No historical information has yet been located for this Council, which presumably worked to support candidates for ordination into the priesthood based in the Diocese of London.
The Diocese of Southwark was formed in 1905 and lies in the Church of England Province of Canterbury. The Diocese has jurisdiction over 317 square miles of London south of the River Thames, formerly in the ancient counties of Kent and Surrey, areas which had been in the Diocese of Rochester and vast Diocese of Winchester.
A British fleet took control of the Cape of Good Hope in 1795 and established a garrison in Cape Town.
William Brass of Old Street, Finsbury and 'The Elms', Leigham Court Road, Surrey, builder and contractor, died on 14 January 1888. In his will he appointed his eldest son William, half brother Robert Brass and son-in-law Ernest Grimwade trustees of his estate, to manage it for the benefit of his children when they reached adulthood.
At the time of his death, William Brass owned property in the City of London and neighbouring boroughs, of which buildings in Angel Court, Bishopsgate, Cheapside, Lime Street, Old Change and in the borough of Finsbury were the main concerns.
No biographical details have been found for Thomas Claudius Alleyne.
Edward Bindloss was ordained priest in 1837 and, after serving a number of curacies in England, was appointed chaplain to the British Factory (Russia Company) at Archangel, Russia, in 1847.
On 12 June 1861 he married Maria Mathilda Clarke, daughter of Felix Clarke of Archangel, merchant. They had five children, Edward Richard, died 1864; Arthur Henry, born 1863; Mary Alice, born 1865; Amy Helen Maud, born 1868; Edward Alexander Morgan, born 1875. Maria Mathilda Bindloss died in 1881.
Edward retained his post until his death, and resided at Archangel except for periods of leave until 1882, when the death of his wife led the Company to grant him perpetual leave of absence on full pay so as to care for his children in England. He died in 1883.
William Clapham of London was a Citizen and Grocer (d 1688), who owned Cox Key, Fresh Wharf and Gaunt's Key as well as warehouses in Thames Street. The properties were left in tail to his son William Clapham (d 1730). By 1764 William Skrine had gained the reversionary interest. Skrine may have been distantly related to the younger William Clapham through Clapham's wife, Mary Lem.
At the time of writing these diaries, Frederic Sydenham Clarke, 1850-1921, was an employee of the Borneo Company working in Bangkok, Thailand. For further biographical details see CLC/436/MS31640.
Joseph Dickenson Croskey, citizen and painter-stainer, was a textile merchant and furrier, with premises successively at 19 Friday Street and 2 Mansion House Street. JD Croskey became senior partner of Brunswick and Company on the death of Christopher Brunswick. The partners in Croskey, Pook and Brunswick were JD Croskey, John Pook and Charles Brunswick.
The family firm was established in 1750 when a small optical workshop was opened in Spitalfields. The growing demand for high quaility optical apparatus necessitated several moves in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The business became a limited company in 1907 and amalgamated with the firm of Aitchison in 1927. The House of Dollond: two hundred years of optical service 1750-1950 by Henry Charles King was published in 1950.
Arthur William Dunk (c 1871-1942) served in the City Imperial Volunteers during the Boer War 1899-1900.
Sir John Whittaker Ellis was born in Petersham in 1829. He was an auctioneer and estate agent, as well as holding local government posts including alderman of Broad Street Ward, 1872-1909, sheriff of London and Middlesex, 1874-75, Lord Mayor of London, 1881-82, and mayor of Richmond, 1890-91. He was also a Member of Parliament for Mid-Surrey, 1884-85 and for Kingston Division, 1885-92; a Justice of the Peace; Governor of the Irish Society, 1882-94, governor of various hospitals and the High Sheriff of Surrey, 1899-1900. He was made 1st Baronet in 1882 and was awarded the Order of Mercy in 1900. He died in September 1912.
Information from 'ELLIS, Sir (John) Whittaker', Who Was Who, A and C Black, 1920-2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U185738, accessed 2 June 2011].
William Emery (1798-1867) was a lighterman who became master of the Feltmakers' Company in 1848. His son William (1825-1910) was ordained as a priest in 1853, having been encouraged in religion by his father. In 1864 Emery was appointed archdeacon of Ely, and in 1868 was made a minor canon there. He died at Ely in December 1910.
Kathleen Isabella Garrett was principal cataloguer at Guildhall Library until 1970.
