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In 1910, approximately £4,500 had been collected by public subscription to provide a memorial in the county of Middlesex to King Edward VII. A general committee of subscribers resolved that a bust of the late king should be erected in a suitable place (now in the entrance hall of Middlesex Guildhall), and that the remaining funds should be used to provide seaside or country holidays for needy Middlesex children. Trustees were appointed and an administrative committee formed to include not only the trustees but one representative from each of the parliamentary divisions in the county.

Initially, groups of children were placed in hostels or camps on the south coast - the children having been nominated by Middlesex local education authorities. In 1914 the trust built its own hostel at Herne Bay. This eventually proved inadequate and was thus closed and sold in 1929. The trust then purchased in 1930 more extensive premises known as Collington Manor, in Bexhill-on-Sea.

Under a Board of Education scheme, Collington Manor was run as a Special School of Recovery for convalescent children, during the winter months. During the summer it continued to receive groups of children for holidays.

From 1946 the home was run as a full-time Special School for "delicate boys" aged 5-9 years, with only sporadic use as a summer holiday home.

The Charity Commissioners drew up a scheme in 1958 which enabled Collington Manor to be run as a convalescent and holiday home for children and widened its catchment area to include not only Middlesex but several adjoining counties.

After the reorganisation of local government in London in 1965, changes were necessary in the structure of the administrative committee, which resulted in the members including representatives from the new London Boroughs that had previously formed part of the administrative county of Middlesex.

Collington Manor was sold in 1966. From then on the trust made money available to London boroughs and other bodies to provide, or assist in providing, holidays for needy children.

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

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

A militia force was raised from the civilian population of a county, in order to supplement the regular army in cases of emergency. In Middlesex they were called out at times of unrest. There were around 300 militiamen in Middlesex in 1802. During the Napoleonic Wars this number rose to over 2000 by 1808 and 12,000 by 1812. In 1881 the Army was organised into territorial regiments formed of regular, militia and volunteer battalions. Middlesex militia battalions came under the Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own).

Lieutenant Colonel John Brettell was John Brettell, junior, Secretary of the Stamp Office. He lived in Muswell Hill. Muswell Hill, formerly Muswell Rise, was at one time known as Brettells' Hill.

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

There were around 300 militiamen in Middlesex in 1802. During the Napoleonic Wars this number rose to over 2000 by 1808 and 12,000 by 1812. By a General Order dated 1 June 1847, personnel who had fought in the campaigns against France and her allies between 1801 and 1814 were allowed to apply for the Military General Service Medal with clasps for individual battles.

A militia force was raised from the civilian population of a county, in order to supplement the regular army in cases of emergency. In Middlesex they were called out at times of unrest. There were around 300 militiamen in Middlesex in 1802. During the Napoleonic Wars this number rose to over 2000 by 1808 and 12,000 by 1812.

The Middlesex House of Correction, known as Cold Bath Fields Prison, was constructed in 1794 in an area near Clerkenwell which was known for its cold springs. The prison was notorious for its severity. The site is now occupied by the Royal Mail Mount Pleasant Sorting Office.

The court of Quarter Sessions was the place in which the Justices of the Peace exercised their judicial and administrative functions for the county, and generated a variety of records from that role. This class includes records deposited, filed (enrolled) or registered 'by statute' with the Clerk of the Peace, to be kept with the sessions records, and be available for inspection. These were records presented to the justices in a session, and certified before them, but which were not part of the normal sessions work, although sometimes it is hard to make the distinction. Indeed, statutes ordering the creation of these records often stipulated that returns or registers should be 'filed on the rolls of the Sessions of the Peace" or "be deposited with the Clerk of the Peace to be registered and kept with the records of Quarter Sessions"; which means in practice that many records which were created outside the normal sessions work are found on the sessions rolls (see MJ/SR), in the sessions books (see MJ/SB) or in the sessions papers (see MJ/SP), as well as in their own series.

These are records reflecting the political and social concerns of the times; the development of transport and travel; and the nineteenth century utility schemes for gas, water and railways; the control of law and order and social structures through such measures as the prevention of treasonable meetings and literature, secular and religious, the registration of foreigners in the capital, knowledge of those able to serve in the local militia in times of internal and external trouble and the limiting of those eligible for jury service or to vote in elections as determined by the value of the property they held. All aspects of life were regulated from slaughterhouses and hospitals to the price of corn in markets, and building practices. The overriding fear of government from the seventeenth century to early nineteenth century was the threat perceived to be posed by non-conformists - Roman Catholic or Protestant - anyone considering public office had to show that their loyalty was greater to the state than to their faith by taking a variety of oaths or producing certificates confirming their allegiance to the established church.

The Custos Rotulorum (Keeper of the Rolls) was responsible for the care of the county records. Appointed (since the fourteenth century) in the Commission of the Peace (see MJP/C), he was a leading justice, unpaid and holding the post for life; and from the seventeenth century usually also holding the office of Lord Lieutenant of the county. His Deputy was the Clerk of the Peace who was in practice the actual keeper of the records, and who drew up, registered and oversaw the storage of the records.

The origins of the Justices of the Peace lie in the temporary appointments of 'conservators' or 'keepers' of the peace made at various times of unrest between the late twelfth century and the fourteenth century. In 1361 the 'Custodis Pacis' were merged with the Justices of Labourers, and given the title Justices of the Peace and a commission (see MJP). The Commission (of the Peace) gave them the power to try offences in their courts of Quarter Sessions, appointed them to conserve the peace within a stated area, and to enquire on the oaths of "good and lawfull men" into "all manner of poisonings, enchantments, forestallings, disturbances, abuses of weights and measures" and many other things, and to "chastise and punish" anyone who had offended against laws made in order to keep the peace.

During the sixteenth century the work of the Quarter Sessions and the justices was extended to include administrative functions for the counties. These were wide ranging and included maintenance of structures such as bridges, gaols and asylums; regulating weights, measures, prices and wages, and, probably one of their biggest tasks, enforcing the Poor Law. The bulk of the administrative work was carried out on one specific day during the court's sitting known as the County Day (see MJ/O, MJ/SP and MA). By the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was clear that the Quarter Session's structure was unable to cope with the administrative demands on it, and it lost a lot of functions to bodies set up specifically to deal with particular areas - the most important of these was the Poor Law, reformed in 1834. By the end of the century, when the Local Government Act of 1889 established county councils, the sessions had lost all their administrative functions. The judicial role of the Quarter Sessions continued until 1971, when with the Assize courts they were replaced by the Crown Courts.

Indictments were legal documents containing the charges or formal accusations against a person.

The Sessions Book for 13 February 1798 (MJ/SB/B/0456) confirms that a Sarah Evans was indicted, tried and found guilty of petty larceny and sentenced to transportation. Unfortunately the corresponding Sessions Roll is incomplete, containing no trace of her indictment. A Sarah Evans was also involved with Thomas Aris, keeper of the House of Correction, Cold Bath Fields, in an enquiry relating to her child by him (MA/G/GEN.458).

The office of Justice of the Peace dates from the Fourteenth Century (MJ), when their Commission of the Peace gave them the power to enquire into "all manner of poisonings, enchantments, forestallings, disturbances and abuses", try offences in their courts of Quarter Sessions and keep the peace in their locality. During the Sixteenth Century the work of the Quarter Sessions and the Justices was extended to include administrative functions for the county.

The dependence of the Justices on officials like the Sheriff, the constables and the Clerk of the Peace to help them carry out their functions (judicial and administrative) cannot be underestimated. As their workload grew, particularly during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, more help was needed and there was an increase in the number of officers appointed for specific tasks, committees for specific purposes, and the carrying out of many routine tasks by small groups of Justices sitting outside the court sessions (see MSJ).

The Custos Rotolorum (Keeper of the Records) was officially responsible for the care of the county records. He was a leading Justice, unpaid, held the post for life, and (since the Seventeenth Century) was usually also the county's Lord Lieutenant. However, in practice it was his Deputy, the Clerk of the Peace who arranged for the records' registration and deposit.

