No information available at the time of compilation.
Melville was born in Scotland, 1723 and educated at Glasgow and Edinburgh universities. In 1744 he became an ensign in the Edinburgh Regiment where he steadily rose through the ranks and in 1751 obtained his own company in the regiment. In 1760, on the death of his current commander he was appointed Governor of Guadeloupe and from there in 1760 appointed Governor to the Ceded Islands (Grenada, the Grenadines, Dominica. St Vincent and Tobago). His interests as an antiquary motivated him to study numerous locations for historical military purposes and he was also as member of the Society of Arts. When he died, in 1809, he was the oldest General in the British Army.
Catherine Kearsley and her husband were printers and booksellers in London in the late eighteenth century. They began the commercial production of Widow Welch's Female Pills, which they claimed to have as a family recipe, in 1787. There seems to have been some contention over who was manufacturing the true Widow Welch's Recipe, since the collection includes a handbill claiming that Mrs Smithers, as the granddaughter of the Widow Welch was the only person entitled to the preparation. It continued to be a popular patent medicine until the company ceased trading in the late 1960s.
Mendaris (Sumatra) Rubber and Produce Estates Limited was registered in 1911 to acquire the Laut Tabor and Mendaris estates in the district of Deli on the east coast of Sumatra. In 1960 it was acquired by London Sumatra Plantations Limited (CLC/B/112-110), and in April 1982 it became a private company.
Little is known about the family save for their birth details and the following information gleaned from Franz Mendelsohn's cv dated c 1934. He was born in Breslau, 7 Jan 1899, the son of the lawyer, notary and Justizrat, Salo Mendelsohn. Franz studied law in Freiburg, taking his final examination on 15 Mar 1924 from which date he worked as a lawyer at the regional court at Breslau in a practice with his father until the latter's death in 1929. Then he carried on the practice on his own until 31 May 1933 on which date his right to practise law was withdrawn on account of his Jewish origins. He then worked voluntarily for half a year in a shipping company to gain experience in business and at the same time at the legal protection department of the Breslau synagogue community. He married Charlotte Fraenkel in 1925.
Emanuel Mendes da Costa was born 25 May 1717 in London to John, alias Abraham, and Johanna Mendes da Costa. A Sephardic Jewish merchant and public notary operating in the City of London, he engaged in the trade of goods including books and geologic specimens. He was interested in the study of natural science and served as Clerk to the Royal Society of London.
Emanuel Mendes da Costa's siblings included brothers Jacob, alias Philip, David (who was involved in the supply of bread to British troops in Flanders) and sister Sarah (married to Abraham Fernandes Nuñes).
Other family members included Abraham, alias John, Mendes da Costa, who refers to his brother Jacob the 3rd, (died 3 March 1752) in his will, and Moses, alias Philip, father to Abraham and grandfather to Emanuel, Philip, David and Sarah.
Emanuel was married to Elizabeth Skillman. Members of the Skillman family were living in Hendon during the 18th and 19th centuries as evident from the admission of Richard Skillman (recorded 5 May 1761) and Elizabeth Mendes da Costa, formerly Skillman, (1767). Elizabeth also figures in the apprenticeship of William Skillman, nephew of John Skillman, serving a carpenter in Hendon (1799).
In the 19th century, descendants included Emanuel Mendes da Costa Skillman (died 1903, aged 76), married to Caroline (died 1906, aged 73). They had a daughter, Amelia Jane Skillman, born at 1 Landseer Road, Upper Holloway in December 1871. Emanuel Skillman, a carpenter by profession, resided later at 54 Kingsdown Road. He and Caroline eventually resided at 7 Cromartie Road, Islington at their time of death and were buried at Islington Cemetery.
Born in 1840; studied economics at the Universities of Prague and Vienna, 1859-1863; became a prominent economic journalist, as well as writing a number of novels and comedies; gained a doctorate in law, 1866, and worked as an apprentice lawyer until granted a law degree from the University of Krakow, 1867; returned to work as a journalist, and developed Mengarian economics, which reconstructed price theory; published The principles of economics, 1871; joined the civil service, in the Press Department of the Austrian Cabinet, 1870-1873; appointed Lecturer, 1872, and Associate Professor, 1873-1876, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Vienna; tutor of Crown Prince Rudolph von Hapsburg, 1876-1878; Professor of Political Economy, Faculty of Law, University of Vienna, 1879-1903; published Investigation into the method of social sciences with special reference to economics, 1883; publication of The errors of historicism in German economics, 1884, began a lengthy debate between the Austrian School and the German Historical School; Member of a Commission charged with the reformation of the Austrian monetary system, 1888-1892; died 1921.
