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Vyvyan Wells and Sons , solicitors

Large-scale industries were limited to the eastern side of Enfield parish, initially because of access to the Lea River. Most of the early factories were at Ponders End, where the London Jute Works opened in 1865 and closed in 1882. By 1882 there was also a steam dye-works at a house in South Street called Bylocks Hall. By 1904 Bylocks Hall was the registered office of the Paternoster Printing Company.

Edmonton Manor was held by Geoffrey de Mandeville in 1086 and descended with the manor of Enfield until 1189 when William de Mandeville died. Edmonton Manor passed to Beatrice de Mandeville, widow of William de Say; and was later claimed by their son Geoffrey de Say. In 1284 this division of the Mandeville lands was formalised by the family, so that the descendants of Geoffrey de Say held Edmonton of the Crown as a knight's fee. In the 1360s the manor was granted to Adam Francis, and stayed in the Francis family, passing to Sir Thomas Charlton, the son of Elizabeth Francis, in 1461. Sir Thomas' son Sir Richard inherited the manor but was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, and the estate passed to the Crown.

The manor was granted to Sir Thomas Bourchier in 1485, and in 1521 to Henry Courtenay, earl of Devon and marquess of Exeter. By 1535 the manor was returned to the Crown and was managed by Thomas Cromwell on behalf of the King. It remained with the Crown thereafter, usually part of the queen's jointure. By 1716 the connection with the Crown consisted of a nominal rent and the lessee was regarded as lord of the manor. In 1800 the manor was conveyed to Sir William Curtis and was still in that family in 1943.

'Edmonton: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 149-154 (available online).

The manor of Tottenham was owned by the earls of Huntingdon from 1065. In 1219 the earldom passed to John the Scot and the manor was assigned to his mother Maud. John died without children and the manor was granted to his widow, Helen, as a customary dower of a countess of Huntingdon. On Helen's death in 1253 the manor, as part of the honor of Huntingdon, passed to the descendants of John's married sisters Margaret, mother of Devorgild, wife of John de Balliol; Isabel, wife of Robert de Bruce; and Ada, wife of Henry de Hastings. The manor was therefore divided into three separate manors known as Balliols or Daubeneys; Bruces; and Hastings or Pembrokes.

John Gedney, a London draper, bought Balliols/Daubeneys in 1433, and Bruces and Hastings/Pembrokes in 1427. Gedney also acquired a fourth manor, Mockings, which had been created out of Bruces. After this the manors remained united. The manor remained in the possession of descendants of Gedney until 1513 when it was granted to Sir William Compton. By 1626 the manor was owned by Hugh Hare, Lord Coleraine, and remained in the Hare family for over a century. In 1749 the Coleraine peerage became extinct when Henry, Lord Coleraine, died without legitimate children. The manor was left to his illegitimate daughter Henrietta Rose Peregrina Duplessis. The manor passed to her son Henry Hare Townsend, who auctioned most of the land in 1789 and sold the lordships to Thomas Smith, who sold them to Sir William Curtis. The lordships then stayed in the Curtis family, who also held the lordship of Edmonton.

'Tottenham: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 324-330 (available online).

A small tremor struck London on 8 February 1750; followed on 8 March 1750 by a more powerful earthquake. Thomas Sherlock (1677-1761), bishop of London, preached a sermon at Saint Paul's Cathedral in which he claimed that the earthquakes were sent by God as punishment for the sinfulness of London's citizens; criticising their drinking, lewdness, idleness, debauchery, wantonness and blasphemy. The sermon was published and proved extremely popular, selling thousands of copies. On 8 April many citizens fled London, expecting another, even greater earthquake to strike.

Hounslow Friary received the grant of a market and fair in 1296. The market was to be held on Tuesdays and the fair for eight days at Trinity Sunday. The fair was still held in the 16th century, but the market had been given up. In 1686 John Shales, commissary-general of provisions for the army, was granted the right to hold a market in Hounslow on every day while the military camp was there, and on Thursdays for ever. A year later he received another grant, this time of a fair to be held on 1-12 May; the first two days were to be principally for the selling of horses, the next two for cattle, and the rest for all goods. The Thursday market was still held in 1798 when it was said to have a considerable show of fat cattle, but it was discontinued early in the 19th century.