The office of Clerk of the Peace was as old as that of the Justices - a statute of 1361 stated that a clerk was to "assist the justices assembled in Quarter Sessions in drawing indictments, arraigning prisoners, joining issue for the Crown, entering their judgements, awarding their process and marking up and keeping their records". His duties were always wide ranging - serving the Justices in their administrative and judicial work - both areas produced records that needed to be prepared and filed. Hence many of the records ended up being stored together simply because the same man was dealing with all of them.

Alongside the aforementioned functions of Quarter Sessions was its role (from the Sixteenth Century) as the place for the registration and deposit of official non-sessions records which needed to be certified and available for inspection (see MR) - again, the work of the Clerk of the Peace. He also acted as clerk to the many committees set up by the Justices, was Clerk to the Lieutenancy (see L), and (as a trained attorney) advised the court on law, procedure and rules of evidence when called upon to do so. Such a workload meant that in practice he delegated much to the deputy he was allowed to appoint.

The Justices probably used their own clerks on occasions, particularly for the various petty sessions that began to take place. The Custos Rotolorum appointed the Clerk (until 1888, when the responsibility passed to the new county councils). By an Act of 1545 qualification was introduced as to who was suitable - "a sufficient person residing within the county and an able person, learned and instructed in the laws of the realm", and he was in practice a local practising lawyer. With his own strong room or safe box he would have kept some records outside of the court building, and hence one reason why a lot of county and Quarter Sessions records have ended up in private collections or even been lost altogether. The Clerk held the post for life, and received a small official salary of two shillings a day for his attendance at the sessions. He could also claim fees from individuals for work carried out on their behalf within the sessions (his main remuneration), and money from court funds for each action carried out in his official capacity. The post was abolished in 1972.

From 1361 a group of men existed who were known as Justices of the Peace, and who were given the power to try offences in their court of Quarter Sessions. During the Sixteenth Century the work of the quarter sessions and the Justices was extended to include administrative functions for the counties. These were wide ranging and included maintenance of structures such as bridges, gaols and asylums to regulating weights, measures, prices and wages, and, probably one of their biggest tasks, enforcing the Poor Law. The dependence of the justices on officials like the Sheriff, the constables and the Clerk of the Peace to help them carry out their functions (judicial and administrative) cannot be underestimated. As their workload grew, particularly during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuriesore help was needed, and there was an increase in the number of officers (such as the County Treasurer) appointed for specific tasks, and committees for specific purposes were set up.

By the beginning of the Nineteenth Century it was clear that the quarter sessions structure was unable to cope with the administrative demands on it, and it lost a lot of functions to bodies set up specifically to deal with particular areas. By the end of the century, when the Local Government Act of 1889 passed which established county councils, the sessions had lost all their administrative functions. The first treasurers appointed by Middlesex were only appointed on a temporary basis - to look after funds for specific purposes (for maimed soldiers' funds, the repair of a bridge, or building a house of correction), as and when rates were levied for that purpose. The first surviving record of such an appointment appears in the sessions register for April 1608 where the names of several treasurers for different funds are entered (see MJ/SB/R) - although some treasurers held several funds at the same time. In 1726 Sir Daniel Dolin was made treasurer of all funds and was sometimes referred to as the General Treasurer of the county.

In 1731 John Higgs was formally appointed General Treasurer to receive sums raised by any public rates. He was to be paid an annual salary of twenty five pounds and was required to give security to three Justices. He was also required to keep an account book which was to be audited annually and then kept with the county records by the Clerk of the Peace. The County Rate Act of 1739 stipulated that in future only one, general, rate was to be levied, and that it should be paid to the treasurer appointed by quarter sessions. Under the 1739 Act the City and Liberty of Westminster was not given a separate rate and the Middlesex County Treasurer was to pay any sums of money approved by the Westminster quarter sessions. The range of the Treasurer's work can be seen by looking at the scope of his accounts in this collection. Accounts were audited regularly every quarter by a committee of justices appointed for that purpose, the first occasion being September 1740. Their report, including an extract of both Middlesex and Westminster income and expenditure accounts were usually recorded in the Orders of Court books (see MJ/OC). After audit they were signed as approved by the court of sessions. In 1822 a local Act of Parliament was passed to regulate more closely the Middlesex Treasurer, as a result of the loss of some county funds while G B Mainwaring was in the post (1804-1822), following the failure of the Mainwaring Bank in 1814.

The origins of the Justices of the Peace lie in the temporary appointments of 'conservators' or 'keepers' of the peace made at various times of unrest between the late twelfth century and the fourteenth century. In 1361 the 'Custodis Pacis' were merged with the Justices of Labourers, and given the title Justices of the Peace and a commission.

The Commission of the Peace gave them the power to try offences in their courts of Quarter Sessions which manorial courts were not able to be deal with (misdemeanours), but which were less serious than those which went to the Assize Judges (felonies). It appointed them to conserve the peace (within a stated area) and to enquire on the oaths of "good and lawfull men" into "all manner of poisonings, enchantments, forestallings, disturbances, abuses of weights and measures" and many other things, and to "chastise and punish" anyone who had offended against laws made in order to keep the peace.

Gradually the justices took over the work of the sheriff in the county. During the sixteenth century their powers and duties increased, as the Tudor monarchs found them a cheap and effective way of enforcing their will across the country. Likewise, the new middle classes saw the post as a means to gain local prestige and influence (despite the arduous and costly duties) and there was regular pressure 'from below' to increase numbers in the Commission. Consequently, at this time, the numbers on the commission rose from an average of 8 to around 30 to 40 by the middle of the sixteenth century. Not until the mid-nineteenth century did the post lose its desirability and numbers begin to drop off.

It was a system that recognised local social structures - the natural wish to regulate local law and order, and men wanting to be judged by other local men. The justices have often, aptly, been described as 'the rulers of the county', and the crown had to be careful to choose men whose standing would not turn them into faction leaders. Equally, the justices' unpaid status ensured that the crown could not take advantage of them and act despotically, and they retained some local independence. Justices needed to be of sufficient local status to exercise authority in a judicial and administrative capacity, and to supervise the parish officials who did so much of the actual law enforcement. Men were therefore appointed from the ranks of the local gentry, most without legal training. To some extent their unpaid status excluded men from the lower orders who had to work and earn a wage.

As early as 1439 a statute introduced a property qualification for each prospective justice (see MJP/Q). Many names on the commission were purely honorific, not all of those listed had to attend every court, and in practice only a minority did so. Only those named as being of the quorum (who possessed knowledge of the law) had to appear. The justices were helped in their work by parish and court officials, and most particularly by the Clerk of the Peace who was responsible for the everyday administration of the court as well as maintaining a record of its work (see MR).

During the eighteenth century as the sessions' work increased in amount and variety, committees were set up and officials were appointed for specific tasks. The County Treasurer was one such official, whose post developed from the treasurers appointed to keep the funds for which rates were periodically raised, such as the repair of bridges, maimed soldiers and maintenance of the house of correction. Sometimes one person had control of several funds - in Middlesex for example in 1726, Sir Daniel Dollin was made general treasurer of the County; and in 1731 John Higgs was formally appointed general treasurer to receive funds raised by any public rates, to be paid an annual salary of twenty-five pounds, and to keep an account book for annual audit and storage by the Clerk of the Peace.

The County Rate Act of 1739 directed that one general rate should be levied instead of several, and that it should be paid to the treasurer appointed by the sessions. Under this Act, Westminster had no separate rate from Middlesex, meaning that the latter's county treasurer was responsible for the City's accounts also. Records of the work of these officials may be found not only in the main body of sessions records (see MJ and MR), but also in their own series: MC - Clerk of the Peace; MF - County Treasurer; MS - County Surveyor; TC - records of offices held by county officers outside sessions work.

