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Caterham Asylum was opened on 9 October 1870. From 1913 the Metropolitan Asylums Board became officially responsible for many mentally defective children (under the Mental Deficiency Act, 1913). Caterham received untrainable boys over the age of 8 when they left the Fountain Mental Hospital, Tooting, as well as other children such as semi-educable ones not up to the standard of Darenth Training Colony. Caterham had a large proportion of older patients and many who had been there a long time who had little chance of recovery. By 1930, the hospital had 2068 beds. After 1930 Caterham Asylum, known as Caterham Mental Hospital since 1920, was run by the London County Council. In 1941 it was renamed Saint Lawrence's Hospital. In 1948 Saint Lawrence's Hospital was taken over by the South West Metropolitan Regional Board who administered the hospital until 1974. Under NHS reorganisation the hospital was administered by the South West Thames Regional Health Authority. Between 1974 and 1982 it was in the Croydon Area Health Authority; in 1982 it became part of the Croydon District Health Authority. In April 1991 Saint Lawrence's Hospital became part of Lifecare NHS Trust.

During the Second World War, 448 beds were set aside at Saint Lawrence's Hospital for use by the Emergency Medical Service, as Caterham Emergency Hospital. These were used for the treatment of both military and civilian casualties. Use of the beds returned to Saint Lawrence's in 1944.

Chelsea Hospital for Women was founded in 1871 for the treatment 'of diseases peculiar to women'. The Hospital was initially situated at 178 King's Road, Chelsea, where it had eight beds for inpatients. Two of its founders, Dr Thomas Chambers and Dr James Aveling, became the first physicians to the hospital. Initially the main object of the charity was to provide treatment for ladies of limited means, whose 'social positions and refined sympathies' precluded them from entering the general hospitals. Although they could not afford expensive and prolonged medical treatment at home, they were expected to pay a minimum fee of a guinea a week towards the expenses of the Chelsea Hospital for Women. Poor, respectable women were admitted free of charge if they could obtain a subscriber's letter. The Duchess of Albany opened a new and larger hospital containing 63 beds, situated in Fulham Road, in 1883. This was followed in 1890-1891 by the building of a convalescent home at St Leonard's-on-Sea.

The development of the hospital was interrupted in 1894 and 1895 by a series of disputes between the Board of Management, members of the medical staff, and the medical press. A Committee of Enquiry chaired by Lord Balfour investigated allegations that hospital staff had carried out unnecessary and dangerous operations upon poor patients. In consequence ten of the medical staff resigned. Some, but not all, of the medical officers were reappointed by the governors. This led to a campaign in the medical press culminating in fresh elections of the medical staff in January 1895. The new surgeon to inpatients, Mr O'Callaghan, quickly proved to be so difficult to work with that the governors with the backing of the rest of the medical staff relieved him of his duties.

In 1911 Earl Cadogan gave a site in Arthur Street, Chelsea for a new and larger hospital. This opened on 11 July 1916 with 95 beds. The nurses' home was completed in 1924. The following year 'Pay Wards' were introduced. Eighteen beds were set aside as a 'Paying Floor' for patients able to pay £5.5s a week as well as fees to their medical officers. The east block wards were enlarged in 1933. This was followed in 1938-1939 by further extensions to the hospital and nurses' home that increased the accommodation to 126 beds, including a wing of six single rooms. At the same time a new heating system was installed. In 1939 Arthur Street was renamed Dovehouse Street.

In 1940 the hospital was designated Class 1A in the Emergency Hospital Service Scheme whereby 60 beds were placed at the disposal of the Ministry of Health for civilian casualties. In September 1940 the danger from air raids caused the evacuation of the top floor of the hospital thereby further reducing the number of beds. In 1939 some patients from Chelsea Hospital for Women were transferred to the convalescent home at St Leonard's but in 1940 this had to be closed because of the threat of invasion. Between 1940 and 1945 some patients from Chelsea Hospital for Women were treated at South Middlesex Hospital, Isleworth.

Despite suffering damage in an air raid in April 1941, Chelsea Hospital came through the War relatively unscathed. In 1948 it became part of the National Health Service and was designated a teaching hospital. It shared a Board of Governors with Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital, Hammersmith. In 1988 the former Chelsea Hospital for Women in Dovehouse Street ceased to be used for hospital purposes. All functions were transferred to the Queen Charlotte's site in Goldhawk Road.

Saint Charles' Hospital was built as Saint Marylebone Infirmary situated in the Ladbroke Grove area of North Kensington. The Prince and Princess of Wales opened the hospital in 1881. Its name was changed to Saint Charles' Hospital when it was transferred from Saint Marylebone Board of Guardians to the London County Council in 1930. In 1948 it became part of the National Health Service and came under the control of the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board and the Paddington Group Hospital Management Committee. From 1982 it formed part of the Paddington and North Kensington District Health Authority. In 1992 it became part of Parkside NHS Trust.

Normansfield was founded in May 1868 by Dr John Haydon Langdon-Down and his wife, Mary, as a private home for the mentally handicapped, especially for the children of the upper classes whom they sought to educate and train to the full extent of their capabilities. The hospital opened in a recently built house in extensive grounds in Kingston Road, Teddington, close to Hampton Wick. By the end of the year 19 patients were in residence.

Under the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913, the main building became a certified house. The North Wing accommodated male patients while the South Wing was for women and children. Conifers and Trematon became approved homes, Conifers for higher grade women and Trematon for higher grade men. Education, occupational therapy, therapeutic work on the farm and in the kitchen garden and daily exercise in the hospital grounds was provided for the patients. Annual visits to the south coast were arranged for almost all the patients up to the Second World War.

The problems of maintaining a private establishment after the War and with the advent of the National Health Service proved overwhelming. Negotiations to sell the hospital to the Government resulted in the transfer of Normansfield to the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board on 22 June 1951. The hospital came under the immediate control of Staines Group Hospital Management Committee. As a result of the 1974 reorganisation of the National Health Service Normansfield was managed from 1 April 1974 by Kingston and Richmond Area Health Authority and the South West Thames Regional Health Authority. By 1993 Normansfield Hospital had become part of the Richmond Twickenham and Roehampton Healthcare NHS Trust. The Hospital closed in 2000 and the site has since been redeveloped.

Saint John's Hill Workhouse was in use from the formation of Wandsworth and Clapham Poor Law Union in 1836. In 1870 an infirmary was constructed on an adjoining site. In the 1880's Wandsworth Board of Guardians built a new workhouse in Swaffield Road. From the opening of Swaffield Road Workhouse, all the buildings on the Saint John's Hill site were used as part of the infirmary. Saint John's Hill Infirmary was superseded as a general hospital by Saint James' Hospital, Balham, which was opened by Wandsworth Board of Guardians in 1911. From that date Saint John's was used mainly for the care of the chronic sick. In 1948 Saint John's Hospital became part of the National Health Service. It was administered by Battersea and Putney Group Hospital Management Committee and the South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. On 1 July 1964 the Battersea and Putney Group Hospital management Committee amalgamated with Tooting Bec Hospital Management Committee.

From 1 April 1972 to 31 March 1974 Saint John's Hospital formed part of the Westminster Hospital Group. As a result of the 1974 reorganisations of the National Health Service Saint John's became part of the Roehampton Health District of Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth Area Health Authority (Teaching). Between 1977 and 1978 Saint John's Day Hospital and Chest Clinic were built on the site. In 1982 Saint John's Hospital became the responsibility of Richmond, Twickenham and Roehampton Health Authority. In 1988, by then known as Saint John's Health Care Unit, it was transferred to Wandsworth Health Authority. The Hospital closed in 1990.

Normansfield was founded in May 1868 by Dr John Haydon Langdon-Down and his wife, Mary, as a private home for the mentally handicapped, especially for the children of the upper classes whom they sought to educate and train to the full extent of their capabilities.

The hospital opened in a recently built house in extensive grounds in Kingston Road, Teddington, close to Hampton Wick. By the end of the year 19 patients were in residence. From 1858 to 1868 John Langdon-Down had been Medical Superintendent of the Royal Earlswood Hospital, then known as the Asylum for Idiots. He brought with him from Earlswood to Normansfield some of his patients and three admission and discharge registers 1855-1868 which now form part of the Normansfield Hospital archives (ref. H29/NF/B/01/001-002, H29/NF/B/02/001).

John Langdon-Down continued to fulfil his responsibilities as physician to the London Hospital while establishing a consulting practice in Harley Street. Mary Langdon-Down was responsible for the day to day management of Normansfield and the supervision of the patients, conducting an extensive correspondence with many of their parents and other relatives. Most of the letters received by her from 1881 to 1888 and from 1897 to her death in 1900 survive. (See H29/NF/A/01/001-025, H29/NF/A/01/084-103).