John Shales owned a market-house in Hounslow in 1692. In 1818 the market-house stood in Fair Street, and belonged to one Sarah Brown. It consisted of a gable-ended roof supported on fluted columns of a composite order; the royal arms were displayed on the gable end. The building had disappeared by 1840.

From: 'Heston and Isleworth: Markets and fairs', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 112 (available online).

T W Hall and Sons , solicitors

A 'messuage' is defined as a portion of land occupied, or intended to be occupied, as the site for a dwelling house and associated buildings. It later came to refer to a dwelling house together with its outbuildings and the adjacent land assigned to its use.

The manor of Great Stanmore was owned by St Alban's Abbey at the time of the Norman Conquest. The manor was initially known as Stanmore-the first recorded division of Stanmore into "Great" and "Little" is in the Domesday Book. The Manor of Little Stanmore was also known as Canons. In 1709 Little Stanmore, and in 1715 Great Stanmore, were sold to James Brydges, who became duke of Chandos in 1719. He rebuilt the mansion house of Canons in ostentatious style, including marbles, rare woods, ceiling paintings and tapestries. The grounds included canals, hothouses, an aviary and sculptures. His son Henry was forced by debts to break up the Canons estate, much of the furniture and collections of fine art were sold and the house was pulled down in 1753. The family retained the lordship of the manors.

The third and last Duke of Chandos was James Brydges. His daughter, Lady Anna Elizabeth (1780-1836), was married to Richard Temple Nugent Grenville, (1776-1839), known as Earl Temple, the son of the Marquess of Buckingham. Richard adopted the surname Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville and was made 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos in 1822. Their son Richard Plantagenet Temple-Nugent-BrydgesChandos-Grenville sold the manor in 1840.

Information from: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976) (available online).

Various.

Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887 was marked by extensive public celebrations.

President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on the 14th April, 1865.

19th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers

A militia force was raised from the civilian population of a county, in order to supplement the regular army in cases of emergency. In Middlesex they were called out at times of unrest. They came to be supplemented by volunteer forces, such as those raised by the 1794 Bill for "encouraging and disciplining such corps and companies of men as shall voluntarily enrol for the defence of their counties, towns and coasts or for the general defence of the Kingdom during the Present War [with France]".

There were around 300 militiamen in Middlesex in 1802. During the Napoleonic Wars this number rose to over 2000 by 1808 and 12,000 by 1812. More volunteer corps were raised in 1859, again in response to threat of French invasion. In 1881 the Army was organised into territorial regiments formed of regular, militia and volunteer battalions. Middlesex militia and volunteer battalions came under the Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own).

Unknown

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, became seised of the land.

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

Manor of Twickenham

In 1086 Twickenham was part of the manor of Isleworth Syon. It is not mentioned as a separate manor until 1445 when it was held by the York family. It was sold in 1538 to Edward Seymour, later the Lord Protector, who later swapped it with the Crown for other lands. It was granted to Queen Henrietta Maria in 1629. The Crown leased out the manor houses and lands, and finally sold the manorial rights in 1836. By 1909 the manorial rights had lapsed.

Source of information: 'Twickenham: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 147-150 (available online).

Various.

The Willis family were involved in the legal profession: the documents mention Richard Willis of Tokenhouse Yard, solicitor; James Willis of Lincoln's Inn, barrister-at-law; and George Willis, 449 West Strand.

Burnett Elman , solicitors

Colham manor was in 1086 assessed at 8 hides, 6 of which were in demesne. Part of the manor lands was probably granted away in the mid-13th century to form the basis of the sub-manor later known as Cowley Hall. At some time before 1594, however, Hillingdon manor was incorporated in that of Colham. The location of the manor lands before the assimilation of Hillingdon manor is uncertain. Fourteenth-century surveys of Colham include land in Great Whatworth Field, Hanger Field, and Strode Field, a warren on Uxbridge Common, and woodland at Highseat in the north-west. By 1636, however, Colham and Hillingdon manors had been consolidated, so that the lands of Colham then covered approximately two-thirds of Hillingdon parish. At this date the outer boundaries of Colham appear to have substantially respected those of the parish, except in the north-east where the manor boundary followed the Pinn southward from Ickenham Bridge to Hercies Lane and then ran south-eastward to rejoin the parish boundary south of Pole Hill Farm. Insulated within the lands of Colham lay the 'three little manors' of Cowley Hall, Colham Garden, and Cowley Peachey, and freehold estates belonging to a number of manors in other parishes, including Swakeleys in Ickenham.