The origins of the Justices of the Peace lie in the temporary appointments of 'conservators' or 'keepers' of the peace made at various times of unrest between the late twelfth century and the fourteenth century. In 1361 the 'Custodis Pacis' were merged with the Justices of Labourers, and given the title Justices of the Peace and a commission (see MJP).

The Commission (of the Peace) gave them the power to try offences in their courts of Quarter Sessions, appointed them to conserve the peace within a stated area, and to enquire on the oaths of "good and lawfull men" into "all manner of poisonings, enchantments, forestallings, disturbances, abuses of weights and measures" and many other things, and to "chastise and punish" anyone who had offended against laws made in order to keep the peace.

During the sixteenth century the work of the Quarter Sessions and the justices was extended to include administrative functions for the counties. These were wide ranging and included maintenance of structures such as bridges, gaols and asylums; regulating weights, measures, prices and wages, and, probably one of their biggest tasks, enforcing the Poor Law.

The dependence of the justices on officials like the sheriff, the constables, and the Clerk of the Peace to help them carry out their functions (both judicial and administrative) cannot be underestimated.

As their workload grew, particularly during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, more help was needed and there was an increase in the number of officers appointed for specific tasks. Small committees of Justices, appointed by the court, were also set up at this time to deal with much of the regular and routine administrative business. Reports were made to the court and entered in the general Orders of Court minute books (see MJ/O). Another solution for dealing with increased judicial business was (by an Act of Parliament passed in 1819) to allow the justices to divide in order that two courts could sit simultaneously (see MJ/SB/B and MJ/SB/C); and the Middlesex Criminal Justice Act of 1844 decreed that there should be at least two Sessions of the Peace each month, and also that a salaried assistant judge (a barrister of at least ten years experience in the Middlesex Commission) should be appointed.

The bulk of the administrative work was carried out on one specific day during the court's sitting known as the County Day (see MJ/O, MJ/SP and MA). By the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was clear that the Quarter Sessions' structure was unable to cope with the administrative demands on it, and it lost a lot of functions to bodies set up specifically to deal with particular areas - the most important of these was the Poor Law, reformed in 1834.

By the end of the century, when the Local Government Act of 1889 established county councils, the sessions had lost all their administrative functions. The judicial role of the Quarter Sessions continued until 1971, when with the Assize courts they were replaced by the Crown Courts. Alongside the aforementioned functions of the Quarter Sessions, was its role as the place of registration and deposit for official non-sessions records, which needed to be certified and available for inspection (see MR).

The origins of the Justices of the Peace lie in the temporary appointments of 'conservators' or 'keepers' of the peace made at various times of unrest between the late twelfth century and the fourteenth century. In 1361 the 'Custodis Pacis' were merged with the Justices of Labourers, and given the title Justices of the Peace and a commission (see MJP). The Commission (of the Peace) gave them the power to try offences in their courts of Quarter Sessions, appointed them to conserve the peace within a stated area, and to enquire on the oaths of "good and lawfull men" into "all manner of poisonings, enchantments, forestallings, disturbances, abuses of weights and measures" and many other things, and to "chastise and punish" anyone who had offended against laws made in order to keep the peace.

The cases which the justices originally dealt with were offences which could not be dealt with by the manorial court (i.e. misdemeanours), but which were less serious than those which went to the Assize Judges (i.e. felonies). Misdemeanours included breaches of the peace - assault, rioting, defamation, minor theft, vagrancy, lewd and disorderly behaviour, and offences against the licensing laws. In 1388 a statute laid down that the court sessions should meet four times a year (hence the name 'Quarter Sessions'): Epiphany, Easter, Trinity (midsummer) and Michaelmas (autumn) - two or more justices (one at least from the quorum) were to decide exactly where and when. The Middlesex justices were also empowered to try the more serious cases (including those from Westminster) under the Commissions of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol Delivery normally given to the Assize Judges, but these cases were heard at the Old Bailey Sessions House (see MJ/GB and OB).

The judicial process began even before the sessions opened with examinations being taken by the magistrates once the crime had been reported by the constable, the injured party or a common informant. The accused could then be bailed to keep the peace or to appear at the next sessions, be remanded in gaol before a trial, or acquitted. Once the sessions had opened there was still an examination by a Grand Jury as to whether there was a case to answer, before the trial proper could get underway.

During the sixteenth century the work of the Quarter Sessions and the justices was extended to include administrative functions for the counties. These were wide ranging and included maintenance of structures such as bridges, gaols and asylums; regulating weights, measures, prices and wages, and, probably one of their biggest tasks, enforcing the Poor Law. The dependence of the justices on officials like the sheriff, the constables, and the Clerk of the Peace to help them carry out their functions (both judicial and administrative) cannot be underestimated. As their workload grew, particularly during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, more help was needed and there was an increase in the number of officers appointed for specific tasks, and committees for specific purposes were set up. Another solution for dealing with increased judicial business was (by an Act of Parliament passed in 1819) to allow the justices to divide in order that two courts could sit simultaneously (see MJ/SB/B and MJ/SB/C); and the Middlesex Criminal Justice Act of 1844 decreed that there should be at least two Sessions of the Peace each month, and also that a salaried assistant judge (a barrister of at least ten years experience in the Middlesex Commission) should be appointed.

The bulk of the administrative work was carried out on one specific day during the court's sitting known as the County Day (see MJ/O, MJ/SP and MA). By the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was clear that the Quarter Session's structure was unable to cope with the administrative demands on it, and it lost a lot of functions to bodies set up specifically to deal with particular areas - the most important of these was the Poor Law, reformed in 1834. By the end of the century, when the Local Government Act of 1889 established county councils, the sessions had lost all their administrative functions. The judicial role of the Quarter Sessions continued until 1971, when with the Assize courts they were replaced by the Crown Courts.

Alongside the aforementioned functions of the Quarter Sessions, was its role as the place of registration and deposit for official non-sessions records, which needed to be certified and available for inspection (see MR).

Much of the routine judicial and administrative work during the period covered by the existing records was carried out by small groups of justices. This was done outside the main court sittings by the justices in their local areas - usually within a Hundred division. Special Sessions were held for purposes such as licensing alehouses (Brewster Sessions), or to organise the repair of the highways. More common were the meetings of one or two justices in what became known as petty sessions and which dealt with issues such as rating, granting of licences, the appointment of parish officers, and the examination of witnesses and suspects prior to the start of the next sessions. Increasingly here the justices also began to determine cases involving minor offences and exercise 'summary jurisdiction'.

The inconvenience of using their own homes for this work, and the need for the public to know where magistrates would be available led to the setting up of 'public offices'. The first one was in Bow Street, Westminster from about 1727. Following this example, in 1763 Middlesex set up three such offices in the divisions of Ossulstone Hundred nearest to the centre of London. Here two (paid - stipendary) justices would sit each day on an hourly rota basis. Not until 1792 was the system officially established by an Act of Parliament, when seven more public offices were set up in Westminster and Middlesex. The Bow Street office, (under John Fielding, and his brother Henry, the novelist, both magistrates for Westminster), had introduced paid constables as early as 1756, and each new public office from 1792 had six constables of their own; these were the forerunners of the Metropolitan Police as introduced by an Act of 1829. In 1828 all courts of Quarter Sessions were allowed to create within their county, divisions for petty sessions, thus formalising any earlier informal arrangements. Although there are occasional references to early petty and special session meetings in the main records (this collection), the class of records concerned with such sessions (see MSJ) covers mainly the nineteenth century.

The County of Middlesex stretched along the north bank of the River Thames from the River Colne in the west to the River Lea in the east, excluding the City of London, and including the City of Westminster (although separate sessions were held here between 1618 - 1844) (see WJ). It is misleading to refer to the sessions in Middlesex as Quarter Sessions since in theory they were only to be held twice a year, rather than four times a year as was usual in other counties. By an Act of 1456 the county was permitted to hold only two sessions, because it was felt unreasonable to expect the local population to bear the cost of the whole panoply of justices, officers and constables which accompanied each sitting, when they were also having to service the other major courts in the capital. However, the level of crime in the county increased the need for more court sittings, and the court sat in adjourned sessions for, effectively, most of the year.