Maria Hackett (1783-1874) was a philanthropist who campaigned for the better treatment of choristers in Anglican cathedrals. The boy choristers often lived in poor conditions without proper education or supervison, and could be hired out by their singing master to perform at public concerts. Hackett studied documents at St Paul's to determine the ancient responsbilities of the cathedral regarding the choristers; wrote campaigning letters; and initiated legal proceedings. Her efforts resulted in reform and the establishment of a new choir school attached to St Paul's. She also formed a committee dedicated to the restoration of Crosby Hall, a medieval hall adjoining her house.
Cedric Jagger was a historian of horology, publishing works including:
Paul Philip Barraud : a study of a fine chronometer maker, and of his relatives, associates and successors in the family business, 1750-1929 (1968, supplement 1979);
Clocks (1973 and 1975);
The world's great clocks & watches (1977);
Royal clocks: the British monarchy and its timekeepers, 1300-1900 (1983);
The artistry of the English watch (1988).
According to a review of The world's great clocks and watches in The Times, Jagger worked in the chemical industry for thirty years while devoting his spare time to horology. He became so expert that the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers asked him to take care of their collection. The Times, Friday Nov 25, 1977, page XIX, issue 60170, column A.
William Mawhood was a woollen-draper of the Catholic faith. He lived in Cloth Fair, in the parish of St Bartholomew the Great, West Smithfield.
William Newton (1786-1861) was a patent agent of Bloomsbury and Herne Bay in Kent.
Moses Levy Newton was a West India merchant of 5 Great Prescott Street, Goodmans Fields, who died in 1823.
No biographical information has been found for Otto Heinrich.
George Rae was a founder, Vice President and trustee of the Chartered Institute of Bankers. He was also chairman and managing director of the North and South Wales Bank, which was acquired by the Midland Bank in 1908.
The Reverend Charles John Todd was a Naval Chaplain, 1881-99, and Master of the Wax Chandlers' Company, 1888-91, 1916-18 and 1934-36.
The 49th (Post Office) Rifle Volunteers were formed in 1867 during the Fenian troubles from Special Constables recruited within the Post Office during that period. They later became the 24th (Post Office) Rifle Volunteers.
To alleviate its continuous shortage of cash, the Stuart dynasty issued loan tallies and tickets for future bill settlement. Dealers and tally-brokers carried on a market in these items, whose value depended on the prospect of repayment, first at the Royal Exchange and then in the City coffee houses. Later, these dealers turned to the stocks of new commercial companies. In 1762, 150 substantial brokers attempted to take over Jonathan's Coffee House in Change Alley, Cornhill, for their exclusive use but, thwarted by a law suit, they moved, in 1773, into their own premises in Sweetings Alley, Threadneedle Street, at whichtime the name "Stock Exchange" was formally adopted. A further move was made in 1802 into purpose-built accommodation on the corner of Throgmorton and Old Broad Streets. Further expansion on this site occurred, the premises being rebuilt in the 1880s and 1970s.
Until 1802, the Stock Exchange was open to anyone who paid the 6d a day subscription, but in March 1802 a deed of settlement formalised its constitution and the Exchange was closed to non-members. By its new constitution, a Board of Trustees and Managers (representing the owners) was established to regulate financial affairs and manage the building, while a General Purposes Committee was elected to regulate membership and all aspects of business. Sub-committees were appointed from amongst the members to undertake the detailed work. This arrangement lasted until 1946 when a reorganisation took place to solve the difficulties caused by the two separate bodies. The Stock Exchange became a members' society and the Council for the Stock Exchange assumed responsibility for every aspect of its government. Until 1986, the London Stock Exchange was unique amongst world exchanges in its distinction between dealing and broking. Dealers, or jobbers, offered stocks and shares for purchase or sale, and brokers acted as middlemen between them and the public, with the Settlement Department acting as a clearing house for all transactions. Rules and regulations to ensure fairness and eliminate fraud became numerous and complex. In cases of a member's financial failure, two members known as Official Assignees were appointed to administer the assets of the defaulter. In 1950, a Compensation Fund was established to provide further protection from losses caused directly by members.
The Federation of Stock Exchanges in Great Britain and Ireland was formed in 1965 with the Federal Committee as its governing body with representatives from all the regional stock exchanges. Its objectives were to increase the efficiency of dealing arrangements in the country as a whole and to achieve a common standard for the admission of shares to the market.
