The church of Saint John of Wapping was constructed in 1617 as a chapel of ease to Saint Mary, Whitechapel (P93/MRY1). It was assigned a separate parish in 1694. The building was replaced in 1756-60 on a site opposite the old church. Most of the building was destroyed during the Second World War; however, the tower survived and was restored. The parish was united with Saint Peter, London Docks (P93/PET2).
The church of Saint Jude was established in 1848. The inspirational clergyman Samuel Augustus Barnett worked there after asking the Bishop of London to assign him to the worst part of the diocese. The population of the area was considered to be mainly criminals. Barnett was instrumental in the passing of the Artisan's Dwelling Act of 1875. This allowed for slum clearance and the setting up of minimum standards of construction. He was also involved in the Children's Holiday Fund and the formation of the Youth Hostels Association. In 1923 the parish was united with that of Saint Mary Whitechapel (P93/MRY1).
Saint Luke's originated in services held at the school of Saint Paul's, Bow Common, from 1865. The school was situated to the south of the parish of Holy Trinity, Tredegar Square, in a poor area full of houses for the working classes. Construction of a permanent church began in 1868 and consecration took place in October 1869. The architect was A.W.Blomfield.
During the Second World War, Saint Luke's was used by the congregations of two bombed churches: Saint Paul's, Bow Common (P93/PAU1) and Saint John's, Halley Street (P93/JN1). The parish was amalgamated with Saint Paul, Bow Common, in July 1951. From July 1944 to July 1951 the baptismal registers of Saint Luke's include entries for Saint Paul's, the Saint Luke's baptismal registers being continued in use for the united parish from July 1951 to July 1958. From July 1951 to July 1958 the marriage registers of Saint Luke's were used for the united parish. All the registers from Saint Luke's were closed in July 1958 when the congregation of the united parish of Saint Paul, Bow Common, and Saint Luke. Burdett Road, abandoned Saint Luke's church for the mission church of Saint Barnabas, which belonged originally to Saint Paul's parish. Saint Luke's church was demolished in 1961.
Saint Mark's was consecrated in May 1839. It was designed by architects T.D. Wyatt and D. Brandon, paid for by the Metropolitan Church Fund. The parish was assigned in 1841, taken from part of the parish of Saint Mary's Whitechapel (P93/MRY1). The area served by the church was very poor and included a large number of foreign immigrants who were not Christians. The church struggled to stay open. In 1926 the parish was united with Saint Paul's, Dock Street (P93/PAU2), and the church was demolished a year later.
The parish of Saint Mary, Stepney, was originally part of Christ Church, Watney Street (P93/CTC2). It was situated in a very poor slum area, known as Sun Tavern Fields or No Man's Land. The vicar of Christ Church, William Quickett had managed to get schools opened in 1849 and on the same day the foundation stone of a new church was laid by Lord Hadda. The church was consecrated by the Bishop of Winchester on May 22nd 1850. The dedication to Saint Mary was made at Lord Hadda's request as a tribute to his wife. The church was also known as Saint Mary, Johnson Street, Saint George in the East.
Saint Paul's was constructed as a chapel of ease to the church of Saint Dunstan (P93/DUN). It was built on land leased from the Dean of Saint Paul's Cathedral which influenced the dedication to Saint Paul. It became a parish in 1669. The present building was constructed in 1817-1820. More than 75 sea captains' wives lie buried in the churchyard and over 175 sea captains were married in the church in the period 1730-1790.
Saint Peter's was consecrated in August 1838. The building was designed by Edwin Blore. In 1951 the parish merged with Saint Benet, Mile End Road (P93/BEN) and Saint Peter's became the parish church of the united parish. However, it subsequently appears to have closed and the building converted to residential use.
A temporary iron church was established on Manor Road in 1876. A parish was assigned to the church in 1883 out of parts of the parishes of Saint Mary, Stoke Newington and Saint Thomas, Upper Clapton and a stone church was constructed in 1884, designed by A W Blomfield and seating 1,400.
From: 'Stoke Newington: Churches', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 204-211.
Saint Faith's originated in a mission church established in 1868. A district was assigned to the church in 1873, and in the same year a permanent church building was constructed. The church was badly damaged in 1944. The parish of Saint Faith was united with Saint Matthias by Order in Council dated 13 December 1951 to form the parish of Saint Faith with Saint Matthias. The church of Saint Faith was subsequently closed and demolished, and Saint Matthias Church became the parish church of the united parish. The Saint Faith register of baptisms was used as the register of baptisms for the united parish.
From: 'Stoke Newington: Churches', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 204-211.
The origins of the parish of Stoke Newington are uncertain. Although the manor of 'Neutone' is mentioned in Domesday Book as belonging to the canons of Saint Paul's, it is not known whether there was a church there at that time. The parish now has two churches, the older of which is the result of the rebuilding in 1563 of an earlier church of unknown date; it now serves as a chapel of ease, having been superseded with the consecration in 1858 of a new parish church, built to accommodate an expanding congregation.
The manor of Stoke Newington, including the glebe and the patronage of the rectory, was a prebend of Saint Paul's Cathedral in the gift of the Bishop of London. Until the mid-sixteenth century, the lordship of the manor was held directly by the prebendary; thereafter, it was held by laymen as lessees of the prebendary. Legislation early in the nineteenth century allowed the granting of building leases and sub-leases, and the enfranchisement of copyhold property. Subsequently, as a result of an act of 1840 (3 &4 Vict. cap.113), the interest in the prebendal manor became vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and the patronage of the rectory passed from the prebendary to the Bishop of London. At about this time, the Bishop also became ordinary of the parish, as the peculiar jurisdiction of the Dean and Chapter of Saint Paul's over it came to an end.
All Saints was founded in 1868. Construction was complete by 1874. The church was designed by architect George Street and designers Sir Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, who designed the stained glass windows. After Saint Mary's, Putney (P95/MRY1) was damaged in an arson attack in 1973, All Saints became the main church in the parish. Since 2003 the parish of Putney has been a Team Ministry, and Saint Mary's and All Saints operate separately within the parish.
