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The Metropolitan District Railway (MDR) was formed in 1864 in order to raise capital to complete the 'Inner Circle' railway being constructed by the Metropolitan Railway, who constructed the line between Mansion House and South Kensington via Kings Cross. The MDR completed the section of line between South Kensington and Mansion House via Blackfriars, finishing by 1871. The expectation was that the two companies would merge once work was completed. However, they instead had a falling out over finances (and a personality clash of the two Chairmen) and began to run separate services using the same lines. Some agreement was eventually reached so that the final section of line, between Mansion House and Aldgate, was completed in 1884, thus forming the modern day Circle Line.

In an attempt to improve their finances the MDR embarked on a series of line expansions, to Hammersmith in 1874, Richmond in 1877, Ealing Broadway in 1879, Putney Bridge in 1880, Hounslow in 1883, and Wimbledon in 1889. The Whitechapel to Upminster line extension was opened in 1902. The line was electrified in 1905, following the construction of a power station at Lots Road. The majority of the line cosntructed by the MDR forms the modern London Underground District Line, although some sections of line (Ealing to Uxbridge) are now on the Piccadilly Line. The MDR was purchased by Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited and subsequently became part of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933.

The Association was originally called the "Metropolitan and National Nursing Association for Providing Nurses for the Sick Poor" until 1894, when it changed its name to the "Metropolitan Nursing Association for Providing Nurses for the Sick Poor". Its present title was adopted in 1925.

The Metropolitan Committee for War Savings was intended to be primarily an organisation for the promotion of the sale of War Loans and Savings Certificates, but it by no means confined itself to this activity. It dealt with economies in the use of food and in the cooking of food, nutrition, inequalities in the distribution of food, and even salvage or recycling of materials.

At one period the Committee was much concerned with racial tension caused by the fact (the truth of which was agreed by the Chief Rabbi) that foreign Jews in the East End (most of whom, it was said, could not understand English) could obtain from Jewish shops ample supplies of foodstuffs which the English populace could only obtain in small quantities after queuing for long periods at the ordinary English shops. The Committee proposed a system of rationing. It examined closely the quality of the war-time bread. It even considered a report on the possibilities of extracting grease from the London sewers.

As a result of the rapid increase of population and of building in the last quarter of the 18th century and the first few decades of the 19th most of the scattered villages and hamlets in the areas covered by the 7 commissions of sewers in the neighbourhood of London had by the 1840s coalesced into one urban area for which the old piecemeal drainage systems were quite inadequate. Sewage accumulated in cesspools and open ditches and even on the surface of the ground, fouling the water supplies. Cholera epidemics increased in frequency and intensity until the government was forced to take action.

In 1847 a Royal Commission was appointed to "inquire whether any, and what, special means might be requisite for the improvement of the health of the metropolis, with regard more especially to the better house, street and land drainage.... etc.". One important conclusion of the Commissioners was that adequate provision for the sewerage of London could not be made until it became the responsibility of one competent body. The matter was treated as one of urgency and Her Majesty's Government acted on this advice in advance of legislation in November 1847, by the device of summoning the same 23 commissioners for each of the 7 districts (plus the extra Westminster district in the palatinate of the Savoy). The same chief officers were appointed for all the districts and so some unity of policy and organisation was already in being before the combined Metropolitan Commission of Sewers was appointed under the Act of September 1848 "to consolidate and continue in force for Two Years and to the End of the then next Session of Parliament, the Metropolitan Commissions of Sewers".

Further Acts "to continue and amend the Metropolitan Sewers Act" were passed in 1851and 1852. Both the powers and the resources of the Commission were however inadequate for the entire replanning and reconstruction of the main drainage of the London area which was what the situation required and in 1855, under the Metropolis Management Act, the Commission was superseded by the Metropolitan Board of Works.

The Metropolitan Buildings Office (MBO) was established in 1844 under the Metropolitan Buildings Act and was the first statutory body with responsibility for building regulation for the whole of the Metropolitan area. Revision of building regulation was long overdue. Between 1801 and 1841 the population of London had increased from under a million to over two million. The built up area had spread well beyond the boundaries set by the London Building Act of 1774.