The Banco Nacional Ultramarino was founded in Lisbon, Portugal in 1864. In 1955 the Banco Nacional Ultramarino described itself as a bank of issue in the Portuguese overseas provinces of Cape Verde, Guinea, S. Tome and Principe, Mozambique, India, Macau and Timor. It had 57 branches and town agencies in Portugal, and 20 branches in overseas provinces. It established a branch in London in 1919 which was to subsequently become the Anglo-Portuguese Colonial and Overseas Bank. The memoranda and articles of association for the company were registered in 1929.
The name of the bank was shortened in 1955 to Anglo-Portuguese Bank Limited. In 1957, the bank described its main activity as the "financing of international trade of a self-liquidating nature". It became a wholly owned subsidiary of Norwich Union Life Insurance Society in 1975 and was renamed AP Bank Limited in 1977. In 1984 the bank was purchased by Riggs Bank Limited and became known as Riggs AP Bank from 1987. In 2004 Riggs Bank was taken over by PNC and the next year Riggs went into liquidation.
The company was formed in 1897 as a holding company in St Petersburg controlling the Petroffsky and Spassky Cotton Spinning and Weaving Companies, and the Schlusselburg Calico Printing Company. It had offices at 4 St Helen's Place, Bishopsgate, London, 1897-ca. 1912, then at 17 St Helen's Place, ca. 1912-1934, 91 Wool Exchange, 1934-6, 35 Wool Exchange, 1936-7, and 157 Wool Exchange from 1937.
Arthur H Brown founded a company in 1860 trading in naval stores, turpentine, tallow etc. The firm is first listed in the trade directories in 1864 at 15 Rood Lane, before moving in 1867 to 44 Eastcheap. In 1871 the firm was bought by William Thompson Burningham, and moved to 26 Great St Helen's. It is listed as a firm of petroleum and colonial brokers. On Burningham's death the firm was taken on by his son, W J Burningham. It moved successively to 95 Bishopsgate Street (1880-9), 70 and 71 Bishopsgate Street (1890-1910), 91 and 93 Bishopsgate Street (1911-14), 36 Camomile Street (1915-18), 126 Bishopsgate Street (1919-25), Bevis Marks House (1926-35), Staple Hall, Stone House Court (1936-41), Bishops Avenue, N2 (1942-5), Bevis Marks House again (1946-62) and Lee House, London Wall (1963-7). Its primary concern was the trade of oil petroleum and wax. The firm expanded significantly after World War I when they became one of the first importers of Russian oil. In 1968 ABCO Petroleum Ltd, as it had become known, became a subsidiary of the Sinclair Oil Corporation.
The success of the Fire Offices' Committee, which had been established in 1868 to consolidate existing rating agreements and to continue to supervise the rating of fire risk insured by the "Tariff Offices" (those insurance companies which had agreed to a common tariff of premiums), led its members to try to restrict competition through a similar tariff body for accident insurance - the Accident Offices Association. (An earlier attempt to regulate companies involved in liability insurance, the Accident Offices' Committee formed in 1894, had proved largely ineffective).
The Accident Offices Association was established on 11 June 1906. It was formed largely in response to the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1906 to advise manufacturers, traders and others about the new responsibilities and liabilities imposed by the act. The Workmen's Compensation Act of 1897 had introduced the principle of automatic compensation for all accidents in some categories of hazardous occupations; the 1906 Act extended the principle to all workers. Every employer was now at risk and became a potential policy holder. A tariff for workmen's compensation insurance was established in 1907 and subsequently other tariffs were issued: for private car insurance in 1914, for commercial vehicles in 1915 and for motor cycles in 1920; for fidelity guarantee insurance in 1914; and for plate glass insurance in 1920.
The Accident Offices Association provided executive and secretarial services for a number of other associations of insurance companies whose records have been preserved with its own archives. It managed the Livestock Offices Association (established 1912), an association of companies involved in livestock insurance which administered a livestock tariff from 1916 until it was transferred to the Accident Offices Association in 1939. The Engineering Offices Association administered a tariff for engineering insurance from 1920, the year it was formed. The association also managed the Aircraft Insurance Committee (established 1919 and apparently wound up in 1935), the Building Society Indemnities Committee (an association of companies involved with mortgage guarantee insurance established in 1925), the Coal Pool (established c 1907 for sharing and adjusting colliery claims; known as the Colliery Pool from 1935 when it seems to have been taken over by the Accident Offices Association), the Debris Clearance Pool (established in 1941 to rate the risks involved in the clearance of sites damaged by enemy action) and the Home Office Vehicles Pool (also set up in 1941 for the sharing of risks arising out of the issue of insurance policies for fire service and smoke protection vehicles).