The Mental After Care Association (MACA) was founded in 1879 by Henry Hawkins, Chaplain of Colney Hatch Asylum, as The After Care Association for Poor and Friendless Female Convalescents on Leaving Asylums for the Insane. Its aims were to provide an alternative to the workhouse for those discharged from asylums by offering a period of convalescence in the homes of private individuals. The ex-patients were given advice, money, clothing, and assisted to find suitable work. The name changed in 1892 when "Friendless" was dropped from the title. In 1893 the Association opened its own home for ex-patients in Redhill, Surrey. It was the first convalescent home for the mentally ill in England and closed in 1895. The Association's name changed again in 1894 when "Female" was dropped from the title. In 1914 the Association became The Mental After Care Association for Poor Persons Convalescent or Recovered from Institutions for the Insane. During World War One (1914-1918) the Association helped shell shock and air raid victims. In the 1930s the Association moved into preventive care, and also provided holiday accommodation for those not ready to leave hospital on a permanent basis. The Association became MACA in 1940. It registered as a limited company in 1949. In the 1960s chronic patients were accommodated in homes administered by MACA. More recently MACA has participated in community and respite care projects. In 2005 MACA became Together: Working for Wellbeing.
Born, 1875; educated at Llandovery College and at the University of Edinburgh; graduated MB, 1899 and MD, 1903; member of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, 1903; postgraduate study in Vienna and Berlin; held resident posts at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, and in London at the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, the Brompton Hospital, and the Western Fever Hospital of the Metropolitan Asylums Board; diploma in public health, 1905; demonstrator and lecturer in public health at University College, London, 1907; deputy medical officer of health of the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington, London, 1907; part-time officer, London County Council, 1909; full-time assistant medical officer, London County Council, 1911-1924, working in schools in the East End of London; prepared and implemented schemes for the control of tuberculosis and venereal diseases in London; Director of Hospitals and Medical services for the joint council of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St John of Jerusalem, 1924, he also remained as London County Council part-time staff as a consultant on the tuberculosis and venereal diseases schemes; returned to full-time work for the London County Council, as County Medical Officer of Health, 1926-1939; returned to Caernarvonshire, where he acted as Inspector of hospitals and convalescent homes in north Wales for the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St John of Jerusalem; returned to London and undertook work on variouis committees, 1945; died, 1949.
The Australian Studies Centre was established as part of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, Sep 1982 and received funding from the Menzies Memorial Trust and the Australian Government. It was officially opened, 7 Jun 1983. The first Head of the Centre was Professor Geoffrey Bolton; Professor Thomas Millar became Head in 1985. The Menzies Centre's object is to promote Australian studies in British and European universities and to act as an Australian cultural base in London, providing a forum for the discussion of Australian issues. In 1988 the Australian government ceased its financial support for the Centre and the Menzies Memorial Trust took up the full financing. The Centre was subsequently renamed the Sir Robert Menzies Centre for Australian Studies. The Centre moved from the Institute of Commonwealth Studies to King's College London in 1999 and was then known as the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies. At this time the Centre was endowed permenantly by the Australisn government whilst continuing to receive funds from the Menzies Foundation and Monash University.
Little is known about the author save for that which is contained in the letter itself, namely that Emmerich Menzner was a rank and file member of an SS cavalry regiment in an unidentified part of Poland in 1942, and that he hailed from Litzmannstadt (Lodz).
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
An assignment of term, or assignment to attend the inheritance, was an assignment of the remaining term of years in a mortgage to a trustee after the mortgage itself has been redeemed. An assignment of a lease is the transfer of the rights laid out in the lease to another party, usually for a consideration (a sum of money).
Abstract of title is a summary of prior ownership of a property, drawn up by solicitors. Such an abstract may go back several hundred years or just a few months, and was usually drawn up just prior to a sale.
A covenant or deed of covenant was an agreement entered into by one of the parties to a deed to another. A covenant for production of title deeds was an agreement to produce deeds not being handed over to a purchaser, while a covenant to surrender was an agreement to surrender copyhold land.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
An assignment of term, or assignment to attend the inheritance, was an assignment of the remaining term of years in a mortgage to a trustee after the mortgage itself has been redeemed. An assignment of a lease is the transfer of the rights laid out in the lease to another party, usually for a consideration (a sum of money).