For more information see: http://www.allsaintsputney.co.uk/ (accessed May 2010).
All Saints was established as a chapel of ease to the church of Saint Leonard, Streatham (P95/LEN). It was constructed on land donated by Elizabeth Drew in 1889. Baptisms began in 1897. Marriages were allowed during the Second World War while Saint Leonard's was closed due to bomb damage. After 1945 All Saints was used by Saint Anselm's church (P95/ANS) which had been closed following bomb damage. All Saints was closed in November 1953 and the building was sold to a Pentecostal congregation.
The parish of Saint Andrew, Lower Streatham, was formed in 1887. The church building was constructed in the previous year, built of red brick in a 15th-century style.
From: 'Parishes: Streatham', A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4 (1912), pp. 92-102.
The parish of Christ Church was formed from the ancient parish of Saint Leonard Streatham (P95/LEN), the first of her 13 daughter churches. The architect was James William Wild and the style Italian basilican with different coloured bricks being used to create patterns in the external brickwork. The foundation stone was laid on the 11 August 1840. Consecration by the Lord Bishop of Winchester took place on Friday 19 November 1841. The church suffered war damage on 10 September 1940 when nearly all the stained glass windows were broken and the brick and stonework of the church and boundary walls were damaged by bomb splinters, the vicarage was made uninhabitable.
Saint John the Evangelist, Clapham Road, was designed by Thomas Marsh Nelson and built in 1842. It was originally a chapel of ease for Holy Trinity Church (P95/TRI1). The parish has been merged with Christ Church (P95/CTC2) to form the parish of Christ Church and Saint John.
The present church was constructed in 1935. It is part of the Deanery of Wandsworth; the Archdeaconry of Wandsworth; and the Episcopal Area of Kingston.
Saint Michael and All Angels was constructed between 1897 and 1905 to designs by architect E. W. Mountford. A district chapelry was assigned in 1898.
The church of Saint Paul, Furzedown, was constructed by 1926, in which year it was consecrated. It is in the Archdeaconry of Wandsworth and the Deanery of Tooting.
The local parishes appear to have agreed in 1927 to work together for the formation of a new parish in Streatham Vale from sections of the parishes of Immanuel Streatham, Saint Andrew, Lower Streatham, Saint Mark, Mitcham, and Saint Barnabus Mitcham. A diocesan missioner, C.P. Turton, was appointed in July 1928 and services were held in what was to be the parish hall of the new parish, which had been erected in Churchmore Road, in the parish of Saint Andrew. For a time, the projected new parish was known unofficially as Saint Luke, Streatham Vale, but in May 1930, it was formally constituted as the parish of the Holy Redeemer, Streatham Vale. The church was consecrated on 5 March 1932.
Saint Stephen's Church, Manfred Road, Wandsworth (built 1881), established a mission church on Putney Bridge Road consisting of a church with a hall and mission rooms.
The church of Saint Michael and All Angels was constructed in 1878 to the designs of J.W. Walters. A nave was added in 1889, designed by William Butterfield; and further extensions were added in 1954. The parish has been merged with Saint Mary Magdalene (P97/MRY) to form the parish of Saint Mary Magdalene with Saint Michael and All Angels. The church remains open and in use.
Brentford Magistrates' Court:
Brentford Magistrates Court, situated in Market Place, Brentford High Street, was originally opened in 1850 as a combined Town Hall and Police Court. A second Court was added in 1891 and the front extensively rebuilt in 1929. Ealing Magistrates Court, Green Man Lane, Ealing was built in 1914-1915, to a design commissioned by the Middlesex County Council.
History:
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.
Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.
In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.
Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.
The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.
In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.
The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.
Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.
Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.
The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.
Clerkenwell Magistrates' Court:
Clerkenwell Police Court was originally established in Hatton Garden, St Andrew Holborn, under the Act of 1792. It was transferred to Bagnigge Wells Road (renamed King's Cross Road in 1863) in approximately 1841. Part of the district it served was transferred to the newly established Dalston Police Court circa 1888.
Historical information:
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.
Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.
In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.
Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.
The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.
In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.
The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.
Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.
Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.
The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.
Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.
In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.
Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.
The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.
In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.
The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.
Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.
Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.
The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.
Finsbury Petty Sessions Division:
Finsbury was the name given to one of the administrative divisions of the ancient county of Middlesex included within Ossulston Hundred. It included the parishes of Islington, Clerkenwell, St Luke Old Street, St Sepulchre, Hornsey, Finchley, Friern Barnet, Stoke Newington, and the Liberty of Glasshouse Yard.
In 1853 Stoke Newington was transferred to the Edmonton Division and became itself a division in 1890. On 17 October 1890 Hornsey, Finchley, and Friern Barnet were transferred to the new Highgate division within the administrative county of Middlesex.
On 1 July 1956 the Finsbury Division ceased to exist and was incorporated within the newly formed New River Petty Sessional Division.
History of Petty Sessions:
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.
Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.
In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.
Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.
The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.
In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.
The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.
Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.
Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.
The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.
Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.
In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.
Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.
The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.
In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.
The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.
Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.
Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.
The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.
Marlborough Street court was one of the seven Public Offices established in 1792. It has the distinction of being the only Metropolitan Police Court to remain on its original site, 21 Great Marlborough Street, Westminster.
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.
Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.
In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.
Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.
The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.
In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.
The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.
Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.
Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.
The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.
Stoke Newington Magistrates Court:
For the purposes of petty sessional business, Stoke Newington parish fell within the Finsbury Division until 1853. In that year it was transferred to Edmonton Division. In April 1890, with the formation of the county of London within which Stoke Newington was situated, it became a petty sessional division in its own right.
History of magistrates courts:
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.
Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.
In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.
Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.
The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.
In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.
The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.
Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.
Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.
The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.