Member insurance companies of the Accident Offices Association were also involved in accident business abroad. A Foreign Motor Committee was established in 1920 and this was absorbed into the Accident Offices Asssociation (Overseas) constituted in 1937. Insurance companies interested in the tariff situation in South Africa had formed their own association, the South African Accident Council, in 1915. Its records include copy minutes and papers of several South African bodies: local associations such as the Cape Accident Offices Association and the Transvaal Accident Offices Association which merged as the Workmen's Compensation Insurers' Association of South Africa in 1935; and national bodies such as the Accident Offices Association of Southern Africa (established in 1944) which replaced the Workmen's Compensation Insurers' Association, and absorbed the Southern Rhodesian Workmen's Compensation Insurers' Association and the workmen's compensation business of the Accident Insurance Council of South Africa (established by the South African Accident Council in 1925). The Accident Offices Association serviced both the Accident Offices Association (Overseas) and the South African Accident Council.
In addition to administering the various tariffs, the Accident Offices Association became a forum for member companies to exchange views on matters of common interest. The association also acted in a wider capacity, liaising with bodies such as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, and also with government departments. The Accident Offices Association role with regard to tariffs ceased on 1 January 1969, when, under the threat of monopolies legislation, all tariffs were dissolved. This led to the emergence, on 3 July 1974, of a reconstituted organisation with a greater number of accident offices participating. The Accident Offices Association was abolished on 30 June 1985 and its functions transferred to the Association of British Insurers.
The Accident Offices Association was housed from 1906 to 1911 in the offices of a firm of chartered accountants. In 1911 it moved to 54 New Broad Street; in 1914 to Thames House, Queen Street Place; in 1928 to 60 Watling Street; in 1959 to 107 Cheapside; and in 1963 to Aldermary House, Queen Street.
The Debris Clearance Pool, also known as the Debris Clearance Pool Committee, was established in 1941 by the Accident Offices Association for the rating of site clearance risks in wartime. It was wound up in 1947.
The Engineering Offices Association was set up on 15 December 1920 by companies interested in engineering insurance. It administered a tariff for engineering insurance established at the same time. The Association met at the offices of the Accident Offices Association which provided it with executive and secretarial services.
The Glasgow Rate and Salvage Association was formed in 1847. Formerly known as the Agents Fire Rate Committee; Glasgow Fire Rate Committee, and Glasgow Fire Insurance Committee.
The Life Offices' Association was founded in 1889 by representatives of the major life assurance offices. It acted as a forum for consultation and combined action in response to problems arising from the expansion of life assurance business, geographically and in the new types of risk being rated. The Association was concerned in particular with the effects of insurance and tax legislation.
The Association had offices as follows: 1890: 19-20 Cornhill; 1891: 9-10 King Street; 1892-6: 25 Abchurch Lane; 1897-1906: 5 Lombard Street; 1907-10: 18 Bishopsgate Street Within; 1911-13: 28 Bishopsgate; 1914-29: 6 Broad Street Place; 1929-34: 15 Queen Street; 1935-54: 20 Aldermanbury; 1955-62: 33 King Street; 1962 onwards: Aldermary House, 10-15 Queen Street.
The Association ceased to exist in 1985 when its functions were taken over by the Association of British Insurers.
The area known as Angell Town was originally farmland, developed for housing in the 1850s. The site of the church of Saint John the Evangelist was donated by Benedict John Angell Angell in 1852, while the building costs were met by William Stone of Herne Hill. The church was constructed by 1853, designed by Benjamin Ferrey in a Gothic style. A parish was assigned in the same year. A vestry was added in 1882. The building was damaged by fire in 1947 but was subsequently restored.
From: 'Brixton: The Angell estate', Survey of London: volume 26: Lambeth: Southern area (1956), pp. 125-131.
The Education Committee of the London County Council consisted of 35 members of the Council and a number of co-opted members who were invited to serve on the Committee because of their experience in the educational field. The Committee was divided into smaller sub-committees, each with a specific focus, for example the Further Education Sub-Committee concerned itself with the policy and management of all after school-age education. The Education Officer and his staff carried out the decisions of the Committees and acted as their advisers.
To avoid over-centralisation, London was divided into 9 divisions, each consisting of about three of the metropolitan boroughs. Every division had a local office, the headquarters of the divisional officer who was the representative of the Education Officer. School inspectors were also based at the divisional office.