Normansfield rapidly expanded firstly with the addition of two wings to the main building in 1872 to 1873, by which time the number of patients had risen to 57. The villas facing Kingston Road were purchased, as well as additional land including a plot of land running down to the River Thames on the far side of the lower road. By 1877 there were 115 patients and the building of the Entertainment Hall or Theatre and the farm was started. Broom Hall, now known as Conifers, was purchased in 1878 and in 1882 Eastcote, renamed Trematon, was bought. Further additions were the laundry built in 1883, the boathouse in 1884, the drill hall in the grounds of Trematon in 1889, and the clock tower in 1891/2. By 1892 there were 200 patients in residence.

John Langdon-Down died suddenly on 7 October 1896 aged 67. His elder son, Reginald, succeeded him as Medical Superintendent. On the death of Mary Langdon-Down on 5 October 1900, their two sons, Reginald and Percival, took over the management of Normansfield. Reginald's wife, Jane, a former nursing sister at the London Hospital, became responsible for the day to day organisation of the establishment.;Under the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913, the main building became a certified house. The North Wing accommodated male patients while the South Wing was for women and children. Conifers and Trematon became approved homes, Conifers for higher grade women and Trematon for higher grade men. Education, occupational therapy, therapeutic work on the farm and in the kitchen garden and daily exercise in the hospital grounds was provided for the patients. Annual visits to the south coast were arranged for almost all the patients up to the Second World War.

Jane Langdon-Down died in 1917 and Percival Langdon-Down died in 1925. In 1926 Normansfield became a limited company with Reginald Langdon-Down and Helen Langdon-Down, Percival's widow, as the directors.

The outbreak of the Second World War caused many problems for the running of Normansfield. Several bombs fell in the hospital grounds, damaging buildings, but fortunately without causing any injury. Stella Brain returned to Teddington with her family to assist her father in managing Normansfield. In 1946, Percival's son, Norman, became Deputy Medical Superintendent. In 1945 there were 160 patients in the main building at Normansfield with an additional 21 girls not under certificate, who had been transferred from Conifers which had been rendered uninhabitable by enemy action in June 1944.

The problems of maintaining a private establishment after the War and with the advent of the National Health Service proved overwhelming. Negotiations to sell the hospital to the Government resulted in the transfer of Normansfield to the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board on 22 June 1951. The hospital came under the immediate control of Staines Group Hospital Management Committee. The Langdon-Down family involvement with Normansfield continued with the appointment in 1951 of Dr Norman Langdon-Down as Medical Superintendent and with Lady Brain's appointment to the management committee in 1952. Many of the higher grade patients left. Conifers and Trematon ceased to be approved homes and the whole establishment became a certified institution until the advent of the 1959 Mental Health Act.

Money for repairing and upgrading the buildings was initially lacking, but gradually extensions and improvements were made, including the building of new day rooms in 1960, the installation of a new central heating system, rewiring, the conversion of an old farm building into an industrial unit in 1960, and the construction of two new wards and a block of staff flats in 1968. In 1971 responsibility for the education of children resident in the hospital was transferred to the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. A few children attended local special schools, while the Normansfield Education Unit now run by the local education authority was in 1974 transferred to Trematon.;An active League of Friends of Normansfield was formed in 1957 by Lady Brain, who became President, and Colonel Symmons, the Chairman. Money was raised to provide amongst other things, a school, a shop and clubroom for the patients, a hydrotherapy pool, and a holiday home, Bill House at Selsey, Sussex.

In 1970 Norman Langdon-Down retired. He was succeeded as consultant psychiatrist by Dr Terence Lawlor. As a result of the 1974 reorganisation of the National Health Service Normansfield was managed from 1 April 1974 by Kingston and Richmond Area Health Authority and the South West Thames Regional Health Authority. In the 1970s Normansfield became known as a "problem" hospital with bad relationships between Dr Lawlor, his medical colleagues and most of the nursing staff, the lack of adequate physiotherapy, speech therapy, dental care, and occupational therapy for the patients, low staff morale, the difficulty of recruiting and retaining sufficient good calibre trained nurses, the problems of caring for patients in run down, badly maintained and dirty buildings, combined with complex management structures and increased union activity within the N.H.S. On 5 May 1976, this resulted in a strike by most of the nursing staff who demanded the suspension of Dr Lawlor and walked out leaving the patients without proper care.

In order to resolve the strike the Regional Health Authority decided to suspend Dr Lawlor and to hold an inquiry. The Inquiry into "Staff Morale and Patient Care at Normansfield Hospital and in particular the circumstances leading to the withdrawal of labour by staff at the hospital on 5th May 1976, the action taken to deal with the situation and to make recommendations thereon" opened on 8 November 1976 sitting in private under the chairmanship of Gerald Kidner. It was adjourned 'sine die' after six days owing to the withdrawal of Dr Lawlor and the medical member of the panel, Dr Hatrick.

A new Committee of Inquiry under the chairmanship of Michael Sherrard QC was appointed by the Secretary of State for Social Services in pursuance of his powers under Section 70 of the National Health Service Act 1946. This gave the committee power to receive evidence on oath, to compel the attendance of witnesses and for the production of documents. The proceedings were to be held in public unless some "grave and weighty reason" was shown otherwise. Its terms of reference were "To inquire into patient care and staff morale at Normansfield Hospital and in particular into complaints made by staff at the Hospital and others; to inquire into the causes and effects of the unrest at the Hospital and the action taken to deal with the situation; and to make recommendations."

The Committee of Inquiry sat for 124 days from 10 February 1977 to 10 February 1978. Its report was published in November 1978. A copy of this (ref. H29/NF/F/08/001) can be found amongst the archives relating to the Inquiry deposited in the London Metropolitan Archives by the Administrator of Normansfield Hospital in 1986. The archives also include an almost complete set of transcripts of proceedings of both inquiries, copies of documents submitted to the Sherrard Inquiry, some of files from which these documents were copied, transcripts of disciplinary proceedings resulting from the report, and some of the Area Nursing Officer's files relating to nursing at Normansfield after the Inquiry.

By 1993 Normansfield Hospital had become part of the Richmond Twickenham and Roehampton Healthcare NHS Trust. The Hospital closed in 2000 and the site has since been redeveloped.

Saint Pancras' Hospital originated in Saint Pancras' Workhouse, which was situated at no. 4 Kings Road, immediately to the north of Saint Pancras Old Church and Saint Pancras Churchyard (Kings Road was renamed Saint Pancras Way in 1937). In c 1884-1886 a separate infirmary block was built on a site adjoining the workhouse to the south-west, fronting on Cooks Terrace (renamed Pancras Road in 1872). This was known as Saint Pancras South Infirmary to distinguish it from Saint Pancras North Infirmary, built in the late 1860's, and situated on Highgate Hill. The North Infirmary was also known as Highgate Infirmary, later Highgate Hospital, and is now the Highgate Wing of the Whittington Hospital. The South Infirmary became Saint Pancras Hospital.

Saint Pancras' Hospital depended on the workhouse for the provision of certain essential services such as heating, hot water, laundry, and the use of the mortuary. The two institutions shared a common entrance on Kings Road and used the same receiving wards. By the 1920's the master of the workhouse or institution was also steward of the hospital. By 1936 the medical officer of the institution was also medical superintendent of the hospital. The institution could accommodate 1,344 while the hospital had beds for 378. The mental wards and, until 1929, the maternity wards and nursery were part of the institution. In 1929 the LCC Architect reported that the inmates of the institution were mostly of the 'infirm or partially able-bodied class' (see LCC/AR/CB/3/1).

When the London County Council took over responsibility for Saint Pancras' Institution and Hospital in 1930, they decided to adapt and partly rebuild Saint Pancras' Institution for use as a general hospital. By 1938, Saint Pancras' Institution had been renamed Saint Pancras' Hospital (II) while Saint Pancras' Hospital had become Saint Pancras' Hospital (I). By the outbreak of war, the LCC had completed a new mental observation unit and a new maternity block (never used for its intended purpose). On the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948, Saint Pancras Hospital (now run as one unit) was handed over to University College Hospital except for the new maternity block that housed the Hospital for Tropical Diseases. In 1990 Saint Pancras' Hospital was part of Bloomsbury Health Authority. Saint Pancras Hospital became the headquarters for the Camden and Islington Community Health Services NHS Trust in 2001 and specialises in care for the elderly and psychiatry.