Separate Westminster Quarter Sessions ceased in 1844, when they became part of the Middlesex court sittings, held 'by adjournment' following the end of the latter, and involving a physical move (adjournment) to the Westminster Sessions House. Thus the Westminster records came to be kept with those for Middlesex.

Until the seventeenth century the Middlesex court met in the Castle Inn near Smithfield, which was replaced in 1612 by a new sessions house built in Saint John's Street, at the expense of a leading justice, Sir Baptist Hicks. Essentially only a wooden building, Hicks Hall, as it was known, was demolished in 1782, a new sessions house having been built on Clerkenwell Green in 1779, and also known as Hicks Hall. In 1889 following the reduction in size of the County of Middlesex, the sessions moved to the Westminster Guildhall in Broad Sanctuary. When this building proved too small for the amount of work carried out there, a new Middlesex Guildhall was built next to it and opened in 1913. The new County of London sessions continued to meet on Clerkenwell Green until 1919 when they moved to the former Surrey sessions house on Newington Causeway.

Until the sixteenth century prison was seen primarily as a place to remand before sentence, rather than as a place of punishment. From this date, houses of correction (or bridewells) were established in each county to house able-bodied vagrants, and also to reform them through the punishment of hard labour. Increasingly the justices sent petty offenders to these houses following their trials, and the overcrowding and poor conditions in them became notorious and widespread.

Originally Middlesex prisoners were kept in either of the City of London's gaols - Newgate or the Bridewell (near Blackfriars). In 1615 - 1616 a Middlesex Bridewell (also known as the Clerkenwell House of Correction) was built on a site between the present Corporation Row and Sans Walk (demolished in 1804). On the same site, adjacent and to the south of it, a House of Detention (for prisoners awaiting trial) was built in the late seventeenth century to ease the overcrowding in Newgate. This 'New Prison' was rebuilt in 1818, incorporating the site of the old Bridewell; and again in 1845; before being closed in 1877 and demolished in 1890, the Hugh Myddleton School being built on the site. A new Middlesex House of Correction had been built in 1794 in Coldbath Fields (on the present site of Mount Pleasant Post Office), and which was also closed in 1877, and demolished in 1889. Although debtors were one of the largest categories of prisoner, a separate gaol for them was not built in London until the beginning of the nineteenth century (in Whitecross Street); prior to this they were kept in Newgate.

The origins of the Justices of the Peace lie in the temporary appointments of 'conservators' or 'keepers' of the peace made at various times of unrest between the late twelfth century and the fourteenth century. In 1361 the 'Custodis Pacis' were merged with the Justices of Labourers, and given the title Justices of the Peace and a commission (see MJP). The Commission (of the Peace) gave them the power to try offences in their courts of Quarter Sessions, appointed them to conserve the peace within a stated area, and to enquire on the oaths of "good and lawfull men" into "all manner of poisonings, enchantments, forestallings, disturbances, abuses of weights and measures" and many other things, and to "chastise and punish" anyone who had offended against laws made in order to keep the peace.

The cases which the justices originally dealt with were offences which could not be dealt with by the manorial court (i.e. misdemeanours), but which were less serious than those which went to the Assize Judges (i.e. felonies). Misdemeanours included breaches of the peace - assault, rioting, defamation, minor theft, vagrancy, lewd and disorderly behaviour, and offences against the licensing laws. In 1388 a statute laid down that the court sessions should meet four times a year (hence the name 'Quarter Sessions'): Epiphany, Easter, Trinity (midsummer) and Michaelmas (autumn) - two or more justices (one at least from the quorum) were to decide exactly where and when. The Middlesex justices were also empowered to try the more serious cases (including those from Westminster) under the Commissions of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol Delivery normally given to the Assize Judges, but these cases were heard at the Old Bailey Sessions House (see MJ/GB and OB).

The judicial process began even before the sessions opened with examinations being taken by the magistrates once the crime had been reported by the constable, the injured party or a common informant. The accused could then be bailed to keep the peace or to appear at the next sessions, be remanded in gaol before a trial, or acquitted. Once the sessions had opened there was still an examination by a Grand Jury as to whether there was a case to answer, before the trial proper could get underway.

During the sixteenth century the work of the Quarter Sessions and the justices was extended to include administrative functions for the counties. These were wide ranging and included maintenance of structures such as bridges, gaols and asylums; regulating weights, measures, prices and wages, and, probably one of their biggest tasks, enforcing the Poor Law. The dependence of the justices on officials like the sheriff, the constables, and the Clerk of the Peace to help them carry out their functions (both judicial and administrative) cannot be underestimated. As their workload grew, particularly during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, more help was needed and there was an increase in the number of officers appointed for specific tasks, and committees for specific purposes were set up. Another solution for dealing with increased judicial business was (by an Act of Parliament passed in 1819) to allow the justices to divide in order that two courts could sit simultaneously (see MJ/SB/B and MJ/SB/C); and the Middlesex Criminal Justice Act of 1844 decreed that there should be at least two Sessions of the Peace each month, and also that a salaried assistant judge (a barrister of at least ten years experience in the Middlesex Commission) should be appointed.

The bulk of the administrative work was carried out on one specific day during the court's sitting known as the County Day (see MJ/O, MJ/SP and MA). By the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was clear that the Quarter Session's structure was unable to cope with the administrative demands on it, and it lost a lot of functions to bodies set up specifically to deal with particular areas - the most important of these was the Poor Law, reformed in 1834. By the end of the century, when the Local Government Act of 1889 established county councils, the sessions had lost all their administrative functions. The judicial role of the Quarter Sessions continued until 1971, when with the Assize courts they were replaced by the Crown Courts.

Alongside the aforementioned functions of the Quarter Sessions, was its role as the place of registration and deposit for official non-sessions records, which needed to be certified and available for inspection (see MR).

Much of the routine judicial and administrative work during the period covered by the existing records was carried out by small groups of justices. This was done outside the main court sittings by the justices in their local areas - usually within a Hundred division. Special Sessions were held for purposes such as licensing alehouses (Brewster Sessions), or to organise the repair of the highways. More common were the meetings of one or two justices in what became known as petty sessions and which dealt with issues such as rating, granting of licences, the appointment of parish officers, and the examination of witnesses and suspects prior to the start of the next sessions. Increasingly here the justices also began to determine cases involving minor offences and exercise 'summary jurisdiction'.

The inconvenience of using their own homes for this work, and the need for the public to know where magistrates would be available led to the setting up of 'public offices'. The first one was in Bow Street, Westminster from about 1727. Following this example, in 1763 Middlesex set up three such offices in the divisions of Ossulstone Hundred nearest to the centre of London. Here two (paid - stipendary) justices would sit each day on an hourly rota basis. Not until 1792 was the system officially established by an Act of Parliament, when seven more public offices were set up in Westminster and Middlesex. The Bow Street office, (under John Fielding, and his brother Henry, the novelist, both magistrates for Westminster), had introduced paid constables as early as 1756, and each new public office from 1792 had six constables of their own; these were the forerunners of the Metropolitan Police as introduced by an Act of 1829. In 1828 all courts of Quarter Sessions were allowed to create within their county, divisions for petty sessions, thus formalising any earlier informal arrangements. Although there are occasional references to early petty and special session meetings in the main records (this collection), the class of records concerned with such sessions (see MSJ) covers mainly the nineteenth century.