In 1919, the Standing Joint Committee on Scales of Salary for Teachers in Public Elementary Schools was established at the request of the President of the Board of Education 'to secure the orderly and progressive solution of the salary question in Public Elementary Schools on a national basis and its correlation with a solution of the salary problem in Secondary Schools'. Similar committees were subsequently established concerned with the salaries of teachers in secondary schools and those teaching in technical schools. The first Burnham report of 1919 established a provisional minimum scale for elementary school teachers payable from January 1920. This initial stage was followed in 1921 by four standard scales of salary allocated by areas, which were to operate for four years. Negotiations for scales of salary to operate following the four year settlement ended in disagreement and was finally decided by arbitration, Lord Burnham acting as arbiter. Four new scales were formulated as well as some re-allocation scales for individual authorities.
The committees became known as the Burnham Committees after the chairman Lord Burnham, and following his death in 1933 the title was officially adopted.
The Children's Service of the London County Council (LCC) was responsible for 4 groups of deprived children: those placed in care by their parents, those brought before juvenile court and then sent to approved schools or placed in care, those being adopted and those with foster parents. In 1929 the Local Government Act gave the functions of the poor law authorities to the LCC. The Council began to develop child services, but the Second World War interrupted this process. After the war a conception of a new form of organisation was beginning to emerge.
The 1948 Children's Act vested central control of children's services in the Home Secretary; the county councils were made children's authorities, and each was required to appoint a children's Committee and a children's officer. The LCC set up its Children's Committee in December 1948. The first children's officer was appointed in April 1949. The LCC had the duty to receive into care any child in the County, under the age of 17, whose parents or guardians were temporarily or permanently prevented from providing for them properly. Having received a child into care the Council was required to "further his best interests and afford him opportunity for the proper development of his character and abilities".
The Avondale Project was a pilot scheme to attach an adviser or "counsellor" to schools to advise pupils in their last year of attendance and to maintain contact with them during their first years at work. It commenced at Avondale Park School, Notting Hill before being extended to other schools.
The Legal and Parliamentary Department of the London County Council monitored bills before Parliament and considered their ramifications for the work of the LCC. They also prepared petitions opposing or supporting bills and put forward proposals for legislation to be put forward by the LCC.
The term 'public control', as used in the Council's organisation, embraced various services of a regulative character, mostly exercised by some form of licensing control. Largely unobtrusive in their operation, and producing no spectacular effects, they were all carried out in the public interest and, in some respects, for the protection of the public or certain sections of it.
Their administration was conditioned by trends in the legislative provisions under which they were operated, by shifts and changes in social usages, and by the development of the Council's policies towards the matters to which they related.
Although the animal population of the county dwindled to a very small figure as the urbanisation and growth of London continued, it continued to be necessary for the Council to employ two lay inspectors of animal diseases, who were principally concerned with the very large number of animals coming into London by road and rail, mostly for slaughter. Circuses and other entertainments in London were regularly visited when performing animals were exhibited. This inspection was to ensure that the exhibition and training of the animals was not accompanied by cruelty. The Council arranged for veterinary surgeons to visit riding stables in London annually to report on the conditions of the horses kept. In 1963 there were nineteen riding establishments in London and a total of about 140 horses let out on hire.
The term 'public control', as used in the Council's organisation, embraced various services of a regulative character, mostly exercised by some form of licensing control. Largely unobtrusive in their operation, and producing no spectacular effects, they were all carried out in the public interest and, in some respects, for the protection of the public or certain sections of it.
Their administration was conditioned by trends in the legislative provisions under which they were operated, by shifts and changes in social usages, and by the development of the Council's policies towards the matters to which they related.
War charities and charities for the blind were not allowed to make any appeal to the public for donations or subscriptions in money or in kind unless they were registered by a local authority. The requirement to register was extended in 1948 to all charities for disabled persons. Registered charities had to comply with certain statutory provisions designed to promote good management.
In 1963 there were registered with the Council 87 war charities and 103 charities for the disabled. Some were small charities operating in a particular district of London, others were large national organisations whose administrative offices happened to be in London.
The London County Council assumed responsibility for the general hospitals formerly maintained by the Boards of Guardians and the Special hospitals and institutions formerly maintained by the Metropolitan Asylums Board with effect from 1 April 1930. These hospitals needed much work to modernise, equip and staff them adequately. The Council made great improvements in hospital accommodation and staffing standards. The nursing service had been improved, medical schools established, and a laboratory service built up. These functions were transferred to the Regional Hospitals Boards and Hospital Management Committees under the National Health Service Acts with effect from 5 July 1948. The Council assisted by providing services of supply, engineering and finance for several months after the transfer, until Council officers could be absorbed into the new organisation.