The Mildmay Memorial Hospital, Newington Green Road, Mildmay Park, was opened in 1883 as the Mildmay Memorial Cottage Hospital. Its parent institution was the Mildmay Deaconess' Institute, which was also responsible for the Mildmay Mission Hospital whose records are kept at the Royal London Hospital Trust Archives Centre. In 1908 the Mildmay Memorial Hospital dropped the 'cottage' element of its name, and from this date until 1916 was a part of the Mildmay Medical Missions. After the introduction of the National Health Service in 1948 the hospital was administered by the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board, and locally by the Archway Group Hospital Management Committee. The hospital closed in 1958.

The North London Medical and Chirurgical Society was set up in 1891 by the Medical Committee of the Great Northern Hospital, later the Royal Northern Hospital. It was designed to act as a professional and social link between doctors of the neighbourhood, who met on a monthly basis in order to discuss clinical and other medical matters. In 1942 the society was suspended on account of the Second World War. A mixture of lack of interest and the fact that many members of the society had lost their lives during the conflict meant that meetings were not resumed after the War.

Saint John's Hospital was founded in 1879 by Miss Elizabeth Twining of Dial House, Twickenham. She purchased Amyand House in Twickenham, which she gave to trustees together with money for alterations and additions and an endowment of three thousand pounds. The Provident and Outpatient Department of the Hospital opened in 1879. Two wards to accommodate a total of twelve inpatients were completed in 1880, when the hospital was officially opened by the Duchess of Teck. The hospital was intended to benefit local residents who could not afford to pay for medical attendance at the ordinary rates, but were able and willing to pay periodical subscriptions to the institution. Any one in receipt of parish relief or in a position to pay for medical attendance at the ordinary rate was excluded.

The early years of the hospital were dominated by financial crises leading to the dismissal of the Medical Superintendent, Dr Benthall, and his consequent legal battles with the committee for reinstatement or compensation. The hospital was closed for over two years while legal actions were in progress. It reopened in 1885 under a Charity Commission Scheme without a resident medical superintendent. Medical treatment was provided by local general practitioners.

To enable the hospital to care for the needs of the rapidly rising population of Twickenham and the growing number of road accident cases, a "scheme of extensions of buildings and equipment" commenced in 1932. The two wards were enlarged to increase the number of beds, an X-ray Department was completed and opened between 1933 and 1935, and the adjoining property, Newlands House, was purchased in 1935. This was initially used as accommodation for nurses and the hospital secretary's office, but the ultimate intention was to build an extension on its site. The most urgent requirements were for an enlarged Outpatients Department and a new children's ward to replace the original children's ward which had been taken over for massage and electrical treatment. These plans were still unrealised on the outbreak of war in 1939.

In 1948 Saint John's Hospital (by then a 32-bed hospital) became part of the National Health Service as one of the South West Middlesex Group of Hospitals of the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. Two visitors from King Edward's Hospital Fund for London were unfavourably impressed by the hospital in October 1954. "This rather sad little general practitioner hospital built 50 years ago is about to be renovated by the Group. It has two wards of 16 beds each, and is forced to maintain 10 chronic sick patients. Originally the Regional Board proposed to make it a solely chronic hospital but local opposition prevented this." Three years later the King's Fund visitors reported little improvement. "The whole impression of this hospital was rather depressing. We doubt very much whether it is worth while spending money on this unsuitable building which appears to have outlived its purpose."

In 1974 Saint John's Hospital became the responsibility of Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow Area Health Authority (Teaching). In 1982 it passed to Hounslow and Spelthorne Health Authority. The hospital closed in 1985.

Mogden Isolation Hospital, Mogden Lane, Isleworth was opened in 1898 by the Borough of Richmond (Surrey) and Heston and Isleworth Urban District Joint Isolation Hospital Committee for the treatment of patients suffering from scarlet fever, diphtheria, enteric fever, measles, and other infectious diseases. It partially replaced Dockwell Isolation Hospital, situated near Cranford, but in the parish of Heston, which was retained for the treatment of smallpox cases. In between smallpox epidemics the hospital stood empty for several years at a time. When necessary, staff were allocated to the hospital from Mogden.

By the late 1920s the Joint Isolation Hospital Committee had to decide whether to replace the buildings at Dockwell Hospital or to make alternative arrangements for the treatment of smallpox patients. The "old building" next to the Administration Block was sold by auction in 1921. In 1926 Richmond Council reached agreement with the Surrey Smallpox Hospital Committee for the reception and treatment of smallpox patients from Richmond at Surrey Smallpox Hospital, Clandon. Though Dockwell Isolation Hospital was brought into use in 1928 to admit ten smallpox cases and in 1930 for the treatment of diphtheria patients, it had finally closed by 1935.

In that year the Joint Isolation Hospital Committee ceased to exist. On 1 April 1935 the South Middlesex and Richmond Joint Hospital Board took over control of Mogden, Twickenham and Hampton Isolation Hospitals. Hampton Isolation Hospital closed in July 1935. After a further reorganisation in September 1935, all acute cases except certain less common infections were admitted to Mogden Hospital. Twickenham Isolation Hospital was used only for a few enteric fever cases, some rarer infections, and "clean" scarlet fever cases. Twickenham Hospital closed in 1938 on the completion of substantial additional buildings at Mogden Hospital, which was renamed the South Middlesex Fever Hospital.

A report by visitors from King Edward's Hospital Fund for London in 1953 described the new South Middlesex Hospital "This was built between the wars, apparently regardless of cost, by a joint board consisting of the Boroughs of Richmond, Twickenham and Heston and Isleworth. There are four wards, each being separate single storey blocks, two in horse shoe form facing south containing 24 beds in cubicles. The other two are straight wards, one cubicled and the other open." An operating theatre was provided adjoining one of the horse shoe wards. The main kitchen "is enormous and could cook for 1,000. The nurses' home is large and magnificent, but lacks something in homeliness" (ref. A/KE/735/48). A laboratory and administrative block were also built in 1938 and work was set in hand to modernise the old wards.

On the outbreak of war in 1939, the large pavilion wards were taken over by the Emergency Medical Service. Extra beds were provided by the Ministry of Health making a total of 227 beds available for casualties. 96 beds in the two cubicle blocks remained in use for infectious diseases. Extra nursing, clerical and domestic staff were transferred from Westminster Hospital and other London hospitals. A team of medical staff from St George's Hospital and the West London Hospital took up residence at the South Middlesex Hospital. In October 1940 26 beds in Ward VII were set aside for the surgical treatment of gynaecological cases. This work was expanded in 1941, so that in 1942 a total of 302 gynaecological patients were admitted. For case notes for gynaecological cases transferred to the South Middlesex Hospital from Chelsea Hospital for Women 1940-1945 see H27/CW/B3/1-5. 1947 saw a substantial increase in admissions of patients suffering from infectious diseases caused by epidemics of measles and polio and the admission of patients from Acton.

In 1948 South Middlesex Hospital became part of the National Health Service as one of the South West Middlesex group of hospitals of the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. In 1953 the King's Fund visitors found that the hospital had 144 beds of which 83 were in use. "Two of the wards are used for fevers, one is closed and the fourth open ward is the surgical ward used by Dr Galloway from the West Middlesex Hospital" (ref. A/KE/735/48). In 1955 one of the smaller buildings was converted into an ophthalmic department with its own operating theatre to provide a regional ophthalmic unit. By 1973 the South Middlesex Hospital was described as mainly acute. On the reorganisation of the National Health Service in 1974 it was transferred to the Hounslow Health District of Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow Area Health Authority (Teaching). After 1982 it became the responsibility of Hounslow and Spelthorne Health Authority. The hospital closed around 1991.

The South West Middlesex Hospital Management Committee was formed in 1948 by the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board to administer thirteen hospitals, which it took over from nine separate authorities: West Middlesex Hospital, Chiswick Maternity Hospital, Marrowells Maternity Annexe and Norwood Hall from the Middlesex County Council; Clayponds Hospital and Perivale Maternity Hospital from Brentford and Chiswick and Ealing Joint Hospital Committee; South Middlesex Hospital from the South Middlesex and Richmond Joint Hospital Board; and King Edward Memorial Hospital, Ealing, Teddington, Hampton Wick and District Memorial Hospital, Brentford Hospital, Saint John's Hospital, Twickenham, Saint Mary's Cottage Hospital, Hampton and Queen Victoria and War Memorial Hospital, Hanwell from six independent voluntary hospital committees.