The County of Middlesex stretched along the north bank of the River Thames from the River Colne in the west to the River Lea in the east, excluding the City of London, and including the City of Westminster (although separate sessions were held here between 1618 - 1844) (see WJ). It is misleading to refer to the sessions in Middlesex as Quarter Sessions since in theory they were only to be held twice a year, rather than four times a year as was usual in other counties. By an Act of 1456 the county was permitted to hold only two sessions, because it was felt unreasonable to expect the local population to bear the cost of the whole panoply of justices, officers and constables which accompanied each sitting, when they were also having to service the other major courts in the capital. However, the level of crime in the county increased the need for more court sittings, and the court sat in adjourned sessions for, effectively, most of the year.

Separate Westminster Quarter Sessions ceased in 1844, when they became part of the Middlesex court sittings, held 'by adjournment' following the end of the latter, and involving a physical move (adjournment) to the Westminster Sessions House. Thus the Westminster records came to be kept with those for Middlesex.

Until the seventeenth century the Middlesex court met in the Castle Inn near Smithfield, which was replaced in 1612 by a new sessions house built in Saint John's Street, at the expense of a leading justice, Sir Baptist Hicks. Essentially only a wooden building, Hicks Hall, as it was known, was demolished in 1782, a new sessions house having been built on Clerkenwell Green in 1779, and also known as Hicks Hall. In 1889 following the reduction in size of the County of Middlesex, the sessions moved to the Westminster Guildhall in Broad Sanctuary. When this building proved too small for the amount of work carried out there, a new Middlesex Guildhall was built next to it and opened in 1913. The new County of London sessions continued to meet on Clerkenwell Green until 1919 when they moved to the former Surrey sessions house on Newington Causeway.

A "recognizance" was a bond or obligation by which a person undertook before a court or magistrate to perform some act or observe some condition, in this case to appear at the next quarter sessions. A sum of money was usually paid if the conditions of the recognizance were not met.

The Commission of the Peace gave Justices of the Peace the power to try offences in their courts of Quarter Sessions, appointed them to conserve the peace within a stated area, and to enquire on the oaths of "good and lawfull men" into "all manner of poisonings, enchantments, forestallings, disturbances, abuses of weights and measures" and many other things, and to "chastise and punish" anyone who had offended against laws made in order to keep the peace.

The cases which the justices originally dealt with were offences which could not be dealt with by the manorial court (i.e. misdemeanours), but which were less serious than those which went to the Assize Judges (i.e. felonies). Misdemeanours included breaches of the peace - assault, rioting, defamation, minor theft, vagrancy, lewd and disorderly behaviour, and offences against the licensing laws. In 1388 a statute laid down that the court sessions should meet four times a year (hence the name 'Quarter Sessions'): Epiphany, Easter, Trinity (midsummer) and Michaelmas (autumn) - two or more justices (one at least from the quorum) were to decide exactly where and when.

The judicial process began even before the sessions opened with examinations being taken by the magistrates once the crime had been reported by the constable, the injured party or a common informant. The accused could then be bailed to keep the peace or to appear at the next sessions, be remanded in gaol before a trial, or acquitted. Once the sessions had opened there was still an examination by a Grand Jury as to whether there was a case to answer, before the trial proper could get underway.

The Court roll for the Manor of Enfield is a memorandum of the conditional surrender of a messuage with orchard, garden and appurtenances on East part of Windmill Field next the Highway from London to Ware, by Susanna Moodie to John Moore.

The Sessions Paper is a petition of John Harling, hosier, to the Lord Mayor of London, requesting payment of reward for his share in securing arrest and conviction of John Crofts who had burgled his house.

The court of Quarter Sessions was the place in which the Justices of the Peace exercised their judicial and administrative functions for the county, and generated a variety of records from that role. Records were often deposited, filed (enrolled) or registered 'by statute' with the Clerk of the Peace, to be kept with the sessions records, and be available for inspection. These were records presented to the justices in a session, and certified before them, but which were not part of the normal sessions work, although sometimes it is hard to make the distinction. Indeed, statutes ordering the creation of these records often stipulated that returns or registers should be 'filed on the rolls of the Sessions of the Peace" or "be deposited with the Clerk of the Peace to be registered and kept with the records of Quarter Sessions"; which means in practice that many records which were created outside the normal sessions work are found on the sessions rolls (see MJ/SR), in the sessions books (see MJ/SB) or in the sessions papers (see MJ/SP).

Since 1361 the Justices of the Peace met in their court of Quarter Sessions to try offences, and also, from the mid Sixteenth Century to deal with county administration. It was from this latter date with the increase in their workload that Justices began to do some of their business (minor legal and specific administrative tasks) outside of the formal sessions, either singly or in small groups.

Occasionally the practice was ordered by government - for example an Act of 1541 ordered Justices of the Peace to meet six weeks before a Session of the Peace in divisions in the county to inquire about vagabonds and related matters. In 1605 a Council order required Justices, again in their county divisions, to meet once (from 1631, monthly) between General Sessions of the Peace to inquire into the enforcement of those statutes regarding labourers, alehouses, rogues and the Assize of Bread.

Over the next century meetings outside of sessions became more regular, and more matters were dealt with there which had previously been heard at full sessions. They were often carried out at the magistrates' own homes, sometimes at special session meetings in a local court house, tavern or other meeting place. Because of the workload for Justices in Middlesex such meetings outside of the main sessions occurred from a very early date in that County. There are references to divisional meetings and special sessions (for example rating, licensing, highway repairs) in the sessions' registers (see MJ/SB/R) which survive from 1608 - the first mention is a meeting at a sessions held in Uxbridge in 1556; and a series of minutes between 1651 - 1714 taken at monthly meetings of Justices in Brentford Division.

An order made by the Middlesex Quarter Sessions in 1705 that the "petty sessions" for the several divisions of the county should be held "at the known and usual place" indicates that their existence must have been well recognised by then. The divisional arrangement in the County was based to a large extent upon the old administrative area known as a 'hundred'. Ossulston was the largest, densely populated and further divided into several smaller parts from at least the 1680s - Holborn Division and Finsbury Division within it remained as petty sessional divisions until the late Twentieth Century. From 1828 all courts of Quarter Sessions were able to create districts or divisions specifically for petty sessions, either new areas or formalising any earlier informal divisions.

It was not only routine administration which was dealt with at these meetings, but some of the judicial procedure which needed carrying out pre-trial. Magistrates would examine alleged offenders and witnesses, take sworn statements (depositions), issue warrants for arrest or summonses to appear at court, bind over individuals to appear, and commit the accused to gaol to await trial or further investigation. Increasingly, they went further and began to sit without a jury to dispense immediate summary justice - either alone, or as a group of two or more known as the 'petty sessions'. They were, of course, hearing very minor cases such as those involving common assault, drunkenness, apprenticeship disputes, byelaw infringement, and (from 1664, MR/R/C) attendance at illegal religious assemblies. The punishment they gave here was binding over with a recognizance to keep the peace; committal to prison for a short time (with a discharge before a main trial at the sessions started); or arbitration between the parties concerned to reach a settlement.

Offences which required a jury trial would still be heard at Quarter Sessions or the Assizes (Gaol Delivery Sessions at the Old Bailey), but petty sessions avoided the expense and hassle of a full trial for what were literally petty cases.

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

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

From its inception until January 1930 this organization was known as the Middlesex Territorial Force Association. It then became known as the Middlesex Territorial Army and Air Force Association. In 1948 its name was changed to the Middlesex Territorial and Auxiliary Forces Association.

The Middlesex Victoria Fund was created by the Justices of the Middlesex Sessions in 1892, primarily to aid discharged prisoners and the wives and families of discharged prisoners convicted at the Middlesex Sessions.

The fund was administered by trustees, the first ones being Sir Ralph Littler Q.C., R. Loveland-Loveland, and Lieutenant Colonel Harfield. In addition two auditors were appointed at the Easter Sessions, when the funds accounts were presented to the Court. The Court could, at its discretion, direct that donations be sent to specified institutions. Subscriptions were collected from Middlesex Justices.