South Western Magistrates Court:
According to the London Post Office Directory of 1950, the South Western Magistrates Court was situated at Daventry House, 217 Balham High Road, SW17. Its jurisdiction covered "the space included within the following boundary ... from a point in the middle of the roadway on Vauxhall bridge, at the middle of the river Thames, south-eastward along the middle of that roadway and of Vauxhall Bridge rd., Harleyford rd., the roadway on the south side of Kennington Oval, Harleyford St., Camberwell New rd., Brixton rd., Brixton hill, Streatham hill, and of Streatham High rd. to the boundary of the County of London; thence southward and westward along the said County boundary, by Lambeth cemetery, Garratt pk. and Beverley brook, then northward and eastward along the said County boundary to the middle of the river Thames west of Fulham palace; thence eastward along the middle of the river Thames to the aforementioned point in the middle of the river Thames to the aforementioned point in the middle of the roadway of Vauxhall bridge".
History of magistrates courts:
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.
Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.
In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.
Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.
The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.
In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.
The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.
Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.
Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.
The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.
Crystal Palace was constructed in 1851 in Hyde Park, to house the Great Exhibition. After the Exhbition it was dismantled and re-erected in Sydenham where it was used as an amusement park, holding exhbitions, concerts, theatrical productions, firework displays and sports events. It had a small zoo, fountains and a statue park. The Palace burned down in 1936 and was destroyed.
The Queen Adelaide Fund was established in 1835 by Col. Clitherow, Chairman of the Committee of Visitors for Hanwell Asylum, for the assistance of patients discharged cured from Hanwell Asylum in Middlesex, "to enable them to make a fresh start in life". It had come to the attention of the chairman of the Asylum, Colonel James Clitherow, that when cured patients were discharged from the asylum many of them were forced to enter the workhouse as their furniture, tools and even clothes had been sold to support their families while they were being treated. The Fund provided such patients with a grant to enable them to resume their jobs and reunite their families. The fund was supported by Queen Adelaide, consort of William IV, who was also a patron of the Hanwell Asylum. She was the first subscriber to the Fund, donating £100 as well as her name.
The Fund was expanded in 1840 and from 1852 it assisted and administered the similar Queen Victoria Fund for Colney Hatch Asylum patients. In 1889 the Queen Victoria Fund was formally consolidated into the Queen Adelaide Fund.
On the formation of the Middlesex County Council and London County Council, two Trustees were appointed from the Councillors of each County Council. However, the administrative and secretarial staff continued to be supplied by the Asylum, and later by Middlesex County Council. The Clerk to the Committee for Hanwell Asylum was originally also Clerk to the Trustees of the Queen Adelaide Fund, but later this position was taken by the Clerk of the Middlesex County Council.
This collection of photographs had its origins in the Greater London Council (GLC) Architect's Department.
The first assessments of 1692-1693 were made under the terms of an "Act for granting to their Majesties an aid of four shillings in the pound for one year for carrying on a vigorous war against France" [4W and M c.1, 1692/3]. The Act specfied that real estate and personal property, that is buildings and moveable property as well as land, were to be taxed. It nominated, for each borough and county in England and Wales, the local commissioners who were to supervise the assessments and local collection.
The tax was voted annually, usually in the spring, until 1798 when it was transformed into a permanent tax, but was redeemable on a payment of a lump sum. It was levied on a number of different bases: as a pound rate between 1693 and 1696, as a four shillings assessment supplemented by a poll tax in 1697 and, from 1698-1798, on the system whereby each county or borough was given a fixed sum to collect. In 1949 redemption became compulsory on property changing hands and in 1963 all unredeemed land tax was abolished.
The assessors for each county are listed in the annual Acts of Parliament, until 1798. The sums collected for the counties of London, and Middlesex (and the City of Westminster) appear, until at least 1760, to have been passed to the Chamber of London and subsequently to the Exchequer.
The hundred of Gore comprised the parishes of Edgware, Hendon, Kingsbury, Little Stanmore, Great Stanmore, Harrow and Pinner. The hundred of Spelthorne included Ashford, East Bedfont, Feltham, Hampton, Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, and Teddington.
The origins of the Justices of the Peace lie in the temporary appointments of 'conservators' or 'keepers' of the peace made at various times of unrest between the late twelfth century and the fourteenth century. In 1361 the 'Custodis Pacis' were merged with the Justices of Labourers, and given the title Justices of the Peace and a commission (see WJP). The Commission (of the Peace) gave them the power to try offences in their courts of Quarter Sessions, appointed them to conserve the peace (within a stated area), and to enquire on the oaths of "good and lawfull men" into "all manner of poisonings, enchantments, forestallings, disturbances, abuses of weights and measures" and many other things, and to "chastise and punish" anyone who had offended against laws made in order to keep the peace.
The justices were helped in their work by parish and court officials, and most particularly by the Clerk of the Peace who was responsible for the everyday administration off the court as well as maintaining a record of its work.
The cases which the justices originally dealt with were offences which could not be dealt with by the manorial court (misdemeanours), but which were less serious than those which went to the Assize Judges (felonies). Misdemeanours included breaches of the peace - assault, rioting, defamation, minor theft, vagrancy, lewd and disorderly behaviour, and offences against the licensing laws.
In 1388 a statute laid down that the court sessions should meet four times a year (hence quarter sessions): Epiphany, Easter, Trinity (midsummer) and Michaelmas (autumn) - two or more justices (one at least from the quorum) were to decide exactly where and when. The Middlesex justices were also empowered to try the more serious cases (including those from Westminster) under the Commissions of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol Delivery normally given to the Assize Judges, but these cases were heard at the Old Bailey Sessions House (see classes MJ/GB, OB).
The judicial process began even before the sessions opened with examinations being taken by the magistrates once the crime had been reported by the constable, injured party or a common informant. The accused could then be bailed to keep the peace or to appear at the next sessions, be remanded in gaol before a trial, or acquitted. Once the sessions had opened there was still an examination by a Grand Jury as to whether there was a case to answer, before the trial proper could get underway.
During the sixteenth century the work of the Quarter Sessions and the justices was extended to include administrative functions for the counties. These were wide ranging and included maintenance of structures such as bridges, gaols and asylums, to regulating weights, measures, prices and wages, and, probably one of their biggest tasks, enforcing the Poor Law. The dependence of the justices on officials like the sheriff (High Bailiff in Westminster), the constables, and the Clerk of the Peace to help them carry out their functions (judicial and administrative) cannot be underestimated. As their workload grew, particularly during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, more help was needed and there was an increase in the number of officers appointed for specific tasks, and committees for specific purposes were set up.