Visitors from King Edward's Hospital Fund for London reported in May 1953 that the South West Middlesex Group was "the largest Group in London. Its expenditure is three times that of many groups. It is responsible for a large suburban area. It contains 12 hospitals which have varying backgrounds, ranging from the rugged independence of Queen Victoria Hospital, Hanwell to the colourless hospitals previously run by joint hospital boards The dead weight in the sense of material needs lies at the West Middlesex Hospital." The Hospital Management Committee was assisted by Finance, General Purposes, Establishment, Medical, and Nursing Sub-Committees. There was a Group Medical Advisory Committee as well as five House Committees dealing with several hospitals each.

The South West Middlesex Hospital Management Committee ceased to exist on 1 April 1974, when on the reorganisation of the National Health Service the hospitals in its care became the responsibility of Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow Area Health Authority.

Acton Cottage Hospital, the gift of J Passmore Edwards, was built on land in Gunnersbury Lane given by Lord Rothschild, to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. It opened on 4 May 1898 with 12 beds. By 1902 the "Passmore Edwards' Acton Cottage Hospital, Nursing Institution and Invalid Kitchen" included a rapidly expanding outpatients department, a district nursing service, a provident dispensary, and an invalid kitchen. The hospital was extended in 1904 and 1909 to provide 30 beds for in-patients, a children's ward and operating theatre. It was financed by voluntary donations, annual subscriptions, fetes, carnivals and other fundraising events. According to the rules in 1902 the "Hospital shall be open to the poor resident, or employed by residents in Acton, free of charge; but if there be a vacant bed, needy residents may be admitted for operations or accidents as paying patients, at a minimum fee of just over two pounds per week. Not more than one paying patient shall at any time be in the Hospital." Cases of mental disorder, infectious diseases, incurable illness, advanced pulmonary disease and childbirth were not admitted. Except in urgent cases prospective patients had to produce a letter of recommendation and a medical certificate.

By 1915 the name of the hospital had been changed to Acton Hospital. Many military patients were admitted during the First World War. In 1916 the hospital agreed with Acton District Council that it would provide an antenatal clinic, an infant dispensary, and one bed for the treatment of complicated cases of pregnancy; In 1923 a substantial enlargement of the hospital was completed. The annual report for that year proclaimed that "Acton is now in possession of one of the finest General suburban Hospitals, with an excellent outpatients department and a resident Medical officer, a staff of fully qualified Nurses, an X-ray Apparatus, and other accessories which go to the efficient equipment of a General Hospital." Wards were provided for the treatment of paying patients who were unable to afford the higher charges demanded by nursing homes. Further extensions by 1928 brought the total bed complement up to 62 and saw the opening of nurses' hostel; In 1948 Acton Hospital became part of the National Health Service as an 84 bed general hospital, with a large and well-equipped X-ray department and a large physiotherapy department. It was administered by the Central Middlesex Group Hospital Management Committee of the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. On the reorganisation of the NHS in 1974 it was transferred to the North Hammersmith District (Teaching) of Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow Area Health Authority (Teaching). A report in 1975 (H40/AC/A/06/008) concluded that Acton Hospital could not undertake the functions of a district general hospital, and recommended that it should become a community hospital.

Since 1980 it has been used for the treatment of geriatric patients requiring long term care and rehabilitation. On the further reorganisation of the NHS in 1982 Acton Hospital became the responsibility of Hammersmith Special Health Authority (from 1985 Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte's Special Health Authority). In 1990 the former casualty department was redeveloped to house "The Gunnersbury Unit" an elderly mentally ill assessment unit. In 1994 Acton Hospital became part of the Hammersmith Hospitals Trust together with Hammersmith Hospital, Charing Cross Hospital and Queen Charlottes and Chelsea Hospital.

The Greenwich and Bexley Area Health Authority was established in 1974 following the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973. It was responsible for the management and administration of hospitals in this area. In 1982 all Area Health Authorities were replaced by District Health Authorities.

Tooting Bec Asylum was established in 1903 by the Metropolitan Asylums Board. It was built to relieve pressure on Leavesden and Caterham Asylums which had resulted in adults being admitted to Darenth Schools. The location was specifically intended for older patients to be nearer family and friends. The first phase, which accommodated about 1,000 patients, was followed by a second phase of an extra 900 beds which eventually opened in 1925. After 1930 the LCC ran the hospital until 1948 and the establishment of the National Health Service. The Hospital was closed in July 1995. The service and additional records were later inherited by the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (as of 2005).

For a detailed administrative history please see the separate entries for the individual institutions that make up this group of hospitals.

The South West London Group Hospital Management Committee was formed in 1964 on the amalgamation of the Lambeth Group Hospital Management Committee and the Wandsworth Hospital Management Committee. It administered the following hospitals: Saint James' Hospital, Sarsfield Road; the South London Hospital for Women and Children; Woodhurst; the Queen Elizabeth Maternity Home; Saint Benedict's Hospital; Rame Home; the Royal Eye Hospital; the Weir Maternity Hospital; the Annie McCall Maternity Hospital; the Birchlands Jewish Hospital and the Balham Chest Clinic.

The Weir Hospital was established as a voluntary, general hospital in 1911 on Grove Road, Balham. In 1938, Grove Road was renamed Weir Road. Remaining on the same site, the hospital became part of the National Health Service in 1948. It was administered by the South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board and Wandsworth Hospital Management Committee. In 1950 the hospital became a specialist maternity hospital and was renamed Wandsworth Maternity Hospital. With NHS reorganisation in 1974 the Hospital became part of the South West Thames Regional Health Authority and Wandsworth and East Merton (Teaching) District Health Authority. The hospital closed in the late 1980's.

In 1804 John Cunningham Saunders (1773-1810) founded the 'London Dispensary for curing diseases of the Eye and Ear', in Charterhouse Square. The impetus for the formation of the world's first specialist Eye Hospital seems to have been an epidemic of trachoma. This is a form of potentially blinding tropical conjunctivitis which was brought back to England by British troops returning from the Napoleonic wars in Egypt. In 1808, three years after the first patients were treated the hospital became exclusively an eye hospital, the first of its kind in the world.

The number of patients seeking treatment steadily increased, forcing a move in 1822 to a larger site on the corner of Lower Moor Fields on Blomfield Street, at this time the hospital was renamed 'The London Ophthalmic Infirmary'. To mark the agreement of the Duchess of Kent and Princess Victoria to become patronesses of the Infirmary in 1836, the hospital was again renamed as the 'Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital'. The hospital had however benefited from Royal Patronage since 1815.

The hospital moved again to its present site in the City Road in 1899. At this time, the first specialist departments were set up (X ray and Ultra Violet treatment rooms). The Hospital was still operating as a charity and each patient received an admission card that read: 'This letter is granted to the applicant in being poor. Its acceptance therefore by anyone not really poor constitutes an abuse of charity'.

During the First World War the Hospital suffered from staff shortages due to staff enlisting. By 1916 there were only 33 medical staff left to run the hospital, this was of a pre-war complement of 85. Thirty beds were in use throughout the war for the treatment of naval and military casualties suffering from eye wounds and diseases. During 1916, 197 soldiers were admitted for treatment. In February 1919 the Hospital was declared closed for military business.

In 1929 the Hospital began to implement plans for the construction of an extension to provide a private ward block, additional accommodation for nursing and medical staff, a new enlarged out-patients department, increased premises for the medical school, extensions to the pathological laboratories, museum and library and a convalescent home. In 1935 after a public appeal for one hundreed and twenty thousand pounds the extension was completed and was named the King George V extension. The Duke and Duchess of York opened it on 16th May 1936. In 1937 a modernisation scheme was undertaken to bring the old buildings up to the standard of the new extension.

During the Second World War the Hospital opened its doors to general surgical cases and most of the ophthalmic patients were evacuated out of London. In 1944 Moorfields received a direct hit from a 'doodlebug' and suffered serious damage; this was so extensive that the Hospital was nearly pulled down and rebuilt on a green field location. However the site was rebuilt and in 1946 the City Road Hospital amalgamated with the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital and the Central Eye Hospital, and took on the clinical facilities for the Medical School for the University of London. The hospital was renamed the Moorfields, Westminster and Central Eye Hospital and had a total of 341 beds and the facilities to treat 7400 in-patients and 90,000 outpatients each year.

With the formation of the NHS in 1948 Moorfields lost its status as a voluntary hospital and came under the management of the Teaching Hospitals Regional Board, with the administration carried out by the Moorfields, Westminster and Central Hospital Management Committee. In 1956 was officially named as 'Moorfields Eye Hospital' by Act of Parliament. In 1950 the sixteenth International Congress of Ophthalmology was held at Moorfields and for the first time ever TV cameras were installed in the Theatres especially to demonstrate surgical techniques. NHS reorganisation in 1974 brought the Hospital under the control of the Postgraduate Teaching Hospitals Regional Health Authority and in the Moorfields Eye Hospital District. The Hospital redeveloped the site in the late 1980's allowing for the expansion of more specialist areas. The Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trust, in existence since 1994, also runs outreach community eye clinics at nine other sites where it provides a range of ophthalmic services. 1999 saw the centenary of Moorfields Eye Hospital at City Road.