The manor passed through several owners before, in 1787, John Dodd sold the whole manor to Fysh de Burgh, lord of the manor of West Drayton. Fysh de Burgh died in 1800 leaving Colham, subject to the life interest of his widow Easter (d. 1823), in trust for his daughter Catherine (d. 1809), wife of James G. Lill who assumed the name of De Burgh, with remainder to their son Hubert. The manor passed to Hubert de Burgh in 1832 and he immediately mortgaged the estate. Hubert retained actual possession of the property, which was seldom if ever during this period unencumbered by mortgages, until his death in 1872.

From "A History of the County of Middlesex", available online.

Horne, Engall and Freeman , solicitors

The firm originates from the partnership of Randolph Horne and John Engall which formed and developed throughout the latter nineteenth century. Harry Scott Freeman became a partner in the firm around 1900. Mr. Engall retired about 1910, Mr. Horne having retired some twenty years earlier.

The firm or one of its members acted as clerk to many public bodies, including the Staines-Hampton and the Bedfont-Bagshot Turnpike Trusts, the Staines Bridge Commission, the Cranford Sewer Authority, the Staines Local Board, and the local Tax Commissioners. They were also clerk to private companies and institutions, including Staines Independent Chapel, Staines and Egham Gas and Coke Company, the Staines Scientific and Literary Society and the Spelthorne Militia. Mr. Scott Freeman served as Deputy Acting Returning Officer for the Spelthorne Division in the 1918 and 1922 General Elections.

Horne and Engall were both stewards of local manors, and it is no doubt due to this fact that these archives first came to include court rolls, court books, surveys, and a large number of copies of court rolls for the manors of Staines, Ashford, Stanwell, and Hammonds and Milton in Surrey. However, Mr. Engall acquired the lordship of the manor of Ashford in 1890, and Mr. Scott Freeman subsequently became lord of all the Middlesex manors just mentioned, thus becoming owner of the relevant manorial documents.

Rankin, Ford and Cluster , solicitors

In Highgate the education of the poor was served by Sir Roger Cholmley's free school, founded in 1565, which catered for 40 local boys. From 1829 Cholmley's school was allowed to charge for extra subjects, so Saint Michael's National school was built near by in compensation, and it soon absorbed the girls' charity school. In 1835 the new school took 98 pupils.

From: 'Hornsey, including Highgate: Education', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate (1980), pp. 189-199.

Parliament.

A History of the County of Middlesex notes that "in the Middle Ages most of [Stanwell] lay in open fields, but nearly all the land west of Stanwellmoor and that around Hammonds Farm was inclosed by the mid-18th century. Borough Field, to the north and west of the manor-house, and another small field nearby were inclosed in 1771 by the lord of the manor, when he diverted a footpath across them away from his house. Most of the area south of Stanwell and West Bedfont villages remained open until 1792. ... The remaining open fields and commons were inclosed in 1792, and orchards and marketgardens began to spread over the parish in the second half of the 19th century".

From: 'Stanwell: Introduction', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 33-36. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22238&strquery=clos Date accessed: 25 August 2010.

"Lawrence and Carlill", sugar refiners, are listed in various trade directories of 1817-1819 as being based at Lehman Street and Rupert Street, Goodman's Fields. By the 1820s the entries list Richard Henshaw Lawrence and Morton William Lawrence, sugar refiners, at the same addresses. They appear to have been in business until the 1840s.

It is unclear what improvement to the refining process Lawrence invented. He is mentioned in the book "Abridgements of Patents for Inventions relating to Sugar, 1663-1866" (Commissioners of Patents, 1871) with the note "No Specification enrolled".

Enfield Chase was a large wooded area and royal deer park in Middlesex. It was used for hunting, while locals claimed common rights. By an act of 1777 the Chase was enclosed and the land was divided between various local land-owners and neighbouring parishes.