Building methods and uses had also changed in the period, and there was a pressing need to prevent building developments which were undesirable for social or sanitary reasons - even the most conservative were beginning to realise that accumulations of untreated sewage under and around dwellings in crowded streets and alleys were a menace to health.

The 1844 Metropolitan Buildings Act was concerned with the security and thickness of party walls and the use of fire-resistant materials. Buildings were classified into three types - dwelling houses, warehouses and public buildings, which included churches, schools and theatres, and detailed provisions were set out for each.

In addition it established that:

• No new streets should be formed less than 40 feet wide and buildings adjacent to them should be no higher than the width of the street.

• New dwelling houses were to have an area of at least 10 square feet at the rear unless the windows on the other three sides gave light and air to all the rooms.

• No cellar or underground room was to be used for human habitation unless it had a window, a fireplace and drainage.

• Privies and closets were to be properly enclosed and screened from public view and drains were to be provided in all new houses.

• Noxious and dangerous businesses were not to be set up within 50 feet of other buildings.

As an organisation the MBO was administratively very complicated - The Lord Mayor, the Justices, the Secretary of State and the Commissioners of Works all had a say in the appointment of officers. There was apparently much friction between the Registrar and the Official Referees, and officers were expected to accomplish far more than their powers permitted. Almost from the beginning private builders, surveyors and others were clamouring for revision of the Act. In 1855 the MBO was abolished and a new body, the Metropolitan Board of Works, was set up in its place.

Bethnal Green was a Metropolitan Borough within the Administrative County of London. Electors within the constituency elected the Bethnal Green representative on the County Council. They also elected councillors for the borough council.

The Metropolitan Benefit Societies Asylum (MBSA) was established in 1829 under the patronage of her Majesty the Queen and the Duchess of Kent. It was supported by voluntary contributions. The objectives of the MBSA were to 'afford an asylum for the reception of aged and infirm members of Friendly Societies.'

The original asylum was located in houses rented for the purpose, however once sufficient funds were raised the almshouses at 100 Balls Pond Road, Hackney, were erected. The foundation stone was laid on August 17th 1836 by the then Lord Mayor, W. Taylor Copeland, and the total cost of the building came to £3600.

The asylum was built to accommodate 28 residents and was eventually expanded with the addition of two side wings affording accommodation for 64 couples. Sometime during the period up to the Second World war the Society changed its name from 'Asylum' to 'Almshouses'.

The MBSA was registered under the Friendly Societies Acts as a Benevolent Society, and although in later years it no longer came under the patronage of the Queen it still retained its voluntary contributions mainly from the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Subsequently the Benevolent Society registered under the Friendly Societies Act was dissolved and a new society was registered under The Charity Acts, enabling them to apply to form a Housing Association. The MBSA was registered in 1986 as a charity, and a Housing Association.

Since then much work has been done on the Almshouse building itself creating a Warden's residence and office, a central community block and 13 two room flats for residents.

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

HMS Exmouth was loaned to the Metropolitan Asylums Board by the Admiralty for use as a training ship for poor boys in 1876. The cadets were often from families that had been placed in workhouses, having fallen on hard times.

The Exmouth replaced the previous training ship at Grays, HMS Goliath. This was destroyed by fire in 1875, killing 19 cadets. Exmouth's first commander, Staff Commander Bouchier, survived the blaze.

The first Exmouth, built in 1840, saw more than 30 years service in the Navy. She had accommodation for 750 boys and staff, who were usually former members of the Royal Navy. The ship was run along naval lines with regular inspections. But by 1903, Exmouth was felt to be too old for service and she was replaced by a new, purpose-built vessel.

This ship remained in service until the outbreak of war in 1939. The boys were moved inland, while the Exmouth was taken over by the Admiralty for use as a depot ship.

Source: http://www.portcities.org.uk.

The Metropolitan Association (founded 1841, incorporated by Royal Charter 1845) was the first organisation to build 'social' housing on a large scale. It was part of the philanthropic movement which reserved the right to profit for the investor (commonly known as Five Per Cent Philanthropy). Its pioneering block dwellings in Old Pancras Road, London were completed in 1848 and acted as a model for future developments in other big cities. Indeed the Association had branches in Liverpool, Newcastle, Torquay, Bristol, Wolverhampton, Sunderland, Brighton, Dudley, Ramsgate and Southampton.

