompson transferred the manorial rights to the Metropolitan Board of Works sometime after 1870.

Betts v Thompson was a case between William James Thompson and the tenants of the manor over the right to common land. In 1865 Thompson had initiated legal proceedings against Betts for trespass when he allowed his cattle on the common. At that date an informal agreement had been reached that the lord should give the commoners 26 acres of the common, retaining 37 acres for himself. This portion was to be fenced off, but a question arose whether the commoners should still have the right to walk over the 37 acre portion as they could before, while Thompson wanted to have exclusive use. One night in 1868 the inhabitants of Tooting pulled down £500 of fencing, and Betts filed the complaint against Thompson enforcing his right of recreation on common land. The Master of the Rolls found in favour of Betts favour and Thompson appealed. The Lord Chancellor upheld the earlier decision and confirmed the rights of the freehold tenants of the manor of Tooting.

Historical information from 'Parishes: Tooting Graveney', A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4 (1912), pp. 102-107 (available online), legal case information from report in The Times, Thursday, Aug 03, 1871; pg. 11; Issue 27132; col A.

The office of Justice of the Peace dates from the Fourteenth Century (MJ), when their Commission of the Peace gave them the power to enquire into "all manner of poisonings, enchantments, forestallings, disturbances and abuses", try offences in their courts of Quarter Sessions and keep the peace in their locality. During the Sixteenth Century the work of the Quarter Sessions and the Justices was extended to include administrative functions for the county.

The dependence of the Justices on officials like the Sheriff, the constables and the Clerk of the Peace to help them carry out their functions (judicial and administrative) cannot be underestimated. As their workload grew, particularly during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, more help was needed and there was an increase in the number of officers appointed for specific tasks, committees for specific purposes, and the carrying out of many routine tasks by small groups of Justices sitting outside the court sessions (see MSJ).

The Custos Rotolorum (Keeper of the Records) was officially responsible for the care of the county records. He was a leading Justice, unpaid, held the post for life, and (since the Seventeenth Century) was usually also the county's Lord Lieutenant. However, in practice it was his Deputy, the Clerk of the Peace who arranged for the records' registration and deposit.

The office of Clerk of the Peace was as old as that of the Justices - a statute of 1361 stated that a clerk was to "assist the justices assembled in Quarter Sessions in drawing indictments, arraigning prisoners, joining issue for the Crown, entering their judgements, awarding their process and marking up and keeping their records". His duties were always wide ranging - serving the Justices in their administrative and judicial work - both areas produced records that needed to be prepared and filed. Hence many of the records ended up being stored together simply because the same man was dealing with all of them.

Alongside the aforementioned functions of Quarter Sessions was its role (from the Sixteenth Century) as the place for the registration and deposit of official non-sessions records which needed to be certified and available for inspection (see MR) - again, the work of the Clerk of the Peace. He also acted as clerk to the many committees set up by the Justices, was Clerk to the Lieutenancy (see L), and (as a trained attorney) advised the court on law, procedure and rules of evidence when called upon to do so. Such a workload meant that in practice he delegated much to the deputy he was allowed to appoint.

The Justices probably used their own clerks on occasions, particularly for the various petty sessions that began to take place. The Custos Rotolorum appointed the Clerk (until 1888, when the responsibility passed to the new county councils). By an Act of 1545 qualification was introduced as to who was suitable - "a sufficient person residing within the county and an able person, learned and instructed in the laws of the realm", and he was in practice a local practising lawyer. With his own strong room or safe box he would have kept some records outside of the court building, and hence one reason why a lot of county and Quarter Sessions records have ended up in private collections or even been lost altogether. The Clerk held the post for life, and received a small official salary of two shillings a day for his attendance at the sessions. He could also claim fees from individuals for work carried out on their behalf within the sessions (his main remuneration), and money from court funds for each action carried out in his official capacity. The post was abolished in 1972.