By the 1950's the fund no longer needed to collect subscriptions as it was felt that the income derived from investments was sufficient to meet all reasonable demands on the fund. It was the practice for the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of the Court to approve an application, usually from a probation officer, for a grant for a specific purpose in individual cases, for such things as arrears of rent and mortgage; removal expenses; recovery of clothes from pawnbrokers; or purchase of clothing for an expected child. Cheques were given to the probation officers to dispose of as they thought best. Grants were also occasionally made towards legal assistance in bastardy appeals.

While the main object of the fund was to render individual help, this assistance was usually given after various forms of Public Assistance had been exhausted and careful enquiries made.

The charity wound up its affairs in 2001 and transferred its remaining assets to the City of London Sheriffs' and Recorder's Fund.

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

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

The Volunteer Corps were predecessors of the modern Territorial Army. They were first formed in 1859 to counter French threats of invasion. In 1881 the Army was organised into territorial regiments formed of regular, militia and volunteer battalions. Middlesex volunteer battalions came under the Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own).

Charles Middleton entered the navy as a captain's servant in 1741, was promoted a lieutenant in 1745 and post captain in 1758. In 1778 he became Comptroller of the Navy, a position he held until 1790. He was created a baronet in 1781 and, though holding a civil post, a rear-admiral in 1787, being made a vice-admiral in 1793 and admiral in 1795. In 1794-5 he was senior sea lord to Lord Spencer and in 1805-6, First Lord of the Admiralty. Between 1804 and 1807 he headed the Commission for revising and digesting the civil affairs of the navy, being made a peer in May 1805 on accepting the appointment as First Lord.

Mavis Middleton (nee Bidgood) was born July 28, 1922, and from the age of one grew up at Wensley House, a home school on the edge of the forest at Epping. She attended the Loughton County High School and then Bedford College, London, where she gained a certificate in Social Studies. As part of her training she worked for a time at the Stepney Green Jewish Girls Club and Settlement House, a place she loved and remained in contact with for many years. Her first job was as a club leader for the National Council of Girls Clubs in Rugby, Warks. There she met her husband, 'Middy' Middleton, who was working for BTH (British Thompson Houston), and they were married on January 29, 1944. Four and a half years later, they moved to Cambridge where Middy had been offered the post of university lecturer in electrical engineering. Two of their children were born in Rugby and two in Cambridge. As a young wife and mother, Mavis was fortunate enough not to have to go out to work, but she never lost her strong commitment to social causes. During the early 1950s she joined in the efforts of the International Help for Children to find foster homes for refugee children from the Balkans. She and Middy were active in the local Liberal Party, and once hosted a fundraising garden party opened by Jo Grimmond. During the 1960s as their children grew older, her voluntary activities increased. For more than a decade she was an elected council member of the South Cambridgeshire Rural District Council. She was an active founder member of the Cambridge Law Surgery, the Cambridge Association for the Advancement of State Education and the Cambridge Association for the Prevention of Drug Addiction. From the late 1960s as their own children left home, she and Middy fostered a family of five children with whom they remained in touch for the rest of their lives. As a result of this experience, Mavis became involved with The Voice for the Child in Care, and later helped, both practically and financially, to establish a refuge for battered women in Cambridge. She was employed for a year as a welfare support worker for students at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology. During the course of the 1970s, Mavis became increasingly active with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in the Cambridge and the East Anglia groups and then on the national committee. In June 1982, she and Middy attended the United Nations Second Special Session on Nuclear Disarmament in New York, and in October 1983, on behalf of CND, she went to lobby US senators in Washington, DC. In 1987, after 40 years in Cambridge, Mavis and Middy moved to Whittlesey, Cambs. Mavis became a volunteer general adviser for the Peterborough CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau), and then for DIAL Peterborough (Disability Information and Advice Line). She continued to do this to the end of her life. Middy died in 1994, aged 88, and Mavis died on New Year's Day, 1999.

The Middletons had been married for three years when they left Portsmouth on the ATLANTA to travel to Gibraltar, where Capt Middleton had been appointed to run the Navy Yard. Susannah Middleton's father John Martin Leake was Comptroller of Army Accounts and her brother William had been posted in 1805 from the Artillery to the Eastern Mediterranean. Robert Gambier Middleton was the son of George Middleton, former Comptroller of Customs for the port of Leith and elder brother of Sir Charles Middleton, Lord Barham and First Lord of the Admiralty. Robert Middleton had been taken under the wing of his uncle and entered the navy at the age of 12 seeing action with the Mediterranean fleet under Lord Hood. He was made post-Captain in 1794 and in 1803 he was placed in charge of the North Foreland District of the Sea Fencibles. In 1805 he was posted to Gibraltar as Superintendent of the Navy Yard. The Middletons remained in Gibraltar for three years before returning home in 1808. Susannah travelled home on the ILLUSTRIOUS in May 1808 prior to Capt Middleton who returned to England shortly after to take up a position in the Navy Board in London. In 1830 he was appointed Storekeeper-General to the Navy and retired in 1832 with the rank of Rear-admiral. Following their return to England, Susannah had the first of 10 children, 7 of whom reached adulthood.

Sir John Herbert Parsons was born in 1868 in Bristol. He qualified in medicine in 1892, and became assistant in Department of Physiology at University College, and was engaged in general practice in Finchley. His interest developed in ophthalmology. He gained a position of clinical assistant at Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital (Moorfields Eye Hospital) where he later became curator and librarian. He was elected to surgical staff there in 1904 and continued as consulting surgeon.

He became ophthalmic surgeon to University College Hospital and also Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street. He was also a scientist carrying out and producing major research on the physiology of the eye and optics and became a world authority in ophthalmic pathology. Between 1904-1908 his work The Pathology of the Eye was published in four editions, alongside other extensive contributions during his career.

He was based at 26 Bryanston Square, Marylebone, Westminster during 1950s. Parsons died in 1957.

Mrs Dorothea Middleton-Joy, compiler of the scrapbook, lived in Leeds in 1945. A letter of condolence shows she was based at 26 Bryanston Square, London in 1957. She does not appear in the list of attendance at the memorial service.

Midland Aggregates Limited, a company owning sand and gravel deposits, was a wholly owned subsidiary of Wilkinson Rubber Linatex Limited (CLC/B/112-166).

Ackroyd Road runs between Brockley Rise and Garthorne Road, Honor Oak Park, in the borough of Lewisham.

The demand for a separate State or Region by the peoples of the Benin and Delta Provinces of Western Nigeria, the Edo, Urhobo, Isioko, Itsekiri, Western Ibo, Ishan and Afenmai dates back to 1938. After World War Two the demand began to gain momentum. The matter was discussed at the 1957 Conference on the Nigerian Constitution, and the British Colonial Secretary, Alan Lennox Boyd [later Lord Boyd of Merton] appointed a Commission of Inquiry, under Sir Henry Willink to ascertain the facts about the fears of minorities in Nigeria and to propose means of allaying those fears, and to make recommendations on the creation of new states.

Miers was born in Rio de Janeiro on 25 May 1858. He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College Oxford. In 1882 he joined the British Museum as an Assistant, a post he held till 1895; he was also an Instructor in Crystallography at the Central Technical College in South Kensington from 1886 to 1895. Miers became Editor of the Mineralogical Magazine, 1891-1900. From 1895 to 1908 he was Waynflete Professor of Mineralogy at Oxford. He was Principal of the University of London from 1908 to 1915; and also Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester and Professor of Crystallography, 1915-1926. Miers was Vice-President of the Chemical Society, 1901-1904; of the Geological Society, 1902-1904; and of the Royal Society of Arts, 1913. He was President of the Mineralogical Society, 1904-1909; President of the Museums Association, 1928-1933; Library Association, 1932; and the Council of the Royal Society, 1901-1903. He was a trustee of the British Museum, 1926-1939. Throughout his life, Miers published numerous scientific papers. He died on 10 December 1942.