The Metropolitan and St John's Wood Railway Company was a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Railway Company. It carried out the construction of a northern extension to the Metropolitan Railway's central London line. An extension between Baker Street and Swiss Cottage was opened in 1868. The line was continued to West Hampstead and Willesden Green in 1879, Harrow in 1880 and Pinner in 1885. The Metropolitan and St John's Wood Railway Company merged with the Metropolitan Railway Company in 1882. The line extensions are now part of the London Underground's Metropolitan Line.

The Metropolitan and District Electric Traction Company was formed in 1901 to electrify the Metropolitan District Railway (now the District Line). This included the construction of the Lots Road Power Station to supply electricity. The American investor who owned the Metropolitan District Railway, Charles Yerkes, favoured using DC power with third rail pick-up; while a joint committee of the Metropolitan Railway and the Metropolitan District Railway had favoured AC traction. A Board of Trade ruling led to the use of DC. The District Railway was electrified by 1905.

In 1819 there were two Methodist meeting houses in Edmonton, (W Robinson, The History and Antiquities of Edmonton, 1819, p 186). One of these was probably replaced by the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Fore Street, built in 1860. In 1909 the trustees purchased the freehold of the "Manor House", a site adjoining the chapel, for the building of the Edmonton Wesleyan Mission or Central Hall, which was opened in 1911. The old chapel and school were demolished and new Sunday school premises erected on the site in 1929. The Edmonton Methodist Church was part of the Stoke Newington Methodist Circuit until about 1896 when it joined the Tottenham Circuit. In 1941 Edmonton was one of the churches which constituted the Enfield Circuit.

A Methodist place of worship was first registered in the Tottenham area in 1765. Numbers grew slowly until a period of rapid expansion in the 1860s which encouraged the building of new chapels. The original 1765 chapel was rebuilt on a larger scale in 1867 and an ambitious construction project - to build 50 new chapels - was begin in Wood Green in 1871. In 1896 Tottenham became the head of a large circuit stretching from Seven Sisters Road to Cheshunt and had one of the most active communities in North London. A circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.

The Teddington Methodist Circuit comprises the churches at Teddington, Sunbury, East Molesey, Hampton and Hanworth. These were originally part of the Richmond Circuit, but in 1887 were removed to form the new Hampton Court Circuit. This became known as the Teddington Circuit in 1892. A circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.

For a detailed history please see the entries for each individual chapel (ACC/1388-01, ACC/1388-02 and so on).

In Northwood, Hillingdon, Primitive Methodists first met in a house called 'Elthorne' from about 1896. In that year a school chapel was built on the corner of the High Street and Hallowell Road. The present church next to the school chapel was completed in 1903, with further extensions made in 1910 and 1927. Enemy action caused considerable damage to the building in 1944.

John Wesley frequently visited Brentford, where a Methodist group existed in 1745. Congregations met in a large building, perhaps near St. George's Church. The former Presbyterian chapel at Ferry Lane, Old Brentford, was used from 1783. In 1811 a new meeting house north of the High Street was opened. As attendance grew the church was expanded and in 1890 it was replaced by an ornate Gothic building at the corner of Windmill and Clifden Roads. The church was restored in 1951 after bomb damage sustained during the Second World War. In 1964, after union with the Jubilee Chapel, the current Clifden Road Methodist Church, was built on part of site in Clifden Road, off Windmill Road, and has been used ever since. The church is part of the Richmond and Hounslow Methodist Circuit.

Ealing Broadway Wesleyan Methodist church originated in services at 1 Milford Villas, the Mall, 1864. A new chapel seating 300 was built in Windsor Road in 1865 while an adjoining church seating 1,000 was added on the corner with the Mall in 1869. The chapel was replaced by a hall in 1925. This building was compulsorily sold in 1970 and the church members moved to Ealing Green United Reformed Church in 1972.

The Ealing Dean or West Ealing Primitive Methodist church on Uxbridge Road was built in 1900 with seating for 450. The congregation had been housed in a temporary chapel since 1861. The church was closed in 1959, when the congregation moved to the Kingsdown Methodist church. The buildings were sold in 1963.

The area of West Ealing was known as "Ealing Dean" until the late nineteenth century.