There was also a transfer from the City and the boroughs to the London County Council of health services including maternity and child welfare, health visiting, home help, vaccination and immunisation, and the care of those with tuberculosis. The Council took over 4,843 lay and professional staff, 70 freehold premises, and 252 tenancy arrangements, as well as adding new services such as home nursing, the provision of health centres and the expansion of the ambulance service. The County was divided into nine divisions, each with a divisional health committee, a divisional medical officer, a nursing officer and an administrative officer.
Until the Mental Health Act, 1959, the Council's mental health services were administered centrally from hte County Hall. From October 1960 responsibility for the day-to-day operation of mental health services was delegated to the nine divisional health committees, while other aspects of the work remained under direct central control, for example the provision of hostels and day centres, the medical examination of mentally subnormal persons, the obtaining of hospital beds for them, and the giving of medical evidence to courts and tribunals. Administration of training centres passed to the divisional medical officers; but planning, the formulation of policy, general control over admissions, the allocation of industrial work to centres, and the arranging of transport and home teaching were retained as central responsibilities.
The Common Lodging Houses Act 1851 required common lodging houses in London to be registered with the Metropolitan Police and contained many provisions for their regulation. In 1894, the registration powers of the police were transferred to the London County Council by a provisional order of the Local Government Board. The registers maintained by the Metropolitan Police between 1851 and 1894 were subsequently transferred to the Council. The Merchant Shipping Act 1894 gave permissive powers to local authorities to regulate seamen's lodging houses and by-laws made by the Council in 1901 prescribed general standards in this regard and certain additional requirements for houses for which a licence was granted. Licensing was, however, optional and few keepers sought a licence. In 1909 the Council obtained powers requiring the compulsory licensing of seamen's lodging houses which came into effect the following year. In 1933 the Council's functions in relation to both common lodging houses and seamen's lodging houses were transferred to the metropolitan borough councils.
In 1889, the London County Council took over from the Justices the function of licensing slaughterhouses, knackers yards and cowhouses under Section 93 of the Metropolis Management Amendment Act, 1862. In 1933, these powers were transferred to the Metropolitan Borough Councils.
The Infant Life Protection Act 1872 was an early attempt to make some provisions for the provision of neglected or 'deprived' children outside the ambit of the Poor Law or the Judiciary. It required foster-parents receiving more than one infant for maintenance in return for money payments to register their houses with the local authority (in London, the Metropolitan Board of Works). The duty of keeping a register passed to the London County Council in 1889 and the Infant Life Protection Act 1897 made it the duty of the authority to enforce the Act. Relatives and guardians of children, hospitals, convalescent homes or institutions 'established for the protection and care of infants and conducted in good faith' were exempted from the provisions of both Acts as well as persons maintaining children under any Act for the relief of the poor. So far as the Council was concerned, the Public Control Committee was responsible for the administration of the Acts and the register was kept by, and the inspectors, served in the Public Control Department. This remained the case after the passing of the Children Act 1908, which extended control to one-child foster houses but, from 1 April 1917, the work was transferred to the Public Health Committee and Department. In the early nineteen-twenties, as an experiment, the work was undertaken by the Lewisham and Greenwich Borough Councils in their areas but, after consultation with the Metropolitan Boroughs Standing Joint Committee, it was decided not to extend or continue the delegation. By the order of the Secretary of State, however, the metropolitan boroughs were later charged with these functions as from 1 April 1933 and the transfer of responsibility was confirmed by the Public Health (London) Act, 1936.
Part IV of the London County Council (General Powers) Act 1915 required lying-in homes to be registered with the Council and gave the Council powers of inspection and regulation which were extended by Part IV of the London County Council (General Powers) Act 1921. The Nursing Homes Registration Act 1927 extended control to nursing homes, as well as lying-in homes. These functions were transferred to the London Boroughs on 1st April 1965.
These plans were presented to the Council and its Committees, but were too large to be included in the bound volumes of presented papers. Instead they were kept separately in rolls which were placed in drums labelled with the name of the Committee to which they were presented. Index cards were prepared listing the outsize plans presented to each Committee with a reference to the drum in which they were stored. In the present list reference numbers have been assigned to each roll of plans. Otherwise this list, with the exception of the plans presented to the Bridges Committee, is in most cases merely a copy of the index cards which have been checked against the original rolls of plans. These plans must always be related to the minutes with which they are associated. They are not necessarily the finished approved drawings of any project, but are rather the drawings before the Committee at a specific meeting.