Probate (also called proving a will) is the process of establishing the validity of a will, which was recorded in the grant of probate.
Abstract of title is a summary of prior ownership of a property, drawn up by solicitors. Such an abstract may go back several hundred years or just a few months, and was usually drawn up just prior to a sale.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
Meppadi Wynaad Tea Company Limited was registered in 1910 to acquire the Arrapetta-Kardoora, Neddikarna, Nedimballi-Meppadi, Moopenaad, and Sentinel Rock estates in the Wynaad district of southern India. In 1923 it was acquired by Malayalam Plantations Limited (CLC/B/112-113).
The company was founded in 1861 for London wharf and warehouse fire insurance. It was acquired by the North British Insurance Company in 1862. This company, which was then styled North British and Mercantile Insurance Company, merged with Commercial Union in 1959. When it was established, Mercantile Fire Insurance occupied what it regarded as temporary offices at 31 Threadneedle Street.
Born, [1883]; Deacon, 1908; Priest, 1909; Curate of Blackhill, County Durham, 1908-1909; University of Durham, BA 1909, MA 1912; Curate of St Andrew, Tudhoe Granbe, 1909-1911; Bachelor of Divinity, London, 1915; Curate of St Luke, Kentish Town, 1911-1916; Organising Secretary, St Andrews Waterside Mission, 1919; Curate of Little Wakering, Southend on Sea.
Merchant Investors was incorporated in 1970 and underwrote high net worth life and pension products mainly for Independent Financial Advisors. The company was taken over in 2003 by Sanlam, a South African investment company. As of 23 December 2003, Sanlam Life and Pensions UK Limited operated as a subsidiary of Sanlam Limited and provided life insurance, pension, and investment products in the United Kingdom.
Philip A Knight was Pensions Manager to the company, was involved with setting up the pension scheme and became the first member-nominated trustee of the scheme.
Witherby's was founded in 1740 by Thomas Witherby (1719 - 1797), stationer. He began by copying manuscript documents brought to him by solicitors relating to property leases, wills and marriage settlements, as well as producing pro-forma articles of agreement, bonds and other documents relating to insurance and shipping required by merchants, shop owners and their captains. Many of these transactions were carried out in coffee houses including the Sword Blade coffee house in Exchange Alley which was burnt to the ground in 1748 together with Thomas Witherby's premises next door.
Witherby signed a new lease for a 'new built brick messuage' at 9 Birchin Lane in 1749 where the business remained until 1873.
In 1767 Thomas was elected to the Common Council of the City of London Corporation representing Langbourne Ward. In 1779 the firm became Witherby & Son, and later Witherby and Company becoming a registered limited company as Witherby and Company Limited in 1935 which acted as a parent for subsidiary companies. These subsidiaries included HF & G Witherby Limited, publishers specialising on books on British Birds reflecting Harry Forbes Witherby's interest in ornithology. Publications included the monthly magazine 'British Birds' launched in 1907 and printed at Witherby's Holborn works. The firm also diversified its products range from account books and headed stationery to 'Witherby's Magnetic pen' patented in 1898 and Witherby's Universal Automatic Gum Bottle.
Successive acquisitions (including Bean, Webley and Company in 1925 and drake, Driver and Leaver Limited in 1954) , and the expansion of the printing business, led the firm to settle at specially built premises for modernised printing production techniques at 32-36 Aylesbury Street, Islington in 1965. It was only in 2009, after its publishing arm merged in 2008 with Scottish based Seamanship International Limited, that Witherby's moved to Tottenham Hale.
The Company specialises in litho and digital printing.
Seven generations of Witherbys were involved in the business. Thomas Witherby's son George Henry (1766 - 1805) became a partner in 1778 and was joined by William (1758- 1840) when the business changed to 'Witherby and son', succeeded by William's son William Henry (1793 - 1890) and George Henry's son George (1791 - 1861). The fourth generation comprised Walter (1826 - 1881) and Henry Forbes (1836 - 1907) sons of George; then Harry Forbes (1873 - 1943), George (1878 - 1958) and Theodore (1872 - 1957) all sons of Henry Forbes Witherby.
By the twentieth century the company was managed by Harry's sons Thomas and Richard and latterly George's son Anthony. The seventh and final generation joined the business in the 1960's - Alan and David Witherby. The family's association with the business ended when David Witherby resigned as director of Witherby's Limited in 2012.