The Central London Ophthalmic Hospital was established in Judd Street in 1843. It was amalgamated with Moorfields Eye Hospital in 1945. For information relating to the Hospital after 1948 see Moorfields Eye Hospital (H47/MR).

The Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital was established on High Holborn in 1816. It was amalgamated with Moorfields Eye Hospital in 1946. For information relating to the Hospital after 1948 see Moorfields Eye Hospital (H47/MR).

Shenley Hospital, Radlett, Hertfordshire was opened on 31st May 1934 as part of the Middlesex Colony. Along with Napsbury Hospital it was established for the care of the mentally ill.

The hospital was built on the site of Porters Park and provided accommodation initially for 1047 and the full development of 2000 beds with 500 staff. It was planned on the villa system comprising of small nursing units ranging from 20-45 patients and had its own water supply treatment, sewage works and farm.

Shenley Hospital originally came under the aegis of Middlesex County Council. In 1948 it became part of the North Western Metropolitan Hospital Board until 1974 and the first major re-organisation of the NHS when the new health authorities were set up. Shenley came under the North West Thames Regional Health Authority and the Brent and Harrow Area Health Authority until 1982 when the Area Health Authorities were abolished and replaced with new districts in this case Brent District Health Authority. Finally in 1992 the hospital came under the responsibility of the North West London Mental Health NHS Trust until its closure in 1997.

Shenley Hospital closed in 1997 and the only remaining part is the Tower, the land has been redeveloped as a housing estate.

The Greenwich and Deptford Group of hospitals was established in 1948 to administer the Miller Hospital and Saint Alfege's Hospital within the South East Regional Hospitals Board. It was replaced by the Regional and District Health Authorities in 1974 with National Health Service reorganisation.

The Industrial Orthopaedic Society was founded and first registered as The Allies Hospital Benevolent Society in 1915 (Friendly Society number 1483) to treat wounded French soldiers in Normandy during the First World War. In 1919 the society was renamed The Industrial Orthopaedic Society and the head office moved from 10 Duke Street, Adelphi, Westminster to the Manor House, Hampstead Heath near Golders Green where a new hospital was built.

The Society governed the Manor House Hospital as well as additional sites which included Ivy House Recovery Hospital, Inverforth House Women's Hospital, Industrial Diseases Medical Institute and rehabilitation centres including at Clapham Park, Bedford, Bedfordshire and Elton Hall, Stockton-on-Tees. The Society's hospitals continued to be run privately and independently after the establishment of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948.

As a benevolent society, the organisation was supported by subscriptions from members working in the heavy industries, where risks of industrial accidents in the workplace were high. Subscriptions also came from their contributing firms and trades unions across the United Kingdom. By paying a weekly subscription, members were eligible for specialised treatment in the Society's hospitals for conditions caused by industrial accidents involving the musculoskeletal system. In addition to orthopaedic treatment, general surgical treatment for the membership and dental and optical treatment was provided for members and their families. Individuals who were treated worked in mines, quarries, railways, factories, harbours and docks as well as construction and shipping. A network of Area Councils and District Committees in industrial regions was established to promote the Society's work and receive subscriptions.

The society later became a registered company, the Industrial Orthopaedic Friendly Society Limited and traded in 1990s as 'Manor House Healthcare'. In 1996 the company was incorporated under the Friendly Societies Act 1992 as Manor House Friendly Society Limited (registration number 457F). In that year the company's registered office remained at Manor House Hospital, North End Road with its head administrative office at Hillside, 151 North End Road and branch offices in Derby, Derbyshire; Hove, Sussex; Leeds, Yorkshire; London; Luton, Bedfordshire; Neath, West Glamorgan, Wales; and Sunderland.

Manor House Hospital closed in 1999 and the offices moved to Stag House, Old London Road, Hertford, Hertfordshire where they remained until 2004. The hospital site was demolished and redeveloped by Octagon Homes as 'Manor Heights', a luxury gated estate with 16 large town houses and 33 apartments.

In 2000 the company's trading name became Simplyhealth and in 2002 Simplyhealth merged with the Hospital Saving Association Limited (HSA) based in Hambledon House, Waterloo Court, Andover, Hampshire with the aim to provide businesses healthcare products in their provision of employee healthcare. The merger added private medical insurance business to HSA's portfolio. In 2004 it was announced that Simplyhealth would change its brand to HSA.

A workhouse for St Luke's Parish, Chelsea, was first constructed in 1737. An infirmary was added in 1872. In 1930 the workhouse was taken over by the London County Council, while in 1948 it became part of the new National Health Service (NHS) as Saint Luke's Hospital, Chelsea. It was managed by the South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board and the Chelsea and Kensington Hospital Management Committee. Saint Luke's was closed in 1974.

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.

Homoeopathy was introduced to Britain by Dr Frederick Hervey Quin in the first half of the nineteenth century. Dr Quin had been trained in the homoeopathic system in Germany by Dr Samuel Hahnemann, the 'father of homoeopathy'. Quin developed the first homoeopathic practice in Britain and became extremely successful. His success led him to open a homoeopathic dispensary for the poor, this failed but he turned instead to the idea of a hospital specialising in homoeopathic medicine. He raised sufficient funds, mainly from his aristocratic patients and supporters, to buy a property at 32 Golden Square for his first hospital. The first patients were admitted on 10 April 1850, 156 in-patients and over 1500 outpatients were treated in the first year. This was the London Homoeopathic hospital. The Hospital later moved to a site on the corner of Great Ormond Street and Queen's Square.

In 1948 the London Homoeopathic Hospital became part of the National Health Service, it was also around this time that it gained royal patronage and became the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital. Under the NHS the administration of the hospital was in the hands of the London Homoeopathic Hospital Management Committee under the London (Teaching) Regional Hospital Board. NHS reorganisation in 1974 found the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital part of the North East Thames Regional Health Authority and South Camden (Teaching) District Health Authority. This changed again in 1982 when the hospital came under Bloomsbury District Health Authority.

In 1992 the Homoeopathic Hospital became part of Parkside NHS Trust. On 1st April 2002 the hospital became part of University College London Hospitals NHS Trust (UCLH) as part of its Specialist Hospitals Board, enabling closer collaboration between complementary therapies and conventional medicine. From 2002-2005 the RLHH underwent a comprehensive £20million redevelopment transforming it into a state of the art treatment and research facility, while this work was in progress the hospital's clinical services were relocated to Greenwell Street adjacent to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital.

The renovation was planned with consultation from patients and clinicians to provide a peaceful healing environment, as well as facilities for group clinics, education and an information centre. The renovated building was re-opened in June 2005.

In 2007 the senior clinician and management staff unanimously decided that it was the right time to rename the hospital to the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine in order to more accurately reflect the nature of its work.

The Childrens' Homoeopathic Dispensary was opened in about 1920 by Dr Roberson Day. The Dispensary was amalgamated with the Hospital in 1937 and became part of the Children's outpatient department.

Darenth Asylum for 'imbeciles and school for imbecile children', was erected in 1878 by the managers of the Metropolitan Asylum district (Metropolitan Asylums Board), and constituted one of the largest establishments of its kind. The buildings, at a cost of ten thousand pounds, and were designed by the architects Messrs C and A Harston, of London in the Gothic style. A new wing was added in 1888 at a cost of fifty thousand pounds, to hold 400 'imbecile' children, and a smallpox convalescent hospital was built in Darenth wood, at a cost of sixty-three thousand pounds, for a further 600 patients. The school was used to house nearly 1,000 'imbecile' children and the asylum accommodated 1,500 adults. The grounds and farm comprise about 170 acres, including a small part of Darenth wood. The asylum had its own gas works and the water supply was derived from a well 250 foot deep, the water was then pumped to the two tower tanks at the rate of about 100,000 gallons per day; sewage was disposed of by irrigation on the farm land. One acre of the ground was set apart and consecrated as a cemetery.

The Asylum was one of the first to attempt to train and develop mentally disabled children, by offering schooling and industrial training. So that this training should not have to be stopped at age 16, and trained children return to general asylums where their skills would not be used, the Darenth Adult Asylum was constructed on land adjacent to the school and opened in 1880.