Berkeley , family , of Gloucestershire

The Berkeley family's seat was at Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire built in 1153 by Lord Maurice Berkeley. Lord Berkeley of Stratton (died 1678) ran the Duke of York's household and built himself a magnificent London house in Piccadilly. His descendants laid out Berkeley Square in the grounds. In 1679 George Berkeley was made first Earl of Berkeley by King Charles II.

The fifth Earl of Berkeley, Frederick Augustus (1745-1810) took Mary Cole, a butcher's daughter as his mistress. In 1796 they married, Mary having borne the earl five children and later that year their legitimate son Thomas Moreton was born. Mary was anxious about the legitimacy of her adored eldest son William Fitzharding (1786-1857). In 1799 she and the earl forged the Berkeley parish register with a false entry for a secret marriage 1785 to make all their children legitimate. On the death of the earl in 1810, the Berkeley Peerage Case was heard in the House of Lords and in 1811 the earldom passed to Thomas Moreton. In 1841 William Fitzharding was given the title Earl Fitzhardinge.

The family held estates throughout England.

Garner and Hancock , solicitors

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.

Various.

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

Maddisons and Lambs , solicitors

The GROVE HOUSE estate originated in a tenement called the Grove, with lands in Sutton and Strand-on-the-Green. The Barkers perhaps held the land when they were first recorded at Chiswick, in 1537. Anthony Barker leased Grove farm of 170 acres in socage from St. Paul's in 1597 and left an interest to Anne (d. 1607), widow of William Barker of Sonning. Anne's son Thomas Barker of the Middle Temple (d. 1630) was active in parish government and apparently was succeeded at Chiswick not by his 17-year old eldest son William but by a younger son, probably Thomas, a royalist killed at Lansdown in 1643. Thomas was followed by his brother Henry, who was admitted to further copyholds of Sutton Court in 1655 and whose seat was called Grove House by 1664, when he ranked with Thomas Kendall as the second largest ratepayer after Sir Edward Nicholas. Further lands were added by Henry (d. 1695), who owned much property in Berkshire, and by his eldest son Scory Barker, also of the Middle Temple. Scory's son Henry was admitted in 1714 and was the last Barker at Grove House, where he died in 1745. Although Henry had sons, he left his Chiswick lands, copyhold of both Sutton Court and the Prebend manors, to trustees, who conveyed some to Henry Barker of Wallingford but sold others in 1761 and 1762 to the duke of Devonshire.

Grove House itself was acquired before 1750 by Henry d'Auverquerque, earl of Grantham (d. 1754), who was succeeded by his daughter Frances, wife of Col. William Eliott. After the death of Lady Frances Eliott in 1772 the house and park were sold freehold to the politician Humphry Morice (1723-85), who entertained Horace Walpole there in 1782. Morice left the estate, known also as Chiswick Grove, to Lavinia, widow of John Luther, on condition that she maintain an old servant and some stray animals. Between 1807 and 1810 it passed to Robert Lowth (d. 1822), canon of St. Paul's, whose widow remained there in 1830. Joseph Gurney lived there in 1855 before its purchase in 1861 by the duke of Devonshire, whose tenants included Robert Prowett in 1862 and 1867, Col. R. B. Mulliner in 1874 and 1882, and Joseph Atkins Borsley by 1888. Although much of the estate was built over to form Grove Park, Lt.-Col. Robert William Shipway bought the house, with neighbouring lands, from Borsley and others in 1895, preserving it until after his death in 1928.

From: 'Chiswick: Other estates', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 74-78. Available online.

The most striking change in Great Stanmore between 1754 and 1865 was the building or enlargement of several gentlemen's residences. In addition to Stanmore Park and the manor-house, near the church, the village contained the head tenements of Montagues, Fiddles, Pynnacles, and Aylwards, all of which were marked in 1827 by substantial houses. Oak Villa, Townsend Villa (later Belmont Lodge), Rose Cottage, and Vine Cottage formed an extension of the village, into Little Stanmore, at the corner of Dennis Lane and the London Road. Near the crest of the hill, on the west, Hill House and Broomfield stood between the drive leading to Aylwards and the residence next to the brewery. It was at Hill House, then called the Great House, that Dr. Samuel Parr had briefly opened his school in 1771 and that the antiquary Charles Drury Edward Fortnum, who bequeathed most of his treasures to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, lived from 1852 until 1899.