Trading As
Thomas Witherby 1759-1778 Birchin Lane
Thomas Witherby and Son 1779-1788
Thomas Witherby and Sons 1789-1800
William and George Henry Witherby 1801-1814
W.G and W.H Witherby 1815 - 1830
Witherby and Co.
Witherby and Company Limited 1935
George Meredith was born in Portsmouth on 12 February 1828. He received his education at St Paul's School, Southsea and at the Moravian School at Neuwied on the Rhine, 1842-1844. Meredith returned to England in 1844, where he was articled to a solicitor in London, under whose encouragement Meredith began to write poetry. He contributed to Chambers Edinburgh Journal. In 1860 Meredith became a reader for the publishing company, Chapman and Hall. During his life he wrote poetry, seven novels and contributed essays to periodicals. After 1895 Meredith stopped writing prose, but continued to write poetry. His last collection of poems was published in 1901. In 1905 he was awarded the Order of Merit. George Meredith died on 18 May 1909.
James Blundell was born, 1790; educated first by the Revd Thomas Thomason, and then at the United Borough Hospitals by his maternal uncle, the physiologist John Haighton, he graduated MD at Edinburgh, 1813; began lecturing in London on midwifery, 1814; soon after began to lecture on physiology; Lecturer in Midwifery and as Lecturer in Physiology at Guy's Hospital, 1818; Professor of Obstetrics and Lecturer on the Diseases of Women; left Guy's Hospital, 1834; Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, 1838; retired, 1847; died, 1878.
Publications:
Researches Physiological and Pathological (1824)
Principles and Practice of Obstetricy (1834)
Observations on some of the More Important Diseases of Women (1837)
William Merrick gained a certificate to practice as an apothecary, 10 Nov 1831.
Samuel Merriman, was born on 25 Oct 1771 at Marlborough, Wiltshire, the son of Benjamin Merriman (1722-1781) and his second wife Mary (nee Hawkes). He was educated at the Marlborough free school. In 1784 he arrived in London to study medicine under his uncle, Dr Samuel Merriman (1731-1818). He also attended the lectures at the Anatomical Theatre in Great Windmill Street, and the Westminster Lying-in Hospital, as well as aquiring clinical knowledge of disease by seeing the numerous patients of his cousin William (1766-1800), son of the elder Samuel Merriman (1731-1818). In 1807, having become a member of the Society of Apothecaries, he entered into partnership with Mr Peregrine, to whom he soon resigned the general practice, limiting himself to midwifery alone. In 1808 he was appointed physician-accoucheur to the Westminster General Dispensary, having previously received the honorary degree of MD from Marischal College, Aberdeen. He resigned the office in 1815, and was appointed consulting physician-accoucheur and subsequently vice-president of the charity. In 1809 he was elected to the same office at the Middlesex Hospital, where in 1810 he commenced his annual course of lectures on midwifery, and continued them regularly till 1825. In 1822, when his consultation practice as a physician for the diseases of women and children had largely increased, he removed to Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, and he subsequently purchased an estate at Rodborne Cheney, Wiltshire. Merriman resigned his post at the Middlesex Hospital on 7 March 1826, but continued to take a warm interest in the institution, and was one of the treasurers from 1840 until 1845. He was elected treasurer of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society in 1837. Merriman died in Brook Street on 22 Nov 1852. He married in 1799 his cousin Ann (1778-1831), daughter of his uncle, Samuel Merriman(1731-1818).
Publications: `Observations on some late Attempts to Depreciate the Value and Efficacy of Vaccine Inoculation.' 1805; Dissertation on the Retroversion of the Womb, London, 1810; Synopsis of the Various Kinds of Difficult Parturition, London, 1814; The validity of 'Thoughts on Medical Reform', 1833; an edition of Dr M Underwood's Treatise on the Diseases of Children, London, 1827; essays and other papers of his were published in the London Medical Repository, London Medical and Physical Journal, and Medico-Chirurgical Transactions; and articles contributed to Gentleman's Magazine, and Notes and Queries, London Journal of Medicine.