Name changes:

Darenth Asylum and Schools (1878 - 1913)

Darenth Industrial Colony (1913 - 1920)

Darenth Training Colony (1920 - 1937).

In 1937 the name changed to Darenth Park Hospital.

With the creation of National Health Service (NHS) the hospital came under control of South East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board (1948-74) and was managed by Dartford and Darenth Hospital Management Committee (1948-74). From 1974 it came under Dartford and Gravesham District Health Authority, part of South East Thames Regional Health Authority. The hospital closed in 1988. The successor authority as of 2010 was Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust.

See also website managed by Francine Payne: http://www.dartfordhospitalhistories.org.uk/ (correct as of August 2010).

Bexley Hospital was founded in 1898 in Old Bexley Lane, Bexley. (It is not the Bexley Hospital in Bexleyheath which was founded in 1884). It has also been known as Heath Asylum, Bexley Asylum, Bexley Mental Hospital and London County Asylum, Bexley. The hospital closed in around 2001.

Bexley Hospital was administered by the South East Metropolitan Hospital Board (1948 - 1974), the South East Thames Regional Health Authority (1974-), the Bexley District Health Authority (1974-) and Oxleas NHS Trust (1995-).

Source of information: The National Archives, Hospital Records Database (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/hospitalrecords).

Bolingbroke Hospital opened in 1880 at Bolingbroke House, Battersea. It was founded by Canon John Erskine Clarke, Vicar of Saint Mary, Battersea. Originally a voluntary hospital, it provided treatment to members of the public who preferred to pay for some or part of their care rather than attend Poor Law Institutions. During the Second World War, it became affiliated to Saint Thomas' Hospital and acted as an emergency hospital for war casualties. In 1948, despite some misgivings, the hospital became part of the new National Health Service and consequently was administered by the Battersea and Putney Hospital Management Group of the South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. The hospital experienced mixed fortunes in the following years, including the opening of a coronary care unit in 1967 and the closure of the casualty department in 1974. The reorganisation of the National Health Service in 1974 saw the hospital pass to the Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth Area Health Authority of South West Thames Regional Hospital Board. In the 1980s, the hospital was redeveloped to focus on services for the elderly. In 1993, it became part of the newly formed Saint George's Healthcare NHS Trust. With the building deteriorating, the issue of fire safety at the hospital became a concern. In 2004, the NHS trust transferred the inpatient services to surrounding nursing homes and other community hospitals. Bolingbroke continued to act as a community hospital with extensive outpatient services and a day hospital. However in 2008 the entire hospital was closed and the remaining services were relocated to Saint John's Therapy Centre, Battersea.

The hospital has been administered by the following:

1880-1948: Bolingbroke Hospital

1948-1974: Battersea and Putney Hospital Management Group of South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board

1974-1982: Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth Area Health Authority of South West Thames Regional Hospital Board

1982-1993: Wandsworth District Health Authority of South West Thames Regional Hospital Board

1993-2008: Saint George's Healthcare NHS Trust.

The Victoria Hospital for Children opened in 1866 as 'The South Western Hospital for Children'. It was located at Gough House, Queen's Road West, Chelsea and managed initially by a committee chaired by Mr B. R. Green.

Increasing numbers of patients led to the committee seeking improved accommodation. Money was raised to purchase the freehold of Gough House along with some additional land, and to redevelop and enlarge the hospital. The extension opened in 1876. In the same year, a house in Margate, Kent was made available for use as a convalescent facility. In 1877, the Metropolitan Board of Works offered the hospital some additional land to the front and rear of Gough House as part of its plans to establish a new street to be named Tite Street. The committee purchased this land for future developments. In 1891, patroness of the hospital, Princess Louise opened a new convalescent home in Broadstairs, Kent.

During the First World War, part of the hospital was assigned as the 2nd London General Hospital, but by 1916, it was fully functioning again as a paediatric hospital. In 1922, the hospital opened Princess Mary Home for private patients in a house next to the hospital. During the Second World War, the outpatient department was used as a casualty and decontamination centre. The inpatient services were transferred to hospitals at Windsor, Berkshire and Park Prewett, Basingstoke, Hampshire.

With the introduction of the National Health Service in 1948, Victoria Hospital for Children became part of the Saint George's Hospital Teaching Group of the South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. In 1964, the hospital was closed and its activities transferred to Saint George's Hospital in Tooting.

The hospital has been administered by the following:

1866 - 1948: Victoria Hospital for Children

1948 - 1964: Saint George's Hospital Teaching Group of South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board.

Pinewood Sanatorium was opened in 1901 as the London Open Air Sanatorium by the National Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis. It was situated in a pine forest near Wokingham in Berkshire. Pine trees were believed to be beneficial for sufferers of tuberculosis.

The Metropolitan Asylums Board were sanctioned to treat tuberculosis patients by the Public Health (Prevention and Treatment of Disease) Act, 1913 (3 and 4 Geo.V c.23). In 1919 they purchased the institution and renamed it Pinewood Sanatorium. In 1929 the London County Council took over the Metropolitan Asylums Board and the Sanatorium became a Special Hospital under their Public Health Department. It was used as a hospital for servicemen during the Second World War, although it continued to take some civilian patients.

The registers show that the last patient was discharged on 20 January 1966 and a subsequent note states "Pinewood Closed". The site was put to various uses, including filming of television shows, and is now a leisure centre run by Wokingham Without Parish Council.

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 Hackney Poor Law Union was formed in 1836, consisting of the parishes of Saint John Hackney and Stoke Newington. The parish of South Hornsey was added in 1900. A parish workhouse already existed on Homerton High Street, this was gradually replaced with new buildings and was much extended. After 1930 the building became Hackney Hospital. The Union also managed a Children's Receiving Home on Sidney Road, near the workhouse. In addition, the Union used the Brentwood School District industrial school at Brentwood in Essex. After the School District was dissolved in 1885 the Union took over the school. They also opened cottage homes in nearby Ongar.

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.

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.

From 1837 to 1845 Hammersmith was one of the parishes controlled by Kensington Poor Law Union. In 1845 it united with the parish of Fulham under the name of Fulham Union. In 1899 Fulham Union was dissolved and the Board of Guardians for the separate parish of Hammersmith was constituted. In 1902 the Union constructed a new workhouse on Du Cane Road, Hammersmith.

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.

The Uxbridge workhouse was first constructed in 1744. It was taken over by the Middlesex County Council in 1930 and redeveloped as Hillingdon County Hospital and Infirmary.

On the creation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948 the administration of the Hospital passed to the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board and the Uxbridge Group Regional Hospital Board. The Hospital was significantly reconstructed in 1963.

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse Website.

Invalid Meals for London was a fore-runner of 'Meals-on-Wheels'. It was founded in 1910 as Invalid Kitchens of London, with the aim to supply nourishing food to persons suffering or emerging from illness who were unable to provide for themselves. The first 5 kitchens were located in Southwark, Bermondsey, Hoxton, Stepney and Victoria Docks; during the First World War the number of kitchens was increased.

As a voluntary body the organisation received a grant and support from the London County Council. In 1961 it was taken over by the LCC who continued the work of supplying meals to the elderly and invalids.

London's first civic authority was that of the City of London. The origin of the Corporation of London is unknown, but the initial rights and privileges of the City rested upon a Charter granted by William the Conqueror. The term 'London' was gradually applied to the area adjoining the ancient city, and as a consequence of the need for a central authority to deal with the local government of this ever growing area the term 'metropolis' was defined, and an authority, the Metropolitan Board of Works, was set up in 1855 to deal with many of the services common to the whole area. In 1888, as a result of the Local Government Act, the area of the City and the metropolis was constituted the 'Administrative County of London' and the London County Council was established as the central authority. The 'Administrative County' consisted of the City of London and the twenty-eight metropolitan boroughs; while a 'County of London' was also constituted, excluding the City of London, for certain ceremonial and judicial purposes; for example, a Lord Lieutenant was appointed, while in the City this function is carried out by the Lord Mayor. Those parts of Middlesex, Kent and Surrey that were part of the Metropolis were taken out of those counties and added to the County of London.

The City of London and the twenty-eight borough councils were independent of the County Council, and had complete jurisdiction over certain fields within their individual areas. There were many case in which cooperation and consultation took place between the various London local government authorities. The principal instances in which the County Council had control over the Metropolitan Borough Councils were: sanctioning the raising of loans for housing, building, land purchase, street improvements and drainage; making byelaws (although the borough councils had to enforce the byelaws); approval of sewer plans; taking steps if the borough council was not fulfilling statutory obligations; and control over grants. Other bodies which the County Council worked alongside included the Metropolitan Police, the London Passenger Transport Board, the Port of London Authority, the Thames Conservancy Board, the London and Home Counties Joint Electricity Authority and the Metropolitan Water Board.