Frederick William Hugh Migeod was born on 9 August 1872 in Chislehurst, Kent. Educated at Folkestone, he joined the Royal Navy Pay Department in 1889. In 1900 he began service with the Colonial Civil Service and was stationed in the Gold Coast until 1919. He then began a series of expeditions to Lake Chad, Cameroon, and Sierra Leone, and twice crossed equatorial Africa. From 1925-1927 and again in 1929 and 1931 he led a British Museum East Africa expedition to excavate dinosaur bones. Following his return to England he became a local councillor and Alderman in Worthing and was Chairman of the British Union for Abolition of Vivisection. He married Madeleine Marguerite Adrienne Charlotte Banks in 1925. He died on 8 July 1952.

Frederick Migeod's publications include The Languages of West Africa (1913), A Grammar of the Hausa Language (1914), Across Equatorial Africa (1923), Through Nigeria and Lake Chad (1924) and Through British Cameroons (1925).

Frederick William Hugh Migeod was born on 9 August 1872 in Chislehurst, Kent. Educated at Folkestone, he joined the Royal Navy Pay Department in 1889. In 1900 he began service with the Colonial Civil Service and was stationed in the Gold Coast until 1919. He then began a series of expeditions to Lake Chad, Cameroon, and Sierra Leone, and twice crossed equatorial Africa. From 1925-1927 and again in 1929 and 1931 he led a British Museum East Africa expedition to excavate dinosaur bones. Following his return to England he became a local councillor and Alderman in Worthing and was Chairman of the British Union for Abolition of Vivisection. He was Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1917-1952. He died on 8 July 1952.

Frederick Migeod's publications include The Languages of West Africa (1913), A Grammar of the Hausa Language (1914), Across Equatorial Africa (1923), Through Nigeria and Lake Chad (1924) and Through British Cameroons (1925).

Born in Karvinna, Teschen, Austrian Silesia, 1904; education included the Schiller-Gymnasium, Teschen, Oberrealschule, Kaschau, and the Imperial Military College; enrolled as a Cadet, Ludovika Military Academy, Budapest, Hungary [1924]; conscripted into Czechoslovakian Army [1927]; service as a Reserve Officer in an artillery regiment, Kosice and Mukacevo, Slovakia [1927-1930]; Lt, 1930; served in the International Brigades, Spanish Civil War, Spain, 1936-1939; Capt, 1936; Maj, 1938; commanded artillery battalion, Battle of the Ebro, 1939; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; evacuated from France to UK with Czech Legion, 1940; appointed Capt in the British Army [1940]; service with the Czechoslovak Independent Bde Group, 1940-1941; joined Free French forces as a Maj, 1941; served on personal staff of Free French Brig Gen Charles de Gaulle, and in the Troisième Bureau, assisting in the development for the planned invasion of Normandy, France, 1941-1944; author and military strategist, 1941-1992; awarded French Légion d'Honneur, 1944; Assistant to the Czech Military Mission, and adviser on central European affairs to the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), 1945; awarded US Medal of Freedom, 1946; Czechoslovakian Military Attaché, Paris, France, and Brussels, Belgium, 1946-1947; joined French Army, 1948; Lecturer in Tactics, Instituto de Altos Estudos Militares, Caxias, Portugal, 1950-1955; awarded Order of the Portuguese Empire [1955]; died, 1992. Publications: Blitzkrieg (Faber and Faber, London, 1941); Paratroops. The history, organisation and tactical use of airborne formations (Faber and Faber, London, 1943); Is bombing decisive? (Allen and Unwin, London, 1943); Blitzkrieg. Étude sur la tactique allemande de 1937 à 1943 (Harmondsworth, New York, USA, 1944); War between continents, with François Pierre Edmond (Faber and Faber, London, 1948); Les erreurs stratégiques de Hitler (Payot, Paris, France, 1945); Secret forces. The technique of underground movements (Faber and Faber, London, 1950); Unconditional surrender. The roots of World War III (Faber and Faber, London, 1952); Danubian Federation. A study of past mistakes and future possibilities in a vital region of Europe (published by author, printed by Kenion Press, Slough, Berkshire, 1953); Donauföderation (Forschungsinstitut für Fragen and Donausraumes, Salzburg, Austria, 1953); Atomic weapons and armies (Faber and Faber, London, 1955); Tactique de la guerre atomique (Payot, Paris, France, 1955); La faillite de la stratégie atomique (Presses de la Cité, Paris, France, 1958); The failure of atomic strategy and a new proposal for the defence of the West (Faber and Faber, London, 1959); Kapitulation ihne Krieg (Seewald Verlag, Stuttgart, West Germany, 1965); Die Zukunft der Bundeswehr (Seewald Verlag, Stuttgart, West Germany, 1967); Rüstungswettlauf (Seewald Verlag, Stuttgart, West Germany, 1972); Vom Kriegsbild (Seewald Verlag, Stuttgart, West Germany, 1976); Bis 2000 (Seewald Verlag, Stuttgart, West Germany, 1979); Moskaus indirekte Strategie: Erfolge und Niederlage (Seewald Verlag, Stuttgart, West Germany, 1983); Das Ende der Gegenwart (Seewald Verlag, Stuttgart, West Germany, 1991).

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 Mile End and Bow Synagogue was formed in 1927, when it occupied the premises of the former Harley Street Congregational Chapel. It was admitted as a District member of the United Synagogue in 1927. In 1979 the building was sold and became a gurdwara.

Mile End Hospital has it's origins in a workhouse built by the Board of Guardians of Mile End Old Town, London, on the Bancroft Road site in 1858-1859. A new Infirmary, erected under the powers conferred by the Metropolitan Poor Act, 1867, was opened in March 1883, and a Nurse Training School was established in 1892. The institution was taken over by the military authorities during the First World War and the facilities of the Hospital were considerably improved. In 1930, when the Hospital passed to the control of the London County Council, it had 550 beds. Between 1942 and 1948 Mile End Hospital hosted a Regional Preliminary Training School for Nurses giving initial training to pupils who trained at London County Council hospitals in all parts of London.

With the introduction of National Health Service in 1948, the Hospital became part of the Stepney Group of Hospitals. The Stepney Group Hospital Management Committee merged with the Central Group in 1966 to form the East London Group. In 1968, Mile End Hospital, together with St Clement's Hospital, was transferred to the management of the Board of Governors of the London Hospital. Its designation was changed to the London Hospital (Mile End). As a result of the re-organisation in 1974, it became part of Tower Hamlets Health District. In 1990, as part of the London Hospital Group, the Hospital was granted a Royal title, becoming The Royal London Hospital (Mile End). On the closure of Bethnal Green Hospital in June 1990, the Bancroft Unit for the Care of the Elderly opened at Mile End.

The Hospital was part of The Royal London Hospital and its Associated Community Services NHS Trust from 1991 to 1994. Following the recommendations of the government report "Making London Better" (1993), it was transferred to City and East London Family and Community Services (CELFACS), reverting to the name "Mile End Hospital". On the division of CELFACS in 1994 the Hospital came under the management of Tower Hamlets Community Health Services NHS Trust with The Royal Hospitals NHS Trust continuing to occupy two wards at Mile End until 1997. Tower Hamlets Community Health Services NHS Trust was reconfigured in 2001 as Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust. The Trust was discontinued in 2013 and Mile End Hospital was incorporated into the newly formed Barts Health NHS Trust.

George Miles was grocer and tea dealer of Gracechurch Street, City of London and Joseph Rushton was apprenticed to him for five years from 1802.

Miles entered Britannia as a cadet in 1905. He went to sea the following year, as a midshipman, and by 1911 was a lieutenant. Miles served with submarines and destroyers during World War One, 1914-1918. His later appointments include Captain of HMS NELSON 1939-1941, which was one of the first ships to strike a magnetic mine; Head of the Military Mission to Moscow 1941-1943; Flag Officer Commanding Western Mediterranean 1944-1945; Commander-in-Chief Royal Indian Navy 1946-1947. He was made Rear-Admiral in 1941, Vice-Admiral in 1944 and Admiral in 1948. Miles was placed on the retired list in April 1948.