Hugh Ley was born in 1790 at Abingdon, Berkshire, the son of Hugh Ley (1762-1826) a former medical practitioner. He was educated at Dr. Lempriere's school, Abingdon; the united medical schools of St. Thomas's and Guy's Hospitals in Southwark, and took the diploma of the College of Surgeons. He then studied at Edinburgh, where he graduated MD in 1813. On 30 Sep 1818 he was admitted a licentiate of the College of Physicians of London, and began practice in London as a man midwife. He was elected physician to the Westminster Lying-in Hospital, and soon afterwards became lecturer on midwifery at the Middlesex Hospital. On 20 April 1835 he accepted the unanimous invitation of the staff of St Bartholomew's Hospital to deliver the lectures on midwifery in their school. He lived in Half-Moon Street, London, but died, from heart disease, at Stilton, Huntingdonshire, 24 Jan 1837.
Publications: Graduation thesis : The pathology of phthisis, Edinburgh, 1813; An Essay on Laryngismus Stridulus, or Crouplike Inspiration of Infants, 1836.
Born, 1771; education, the free grammar school, Marlborough and a school in Old Burlington Street, London; medical education mainly under his paternal uncle, also Samuel Merriman, a distinguished obstetrician; qualified, 1800; member of the Society of Apothecaries, 1800; initially practised as an apothecary but began to specialise in midwifery; from 1808 he was physician accoucheur, consulting physician accoucheur, and vice-president at the Westminster Dispensary; employed by the board of St George's, Hanover Square, to attend all difficult births in the parish, 1808; physician accoucheur to the Middlesex and Westminster lying-in hospitals, 1809; lectured on obstetrics at the Middlesex Hospital, 1810-; taught at St Bartholomew's Hospital, 1820-1821; died, 1852.
Publications: Synopsis of the Various Kinds of Difficult Parturition (1814)
Lieutenant Merry (1922-1986) joined the Royal Navy on his 18th birthday in August 1940 for war service. He was appointed Flag Lieutenant to Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser and saw service in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean theatres. He was on the bridge of the battleship HMS DUKE OF YORK during the Battle of the North Cape in 1943 and witnessed the sinking of the German battleship Scharnhorst on 25 December 1943. He remained as Flag Lieutenant when Admiral Fraser was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Pacific Fleet. He was present on the deck of the USS MISSOURI in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945 and witnessed Admiral Fraser signing the Japanese surrender document on behalf of Britain. Lieutenant Merry was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and after the War he elected to remain in the Royal Navy and served in a variety of appointments at sea and ashore in the UK and around the world, including Australia and the USA. In the early 1960s he attended the Allied Forces' Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia, and then served in a NATO appointment on the staff of Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic. He retired from the Royal Navy in the rank of Commodore in 1977. Lieutenant Merry died in January 1986 at the age of 63.
According to the 1930 Post Office London Directory, Merry and Company were run by E Merry Owen and Arthur Trepess. They were based at 4 Saint James's Street, Piccadilly, SW1.
The company was originally established in circa 1690 by Nathaniel Hadley, manufacturing pumps and fire-fighting apparatus. The first fire engine factory was built in 1738. In 1791 Henry Lott joined the firm and later took over full control of the company and when he retired handed it over to his nephew by marriage, Moses Merryweather (1791-1872). He and his sons, including Richard Moses Merryweather (1839-1877) managed the business and it was known as Merryweather and Sons.
In the 1830s customers included parishes and vestries in London and beyond including Ireland, fire insurance companies including Sun Fire Office and the Hand in Hand, for other businesses and for individuals mainly the aristocracy. In 1840s the company was based in Long Acre. In 1862 a new factory was built in York Street, Lambeth, for the manufacture of steam engines. In 1876 another factory was built in Greenwich Road, Greenwich and three years later the Lambeth factory was closed. The company took Limited Liability status in 1892 and became registered as Merryweather and Company Limited.
By the later 19th century Merryweather had become Fire Engine Makers by Appointment to the Royal Family and sold fire-fighting apparatus across the world. In the 1910s products were distributed to as widely as South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Burma, Egypt, India and Singapore and China.
In the 1980s Calamite absorbed Merryweather and operations were moved from London to South Wales. April 1984 saw a 'moonlight flit' of the company. Siebe Gorman Limited (later Siebe plc) which had moved to Wales from Surrey in 1975, took over Calamite and produced firefighter's breathing equipment.
In 2008 Merryweather and Sons Limited was based at 3 Church Road, Croydon. It was supplying a range of fire extinguishers and fire fighting equipment and providing regular service inspection of fire extinguishers at customer premises to meet fire safety standards.
No information available at present.
Charles Lewis Meryon (1783-1877) was physician to Lady Hester Stanhope.