From 1361 a group of men existed who were known as Justices of the Peace, and who were given the power to try offences in their court of Quarter Sessions. During the Sixteenth Century the work of the quarter sessions and the Justices was extended to include administrative functions for the counties. These were wide ranging and included maintenance of structures such as bridges, gaols and asylums to regulating weights, measures, prices and wages, and, probably one of their biggest tasks, enforcing the Poor Law. The dependence of the justices on officials like the Sheriff, the constables and the Clerk of the Peace to help them carry out their functions (judicial and administrative) cannot be underestimated. As their workload grew, particularly during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuriesore help was needed, and there was an increase in the number of officers (such as the County Treasurer) appointed for specific tasks, and committees for specific purposes were set up.

By the beginning of the Nineteenth Century it was clear that the quarter sessions structure was unable to cope with the administrative demands on it, and it lost a lot of functions to bodies set up specifically to deal with particular areas. By the end of the century, when the Local Government Act of 1889 passed which established county councils, the sessions had lost all their administrative functions. The first treasurers appointed by Middlesex were only appointed on a temporary basis - to look after funds for specific purposes (for maimed soldiers' funds, the repair of a bridge, or building a house of correction), as and when rates were levied for that purpose. The first surviving record of such an appointment appears in the sessions register for April 1608 where the names of several treasurers for different funds are entered (see MJ/SB/R) - although some treasurers held several funds at the same time. In 1726 Sir Daniel Dolin was made treasurer of all funds and was sometimes referred to as the General Treasurer of the county.

In 1731 John Higgs was formally appointed General Treasurer to receive sums raised by any public rates. He was to be paid an annual salary of twenty five pounds and was required to give security to three Justices. He was also required to keep an account book which was to be audited annually and then kept with the county records by the Clerk of the Peace. The County Rate Act of 1739 stipulated that in future only one, general, rate was to be levied, and that it should be paid to the treasurer appointed by quarter sessions. Under the 1739 Act the City and Liberty of Westminster was not given a separate rate and the Middlesex County Treasurer was to pay any sums of money approved by the Westminster quarter sessions. The range of the Treasurer's work can be seen by looking at the scope of his accounts in this collection. Accounts were audited regularly every quarter by a committee of justices appointed for that purpose, the first occasion being September 1740. Their report, including an extract of both Middlesex and Westminster income and expenditure accounts were usually recorded in the Orders of Court books (see MJ/OC). After audit they were signed as approved by the court of sessions. In 1822 a local Act of Parliament was passed to regulate more closely the Middlesex Treasurer, as a result of the loss of some county funds while G B Mainwaring was in the post (1804-1822), following the failure of the Mainwaring Bank in 1814.

The origins of the Justices of the Peace lie in the temporary appointments of 'conservators' or 'keepers' of the peace made at various times of unrest between the late twelfth century and the fourteenth century. In 1361 the 'Custodis Pacis' were merged with the Justices of Labourers, and given the title Justices of the Peace and a commission.

The Commission of the Peace gave them the power to try offences in their courts of Quarter Sessions which manorial courts were not able to be deal with (misdemeanours), but which were less serious than those which went to the Assize Judges (felonies). It appointed them to conserve the peace (within a stated area) and to enquire on the oaths of "good and lawfull men" into "all manner of poisonings, enchantments, forestallings, disturbances, abuses of weights and measures" and many other things, and to "chastise and punish" anyone who had offended against laws made in order to keep the peace.

Gradually the justices took over the work of the sheriff in the county. During the sixteenth century their powers and duties increased, as the Tudor monarchs found them a cheap and effective way of enforcing their will across the country. Likewise, the new middle classes saw the post as a means to gain local prestige and influence (despite the arduous and costly duties) and there was regular pressure 'from below' to increase numbers in the Commission. Consequently, at this time, the numbers on the commission rose from an average of 8 to around 30 to 40 by the middle of the sixteenth century. Not until the mid-nineteenth century did the post lose its desirability and numbers begin to drop off.