Another solution for dealing with increased judicial business was (by an Act of Parliament passed in 1819) to allow the justices to divide in order that two courts could sit simultaneously (see MJ/SB/B and MJ/SB/C). The Middlesex Criminal Justice Act of 1844 decreed that there should be at least two Sessions of the Peace each month, and also that a salaried assistant judge (a barrister of at least ten years experience in the Middlesex Commission) should be appointed. The bulk of the administrative work was carried out on one specific day during the court's sitting known as the County Day; apart from relevant records in the main sessions series' (WJ/O, WJ/SP, MJ/SP), there are uncatalogued records in the class WA. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was clear that the Quarter Session's structure was unable to cope with the administrative demands on it, and it lost a lot of functions to bodies set up specifically to deal with particular areas - the most important of these was the Poor Law, which was reformed in 1834. By the end of the century and the passing of the Local Government Act in 1889, which established county councils, the sessions had lost all their administrative functions. The judicial role of the Quarter Sessions existed until 1971, when with the Assize courts they were replaced by the Crown Courts.
Alongside the aforementioned functions of the Quarter Sessions, was its role as the place of the registration and deposit of official non-sessions records, which needed to be certified and available for inspection (see WR). Much of the routine judicial and administrative work was carried out by small groups of justices during the period covered by the existing records. This was done outside the main court sittings by the justices in their local areas - usually within a Hundred division. Special Sessions were held for purposes such as licensing alehouses (Brewster Sessions), or to organise the repair of the highways. More common were the meetings of one or two justices in what became known as petty sessions and which dealt with issues such as rating, granting of licences, the appointment of parish officers, and the examination of witnesses and suspects prior to the start of the next sessions. Increasingly here the justices also began to determine cases involving minor offences and exercise 'summary jurisdiction'. The inconvenience of using their own homes for this work, and the need for the public to know where magistrates would be available led to the setting up of a 'public office'. The first was in Bow Street, Westminster from about 1727. Following this example, in 1763 Middlesex set up three such offices in the divisions of Ossulstone Hundred nearest to the centre of London. Here two (paid - stipendary) justices would sit each day on an hourly rota basis. It was not until 1792 that the system was officially established by an Act of Parliament, when seven more public offices were set up in Westminster and Middlesex. The Bow Street office, (under John Fielding, and his brother Henry, the novelist, both magistrates for Westminster), had introduced paid constables as early as 1756, and each new public office from 1792 had six constables of their own; these were the forerunners of the Metropolitan Police as introduced by an Act of 1829. In 1828 all courts of Quarter Sessions were allowed to create within each county, divisions for petty sessions, thus formalising any earlier informal arrangements. Although there are occasional references to early petty and special session meetings in the main records (see WJ and MJ), the class of records concerned with such sessions (MSJ) covers mainly the nineteenth century.
The City of Westminster covered an area from Marylebone and Paddington in the north to Pimlico in the south, from Hyde Park and Knightsbridge in the west, to Covent Garden and Soho in the east. The Commission of the Peace to hold separate sessions to Middlesex was first issued in 1618, although the reasoning is unclear; perhaps the fact that Westminster became a city in 1540, and set up a Court of Burgesses in 1585 to deal with its minor cases and moral offences, may indicate a growing feeling of civic consciousness at this time. The Westminster sessions lasted until 1844, when they again became part of the Middlesex courts' sittings, held "by adjournment" several days after the end of the latter's own, when the court literally adjourned or moved to the Westminster sessions house. Thus the Westminster records eventually came into custody of Middlesex.
Prior to 1752 the Westminster sessions met in the Town Court House near Westminster Hall; thereafter in "a building of great antiquity" demolished at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In 1805 the Westminster Guildhall was built in Broad Sanctary, and enlarged in 1888 and 1889 before the Middlesex sessions moved there. Lack of space prompted the building next door of the Middlesex Guildhall in 1913.
The origins of the Justices of the Peace lie in the temporary appointments of 'conservators' or 'keepers' of the peace made at various times of unrest between the late twelfth century and the fourteenth century. In 1361 the 'Custodis Pacis' were merged with the Justices of Labourers, and given the title Justices of the Peace and a commission (see WJP).
The Commission (of the Peace) gave them the power to try offences in their courts of Quarter Sessions, appointed them to conserve the peace (within a stated area), and to enquire on the oaths of "good and lawfull men" into "all manner of poisonings, enchantments, forestallings, disturbances, abuses of weights and measures" and many other things, and to "chastise and punish" anyone who had offended against laws made in order to keep the peace.
The cases which the justices originally dealt with were offences which could not be dealt with by the manorial court (misdemeanours), but which were less serious than those which went to the Assize Judges (felonies). Misdemeanours included breaches of the peace - assault, rioting, defamation, minor theft, vagrancy, lewd and disorderly behaviour, and offences against the licensing laws.
In 1388 a statute laid down that the court sessions should meet four times a year (hence quarter sessions): Epiphany, Easter, Trinity (midsummer) and Michaelmas (autumn) - two or more justices (one at least from the quorum) were to decide exactly where and when. The Middlesex justices were also empowered to try the more serious cases (including those from Westminster) under the Commissions of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol Delivery normally given to the Assize Judges, but these cases were heard at the Old Bailey Sessions House (see classes MJ/GB, OB).
The judicial process began even before the sessions opened with examinations being taken by the magistrates once the crime had been reported by the constable, injured party or a common informant. The accused could then be bailed to keep the peace or to appear at the next sessions, be remanded in gaol before a trial, or acquitted. Once the sessions had opened there was still an examination by a Grand Jury as to whether there was a case to answer, before the trial proper could get underway.