Wilhelm Merzbach was director of the family business, Bankhaus S Merzbach.
Born, 1913; Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, -1934; 3 Battalion, Royal Tank Corps, 1934; Experimental Wing RAC Gunnery School, 1938-1942; Instructor School of Tank Technology, 1942; Ministry of Supply, 1943; Instructor RMCS Shrivenham, 1946-1948; 7 Royal Tank Regiment as Officer Commanding Specialised Armour Squadron, 1948-1950; Inspectorate of Armoured Fighting Vehicles, 1950-1953; attended Exercise TOTEM nuclear test in Australia as Royal Armoured Corps and Royal Artillery representative, 1953; Army Operational Research Group, West Byfleet, 1953; Commanded Experimental Wing of Defence Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Centre School, Winterbourne Gunner, 1956-1958; retired from the Army, 1958; Health and Safety Branch UK Atomic Energy Authority, 1958-1973; freelance nuclear consultant and technical translator, 1973; Scientific Advisor (Nuclear) to Northhampton County Council Emergency Planning, 1980-1993; died, 2005.
The Bishop of London was held to exercise responsibility for Anglican churches overseas where no other bishop had been appointed. He retained responsibility for churches in northern and central Europe until 1980, but his jurisdiction in southern Europe ceased in 1842 on the creation of the diocese of Gibraltar. In 1980, the Bishop of London divested himself of all overseas jurisdiction and a new diocese of 'Gibraltar in Europe' was established.
Messina on the island of Sicily, in Italy, was an important trading post and Anglicanism spread there with British merchants.
Singapore was founded and declared a free port in 1819. Following the end of the East India Company's monopoly of Asian commerce, independent merchant houses were quick to seize the opportunity to establish trading posts on the island. Amongst these pioneers was Alexander Guthrie, merchant with Messrs. Harrington & Company. Guthrie made a success of their enterprise and by 1824, the partnership with Harrington had been formally dissolved. Guthrie took on James Scott Clark as a new partner, to form Messrs. Guthrie & Clark.
During its early history various partnerships controlled the business, from its base in Singapore. Following Clark's departure in 1833, Alexander took on his nephew James Guthrie and renamed the firm Messrs. Guthrie & Co. James became a partner in 1837, and headed the Singapore office from 1847, when Alexander returned to London. In 1849 John James Greenshields became a partner. In 1856, James Guthrie returned to London. In 1857 Thomas Scott (responsible for the formation of the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company in 1864) became a partner, and later Senior Partner in 1867. On his return to London in 1873, Scott established a registered office for the firm in London, known as Scott & Company. In 1876, Louis John Robertson Glass was the senior partner in Singapore. On 28 February 1903 Guthrie & Co merged with Scott & Company to become Guthrie & Co. Ltd, with its own London office. Sir John Anderson became the Governing Director of the whole concern, with Robert McNair Scott as the London Director. Anderson went on to launch many of the company's planting and mining interests and shaped its policy for a quarter of a century. By the time Sir John Hay assumed the position of General Manager in 1925, the total range of Guthrie business interests was known as the 'Guthrie Group'. Hay went on to become Managing Director and Chairman, distinguished for his work for the British rubber plantation industry.
By the mid 19th century, Guthrie & Co was a successful merchant house trading British goods (e.g. cotton, wool, manufactured articles) for produce from the Straits (spices, tin, coffee, beeswax, ebony, ivory); India (Punjab wheat, Indian cotton, opium from Calcutta); Java (coffee); Borneo (sago); Malay Peninsula (rattan, pepper); and Siam and Cambodia (sugar, coconut oil, salt, rice, teak). Trading was conducted largely through Chinese merchants, who collected goods from native producers and sold it on to the British merchants for export. In addition the firm managed estates, and acted as agents for numerous banks and insurance companies including the London banking firm of Coutts (from 1830), London Fire Insurance Co (from 1853), and the London & Provincial Marine Insurance Co (from 1861). By 1896 the firm had begun to establish itself in the Malay Peninsula, accepting the agency of 5 coffee estates owned by Thomas Heslop Hill. By 1900 Guthrie agencies included 6 banks, 5 insurance companies, 2 shipping companies and 23 new 'general' agencies. These concerned tin mines, gold mines, tobacco estates, sugar, flour cement, tea and coffee machinery, whiskies, beers, wines and spirits, Jeyes' Fluid and Lipton's Tea.