It was a system that recognised local social structures - the natural wish to regulate local law and order, and men wanting to be judged by other local men. The justices have often, aptly, been described as 'the rulers of the county', and the crown had to be careful to choose men whose standing would not turn them into faction leaders. Equally, the justices' unpaid status ensured that the crown could not take advantage of them and act despotically, and they retained some local independence. Justices needed to be of sufficient local status to exercise authority in a judicial and administrative capacity, and to supervise the parish officials who did so much of the actual law enforcement. Men were therefore appointed from the ranks of the local gentry, most without legal training. To some extent their unpaid status excluded men from the lower orders who had to work and earn a wage.

As early as 1439 a statute introduced a property qualification for each prospective justice (see MJP/Q). Many names on the commission were purely honorific, not all of those listed had to attend every court, and in practice only a minority did so. Only those named as being of the quorum (who possessed knowledge of the law) had to appear. The justices were helped in their work by parish and court officials, and most particularly by the Clerk of the Peace who was responsible for the everyday administration of the court as well as maintaining a record of its work (see MR).

During the eighteenth century as the sessions' work increased in amount and variety, committees were set up and officials were appointed for specific tasks. The County Treasurer was one such official, whose post developed from the treasurers appointed to keep the funds for which rates were periodically raised, such as the repair of bridges, maimed soldiers and maintenance of the house of correction. Sometimes one person had control of several funds - in Middlesex for example in 1726, Sir Daniel Dollin was made general treasurer of the County; and in 1731 John Higgs was formally appointed general treasurer to receive funds raised by any public rates, to be paid an annual salary of twenty-five pounds, and to keep an account book for annual audit and storage by the Clerk of the Peace.

The County Rate Act of 1739 directed that one general rate should be levied instead of several, and that it should be paid to the treasurer appointed by the sessions. Under this Act, Westminster had no separate rate from Middlesex, meaning that the latter's county treasurer was responsible for the City's accounts also. Records of the work of these officials may be found not only in the main body of sessions records (see MJ and MR), but also in their own series: MC - Clerk of the Peace; MF - County Treasurer; MS - County Surveyor; TC - records of offices held by county officers outside sessions work.

The Middlesex Magistrates' Courts Committee functioned for the whole County since there was no borough with a separate commission of the peace, and its members included justices representing each petty sessional division in the County.

The Committee was empowered, amongst other matters, to make representations to the Home Secretary regarding any alterations of the petty sessional divisions. It also took responsibility for the appointment of the clerks to the justices and their staff.

Under the provisions of the Justices of the Peace Act, the Middlesex County Council assumed responsibility for the provision of petty sessional courthouses, etc, and for expenses incurred by the Magistrates' Courts Committee, so there was close coordination between the Council and the Committee on all matters involving expenditure.

Source of information: Middlesex by Sir Clifford Radcliffe (2nd edition, 1954), LMA Library reference 97.09 MID.

The origins of the Justices of the Peace lie in the temporary appointments of 'conservators' or 'keepers' of the peace made at various times of unrest between the late twelfth century and the fourteenth century. In 1361 the 'Custodis Pacis' were merged with the Justices of Labourers, and given the title Justices of the Peace and a commission (see MJP).

The Commission (of the Peace) gave them the power to try offences in their courts of Quarter Sessions, appointed them to conserve the peace within a stated area, and to enquire on the oaths of "good and lawfull men" into "all manner of poisonings, enchantments, forestallings, disturbances, abuses of weights and measures" and many other things, and to "chastise and punish" anyone who had offended against laws made in order to keep the peace. During the sixteenth century the work of the Quarter Sessions and the justices was extended to include administrative functions for the counties. These were wide ranging and included maintenance of structures such as bridges, gaols and asylums; regulating weights, measures, prices and wages, and, probably one of their biggest tasks, enforcing the Poor Law.