From: 'Great Stanmore: Introduction', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 88-96. Available online.

J L C Perry , solicitors

A deed of composition and release sealed an arrangement whereby the creditors of an insolvent debtor agreed to settle for a percentage of the amounts owed.

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

Ruston, Clark and Ruston , solicitors

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).

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

The manor of Ealing or Ealingbury was presumably the 10 hides at Ealing granted in 693 by Ethelred, king of Mercia, to the bishop of London for the augmentation of monastic life in London. The manor passed through various owners until 1906 when most or all of the land was sold to the Prudential Assurance Company.

Source: "A History of the County of Middlesex": Volume 7 (1982).

Parker, Garrett and Company , solicitors

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).

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.

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.

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

Burton, Yeats and Hart , solicitors

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

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

The rectory and advowson of Harrow came into the hands of Christ Church, Oxford, by a grant from the Crown in 1546. The College subsequently made a practice of leasing the tithes out for a substantial rent and they were in turn sub-let by the main lessor. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries the main lease was usually for 21 years at an annual rent of £74. 17s. 8d. renewable every 7 years for a substantial fine. The lease was held by the Conyers family, the first of whom was an executor of Sir Francis Gerard, from 1709-1772, then by the Hernes until 1793 and by Richard Page from 1793 to 1803. All tithes were extinguished by the Inclosure Act of 1803.

In medieval times Saint Mary's was one of the most important churches in Middlesex. There is a twelfth-century tower with tall octagonal lead spires. The nave was re-built in the thirteenth-century when the rector was Elias de Dereham, the canon of Salisbury. Various additions and embellishments took place under John Byrkhead, rector from 1437 to 1468, then restored heavily in the nineteenth century. Many brasses including a small brass of John Lyons, founder of Harrow School.

R Binfield

The Victoria County History of Middlesex notes that "the ancient parish of Greenford lay to the northwest of Ealing. It covered approximately 2½ miles from north to south, and 1½ from east to west, and in the 1860's comprised an area of 2,078 acres north and west of the River Brent, which formed part of the southern and western boundaries. Elsewhere the boundaries crossed former open-field country and were defined only by artificial boundary marks. In 1775 a detached area of Northolt lay inside the parish, in a rectangle of 46½ acres immediately north of the Ruislip Road and west of Oldfield Lane. It had become part of Greenford by 1871. Another detached area of Northolt in the parish in the 1860's lay along the southern field boundary. This was called Mill Field in 1775 and was owned by Daniel Larrimore of Greenford, but the tithes were being claimed by Northolt. This 2½-acre piece of land remained detached at least until the end of the 19th century. There were no detached areas of Greenford parish. In 1894, when the urban district was set up, the civil parish of Greenford covered 2,127 acres, which remained unaltered until 1926, when the parish was dissolved and became part of the municipal borough and civil parish of Ealing."

From: 'Greenford: Introduction', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 206-209 (available online).

Gray, Dodsworth and Cobb , solicitors

If a person died intestate (without a valid will) their money, goods and possessions passed to their next of kin through an administration (or letters of administration) which had the same form in law as a will.

Waltons, Bright and Company , solicitors

Green Lanes is a main road in North London which runs through several postcodes. The section of road which runs through Harringay and Hornsey includes late Victorian terraced mansion houses and shops such as that owned by the Seckers. 555 Green Lanes is now an estate agent.

The roads alongside Tottenham Green were a popular location for building large houses and saw increased growth from the 1700s onwards.

Church Commissioners , Church of England

The Church Commissioners were formed in 1948 by joining together two bodies - Queen Anne's Bounty and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The Church Commissioners are based at Church House, Great Smith Street, London. They moved there in March 2007 to work under one roof with the Archbishops' Council and the Church of England Pensions Board.

The Commissioners' role is to manage the Church's historic assets, today invested in stock market shares and property, to produce money to support the Church's ministry. The Church Commissioners meet some 18% of the Church's total running costs.