By the beginning of the 20th century, Guthrie & Co. had taken on the agency of a number of new rubber plantation companies with estates in Malaya, Borneo and Sumatra. Amongst these agencies were the Selangor Rubber Co., Linggi Plantations Ltd. (1904), United Sua Betong Rubber Estates Ltd. (1909), United Temiang Rubber Estates Ltd. (1910), and Malacca Rubber Plantations Ltd. (1920). Guthrie & Co. also played a key role in research in this field, with the development of 'Stimulex' in the 1930's (which significantly increased the output of natural latex), and a new form of natural rubber, 'Dynat', in 1961 (with greater standardisation of physical and chemical composition). Modern day distributors of rubber products for the Group include Guthrie Latex Inc. and its sister company in the UK, Guthrie Symington Ltd.
By the 1920's, the flotation of companies concerned with the oil palm industry had become an important sideline to Guthrie & Co.'s extensive rubber planting interests in Malaya. In 1924 they floated Elaeis Plantations Ltd., and subsequently three of the rubber companies in the 'Guthrie Group' (Linggi Plantations Ltd, United Sua Betong Rubber Estates Ltd, and Malacca Rubber Plantations Ltd) acquired adjoining tracts of land and commenced planting oil palms. In 1930, these three companies merged their interests in oil palms by creating Oil Palms of Malaya Ltd. By 1942 the oil palm interests of Guthrie & Co in Malaya amounted to nearly 20,000 acres.
With the outbreak of War in Asia on 8 December 1941, and the surrender of Singapore on 15 February 1942, business ceased. Bombing destroyed the Guthrie Head Office, and many employees were sent to Japanese internment camps. Following the War, together with other member organisations of the Rubber Estate Owners Company who had suffered losses in the East, Guthrie were able to reclaim their estates and offices in Singapore, Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Ipon and Penang, and resume trading with the eastern public. From 1947, the commercial side of the firm flourished. There was an extension of activity into Africa with the purchase of Cochrane & Milton (agricultural equipment and builders hardware), the opening of an office in Melbourne in 1953, and the purchase of F. W. Green & Co. in 1959 (general traders in Australia). The London Office also branched out to incorporate the food-importing business of B.N. Sexton, Canadian Foods and John Dorell. The company's Head Office was also transferred to London. Guthrie & Co. became a world-wide network of interests including Guthries' of Singapore and Malaysia (later merged with an off-shoot of the House of Jardine Matheson into Guthrie Waugh), Guthries' of Rhodesia, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Nigeria and innumerable subsidiaries.
On 1 January 1961, the 'Guthrie Group' formed a co-operative - Guthrie Estates Agency Ltd. with a subsidiary, Guthrie Agency (Malaya) Ltd. - to manage the affairs of its constituent companies. In 1964, Sir John Hay died, and Sir Eric Griffith Jones took his place, welding together the rubber and palm interests of the group into the Guthrie Corporation, the largest owner of such plantations in the world. Keith Anderson became Chairman of Guthrie & Co. (UK) Ltd. In 1988, the Guthrie Corporation plc was acquired by BBA Group plc.
Further reading: S Cunyngham-Brown, The Traders: A Story of Britain's South-East Asian Commercial Adventure (London, 1971)
Born 1928; educated at Harrow County Grammar School and Imperial College London; National Service with RAF Airborne Radar Service, 1946-1948; joined Bristol Aeroplane Company, 1951; helped develop the Bloodhound Surface-to-Air Missile, 1957; Chief Aerodynamicist, Bristol Aeroplane Company, 1958; worked on development of Rapier Surface-to-Air Missile, 1971; Group Director, Naval Weapons, Hawker Siddeley, 1978; Managing Director, Hawker Siddeley's Bristol site, 1980; Managing director, Hawker Siddeley's Hatfield site, 1981; Director of British Aerospace, 1982; Deputy Chief Executive, British Aerospace, 1984-1988; Gold Medal of Royal Aeronautical Society, 1984; served on Council of the Society of British Aerospace Companies; President of Royal Aeronautical Society, 1989; Chairman of Bristol Heritage Trust Aero Collection, 1992; died 2002.
To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of D-Day, the Meteorological Office, Bracknell, Berkshire, commissioned a study designed to recognise the influence of weather patterns, weather forecasting, and meteorological data on the military planning and execution of Allied Operations NEPTUNE and OVERLORD, the Allied preparation and subsequent invasion of France, Jun 1944. In Mar 1994, it produced With Wind and Sword: the story of meteorology and D-Day by Stan Cornford, a paper detailing the Meteorological Office's role during World War Two generally and the invasion of France specifically. The paper was subsequently used for the publication of the Meteorological Office pamphlet, '6 June 1944: D-Day: the role of the Met. Office', (Meteorological Office, Bracknell, 1994).