Born, 1861; educated: Edinburgh University; worked on the Challenger reports; lecturer in geography; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), 1891-1950; Librarian of the RGS, 1892-1900; Director of the British Rainfall Organisation, 1900-1919; assisted in the organisation of the National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-1904; RGS Victoria Medal, 1915; Member of the Council of the RGS, 1927-1937; Vice-President of the RGS, 1927-1932; founder member of the Geographical Association and President, 1930-1933; died, 1950.

Publications: Realm of Nature (1891)

The record of the Royal Geographical Society, 1830-1930, (1930)

James Mill, 1773-1836, was educated in Edinburgh by Sir John Stuart of Fettercain, and was licensed to preach in 1798. He moved to London in 1802 and supported his family by writing. He became editor of the 'Literary Journal' in 1803 and the 'St James Chronicle' in 1805, and also wrote for the 'Edinburgh Review' from 1808 to 1813. In 1808, Mill met Jeremy Bentham, was converted to his utilitarian philosophy, and abandoned theology. Thereafter, Mill took an active part in the Bell and Lancaster educational controversy and formed an association to set up a Chrestomathic school in 1814, the outcome of this being the formation of the London University in 1825. He also contributed articles to the 'Westminster Review', which was established as the official Benthamite paper. He was also connected with David Ricardo and took part in meetings at Ricardo's house which resulted in the Political Economy Club being founded in 1820.

John Stuart Mill, 1806-1873, was educated by his father, James Mill, to a very high level at an early age. Like his father he was a staunch utilitarian and he was also active in radical causes. In 1823, he formed the Utilitarian Society, which met to read and discuss essays, in 1825, he edited Bentham's 'Rationale of Judicial Evidence' and in 1826, he assisted in the formation of the Speculative Society. By the 1830's, John Stuart Mill had become interested in the work of romantic writers such as Wordsworth and also in the French Revolution. The 1832 Reform Bill seemed to give an opportunity for the Radicals to gain influence in Parliament and much of his energy at this time was given over to this. In 1835 he founded the 'London Review' which merged with the 'Westminster Review' in 1836. As proprietor from 1837-1840 he tried to use the paper to promote the philosophical radicals and their cause in Parliament. However by 1840 he had been unable to achieve his end and so gave up proprietership of the paper. The 1840s were devoted to writing his great works on logic and economics. In 1851, he married Harriet Taylor, who died in 1858. He was elected MP for Westminster in 1865 and served as a radical. He was a supporter of the 1867 Reform Bill and was active in support of the Labour Movement, the extension of the franchise to women, cumulative voting, Irish land reforms, municipal government for London and became embroiled in the Eyre controversy. He also proposed the Hare plan as an amendment to the Representation of the People Bill but failed in an attempt to obtain the vote for women. After he lost his seat in 1868, he continued to write articles and books and completed a revision of his autobiography before his death.

Harriet Taylor (nee Hardy), 1807-1858, was the daughter of a London surgeon. At the age of eighteen, she married John Taylor, a wealthy businessman. She and her husband were both active in the Unitarian Church and held radical political views. Harriet Taylor first met John Stuart Mill in 1830. During their association she worked closely with him contributing suggestions and revisions to his work. She was particularly influential in forming his ideas on women's rights, making him aware of the hardship suffered by women. In 1833, Harriet Taylor separated from her husband. He died of cancer in 1849, and two years later, she married John Stuart Mill.

Helen Taylor, 1831-1907, the daughter of Harriet Taylor, became companion to John Stuart Mill on the death of her mother in 1858. She assisted him in his work and helped to keep alive his interest in women's rights. She also campaigned in her own right on women's suffrage, the social position and education of women. She was a member of the Moral Reform Union and a leading light in the fight to abolish school fees and provide school meals.

John Stuart Mill was born in London in 1806. He was educated at home, studying Greek intensively from early childhood. Whilst reading for the bar in the early 1820s he was converted to the utilitarian philosophy of Jeremy Bentham. In 1823 he gave up the idea of a law career and went to work for the British East India Company, where he continued to work until 1858. During 1865-1868 he was Independent MP for the City of London and Westminster. During his lifetime, Mill was known as a leading exponent of liberalism and women's rights, as well as utilitarianism, and he was also an influential economic thinker. His stance on the equality of the sexes may have been influenced by the views of his wife Harriet (1807-1858), who was a close friend for more than twenty years before they married in 1851 after her first husband's death. Mill died in Avignon in 1873. His best known works include A System of Logic (1843), Principles of Political Economy (1848), On Liberty (1859), Utilitarianism (1863) and The Subjection of Women (1869).

James Sibree Milledge was born in 1930. He worked for the London Missionary Society in South India from 1961 to 1972. He married Betty Avril (née Astle) in 1956. He belongs to a large family of missionaries (named both Milledge and Sibree) who worked in a number of regions for the London Missionary Society, but in particular Madagascar. The most famous of these missionary ancestors was James Sibree.

Ada M Miller's connection with King's College is not known.

Miller entered the Navy in 1880 and after service during the Egyptian campaign of 1882 went to the AUDACIOUS on the China Station until 1884. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1890 and then served successively in the PARTRIDGE in the West Indies, 1890 to 1892, the SPEEDWELL in the Channel, 1892, and the HOWE in the Mediterranean, 1893 to 1894. From 1894 until 1897 he was in the East Indies in the BONAVENTURE, from 1897 to 1900 on the North America and West Indies Station in the PEARL and from 1901 to 1903 on the China Station in the Talbot. He was promoted to commander in 1903 and to captain in 1908, serving subsequently on the Australian Station and in home waters. During the First World War he commanded ships in the Grand Fleet. He became a rear-admiral in 1920 and vice-admiral in 1922. He retired the same year and died in a motoring accident four years later.

Florence Fenwick Miller was a leading late Victorian feminist. She was one of the first women to qualify in medicine in the United Kingdom, having been part of Sophia Jex-Blake's first doomed attempt to obtain medical education for women at the University of Edinburgh, then studying at the short-lived Medical College for Women in London, and finally achieving registration when this was ultimately conceded to women in 1878. She practised only briefly, subsequently becoming a popular writer and speaker on popular physiology as well as feminist and political subjects, and a prolific journalist and editor. In 1876 she was elected to represent Hackney on the London School Board, and served three consecutive terms, 1877-1885. In 1877 she married Frederick Alfred Ford, but retained her own name, being addressed as Mrs Fenwick Miller.

James Young Simpson graduated from Edinburgh University in 1832. He was made President of the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh in 1835 and became Professor of Midwifery there in 1839. He was especially famous for his advocacy and use of chloroform in obstetric practice, but was also renowned for his work in gynaecology and obstetrics, particularly in the use of forceps and for various methods of ovariotomy.

James William Miller was born, 1836; MD, Edinburgh, 1857; licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, 1857; examination in medicine and pathology, University of Aberdeen; Medical Officer, Liff and Benvie Poorhouse; physician, Dundee Royal Infirmary; surgeon, Dundee prison; died, 1901.

Margaret Stevenson Miller (1896-?1979) obtained her first degree from Edinburgh University before going on to study at SSEES where in 1925 she became the first student to gain a PhD there. She went on to work as a lecturer in the Department of Commerce, University of Liverpool. During World War Two she worked as a research strategist in Soviet affairs firstly in Britain at the Foreign Office's Foreign Research and Press Service in Oxford and later at the Office of Strategic Studies in Washington. Whilst in Washington she also lectured on Soviet economics at George Washington University. After the war she continued her work at the Foreign Office for a brief period in the Economic Intelligence Department. She spent the remainder of her career as an administrative officer for the Central Electricity Authority and also broadcast, wrote and lectured on Soviet economics. Margaret Miller visited the Soviet Union a number of times and wrote several books on the Soviet economy.