During the sixteenth century the work of the Quarter Sessions and the justices was extended to include administrative functions for the counties. These were wide ranging and included maintenance of structures such as bridges, gaols and asylums, to regulating weights, measures, prices and wages, and, probably one of their biggest tasks, enforcing the Poor Law. The dependence of the justices on officials like the sheriff (High Bailiff in Westminster), the constables, and the Clerk of the Peace to help them carry out their functions (judicial and administrative) cannot be underestimated. As their workload grew, particularly during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, more help was needed and there was an increase in the number of officers appointed for specific tasks, and committees for specific purposes were set up.
Another solution for dealing with increased judicial business was (by an Act of Parliament passed in 1819) to allow the justices to divide in order that two courts could sit simultaneously (see MJ/SB/B and MJ/SB/C). The Middlesex Criminal Justice Act of 1844 decreed that there should be at least two Sessions of the Peace each month, and also that a salaried assistant judge (a barrister of at least ten years experience in the Middlesex Commission) should be appointed. The bulk of the administrative work was carried out on one specific day during the court's sitting known as the County Day; apart from relevant records in the main sessions series' (WJ/O, WJ/SP, MJ/SP), there are uncatalogued records in the class WA. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was clear that the Quarter Session's structure was unable to cope with the administrative demands on it, and it lost a lot of functions to bodies set up specifically to deal with particular areas - the most important of these was the Poor Law, which was reformed in 1834. By the end of the century and the passing of the Local Government Act in 1889, which established county councils, the sessions had lost all their administrative functions. The judicial role of the Quarter Sessions existed until 1971, when with the Assize courts they were replaced by the Crown Courts.
Alongside the aforementioned functions of the Quarter Sessions, was its role as the place of the registration and deposit of official non-sessions records, which needed to be certified and available for inspection (see WR). Much of the routine judicial and administrative work was carried out by small groups of justices during the period covered by the existing records. This was done outside the main court sittings by the justices in their local areas - usually within a Hundred division. Special Sessions were held for purposes such as licensing alehouses (Brewster Sessions), or to organise the repair of the highways. More common were the meetings of one or two justices in what became known as petty sessions and which dealt with issues such as rating, granting of licences, the appointment of parish officers, and the examination of witnesses and suspects prior to the start of the next sessions. Increasingly here the justices also began to determine cases involving minor offences and exercise 'summary jurisdiction'. The inconvenience of using their own homes for this work, and the need for the public to know where magistrates would be available led to the setting up of a 'public office'. The first was in Bow Street, Westminster from about 1727. Following this example, in 1763 Middlesex set up three such offices in the divisions of Ossulstone Hundred nearest to the centre of London. Here two (paid - stipendary) justices would sit each day on an hourly rota basis. It was not until 1792 that the system was officially established by an Act of Parliament, when seven more public offices were set up in Westminster and Middlesex. The Bow Street office, (under John Fielding, and his brother Henry, the novelist, both magistrates for Westminster), had introduced paid constables as early as 1756, and each new public office from 1792 had six constables of their own; these were the forerunners of the Metropolitan Police as introduced by an Act of 1829. In 1828 all courts of Quarter Sessions were allowed to create within each county, divisions for petty sessions, thus formalising any earlier informal arrangements. Although there are occasional references to early petty and special session meetings in the main records (see WJ and MJ), the class of records concerned with such sessions (MSJ) covers mainly the nineteenth century.
The City of Westminster covered an area from Marylebone and Paddington in the north to Pimlico in the south, from Hyde Park and Knightsbridge in the west, to Covent Garden and Soho in the east. The Commission of the Peace to hold separate sessions to Middlesex was first issued in 1618, although the reasoning is unclear; perhaps the fact that Westminster became a city in 1540, and set up a Court of Burgesses in 1585 to deal with its minor cases and moral offences, may indicate a growing feeling of civic consciousness at this time. The Westminster sessions lasted until 1844, when they again became part of the Middlesex courts' sittings, held "by adjournment" several days after the end of the latter's own, when the court literally adjourned or moved to the Westminster sessions house. Thus the Westminster records eventually came into custody of Middlesex.
Prior to 1752 the Westminster sessions met in the Town Court House near Westminster Hall; thereafter in "a building of great antiquity" demolished at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In 1805 the Westminster Guildhall was built in Broad Sanctary, and enlarged in 1888 and 1889 before the Middlesex sessions moved there. Lack of space prompted the building next door of the Middlesex Guildhall in 1913.
Until the sixteenth century prison was seen primarily as a place to remand before sentence, not as a place of punishment. From this date, houses of correction (or bridewells) were established in each county to house able-bodied vagrants, and also to reform them through the punishment of hard labour. Increasingly the justices sent petty offenders to these houses following their trials, and the overcrowding and poor conditions became notorious and widespread. The Westminster Bridewell was in Howick Place until 1664, from which date it moved to Tothill Fields and became known as the Westminster House of Correction. In 1834 this prison was replaced by a building in Francis Street, which in turn closed in 1877 when the inmates were transferred to the Millbank Penitentiary. There was also a prison in the Gatehouse of Westminster Abbey, at the western end of Tothill Street. Built in 1370 it had two gaols - one for clerics, and one for lay offenders, and was demolished in 1776-1777.
The Department of Education and Science was created in 1964. These plans were created by the Department and its predecessors in the course of their work.
Community Health Councils were established in England and Wales in 1974 "to represent the interests in the health service of the public in its district" (National Health Service Reorganisation Act, 1973). Often referred to as 'the patient’s voice in the NHS', each Community Health Council (CHC) served the public and patients in its local area by representing their interests to National Health Service (NHS) authorities and by monitoring the provision of health services to their communities.
CHCs were independent statutory bodies with certain legal powers. CHCs were entitled to receive information about local health services, to be consulted about changes to health service provision, and to carry out monitoring visits to NHS facilities. They also had the power to refer decisions about proposed closures of NHS facilities to the Secretary of State for Health. For this reason, CHCs were sometimes known as the ‘watchdogs’ of the NHS. The co-ordinated monitoring of waiting times in Accident and Emergency departments led to ‘Casualty Watch’ which gained national press coverage. Locally, many CHCs represented patients’ views by campaigning for improved quality of care and better access to NHS services, and by responding to local issues such as proposed hospital closures.