In 1819 there were two Methodist meeting houses in Edmonton, (W Robinson, The History and Antiquities of Edmonton, 1819, p 186). One of these was probably replaced by the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Fore Street, built in 1860. In 1909 the trustees purchased the freehold of the "Manor House", a site adjoining the chapel, for the building of the Edmonton Wesleyan Mission or Central Hall, which was opened in 1911. The old chapel and school were demolished and new Sunday school premises erected on the site in 1929. The Edmonton Methodist Church was part of the Stoke Newington Methodist Circuit until about 1896 when it joined the Tottenham Circuit. In 1941 Edmonton was one of the churches which constituted the Enfield Circuit.
For a detailed history please see the entries for each individual chapel (ACC/1388-01, ACC/1388-02 and so on).
In 1819 there were two Methodist meeting houses in Edmonton, (W. Robinson, The History and Antiquities of Edmonton, 1819, p 186). One of these was probably replaced by the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Fore Street, built in 1860. In 1909 the trustees purchased the freehold of the "Manor House", a site adjoining the chapel, for the building of the Edmonton Wesleyan Mission or Central Hall, which was opened in 1911. The old chapel and school were demolished and new Sunday school premises erected on the site in 1929. The Edmonton Methodist Church was part of the Stoke Newington Methodist Circuit until about 1896 when it joined the Tottenham Circuit. In 1941 Edmonton was one of the churches which constituted the Enfield Circuit.
Methodists were the largest non-established denomination in the Harrow and Wembley area, with the first of many chapels in this area erected in 1810. The Methodist church on East Lane, North Wembley, was opened in 1938.
The Bath Road Methodist Church, Hounslow West, was opened in 1956. Before this, services had been held in the Hounslow Heath schools in Martindale Road since about 1930.
Trinity Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1899 at the corner of Walm Lane and Dartmouth Road, Willesden. The church was closed in 1948.
A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.
The Millwall Wesleyan Methodist Church was built in 1887, while the Alpha Hall was added in 1926. The Church is now a community centre.
In 1868 the Stratford circuit was founded and a large new church built on The Grove by 1871, with a schoolroom added in 1873. The Grove was the leading Wesleyan church in the area for many years.
The Stratford Conference Hall was built as a non-denominational space but in 1934 it joined the Methodists as part of the London Mission (West Ham). The Grove buildings were bombed in 1940 (and demolished in 1953) and by 1941 the congregation had joined that of the Conference Hall, making it the predominant Methodist church in the locality.
The Primitive Methodists had a chapel at the south east corner of London Fields from 1863. By 1873 it was called the Jubilee chapel. It was closed between 1935 and 1938.
Driffield Road Primitive Methodist Church was built in 1878 and closed around 1951.
The Primitive Methodist Connexion Chapel, Maria Street was built, with seats for 230, in the 1860s. It was part of the London Eighth Circuit. Primitive Methodist Connexion chapels were more laity led in contrast to Wesleyan Methodists where the Ministers had greater power.
Canning Town Primitive Methodist Church, Swanscombe Street, later Mary Street, originated in 1853 when members of the 3rd London circuit started mission meetings. A church was built in Swanscombe Street in 1858 and enlarged in 1861. It was included in the new 8th London circuit (1874) and in 1877 a new church, seating over 1,000, was opened in Mary Street. The importance of open-air work was stressed by the erection of a permanent platform on land adjoining the church and by frequent street processions. Mary Street headed the new Canning Town circuit (1881) and in 1903 had the largest Primitive Methodist congregation in West Ham. It was bombed about 1943 and was later demolished.
From: A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 123-141.
Hayes Methodist Church began in Station Road, in 1907. It was registered at that address in 1927. In 1930 the registered name was changed to Queen's Hall Methodist Church, Station Road. In 1973 Queen's Hall closed and work began on a new church, which opened in September 1977, and was renamed Hayes Methodist Church. Barnhill Church was built in 1960 as a 'daughter' church of Hayes Methodist Church, intended to serve a new housing estate. The two churches retain close links with each other. Hayes and Harlington Club for the Blind met in Queen's Hall and their records have been deposited with those of the Church.