The London County Council consisted of persons directly elected, every third year, by the local government electorate in the Administrative County, and of aldermen elected by the Council itself. The aldermen retained their seats for six years. The powers and duties of the Council were:

(i) those powers transferred from the Metropolitan Board of Works, including drainage, street improvements, Thames flood prevention, street naming and numbering, bridges and tunnels, fire brigade, slum clearance, supervision of building works and parks and open spaces;

(ii) those powers involved in administrative business transferred from the Justices, including issuing licences for music, dancing and stage plays, mental hospitals, reformatory and industrial schools, county bridges, coroners, weights and measures;

(iii) education, including those powers transferred from the London School Board in 1904;

(iv) those powers transferred from the London Poor Law Authorities in 1930, including the 25 Boards of Guardians, the Metropolitan Asylums Board, Boards of School District Managers and the Central Unemployed Body;

(v) those powers conferred directly by Parliament at various times, including ambulances, mental deficiency, protection of children, licences for cinemas, boxing and wrestling, licences for motor cars, housing, town planning, health services, welfare of the blind, employment agencies and massage establishments.

The first meetings of the Council were held at both the Guildhall in the City and the offices of the Metropolitan Board of Works at Spring Gardens, Trafalgar Square. New headquarters were planned at County Hall. This was situated on the southern bank of the Thames close to Westminster Bridge. The foundations were begun in 1909, the foundation stone was laid in 1912 and the building was formally opened in 1922. In 1937 the administrative staff of the Council numbered 6,000, while the total staff included 18,150 teachers, 2,000 fire fighters, 22,000 hospital staff, 3,000 housing estates workers, 8,200 mental hospital staff, 1,450 park staff, 3,100 public assistance staff and 1,000 main drainage service staff.

In 1957 the Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London was set up under the chairmanship of Sir Edwin Herbert. Their terms of reference were 'to examine the present system and working of local government in the area' and 'to recommend whether any, and if so what, changes in the local government structure and the distribution of local authority functions in the area, or any part of it, would better secure effective and convenient local government'. After nearly three years consideration of these issues the Commission reported in 1960, recommending a radical reorganisation of London's local government. All existing local authorities except the City of London Corporation were to be abolished, a council for Greater London was to be established, and new boroughs were to be created, each within a population range of 100,000 to 250,000. The councils of these new boroughs were to be the primary units of local government and to have the most normal local government functions, including housing, personal health, welfare and children's services, environmental health, roads other than main roads, libraries and functions in relation to education and planning. The council for Greater London was to have certain functions of education and planning, and be the authority for traffic, main roads, refuse disposal, fire and ambulance services; as well as having supplementary powers for housing, parks, entertainments, sewerage and land drainage. When the Bill for the Local Government Act, 1963, based on the Royal Commission report, was introduced into Parliament it was met with considerable opposition. Some amendments were passed, but the Bill was passed into law without major alterations. An Inner London Education Authority was provided so that education could continue to be handled on a wider county level. Thirty-two new London borough councils were established. The first elections for the Greater London Council were held on 9 April 1964. The LCC was to remain in being side by side with the new authority to enable a smooth transfer, until 1 April 1965 on which date the old authority ceased to exist.

The Royal Commission commented that 'nobody studying London Government can fail to be deeply impressed with the achievements of the London County Council. It has given the Administrative County of London a strong and able form of government which makes its standing very high among the municipal governments of the world'.

In 1889 the Architect to the Metropolitan Board of Works was transferred to the newly formed London County Council, as the responsibilities of the MBW were being transferred to the LCC. This was later confirmed by the London Building Act 1894, in which the London County Council was given power to appoint a "superintending architect of metropolitan buildings" to oversee the enforcement of regulations outlined in the Act. Actual enforcement would be done by the District Surveyors, who had to make a monthly return to the Council reporting on any new buildings and any infringement of the Act.

The role of the Architect soon developed as the range of structures constructed under order of the Council grew. By 1909 there were 13 Committees dealing with construction works, and 35 sub-committees. The work included the construction of housing, including slum clearance; construction of buildings in connection with the introduction of electricity; construction of educational buildings, from nursery schools to colleges; construction of hospitals and institutions; construction of fire brigade stations; street and road improvements; maintenance and construction of bridges; public parks; Weights and Measures Stations and Gas Meter Testing Stations. The Architect was responsible for overseeing the design and construction of all these buildings.

In 1889 the Architect to the Metropolitan Board of Works was transferred to the newly formed London County Council, as the responsibilities of the MBW were being transferred to the LCC. This was later confirmed by the London Building Act 1894, in which the London County Council was given power to appoint a "superintending architect of metropolitan buildings" to oversee the enforcement of regulations outlined in the Act. Actual enforcement would be done by the District Surveyors, who had to make a monthly return to the Council reporting on any new buildings and any infringement of the Act.

The role of the Architect soon developed as the range of structures constructed under order of the Council grew. By 1909 there were 13 Committees dealing with construction works, and 35 sub-committees. The work included the construction of housing (under the Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890), including slum clearance; construction of buildings in connection with the introduction of electricity; construction of educational buildings, from nursery schools to colleges; construction of hospitals and institutions; construction of fire brigade stations; street and road improvements; maintenance and construction of bridges; public parks; Weights and Measures Stations and Gas Meter Testing Stations. The Architect was responsible for overseeing the design and construction of all these buildings.

During the Second World War the District Surveyors were made responsible for all rescue and demolition work on damaged and unsafe buildings, while the Architect's Department manned the control centres and depots of the Rescue Service, assumed responsibility for the provision of air raid shelters for the Council's staff, and ran the War Debris Service to deal with the work of clearing debris resulting from war damage. Training for the Rescue Service was provided at training schools organised and staffed by the department. When the heavy raids started in September 1940 the Rescue Service went into full operation. It was clear that the specialist knowledge of its members enabled them to foresee the behaviour of damaged buildings and to estimate the risks of rescue. By May 1941 the Service has rescued 10,000 live casualties, at the cost of the lives of 34 rescue officers. After 1941 the Service was renamed the Heavy Rescue Service and was brought into line with other civil defence services. Mobile parties of men with cranes and heavy plant were posted at civil defence centres. When flying bomb attacks began the Heavy Rescue Service rescued 7,175 people alive and recovered 2,329 bodies. 64 personnel were injured and 3 killed.

The London County Council delegated administrative matters to its committees, both standing committees and a number of special committees appointed for specific purposes. The committees met frequently, either weekly or fortnightly, while the Council met weekly. Committee reports requiring decision by the Council were dealt with weekly, and each committee reported to the Council every 6 months. In addition the Council also had representatives on many bodies such as industrial councils, school governing bodies and charitable foundations. For the purpose of carrying out the services of the Council, the staff is organised into departments, each of which is under the responsibility of a chief officer.

The Clerk of the Council was the chief administrative officer of the Council, acting as the clerk of the Council itself as well as the various committees. Additional important duties of the Clerk's Department included the maintenance of the library for members of the Council at City Hall, the preparation of general publications and the responsibility for general work including records.

The Standing Orders of Parliament required plans and books of reference to be deposited with the clerk of the peace. After 1930 they were deposited with the clerk of the county council.

When the London County Council became a local education authority it became the largest employer of teachers in the country. In 1902 it had established the London Day Training College in association with the University of London. In 1932 this College passed to the control of the University and became the Institute of Education. The Council founded six emergency training colleges after the Second World War. These colleges were meant to help solve some of the urgent post war problems, offering a one-year course of training, and were closed by 1951.

The decision of the Minister of Education in 1957 to extend the course of teacher training from two to three years led to expansion in the provision of places. Several training colleges in London were enlarged and a new day-training college for mature students (Sidney Webb College) was opened in 1961. In the same year the Council undertook responsibility for the maintenance of two voluntary colleges, one specialising in physical education and the other in training for primary education. By 1964 the Council was administering nine training colleges, all of them constituent colleges of the University of London Institute of Education.

It became clear from 1960 onwards that despite the increased numbers coming from training colleges, the shortage of primary school teachers was likely to become even more acute, largely because the earlier average age of marriage was causing women teachers to leave the profession in greater numbers. The increased birth-rate from 1954 onwards also accentuated the demand for primary teachers. The Council therefore took the initiative in seeking primary school staff from other sources, and started a series of short courses designed to attract into primary teaching married women graduates who had no teaching experience. At about the same time a vigorous publicity campaign was launched by the Council to increase the use of part-time teachers in primary and secondary schools. The Council's efforts met with considerable success, and in the recruitment of part-time teachers other local education authorities followed this example.