Each CHC had around 20 voluntary members from the local area. Half were appointed the local authority, a third were elected from voluntary bodies and the remainder were appointed by the Secretary of State for Health. Members met every month to six weeks and meetings were usually open to the general public. Guest speakers or guest attendees were often invited, particularly when a specific topic or issue was under discussion.
All CHCs employed a small number of paid office staff and some had shop-front offices, often on the high street, where members of the public could go for advice and information about local NHS services. CHCs published leaflets and guidance on a wide variety of topics from ‘how to find a GP’ to ‘how to make a complaint’.
Within the guiding principles and statutory duties of the legislation, CHCs developed organically in response to the needs of the communities they served and for this reason considerable variation can be found in the records of different CHCs.
Hammersmith and Fulham Community Health Council (CHC) began in 1974 as South Hammersmith Community Health Council. Members were appointed from the London Borough of Hammersmith and the London Borough of Hounslow as well as from voluntary organisations, the local authority and the regional health authority. The Council had a shop front office at 42 Fulham Palace Road.
South Hammersmith Community Health Council ceased to exist when Hammersmith and Fulham District Health Authority was created in the NHS Restructuring of 1982. A new CHC was formed to cover the area of Hammersmith and Fulham, named Hammersmith and Fulham CHC.
The Greenwich Workshop for the Blind, began as the Workshop for the Blind of Kent, opened in 1875 by Major-General PJ Bainbrigge, to provide training and employment for local blind men. The workshops were situated on Greenwich High Road, fronted by a shop in which the goods made by the blind were sold. These included household goods such as brooms, baskets, rugs and mattresses. Among the workshop's many customers were several of London's poor-law unions and hospitals, which purchased their mattresses from the shop.
The Workshop was administered by a committee until 1 April 1958 when it was taken over by the London County Council. The Council's services 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 disposal of the finished products. In 1942 the Council had established a placement service for finding employment for blind people in war work. After the war the placement service was expanded and the Council took over the administration of the Greenwich Workshop as part of this service.
The Small Pox Hospital was founded on Windmill Street, Tottenham Court Road in 1746, and was later moved to the parish of Saint Pancras on the site of the present King's Cross Station. The institution was rebuilt in c 1793-1794 when it received patients from the Cold Bath Fields Hospital in Clerkenwell, a foundation originating in Islington in 1740.
The hospital moved from King's Cross to Highgate Hill in c 1846, and from there to Clare Hall, South Minns c 1895-1899. It was acquired by the Middlesex Districts Joint Small Pox Hospital Board c 1900-1910. In May 1911, the Local Government Board made an order permitting the admission to Clare Hall of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Under a special order of the Minister of Health in 1928, the Hospital became a Middlesex County Council Institution. This came into effect on 1 April 1929 and the Joint Board was dissolved. In 1948 on creation of the National Health Service, the hospital was transferred to the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. In 1949 non-tuberculosis patients were admitted for treatment. The hospital was closed in 1975.
Lambeth Hospital had its origins in two institutions both built and administered by Lambeth Board of Guardians. These were Renfrew Road Workhouse opened in 1871 and Lambeth Infirmary, opened in 1876 on an adjoining site, but with its main entrance in Brook Drive. By 1922 the Lambeth Guardians had an excess of accommodation for the able bodied poor and too little for the sick. Consequently they amalgamated the two institutions under the control of the medical superintendent and matron of the infirmary, which was renamed Lambeth Hospital. The Hospital now provided the following services and facilities - a lying-in ward (until 1922 accommodated in Renfrew Road Workhouse), an antenatal clinic, VD wards, two large observation wards, two weekly sessions by an ophthalmic surgeon, a pathological laboratory and radium and deep x-ray apparatus. The Lambeth Guardians not only purchased the necessary equipment, but also sent Dr George Stebbing on a tour of European capitals to study radiotherapy.
As a result of the 1929 Local Government Act, from 1930 Lambeth Hospital came under the control of the London County Council. The LCC sought to create an integrated hospital service for London, concentrating certain specialised departments in particular hospitals. Lambeth Hospital lost its observation wards, but the development of the Radiotherapy department was encouraged. Mr Stebbing was appointed Surgeon specialist and Medical Officer in charge of the radiotherapy department. A Cardio-Vascular Unit was formed at Lambeth Hospital under the direction of Lord Dawson of Penn with Mr Lawrence O'Shaughnessy and Dr H.E.M. Mansell as medical officers. In the early 1930's a Uterine Cancer Unit was transferred from the North Western Hospital to Lambeth Hospital with its Medical Director, Sir Comyns Berkeley, and Mr Arnold Walker. A few years later Mr Stebbing absorbed the unit into the Radiotherapy Department. The LCC built a Nurses' Home in 1936, provided a new Maternity Block in 1938, and completed a Pathology Block in 1940.
By 1939 Lambeth Hospital could accommodate 1,250 patients and was one of the three largest municipal hospitals in London. During the Second World War many air raid casualties were treated at the hospital, from which elderly, long term patients had been evacuated. Several bombs fell on the hospital killing ten members of staff and destroying two ward blocks, the kitchen, dining rooms and laundry. Three other ward blocks were badly damaged.
In 1948 Lambeth Hospital became part of the National Health Service administered by the South Western Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. It formed part of the Lambeth Group of hospitals, together with the South Western Hospital, South London Hospital for Women and Children, Annie McCall Maternity Hospital and from 1956, the Royal Eye Hospital. Money for the repair and replacement of war damaged buildings was, at first, scarce, but between 1960 and 1962 a new two storey block containing kitchens, dining rooms, and offices was constructed. In July 1964 the Lambeth Group of hospitals was dissolved. Lambeth Hospital became part of the Saint Thomas' Hospital Group, and then from 1974, part of the Saint Thomas' Health District (Teaching). In 1970 Lambeth Hospital was an acute, general hospital with 468 beds. A new twin operating theatre block had been completed in 1967 and a new Renal Unit opened in 1969. The hospital closed in 1976 on the opening of the new North Wing of Saint Thomas' Hospital. On part of the site of the hospital in Monkton Street, the Lambeth Community Care Centre was completed in 1985.