The Church Commissioners' main responsibilities are: to obtain the best possible long term return from a diversified investment portfolio in order (1) to meet their pension commitments and (2) to provide the maximum sustainable funding for their other purposes such as support for the work of bishops, cathedrals and parish ministry; in doing so, to pay particular regard to making 'additional provision for the cure of souls in parishes where such assistance is most required'; to administer the legal framework for pastoral reorganisation and settle the future of redundant churches.

Source: http://www.cofe.anglican.org/about/churchcommissioners/ (accessed June 2009).

British Airports Authority

On 17th November 1967 the British Airports Authority unveiled a plaque at Heathrow Airport to commemorate the start of scientific mapping of Great Britain in 1784, the first baseline of the triangulation of Great Britain being situated close by.

Dr. Edward Whitaker Gray (1748-1806) was a doctor who was also appointed curator of the natural history collections at the British Museum.

An extensive search in Ruskin's Diaries and in various Lives has failed to reveal the identity or place of residence of 'Dr. Gray'; he is presumably related to the Dr. Gray of the diploma, and is perhaps a relation of Ruskin's wife, Euphemia Gray.

Peacock, Fisher and Finch , solicitors

Probate (also known as proving a will) was the process of establishing the validity of a will.

A declaration of trust named trustees to hold monies for an individual until that person came of age; at which time the control of the monies would revert to them.

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

Various.

James Charles lived at Kennet House, a large residence situated where Sudbury joins Harrow on the Hill. He was married to Julia Forrester. He was a Justice of the Peace.

West Middlesex Water Works

The West Middlesex Water Works were established in 1806 to supply the Western Suburbs. They were originally proposed by Robert Dodd, a civil engineer, to supply the area around Hammersmith and Kensington. The company was incorporated in 1806 with a capital of £80,000. After a disagreement over the location of the works, Dodd resigned and William Nicholson took over in 1807 to oversee the establishment of a works at Hammersmith. Under an act designed to increase the capital of the company by £160,000, the area covered by the West Middlesex Water Company was extended to include the parishes of St James Westminster, St Anne's Soho, St Mary-le-Strand, St Clement Danes, St Paul's Covent Garden, Paddington, Marylebone, St Pancras, St George Bloomsbury and St Giles in the Fields.

In 1825 a pump was built to channel water to a new resevoir at Barrow Hill, near Primrose Hill. New resevoirs were constructed at Barnes in 1838 and in 1866 the company entered into an agreement with the Thames Conservancy which allowed it to draw an extra 4 million gallons of water from the river per day.

The company was taken over by the Metropolitan Water Board under the Metropolitan Water Act, 1902 (2 Edward VII, c.41).

Court of Common Pleas

An estreat was a true extract or copy of an original writing or record, in particular of fines, entered on the rolls of a court, which were to be collected by the bailiff or other court officer.

The Court of Common Pleas was founded by King Henry II to hear common pleas (matters between subject and subject). It was the only Court where personal actions of account, covenant, debt and detinue could be heard. The Court also had jurisdiction to review and change the decisions of older courts. From 1187 the Court sat at Westminster. The Court was headed by a Chief Justice, working with a team of lesser justices (between three and eight in number at various times) and a large number of clerks. The Court was abolished in 1875.

The firm of Howards and Sons, noted as manufacturers of pharmaceutical chemicals, especially quinine and aspirin had its origin in the partnership entered into by Luke Howard and William Allen in 1798 (ACC/1037/1). Many printed works give the date as 1797 and it may be that the two men began working together after the dissolution of Allen's partnership with Samuel Mildred but before the formal deed of partnership was signed. Allen and Howard had their pharmacy at Plough Court, Lombard Street, City of London, under the management of Allen, and a laboratory at Plaistow, directed by Luke Howard, with the assistance of Joseph Jewell. The laboratory moved from Plaistow to Stratford around 1805, and on the dissolution of the partnership in 1807 (ACC/1037/2) Luke Howard and Joseph Jewell continued their manufacturing activity there. After a series of name changes reflecting the changes of partners (for which see ACC/1037/801/20/1) the style of Howards and Sons was adopted in 1856 (see ACC/1037/17) and used continuously from then on. The firm became a limited company in 1903. It was purchased by Laporte in March 1961.