The Froebel Society for the Promotion of the Kindergarten System was founded in 1874 in order to provide courses of training for nursery teachers and a recognition and inspection facility for nursery schools. In 1887 the Society created a separate body, the National Froebel Union, in order to validate examinations and set standards for the Froebel Teacher's Certificate. In 1938 the two bodies united to form the National Froebel Foundation.

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 Council, on its creation in 1889, assumed responsibility for the Metropolitan Fire Brigade maintained by its predecessor, the Metropolitan Board of Works. On 15 August 1904 the name of the brigade was changed to the London Fire Brigade by virtue of Section 46 of the London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1904.

As part of the Second World War emergency organisation, a Regional Fire Officer with a small staff was appointed to co-ordinate the work of fire brigades in the Greater London area. From 18 August 1941 to 31 March 1948, under emergency legislation, the Brigade and the wartime London Auxiliary Fire Service, in common with the brigades of other local authorities, were merged into a National Fire Service under the direction of the Home Office. The Council resumed control of the Brigade from 1 April 1948.

1833: London Fire Engine Establishment began to operate, being a union of brigades formerly run by individual insurance companies.

1836: Society for the Protection of Life from Fire set up, a voluntary society maintaining and manning fire escapes at a number of stations throughout London.

1865: Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act placing responsibility for extinguishing fires and protecting life and property upon MBW. Thus on 1 Jan 1866 Metropolitan Fire Brigade came into existence, commanded by Captain Eyre Massey Shaw (the new brigade was combination of two bodies described above)

1866: London Salvage Corps established by leading insurance companies to protect property rather than life at metropolitan conflagrations.

1889: LCC take over Metropolitan Fire Brigade

1904: Name changed to London Fire Brigade.

1938: Threat of war leads to formation of Auxiliary Fire Service to augment existing brigade; equipment and finance provided by Home Office, training and day to day management closely supervised by London Fire Brigade.

1941: National Fire Service created to unify fire services of entire country; London became one of 11 regions of this Service, the London Fire Brigade and Auxiliary Fire Service being superseded.

1947: Fire Services Act - responsibility for fire brigades placed upon County Councils and County Boroughs nationally.

1948 1 April: London Fire Brigade resumed operations.

1948 1 April: Middlesex County Fire Service came into operation. Before war fire services in county of Middlesex were responsibility of Urban District and Borough authorities, and at an earlier date parish vestries occasionally provided fire engines for local fires.

The London County Council, from its inception, followed the practice which had obtained under the Metropolitan Board of Works of preserving virtually all the documents which were before a committee or sub-committee at its meetings (not merely the more important reports, etc circulated with the agenda papers) and binding them in a series of volumes running parallel to the series of volumes of signed minutes. Except in the case of meetings of the Council itself and its Education and Public Assistance Committees (whose minutes were saleable to the public), no considerable body of background information tended to be incorporated in the minutes themselves and the attention of students is accordingly drawn to the desirability of consulting the presented papers of committees and sub-committees in conjunction with their study of the minutes.

Presented papers are normally bound chronologically, meeting by meeting and, within a meeting, follow the order of item numbers in the minutes, the item number usually being endorsed on the presented document in its top right-hand corner. Separate indexes from those associated with the minutes are not therefore called for.

The following are the exceptions to the system described above;-

a) There are no presented papers for certain minor special and ad hoc committees and sub-committees.

(b) Certain classes of plans and drawings were not retained by the Committee Clerks but were permitted to be returned to the department of origin.

(c) Certain plans and drawings of too large a size to be bound in with the presented papers are separately stored.

(d) The system of presented paper was not applied to the Education Committee and it sub-committees until September, 1940. The important reports, etc circulated before the meetings will, ever be found bound in with the agendas papers.

(e) The presented papers of the Asylums Committee up to the end of 1919 and some of its sub-committees up to somewhat later dates were sent for salvage during the Second World War.

(f) The presented papers of the Housing of the Working Classes Committee and the Public Health and Housing Committee between March, 1889 and December 1906 are bound subject by subject and not chronologically. From 1907, the normal chronological system is followed.

(g) The presented papers of the Theatres and Music Halls Committee between March 1889 and October 1909 are bound theatre by theatre and not chronologically with six additional volumes bound subject by subject. From October 1909, the normal chronological system is followed.

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.

Places used in London for stage plays, music, dancing, film shows, boxing, or wrestling had to be licensed if they were open to the public. The purpose of licensing was to ensure the safety and suitability of the premises and the entertainment. In general, the Council was the entertainment licensing authority for London, but most West End theatres were licensed for stage plays by the Lord Chamberlain.

Fan dancing, nude posing and strip-tease became increasingly popular during the Second World War. In 1940 the Lord Chamberlain convened a conference to consider the tendency towards impropriety on the stage. At first there was an improvement, but it was not maintained. In 1952 the Council decided to prohibit strip-tease in premises in London licensed for music and dancing. Strip-tease shows continued to be given at bogus clubs in the Soho area. In such clubs there was really no effective restriction on public admission, nor was there any intended. Legal proceedings and fines were not an adequate deterrent and more severe penalties were introduced in the London Government Act, 1963.

The cinema remained the most popular form of entertainment licensed by the Council. There were in 1963 over 150 cinemas in London. Safety arrangements were prescribed in detail and updated as new technology was introduced. The Council also had responsibility for the censorship of films, generally accepting the decisions of the British Board of Film Censors.

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.

The Council was the weights and measures authority for the County of London (excluding the City) and employed twenty-three duly qualified inspectors and five authorised coal officers. Four area offices were maintained at which a large quantity of very accurate equipment was kept, including standard measures, fine balances, public weighbridges, a weighbridge testing vehicle, and machines for testing and stamping glass measures.

Increases in the sale of prepacked goods had an effect on legislation. Statutory regulations in 1957 made it an offence to sell any prepackaged food, with certain exceptions, unless the wrapper was legibly marked with a true statement of the contents. During the year 1962-1963 the Council's inspectors examined 537,000 articles of food at 14,000 premises.

The first registers of voters were lists of those owing land tax, since the right to vote depended on the amount of property a man owned.

It was not until the 1832 Reform Act that the creation of electoral registers became a requirement. At first these were the responsibility of the Quarter Sessions, although from 1888 they were compiled by County Councils and from 1974 by District Councils. The registers mainly list those eligible to vote for parliamentary elections although they often double as lists for local government elections.

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.

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.

The Council inherited from the Metropolitan Board of Works the power under the Tramways Act, 1870 (which the Board had not in fact exercised) to construct tramways and lease them to operating companies and also to purchase at prescribed future dates the undertakings of the existing tramway companies (of which there were fourteen in 1889). Until the passing of the London County Tramways Act, 1896, the Council's powers did not extend to operating a tramway undertaking itself. The London Street Tramways Company's undertaking was the first to be purchased and released on a short-term basis in 1892 and the arbitration proceedings which ensued set the pattern for subsequent purchases.

When the undertaking of another of the companies, the London Tramways Company, which operated wholly South of the Thames, was purchased with effect from 1 January 1899, the Council decided to operate the system itself, appointing a General Manager of Tramways as the head of a new Department for this purpose and the direct management of other systems followed, as they were purchased or leases expired. Electrification powers were conferred by the London County Tramways (Electrical Power) Act 1900 and the first section of electrified line (running between Westminster Bridge and Tooting) was opened by the Prince of Wales of 15 May 1903. Electrification was completed by 1912, the large generating station at Greenwich being opened in two stages in 1906 and 1910.

The attempt of the Council to continue to operate the horse omnibus service between the south side of Westminster Bridge and Charing Cross which had been maintained by the London Tramways Company was frustrated by litigation and it was not until 1906 after much controversy that Parliament sanctioned the carrying of tramways over Westminster and other Thames bridges and along the Victoria Embankment. The Kingsway subway, designed to link the northern and southern systems was opened between Holborn and Aldwych in 1906 and extended to the Victoria Embankment in 1908.

The question of the financing of the undertaking and the form of accounts was the subject of considerable controversy at the 1907 L.C.C. elections which resulted in a change of party in the majority in the Council Chamber.

Under the London Passenger Transport Act 1933, the Council's tramway undertaking, the undertakings of the omnibus companies and the underground railways were transferred to the newly-created London Passenger Transport Board with effect from 1 July 1933.

The London County Council's housing work was administered by the Housing and Public Health Committee. The Valuer, with the Valuation Department, was responsible for the acquisition of property and maintenance and management of the Council's dwellings.