The Kirchner Convalescent Home was a gift to the Royal Waterloo Hospital in 1914 by Mr and Mrs Frederick J. Kirchner. The property was Sea Copse Hill, Wootton, Isle of Wight. The house stood in nine acres of land and was handed over to the Hospital fully furnished with beds, linen and household equipment. The house was sold in 1924 by the Board of Governors and the proceeds went towards general hospital purposes.
These prints and photographs form part of the Nightingale Collection deposited in the Greater London Record Office by the Nightingale School. They illustrate the life of Florence Nightingale and the work of the school of nursing, which she founded at Saint Thomas' Hospital in 1860. Many of the prints and photographs have been given to the Nightingale School by former 'Nightingales' and other benefactors. The collection is divided between the London Metropolitan Archives and the Florence Nightingale Museum at Saint Thomas' Hospital.
Saint John's House was founded in 1848 as a "Training Institution for Nurses for Hospitals, Families and the Poor". It was an Anglican religious community run by a Chaplain and Lady Superior, although the sisters and nurses took no vows. The records from 1848 to 1919 have been listed separately and this list should be consulted for the early history of the Institution.
In May 1920 the house at 12 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, was given to Saint Thomas' Hospital and two sisters from the Hospital took charge in April 1919. The institution was renamed Saint John's and Saint Thomas' House and was used as a centre for private nursing, the staff being composed of the remaining Saint John's House nurses, and those nurses who had been trained at Saint Thomas' Hospital and who wished to take up private nursing under the direction of the Hospital. Payments were made according to the fees earned with deduction for the expenses of the house.
The house was closed during the Second World War and the building was damaged by bombing. After the war, no residence was maintained for the private nurses but the organisation was continued from the Matron's Office at St Thomas' Hospital. The last remaining Saint John's and Saint Thomas' House nurses resigned in April, 1964.
The building itself was reopened in 1947 as a Night Nurses' Home and continued in that role until January 1967, when it was closed due to staffing difficulties.
Saint Thomas' House, initially known as the College House Extension, was built between 1925-1927 on a site in Lambeth Palace Road opposite Saint Thomas' Hospital, as a memorial to those connected with Saint Thomas' Hospital who died in the First World War. It provided accommodation and club facilities for medical students and house officers. During the Second World War several floors were occupied by hospital maids. The architect was Harold W. Currey.
This collection of prints, topographical notes and photographs relating to Saint Thomas' Hospital and other buildings of historical interest in Southwark was gathered together and researched by staff at the hospital before being deposited in 1970.
The Queen Mary Convalescent Auxiliary Hospital for sailors, soldiers and airmen who lost limbs in war service was founded in May 1915 from an idea by Mrs Gwynne Holford. Mr Kenneth Wilson had placed the stately home Roehampton House at the hospital's disposal, free of rent, but in 1920 the governors were able to purchase the house outright. Limb-makers factories and workshops soon grew up around the hospital, on the Roehampton Estate.
The Queen's Auxiliary Hospital, Sidcup was set up in 1917 by Mr Charles Kenderdine, one of the original founders of Queen Mary's Hospital, for the treatment of ex-servicemen with severe facial and jaw injuries. Close links between this hospital and Queen Mary's continued until 1930, when The Queen's Hospital was sold to the London County Council. Its patients were transferred to Queen Mary's Hospital.
The Ministry of Pensions began contributing to the hospital's costs in 1920, and in 1925 an agreement was entered into, whereby the ministry would bear the cost of major re-building works in return for the use of the hospital beds for any of its patients, except those suffering from tuberculosis or mental illness. The hospital's limbless patients still had priority treatment under this agreement, and the governors retained responsibility for the upkeep of all buildings and grounds on the estate. Also in 1925 the name of the hospital was changed to the Queen Mary (Roehampton) Hospital.
In 1939 a new artificial limb factory was opened at the hospital and plans were approved for an additional 550 beds. In the year 1938-1939, the number of war pensioners attending for artificial limbs totalled 10,987 combined with 355 civilians and 16,251 limbs were sent by post.
On the outbreak of World War II the Ministry of Pensions assumed overall responsibility of the hospital area of the estate. At this time the governors were running schemes which enabled civilians to be provided with artificial limbs, and agreements were made with the Railway Companies' Association and mine-workers' associations.
With the addition of 550 beds, the total now reached approximately 900. The Limb Fitting Centre and factory were expanded also, prompted by the memories of 40,000 men losing limbs during the First World War. The plan was for Queen Mary's to deal with amputees, fractures and facial injury cases. However, there were approximately half the number of amputees during the Second World War. Leon Gillis (QMH Consultant Surgeon, 1943-1967) summarised the reasons for this as follows:`Advances in surgical techniques, in chemotherapy and in the general management of any injury, better treatment of infection and the availability of blood transfusion' all helped to lower the levels of amputation. Techniques developed in the First World War, also played a significant role.
In addition to the expansion of the existing departments of Plastic Surgery, Neuro-surgery and General Medicine, a Department of Tropical Diseases was established at Roehampton. This was in response to the needs of men who had been stationed in countries where tropical diseases were endemic. Roehampton was to suffer considerably from bomb damage during the War, with Roehampton House being damaged in the autumn of 1940 and February 1944. In 1953 control of the limb-fitting centre was also passed to the Ministry of Pensions.
In 1960 Queen Mary's Hospital was acquired by the Westminster Hospital group, and in 1961 it became a National Health Service Hospital. The Hospital's academic connection with the Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School was emphasised by changing the name to Queen Mary's University Hospital. In 1982 the Roehampton Estate was sold to the NHS.