Following the heavy enemy air raids of September 1940, the Council set up the Londoners' Meals Service as a separate Department with its own Chief Officer to control emergency feeding centres and to provide school meals for non-evacuated children in need of them. As the scale of air raid attacks diminished, the service developed into a network of restaurants and the Civic Restaurants Act, 1947 empowered local authorities to continue the provision of this service under normal peace-time conditions provided it was not run at a loss. In 1948, the Department was renamed Restaurants and Catering Deptartment.
From 1941, it had assumed the additional responsibility for canteens at ambulance and civil defence establishments and it also later undertook the catering arrangements at County Hall and other large offices of the Council.
On 1 June 1954, the Council decided to transfer to the Chief Officer of Supplies the responsibility for civic restaurants and the Restaurants and Catering Department was re-designated the School Meals and Catering Department, with responsibility solely for school meals and catering at staff restaurants in Council offices, etc. On 19 October 1954 the Council was informed that, as its civic restaurant service was not paying its way, the Minister of Food had decided upon its discontinuance and all such restaurants were closed by the end of February 1955.
From the end of 1959, the Department took over additionally the work and assets of the Invalid Meals for London organisation (formerly Invalid Kitchens of London), the company being finally dissolved in November 1964.
In 1948 the poor law, after an existence of almost 350 years, was abolished. Those among the poor whose financial needs were not met by national insurance were given material help by the National Assistance Board. Local authorities were delegated some responsibilities by the Board, for example the provision of reception centres for the temporary accommodation of vagrants and persons without a settled way of life. In addition the National Assistance Act, 1948, required local authorities to make residential provision for the blind, disabled, elderly and infirm. However, under the Act these services were not to be provided free as a kind of official charity. Persons receiving help were to pay according to their means, even if their means were no more than a retirement pension. The Council's responsibilities in all this related therefore to the provision of establishments of various kinds. At the end of the Second World War there were public assistance institutions (formerly the old workhouses), casual wards (where tramps were put up for the night), three lodging houses, and, left over from wartime activities, the rest centres and rest homes. The Welfare Department was responsible for the organisation and management of the various residential homes, temporary homes and institutions for the assistance of the poor.
In 1948 the poor law, after an existence of almost 350 years, was abolished. Those among the poor whose financial needs were not met by national insurance were given material help by the National Assistance Board. Local authorities were delegated some responsibilities by the Board, for example the provision of reception centres for the temporary accommodation of vagrants and persons without a settled way of life. In addition the National Assistance Act, 1948, required local authorities to make residential provision for the blind, disabled, elderly and infirm. However, under the Act these services were not to be provided free as a kind of official charity. Persons receiving help were to pay according to their means, even if their means were no more than a retirement pension. The Council's responsibilities in all this related therefore to the provision of establishments of various kinds. At the end of the Second World War there were public assistance institutions (formerly the old workhouses), casual wards (where tramps were put up for the night), three lodging houses, and, left over from wartime activities, the rest centres and rest homes. The Welfare Department was responsible for the organisation and management of the various residential homes, temporary homes and institutions for the assistance of the poor.
The Council's welfare service for the blind included the keeping of a register of all blind persons, home-visiting, social and handicraft clubs, the teaching of handicrafts and the sale of the finished products. In 1942 a placement service was introduced finding employment for blind persons. In 1950 a non-residential rehabilitation course for the newly blind was started to help them to re-establish themselves and overcome their disability. This proved so successful that in 1959 it was extended into a full-time three month course.
Poor relief was based on the Act for the Relief of the Poor of 1601 which obliged parishes to take care of the aged and needy in their area. Parish overseers were empowered to collect a local income tax known as the poor-rate which would be put towards the relief of the poor. This evolved into the rating system, where the amount of poor-rate charged was based on the value of a person's property. Early workhouses were constructed and managed by the parish. However, this process was expensive and various schemes were devised where groups of parishes could act together and pool their resources. As early as 1647 towns were setting up 'Corporations' of parishes. An Act of 1782, promoted by Thomas Gilbert, allowed adjacent parishes to combine into Unions and provide workhouses. These were known as 'Gilbert's Unions' and were managed by a board of Guardians.