Stratford remained the company's headquarters until 1898, when land was purchased in Ilford and new premises were gradually constructed. The first transfer there was of the work done at Hopkin and Williams' works in Wandsworth and other processes followed as buildings were erected until the final move to Ilford was made in 1923. The firm of Hopkin and Williams, manufacturers of fine laboratory and photographic chemicals had been purchased in May 1888 (for which see ACC/1037/92). They had offices and warehouses in Cross Street, Hatton Garden, and a manufactory in Wandsworth. In 1906 Howards set up the British Camphor Corporation for the synthesis of camphor from turpentine by Behal's process and the factory was built at Ilford (ACC/1037/743-753). Changes in world prices for raw materials and other factors led to the company going into liquidation in 1909. In the meantime Edmund White, general manager of Hopkin and Williams, had been working on the development of thorium and in 1914 a separate company, Thorium Ltd., was established to process the raw materials (ACC/1037/730-731). In 1915 Hopkin and Williams (Travancore) Ltd. was set up to mine monazite sand at a site in Travancore to secure supplies of the raw material to Thorium Ltd. (ACC/1037/732-735). A later successful development overseas was the purchase of the Sadarehe planatation in Java which was intended to secure supplies of cinchona bark for the production of quinine. Another company, James Anthony and Co. Ltd. (ACC/1037/790) was set up to run it, which it did until the planation was seized by the Japanese in 1943. War-time and post-war conditions made it impossible to revive production. In contrast the purchase of the Agatash plantation in British Guiana to grow limes for citric acid (ACC/1037/739-740) was a short-lived and unsuccessful venture.

The company had a long history of uninterrupted production and its products developed and changed over the years in large measure as the result of experimental work done by members of the Howard family and by their employees. It began by producing fine chemicals, many for the pharmaceutical industry, and by the 1830's Howard and Jewell's work on quinine was beginning to expand. For most of the remainder of the nineteenth century quinine production was the greatest profitable enterprise of the company (for which see ACC/1037/316-364 and especially B.F. Howard's treatise "Howards 1847-1947"). After the First World War it became clear, despite the success of Howards' Aspirin, that the company no longer led the market in chemicals for pharmacy, and a research laboratory was set up in 1919 to explore new fields. This resulted in the development of Howards' solvents and technical chemicals which became the mainstay of the company.

Wellingtons , solicitors

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

Heaver , family

The executors of the estate were George Heaver (later transferred to Miss J Heaver); Revd. Alfred Heaver; Lily Havers; and Mrs P M Havers. The plan is colour coded, showing which properties were assigned to which party under the terms of the bequest.

The website of the Board of Deputies provides the following historical information:

The London Committee of Deputies of British Jews, which is now known as the Board of Deputies of British Jews, was established in 1760 when seven Deputies were appointed by the elders of the Spanish and Portuguese Congregation to form a standing committee to pay homage to George III on his accession to the throne. 1760 was also the date the Ashkenazi Community appointed their own "Secret Committee for Public Affairs". It was agreed at the end of 1760 that the two committees should hold joint meetings from time to time.

The Secret Committee of the Ashkenazim and the 'Deputados' met intermittently until well into the 1800s. From 1817 the two appear to have achieved greater unity and met thereafter as one body. In the 1830s the role and reputation of the Board began to expand with the election of Moses Montefiore as President of the Board in 1835 and with official recognition from Parliament, when the Marriage Act of 1866 named the President of the Board of Deputies as the authority for certifying the Marriage Secretaries of Synagogues. In 1836 Montefiore was instrumental in drawing up the first constitution and establishing the name Deputies of British Jews.

Moses Montefiore was to have profound influence over the development of the Board, and it came to be recognised as the representative body of British Jewry and its name became known overseas. In 1840 Montefiore went to plead for persecuted Jews in Damascus; the Board has been actively concerned with the interests and rights of co-religionists abroad ever since. Montefiore was President until 1874. He was an active international figure and interceded many times on behalf of Jews with foreign leaders.