From 1974 to 1982 Queen Mary's Hospital came under the South West Thames Regional Health Authority and the Westminster Hospital Group (Teaching) Regional Health District. In 1982 the District Health Authority became Richmond, Twickenham and Roehampton. On the 1st April 1993, Queen Mary's became part of the Richmond, Twickenham and Roehampton NHS Trust. However, this was not to be the last change as, in 1998, Queen Mary's became the headquarters for the South West London Community NHS Trust. The same year saw the start of the reduction of acute provision on the Queen Mary's site.
Yarrow Convalescent Home at Broadstairs in Kent was purchased by the Westminster Hospital in May 1947.
The hospital later known as The Princess Beatrice Hospital was founded in 1887 as a voluntary hospital called the Jubilee Hospital to commemorate the jubilee of Queen Victoria. It was situated at the corner of Finborough Road and Old Brompton Road, then known as Richmond Road. There were 14 beds, this being increased later to 18 by the addition of a children's ward of 4 beds. The name "Jubilee" was at some time before 1910 changed to Fulham and Kensington General Hospital and in 1921 to The Kensington, Fulham and Chelsea General Hospital. In 1928 the number of beds was increased to 19. Work commenced on a new and bigger hospital in January 1930, and the foundation stone was laid by Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice. The name of the hospital was changed in 1931 to the Princess Beatrice Hospital. The new outpatient hall opened in December 1931, and the in-patient department in January 1932. In 1933 the Ladies Association was formed, with Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, as President, and the Marchionesses of Carisbrooke and Linlithgow as Vice Presidents. When the Health Service was inaugurated in 1948 the hospital was for two years attached to St George's Hospital, and on 1 August 1950 was transferred to the No.4 (Chelsea) Group Hospital Management Committee. The hospital was closed in July 1971 in order to convert it to an Obstetric Unit. It had been decided in the late 1960's that owing to the development of St Stephen's Hospital, the acute services at the Princess Beatrice Hospital would be transferred to St Stephen's Hospital as soon as the re-development of that hospital enabled this to happen. The hospital re-opened in 1972. With the re-organisation of the Health Service in 1974 it became part of the Kensington Chelsea and Westminster Area Health Authority, South District. The hospital was finally closed at the end of March 1978.
There was a proposal in 1899 by Miss Nott Bower, Matron of the Hospital, that a Babies' Home should be established for the children of the women who worked in the Laundry Hostel and elsewhere in the Hospital. A property known as "Shelford", 182 Devonshire Road, Honor Oak was purchased and the Home, known as "the Haven", was opened in November 1899. Miss E.H. Fullager was appointed Lady Superintendant in 1900. The decision was taken to close the Home at a meeting of the Council of the Children's Home on 15 January 1908, after the resignation of the Treasurer, Mrs Wells.
The Trained Nurses Institution was established by Edward Hearbord Lushington, Treasurer of Guy's Hospital, in June 1884. The original memorandum he issued stated that "The Governors of Guy's Hospital have sanctioned the establishment of a Nursing Institution in connection with the hospital, wholly independent of the Hospital for its support, though subject to Regulations to be approved by the Governors".
The objects of the Institution were to: provide the public with skilled nurses trained in the hospital and of good character, to supply the hospital with extra nurses when required in emergencies and remove the need to hire casual nursing staff, and to provide nursing free of charge to those in the locality who could not afford other care.
Subscriptions were invited and £968.10.0 were received for the establishment of the Institution, its furnishing and the training of nurses. It was hoped that the Institution would be self-supporting within the first year. In September 1884 the Institution opened its doors for the first time at No.12 St Thomas' Street. The expansion of the Institution led rapidly to a need for further accommodation, therefore nos. 14 and 10 St Thomas' Street were leased from the Governors of St Thomas' Hospital in 1890 and 1899; the Institution took applications from women aged 23-32 yrs. Applicants were interviewed by the Lady Superintendent; they then had to work a month's probation on the wards before commencing their training. They were trained in medical and surgical nursing for a period of three years on the wards of Guy's Hospital, after which they were required to engage in private nursing on account of the Institution for a further year and a half.
Between 1884-1892 the management of the Institution was in the hands of Edward Lushington, in consultation with the Matron of Guy's Hospital and the Lady Superintendent of the Institution. In 1892 an Indenture was signed that vested all the property, funds and monies of the Institution in a body of Trustees, however the day to day administration was still in the hands of Mr Lushington. It was not until 1896 that an amendment was made to the Indenture and to the management of the Institution. The Deed Poll of 1896 created a body of managers to govern the Institution, this was to consist of four ex-officio members, the President, the Treasurer and the Matron of Guy's, and the Lady Superintendent. There were also three representatives from the Governors and two representatives drawn from the Medical and Surgical staff of the Hospital.
The Trained Nurses Institution was also responsible for the maintenance of two maternity nurses. These women were paid by the Institution to nurse in their homes, women attended by students of Guy's during their confinement who were subsequently suffering complications. In 1900 a Midwifery Training School was established in No.10 St Thomas' Street with a resident midwife to prepare pupils for the examination of the Central Midwives Board. Nurses on the staff of the Institution took the course on completion of their four and a half years training. Other Guy's Nurse could pay to undertake the course, or were trained free of charge on the condition that they served on the staff for nine months after qualification. The Midwifery School began as a charity, and then became a source of income, as a means of attracting nurses to the Institution.
During the First World War a large number of nurses from the Institution saw active service. They were serving with the War Office (Civil Hospital Reserve), the British Red Cross and the St John's Ambulance Associations and other organisations. This was to have a direct impact on the future of the Institution. The shortage of staff due to the number participating in war nursing led to a decrease in receipts and increased expenditure. This resulted in the Institution operating at a loss. From as early as 1917 the minutes of the Board of Managers show the concern that was felt over the financial situation and discussions were taking place about the institution's future. On 10th November 1921 a resolution was passed unanimously by the Managers "That having regard to the financial position of the Institution and being satisfied the same cannot be continued without further loss and that it is advisable that the affairs of the Institution be wound up. The Managers acting in pursuance of the powers conferred upon them Hereby resolve that the Institution be wound up as from the 31st December next." The Institution was liquidated as from 31st January 1922 and the remaining nurses entered into private practice.