The dependence of the justices on officials like the sheriff, the constables, and the Clerk of the Peace to help them carry out their functions (both judicial and administrative) cannot be underestimated. As their workload grew, particularly during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, more help was needed and there was an increase in the number of officers appointed for specific tasks, and committees for specific purposes were set up.

The County Surveyor, sometimes known as the Bridgemaster, was appointed to oversee the maintenance of those roads and bridges which were the county's responsibility. He was a salaried official but the post was not always filled. Esther Moir in her study of the Justices of the Peace (1969, p118) believes that it was only with great reluctance that the Justices admitted "the necessity of a permanent and professional skilled architect or engineer in the place of their old habit" of giving such jobs to local workmen as they came up. The first County Surveyor appointed for Middlesex was Thomas Rogers (c1773-1802), followed by William Wickings (1805-1815), Robert Sibley (c1820-1829) and William Moseley (1829-1846). Frederick Hyde Pownall was appointed in 1847 and continued as surveyor following the creation of the Middlesex County Council in 1888, until 1898, and thereafter as consulting architect and surveyor until 1907. Following Pownall, four more county surveyors were appointed for Middlesex until the abolition of the county in 1965 - Henry Wakelam (1898-1920), Alfred Dryland (1920-1932), William Morgan (1932-1949), and Henry Stuart Andrew (1949-1965).

Common Recovery was a process by which land was transferred from one owner to another. It was a piece of legal fiction involving the party transferring the land, a notional tenant and the party acquiring the land; the tenant was ejected to effect the transfer. An exemplification was a formal copy of a court record issued with the court's seal.

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

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

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

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

Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).

A 'fine' was a fee, separate from the rent, paid by the tenant or vassal to the landlord on some alteration of the tenancy, or a sum of money paid for the granting of a lease or for admission to a copyhold tenement.

A marriage settlement was a legal agreement drawn up before a marriage by the two parties, setting out terms with respect to rights of property and succession.

A bargain and sale was an early form of conveyance often used by executors to convey land. The bargainee, or person to whom the land was bargained and sold, took possession, often referred to as becoming 'seised' of the land.

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

These papers relating to properties in London were collected for their general or antiquarian interest rather than having a united provenance (that is, being produced by the same institution or business).

The boundary changes affect the following parishes:
Saint Margaret, Lee;
The Good Shepherd with Saint Peter, Lee;
Saint Mark, Lewisham;
Holy Trinity, Lee;
Saint Michael and All Angels, Blackheath Park;
Christchurch, Lee Park;
Saint James, Kidbrooke;
All Saints, Blackheath;
Saint Peter, Eltham;
Saint Andrew, Mottingham.

No administrative history has been found for Miss Stratton.

John David Towse, of Fishmongers' Hall, was an attorney-at-law and (1809-39) clerk to the Fishmongers' Company and also to the Cooks' Company. He was born in 1760, the son of John Towse, deputy clerk to the Fishmongers' Company.

William Hippisley, attorney, was clerk to the Fishmongers' Company 1758-1766. John Towse was deputy clerk to the Fishmongers' Company and previously law clerk to Hippisley.

The Union Lighterage Company Limited was founded in 1876 and is listed in London directories at 16/17 Philpot Lane, EC from 1876-1962 and then at Beagle House, Leman Street E1 from 1963-71.

Lighters were flat-bottomed barges used for the shipment or unloading of cargo.

This firm of wholesale stationers and papermakers first appears in the London trade directories in 1817. It was known as W. Venables and Company (1817-25), Venables and Wilson (1826-[1835]), Venables, Wilson and Tyler ([1835]-58), Venables, Tyler and Son (1859-1900), and Venables, Tyler and Company Limited (1901-81). After 1981, the firm is no longer mentioned in the directories.

It was based at 17 Queenhithe (1817-1976) and 46/48 Webber Street (1977-81). Partners in the business included two Lord Mayors of London, William Venables (d.1840) and Sir George Robert Tyler (1835-97).

WW Pownall and Company took over as proprietors of The Australian Wine Company in 1887-8, at which time the company was at 4 Mill Street, Hanover Square. It moved to 57 St Mary Axe in 1897.