In 1819 there were two Methodist meeting houses in Edmonton, (W. Robinson, The History and Antiquities of Edmonton, 1819, p 186). One of these was probably replaced by the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Fore Street, built in 1860. In 1909 the trustees purchased the freehold of the "Manor House", a site adjoining the chapel, for the building of the Edmonton Wesleyan Mission or Central Hall, which was opened in 1911. The old chapel and school were demolished and new Sunday school premises erected on the site in 1929. The Edmonton Methodist Church was part of the Stoke Newington Methodist Circuit until about 1896 when it joined the Tottenham Circuit. In 1941 Edmonton was one of the churches which constituted the Enfield Circuit.

A Wesleyan chapel was first erected in 1810 on the eastern side of Lower Road, Roxeth, and accommodated 218 people. The chapel was registered in 1856, but was replaced in 1905 by a red brick Gothic building, with room for 650, in Bessborough Road. The chapel was closed in 1972 and the congregation joined the North Harrow Methodist Church.

A Primitive Methodist chapel was opened in Welldon Crescent, Greenhill, in 1904. The church has closed and the buildings are now used as a community centre.

Methodists were the largest non-established denomination in the Harrow and Wembley area, with the first of many chapels in this area erected in 1810. Several churches were built in the 1920s including the chapel on Park Lane, Wembley, which was first called the Wesleyan Church. From 20 September 1932 (when the different branches of Methodism united) the name was changed to the Methodist Church. It was closed in 1961.

Methodists were the largest non-established denomination in the Harrow and Wembley area, with the first of many chapels in this area erected in 1810. The Methodist church on East Lane, North Wembley, was opened in 1938.

John and Charles Wesley preached in Hayes church on at least ten occasions between 1748 and 1753. By 1816 the Methodists had erected a chapel in Hayes, but nothing else is known of the Methodist congregation in Hayes until 1906, when the Hayes Tabernacle at Wood End Green was registered by Wesleyan Methodists. Hayes Methodist Church began in Station Road, in 1907. It was registered at that address in 1927. In 1930 the registered name was changed to Queen's Hall Methodist Church, Station Road. In 1973 Queen's Hall closed and work began on a new church, which opened in September 1977, and was renamed Hayes Methodist Church.

In 1878 the Primitive Methodists registered a chapel in Western Road, Southall. A new chapel building, standing on the corner of Western and Sussex Roads, was erected in 1876-1877. This was the first Methodist building in the Southall area.

Trinity church, Wood Green, had its origins in open-air services which had begun in 1864. In 1869 a site on the north side of Southgate (later Trinity) Road was purchased and a chapel was constructed, dedicated in 1872. The building was designed by the Reverend J. N. Johnson, a steward of the Highbury circuit; it was of greyish brick with stone dressings, in the Early English style. A new school was built to the rear of the chapel in 1880, and in 1900 three halls were opened. In 1903, with nearly 700 worshippers on Sunday morning and 800 in the evening, there was a larger attendance than at any other nonconformist church in Tottenham or Wood Green. The former Baptist chapel of Saint George, Bowes Park (Edmonton), was placed under the care of Trinity church, and was eventually purchased by the Methodists in 1901. Trinity church itself was sold to the Greek Orthodox Church in 1970.

Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5.

The Wesley Central Hall was constructed in 1930.

Ridgeway Wesleyan Methodist church originated in the late 1880s, when a Wesleyan mission was opened in a temporary hall in Mill Hill. In 1893 a red-brick chapel in the Perpendicular style was built. At first the church was under the control of Hendon Methodist church, but in 1970 it was linked with Goodwyn Avenue Methodist church.

John Wesley preached in Hillingdon and Uxbridge in 1754 and 1758, but there is no other evidence of 18th-century Methodist activity. By 1851, however, there were five Methodist meetings in Hillingdon. The Methodist Central Hall was erected in 1930 at the junction of High Street and Park Road. In 1957 Lawn Road Primitive Methodist congregation was amalgamated with that of Central Hall. The Central Hall was renovated and extended in 1959 to meet the increased demand.

Highgate or Jackson's Lane Wesleyan Methodist church was opened in 1905, on a site at the corner of Archway Road. The building included a Sunday school and was designed by W. H. Boney of Highgate. The church seated 650 and the schoolroom 400. Jackson's Lane was well known during the 1960s for its counselling centre. The church was closed in 1976.

