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Helena Florence Normanton (1882-1957) was born on 14 Dec 1882 to Jane Amelia and William Alexander Normanton in Kensington. In 1886 the family moved to Brighton. From 1900 Helena attended York Place Secondary School, Brighton (later renamed Margaret Hardy School, forerunner of Varndean School for Girls). From 1903-1905 she attended teacher training at Edge College, Liverpool. In 1907 Helena obtained a diploma in French language, literature and history from Dijon University. In 1912 she achieved her BA Hon First Class in History (London University). From 1913-1915 she was a senior mistress for History at Glasgow High School for Girls and lecturer to postgraduate students of Glasgow University in Principles and methods of teaching history and then a University Extension lecturer to the University of London. From 1918-1920 she edited India a political weekly.

On 24 Dec 1919 Helena was admitted as a student at the Middle Temple, the day after the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act received Royal Assent. On 26 Oct 1921 she married Gavin Bowman Watson Clark (d 1948). On 17 Nov 1922 Helena was called to the Bar, a few months after Ivy Williams had become the first woman to do so (but she did not practise). In 1922 Helena was the first woman to be briefed at High Court (successful divorce petition). In 1924 she was the first woman to be briefed at Old Bailey. Also in that year she was the first married British woman to be issued a passport in her maiden name ('as legal and only name'). In 1926 she was first woman to be briefed at the North London Sessions. In 1948 she was the first woman to prosecute in a murder trial (young soldier found guilty of murdering his wife) in the North-Eastern Circuit. In Apr 1949 she was the first woman KC (with Rose Heilbron)

In 1952 Helena drew up a memorandum of evidence as President of the Married Women's Association for consideration by the Royal Commission on Marriage and Divorce (criticism led to her resignation, withdrawing the memorandum and forming the Council of Married Women and submitting a revised memorandum to the Royal Commission). In 1956 Helena was the first recorded donor to the fund to create a new university in Sussex. Helena died in Oct 1957 and was buried at Ovingdean churchyard, Brighton.

Positions held : Treasurer and Secretary of the Old Bailey Bar Mess; Honorary member of the New York Women's Bar Association and of the women lawyers' association, Kappa Beta Pi (USA); Principal elected officer for Europe of the International Legal Sorority

Other interests : wrote extensively for Good Housekeeping magazine and other publications eg The Queen, Quiver; Associate Grand Dame for Europe of the International Society of Women Lawyers; Chair of the International legislative sub-committee of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women; Executive member of the National Council for Equal Citizenship; Executive member of the State Children's Association; First Secretary of the National Women's Citizens' Association; Founder and Honorary Secretary to the Magna Carta Society; Founding member of the Horatian Society.

Norris entered the Navy in 1889. In 1893 as a midshipman in the Nile, Mediterranean, he was an eye-witness of the collision between the VICTORIA and CAMPERDOWN. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1896, commander in 1907 and captain in 1914. During the First World War he commanded the ARLANZA , 1915, and then served at the Admiralty. In 1918 he was appointed Commodore of the Persian Gulf Squadron. He subsequently commanded British naval forces in the Caspian Sea and, in May 1919, with six armed merchant vessels, some coastal motor boats and an air unit, attacked thirty Bolshevik ships, fourteen of which were destroyed. He headed a naval mission to Persia, 1920 to 1921. During the next eight years Norris held several appointments afloat and ashore. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1924 and retired on his promotion to vice-admiral in 1929. He was promoted to admiral on the retired list in 1933.

Norris and Collet, were London merchants trading with Sweden. Henry Norris, a London merchant trading with Russia and Sweden, was their factor.

T H Oakley was a stockbroker of 2 Copthall Buildings, London, c 1885. The Company became known as Oakley Norris Bros (same address), c 1888-1966; then Norris Oakley Richardson and Glover. John Kenneth Ritchie, third Baron Ritchie of Dundee (1902-1975) and chairman of the London Stock Exchange, 1959-1965, was a senior partner of the company.

North entered the Navy as an assistant clerk in 1854 and served in the Crimean War. He was promoted to Assistant Paymaster in 1860 and Paymaster in 1870. In 1878 he was appointed to the survey ship ALERT, under Captain Sir George Nares. The first season was spent surveying in the Magellan Strait and the surrounding area. In the spring of 1879 Nares was recalled and succeeded by Captain J.F.L.P. Maclear. The ALERT carried out survey work in the Pacific, the Torres Strait (Prince of Wales Channel) and the Indian Ocean (Amirante Islands) before arriving home in 1882. North was promoted to Fleet Paymaster in 1886 and he retired in 1895 as Paymaster-in-Chief.