William Parker was a glass seller at 69 Fleet Street from 1763. From 1772-84 the firm was known as William Parker and Company and from 1785-97 as William Parker and Son. In 1798 his son Samuel took over the business and traded as Parker and Perry, glass manufacturers, from 1803-18.

The Society of Apothecaries was incorporated by royal charter in 1617; previously apothecaries had belonged to the Grocers' Company in the City of London. The Society's members included apothecaries, chemists and druggists, as well as those unconnected with the trade. Following the Apothecaries' Act of 1815 many medical practitioners, particularly those from outside London, were licenced by the Society after a course of training.

The Society established the Chelsea Physic Garden (see Mss 8228-9, 8234-7, 8268, 8270, 8287). The Society's records also contain those of the Friendly Medical Society, established c 1725 "to establish and preserve a good understanding and friendship" amongst the members of the Society of Apothecaries, (see Mss 8278-80A). The Society's hall in Blackfriars Lane was destroyed in the Great Fire, but re-built shortly thereafter.

The Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers was incorporated by royal charter in 1453 as the "Fraternity or Guild of St George of the Men of the Mystery of Armourers of our City of London", although it was certainly in existence from the early 14th century. Various other Companies were absorbed during their history, including helmet makers (the Heamers Company), armour repairers (the Fourters Company), the Bladesmiths Company and workers in copper and brass.

The Company leased a hall in Coleman Street in the City of London from 1346 and purchased this site in 1428. This hall survived the Great Fire, was rebuilt in 1840 and again survived damage during World War Two. The Armourers and Brasiers' Company had almshouses in Camden Avenue, Camberwell.

The Worshipful Company of Basketmakers of the City of London was constituted by the Court of Aldermen in 1569 to regulate and control basketmaking in the City of London, although there are earlier references to the craft. A grant of a livery of thirty was obtained in 1825, and a Royal Charter was granted by King George VI in 1937.

The earliest reference to the company is in 1371 when an agreement with the Fletchers established the two crafts (of bow making and arrow making) as independent. In 1488 they received a grant of arms. The Bowyers were granted a charter on 25 May 1621. Although the trade of bow making has disappeared, the Company continues to support archery. The company had a hall in Noble Street until the 1630s.

The Company was incorporated by royal charter in 1437/8, although it appears to have existed in some form from the 13th century. The Company received a grant of arms in 1469. The Company certainly had a hall in Addle Street in the City of London (leased from the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral) from at least 1403. This building was destroyed in the Great Fire, and the Company's Second Hall built in 1673 was destroyed in World War Two. The present hall in Aldermanbury Square was completed in 1960.

Records of Dame Alice Owen's Charity: In 1609 Dame Alice Owen conveyed almshouses, situated by St John Street (which she had founded for ten poor widows of Islington) to the Brewers' Company. Four years later she founded a school for 30 boys in Islington next to the almshouses. Again, she entrusted the administration of the school to the Brewers' Company, which still retains close links. The almshouses were taken down in 1879-80 to make way for a new playground for the expanding school. A girls' school was added in 1886, and the two combined on its present site in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire in 1973.

Records of John Baker's almshouses: The charity established by the will of John Baker (d. 1818) provided for the establishment of six almshouses, which were built on Mile End Road.

Records of Richard Platt's charity: In 1596 Richard Platt, proprietor of the Old Swan brewery in the parish of St James Garlickhithe and twice Master of the Brewers' Company, obtained letters patent of Elizabeth I to found six almshouses and a grammar school in Aldenham, Hertfordshire. In 1599, the year before Platt's death, they were conveyed to the Brewers' Company. The school was for two centuries just a local village school with very few pupils, based in the master's house. It grew considerably in the 19th century. The Brewers' Company still plays an active role in the running of the school. For further information see R J Evans, The History and Register of Aldenham School, Aylesbury 1969.