Mattison Road church, later renamed Harringay church, opened in 1891 as an iron tabernacle (a pre-fabricated timber framed structure clad with corrugated iron which could quickly be assembled from a kit to provide a building until a more permanent structure could be constructed). The tabernacle was replaced by a permanent church and halls in 1901. Originally part of the Caledonian Road circuit of the Primitive Methodists, it joined the Finsbury Park circuit after the Methodists' union in 1931. In 1903 membership was so high that Mattison Road was described as the chief Primitive Methodist church in London. The church closed in 1963 and became a Roman Catholic church.

The Bath Road Methodist Church, Hounslow West, was opened in 1956. Before this, services had been held in the Hounslow Heath schools in Martindale Road since about 1930.

There was said to be a congregation of about 30 Wesleyans at Isleworth in 1810, but they did not open a chapel until 1829, in North Street. A new chapel was built in 1924 in Twickenham Road, just south of North Street.

Acton Green Wesleyan Methodist church originated in meetings held in a house in Antrobus Road. In 1885 a chapel and school were constructed in Steele Road, Acton Green. This church was rebuilt in 1930 on the same site by Smee and Houchin in the style of the Methodist Central Halls at Westminster. The new building had two halls, classrooms, vestry, and others rooms split over two levels.

The College Park Primitive Methodist chapel was built in 1897 at the corner of Harrow Road and Victor Road, College Park. It was closed in 1958.

Earlsmead United Methodist Church and Central Hall, Tottenham had its origins in meetings over a shop in Saint Ann's Road, which led to the building of Earlsmead Bible Christian hall, registered in the High Road in 1886. The hall came to be used by Methodists from the nearby Westerfield Road hall. In 1909 the congregation joined the United Methodist Free Churches and opened a second chapel in the High Road, converting the older chapel into a schoolroom. Earlsmead United Methodist church was recertified as Central Hall in 1935. It had seating for 750 and was closed in 1953.

Northumberland Park Primitive Methodist church was founded in 1870. The church was constructed on the north side of Northumberland Park almost opposite Worcester Avenue and was registered in 1872. It was sold to the Calvary Church of God in Christ in 1971.

West Green Road Primitive Methodist church began in a temporary building, registered in 1877 but out of use by 1896. A new chapel of yellow brick was constructed on the south side of West Green Road opposite Belmont Road, in 1888, registered in 1894. The building was sold in 1969 and became the Derby Hall Christian Assembly room in 1972.

Trinity Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1899 at the corner of Walm Lane and Dartmouth Road, Willesden. The church was closed in 1948.

Harlesden United Methodist Church was founded in 1869. Since September 1932 it has been called Harlesden Methodist Church. It was damaged by enemy action in 1941, and rebuilt in the 1950s on its present site.

Willesden Green Primitive Methodist chapel was opened in the High Road, Willesden Green by 1897. The church was rebuilt in 1904 but closed in 1963.

The first Methodist Chapel in Harrow was established at London Hill, Roxeth, by 1809. A new chapel in Lower Road was opened in 1855. This building subsequently became the Welsh Church. In 1905 the Methodist congregation moved to larger premises in Bessborough Road, Harrow.

A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.

The Methodist Church in Britain is arranged into over 600 Circuits, which in turn are grouped into 32 Districts covering Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Each District is supervised by a District Synod. A Circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.

A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.

A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.

The Brunswick Church was constructed in 1834 while the Zion Church, Neate Street, was constrructed in 1855.

A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.

Brentford is now part of the Richmond and Hounslow Methodist Circuit.

The Bow Circuit was the first Home Mission circuit in Methodism, and the newly formed Metropolitan Wesleyan chapel Building Fund purchased land in Bow Road for future development. Alexander McAulay was appointed superintendent of the newly created Bow Circuit in 1861.

In September 1900 Bow and Poplar Circuits were united to become the Poplar and Bow branch of the London Mission (the successor of the Metropolitan Wesleyan Chapel Building Fund which had helped to establish Bow in 1863).

In 1961 Poplar and Bow Mission was divided into two separate circuits of Poplar and Bow.