By the end of the century, when the Anglo-Jewish community had achieved emancipation on the level of fellow non-Jewish citizens, thousands of Jews from Eastern Europe came to the country to escape Tsarist oppression. The Aliens Committee was formed in 1905 (the year the first Aliens Restrictions Act was passed) to ensure that these immigrants, or Aliens, received considerate treatment and to provide help with naturalisation problems. Britain remained a place of refuge well into the twentieth century, particularly with the growth of fascism in Europe in the 1930s and the accompanying rise of anti-Semitism. In 1936 the Jewish Defence Committee was created and launched an Outdoor Campaign to challenge the open air meetings conducted by the British Union of Fascists. Anti-Fascist leaflets and literature were circulated and protest meetings, supported by Christian Churches and other non-Jews, were organised. Co-operation with other faiths continues, most significantly perhaps in the close liaison with the Council for Christians and Jews.

In 1950 the Board convened the first Conference of Jewish Communities in the British Commonwealth, and was represented at the first meeting of the United Nations in San Francisco. Dr. D. Mowshowitch prepared surveys of the conditions of European Jewry as the Board helped these communities to rebuild and the Foreign Affairs Committee had an active role in the negotiations for Jewish reparations. The Board is a member of the Co-ordinating Board of Jewish Organisations and the World Jewish Congress. It has helped in the rehabilitation of Holocaust survivors and works to secure compensation and restitution for them. In 1983 a Holocaust Memorial was set up in Hyde Park in London at the instigation of the Board of Deputies.

Education is a keen interest of the Board. In 1853 grants were made to Jewish Day Schools after the Board had negotiated the matter with the government. The Board of Deputies works with local and private education authorities to combat racism, anti-Zionism and religious discrimination in schools and colleges. The Board of Deputies has always fought anti-Semitism in whatever guise and degree it manifests itself. Much of this work is very routine and it can be on a communal or individual level. Educating and informing non-Jews about Judaism, Israel and the Anglo-Jewish community continues to the present day and is an important aspect of the work of the Board.

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Board established the National Council for Soviet Jewry (later the Council for Jews in the Former Soviet Union) in 1975. The archives of the National Campaign for Soviet Jewry are catalogued at the London Metropolitan Archives as ACC/3087.

The creation of the State of Israel in 1948 provided the Board with a new focus. A Palestine Committee of the Board of Deputies existed from 1923 until 1948 when it became the Erets Israel Committee. The Committee now acts as a bridge between the Anglo-Jewish community and Israel and seeks to promote a sense of identity with Israel among the Anglo-Jewish. Anti-Zionism in Britain is monitored and countered at all levels. The Board also has close links with the Israeli Embassy.

In 1940 the Trades Advisory Council was established to combat anti-Semitism in trade; to encourage good relations between Jewish and non-Jewish traders; to licence Jewish shop-keepers to work on Sundays and to give advice during a period of food rationing and close government observation. The Council was able to issue certificates to Jewish traders who wished to work on Sundays (before restrictions on Sunday trading were eased in the 1990s) and give support to Jewish employees asked to work on Jewish High Holy Days and Sabbaths. It is able to arbitrate in business disputes. The Trades Advisory Council began life as a sub-committee of the Defence Committee but is now a practically independent body affiliated to the Board.

Source: Board of Deputies website at http://www.boardofdeputies.org.uk/page.php/Historical_Background/106/2/1, accessed Feb 2010.

Multiple Advertising Clock Co Ltd

The registered office was at 57 Berners Street, London W1. The Company patented indicating and advertising devices.

Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales was born in 1796, the only child of the unhappy and controversial marriage of George, Prince of Wales (later George IV) and his wife Caroline of Brunswick. Princess Charlotte was very popular with the public and was greeted with cheering crowds when she made appearances. She married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg in 1816, soon falling pregnant. The pregnancy was difficult, ending in November 1817 with a fifty-hour labour in which both mother and son died. The death ended the line of succession of George III (Charlotte's grandfather) and was greatly mourned by the public. Charlotte was buried in Windsor on 19 November 1817.

Rooks Rider , solicitors

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

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

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

Metropolitan Rifle Range Company Ltd

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

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

Twickenham Park covered over 160 acres of which about a third were in Isleworth parish. The Twickenham Park estate was gradually broken-up and more houses were built, particularly after the 1850s. The process continued well into the 20th century, until the whole of the former Twickenham Park was covered in housing.