Under the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, the Poor Law Commission was given the power to unite parishes in England and Wales into Poor Law Unions. Each Union was to be administered by a local Board of Guardians. Relief was to be provided through the provision of a workhouse. An amendment to the 1834 Act allowed already existing 'Gilbert's Unions' or Corporations of parishes to remain in existence, although they were encouraged to convert themselves into Poor Law Unions. Although there was some reorganisation of union boundaries, particularly in London, the majority of Unions created under the 1834 Act remained in operation until 1930. In March 1930 a new Local Government Bill abolished the Poor Law Unions and the Board of Guardians. Responsibility for their institutions passed to Public Assistance Committees managed by the county councils - in the metropolis either the London County Council or the Middlesex County Council.
The Lewisham Poor Law Union was formed in 1836, constituting parishes of Lewisham, Charlton, Eltham, Mottingham, Kidbrooke, Lee and Plumstead. In 1868 the parishes of Charlton, Kidbrooke and Plumstead separated to become part of the Woolwich Union; in 1887 the parish of Mottingham separated to become part of the Bromley Union; and in 1905 the parishes of Lee and Lewisham united and became known as the Parish of Lewisham. The Union at first decided to continue using the existing workhouse on Lewisham High Street, which had been constructed in 1817. The workhouse was expanded over time as adjacent land was acquired and later became Lewisham Hospital.
Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.
The Dalston Methodist Church, Mayfield Road, was built by Wesleyan Methodists in 1865 and belonged to the Islington circuit. It transferred to the Mildmay Park circuit in 1899, and then transferred to the London Central Mission Circuit in 1905. The Minister's wife was killed when a flying bomb seriously damaged the manse [minister's residence] and damaged the church in January 1945. A new church was built on the same site in 1960, but was known as Richmond Road Church. The Church transferred to London Mission (Hackney and Clapton) Circuit in 1960.
Holly Park Methodist Church, Crouch Hill, was founded in 1875, although a permament hall was not built until 1882. The Weston Park Mission was begun by the Holly Park Church although it was later taken over by the Middle Lane Church. The Holly Park Methodist Church Hall is now used by the Holly Park Montessori School.
Muswell Hill Wesleyan Methodist church occupied a wooden building at the foot of the Avenue, Wood Green, in 1898 and moved to the corner of Colney Hatch Lane and Alexandra Park Road in 1899. The building is of red brick with stone dressings, in a Gothic style, and has a corner turret terminating in an octagonal lantern.
Middle Lane Wesleyan Methodist church was founded in 1873, with help from the new Highgate circuit. The iron Trinity church in Hornsey High Street was temporarily used until the opening of a brick building at the corner of Middle Lane and Lightfoot Road in 1886. It seated 1,000 but was demolished in 1975 and replaced by one of red brick and concrete, seating 200.
Cedars Lodge was an old people's home administered by the London County Council Welfare Department, and situated in Cedars Road, Clapham. It was transferred to Southwark Council in 1965 and closed down in 1969.
Lower Richmond Road runs from Putney High Street in Putney to Rocks Lane in Barnes Common.
Under the London Government Act of 1899 the Civil Parish of Putney became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth. A metropolitan borough was a subdivision of the London County Council, which was itself further divided into civil parishes. A civil parish was responsible for certain local administrative functions such as rating and local amenities.
The first organised congregationalism in the area covered by the Southern Province (the area south of the River Thames) was the Surrey Mission formed in 1797 by James Bowden of Tooting, established to organise the visits of ministers to villages with the object of teaching the Gospel. The mission was not however purely congregational and increasingly there was a need for the development of organised congregationalism in its own right.
The Surrey Congregational Union was formed in 1863 'to promote the union and efficiency of the churches, and the spread of evangelical religion, to advance the principals of Nonconformity and to uphold and enlarge civil and religious freedom'. Main work was aiding smaller churches and fostering new congregations in the districts. It included the London geographical area of the ancient county of Surrey up to River Thames. With the extension of the London Congregational Union, churches belonged to both Unions until 1946 when a line of demarcation was agreed and the London Union was extended south. The Surrey Union formed part of the Southern Province of the Congregational Union of England and Wales.
In 1972 the United Reformed Church (URC) was formed following the union of the Presbyterian Church of England and the Congregational Church of England and Wales. The URC is divided into 13 Synods or Provinces and throughout England, Scotland and Wales there are around 1750 URC congregations served by some 1100 ministers, both men and women. The Church is governed through democratic Councils. The Synods give practical help to churches in legal and property matters, encourage training, discuss matters of faith and policy and provide links to Assembly. Each has a Moderator who is a minister with a pastoral and leadership ministry within each Synod Province. The Southern Province Trust was formed in 1981. In 2003, the Registered Office for the Southern Province was based at the Synod Office, Croydon and covered 7 districts and 181 churches.