Olive North (later Olive Hanson), was one of the 764 people who survived the sinking of the RMS LUSITANIA, 7 May 1915. The Lusitania, travelling from New York to LIverpool, was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20, off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland. Olive arrived in Montreal on RMS Megantic, 16 June 1914, accompanied by her brother Frank, in order to visit her elder sister and family. Frank, a former soldier, was recalled at the out-break of war in 1914. Olive was returning to England aboard the Lusitania in 1915, ostensibly to marry her fiance, Percy Hanson, when the Lusitania was sunk. The wedding was postponed until August 1918. Olive, a non-swimmer was given a life-jacket by a steward. After several hours in the water, Olive was rescued from an upturned life boat by Captain John Sandham, the captain of the BROCK.

W North lived in Fulham Road, London. He collected a variety of pamphlets, posters and drawings.

The North Australian Expedition explored North Australia from the Victoria River to Brisbane, 1855-1857. It was led by Augustus Charles Gregory (1819-1905) and was partly sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society.

This company was established in Edinburgh in 1809 as the North British Insurance Company, primarily for the business of fire insurance. It moved into life insurance after 1823. The company was renamed North British and Mercantile Insurance Company in 1862 at which time it also provided general insurance in the United Kingdom and overseas. It became a subsidiary of Commercial Union Assurance Company in 1959.

No further information at present.

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Formed in 1970 by the merger of Barking Regional College of Technology, Waltham Forest Technical College and West Ham College of Technology. Became University of East London in 1992.

The North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board was one of the original 14 Hospital Boards and 35 Teaching Hospital Boards established in 1948. It reported directly to the Ministry of Health and was responsible for health services in north east London and Essex. In 1974 a reorganisation of the National Health Service resulted in Regional Hospital Boards being replaced by Regional Health Authorities and the North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board was replaced by the North East Thames Regional Health Authority. The new Regional Health Authorities reported to the Department of Health and Social Security and ultimately Parliament.

This hospital was founded in 1867 by Miss Mary Elizabeth Philips and Miss Ellen Philips, who were members of the Society of Friends. A house in Virginia Road, Bethnal Green, opened on 12 July 1867 as the Dispensary for Women and Children. It was soon decided that only children would be treated and as the North Eastern Hospital for Children the work was transferred to 125 Hackney Road, providing 12 cots. In 1870 the freehold of 327 Hackney Road was purchased and the hospital grew on that site, on the corner of Hackney Road and Goldsmith Row. The hospital was re-named the Queen's Hospital for Children in 1907. It opened a country branch called the Little Folks Home (named after the Little Folks magazine) at Bexhill -on -Sea in 1911. This was evacuated to Woking during World War II.
The Hospital merged with the Princess Elizabeth of York Hospital, Shadwell in 1942, and re-named the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children. Thereafter the hospital functioned on two London sites: Queen Elizabeth, Hackney Road; and Queen Elizabeth, Shadwell. A further site was opened at Banstead, Surrey, in 1948. The Shadwell site closed in 1963. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Group was formed in 1948 to administer the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on its three sites at Hackney Road, Shadwell and Banstead. On closure of the Shadwell site in 1963 it was amalgamated with the Hackney Group to form the Hackney and Queen Elizabeth Group. This arrangement lasted until 1968 when the Queen Elizabeth was detached from Hackney and placed under the Board of Governors of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street. The hospital functioned as part of the Hospitals for Sick Children until 1994 when Great Ormond Street became an NHS Trust. Queen Elizabeth was then managed by East London and The City Health Authority until April 1996 when it joined The Royal Hospitals NHS Trust (name later changed to Barts and The London NHS Trust). The Hackney Road site closed in 1998 when the bulk of its services transferred to The Royal London Hospital as the Queen Elizabeth Children's Service.

The North Finchley New Christian church was founded at 71 Gainsborough Road in 1952. It was a Swedenborgian church, following the religious teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg, a Swedish scientific and religious writer (1688-1772).

North Hackney Central School for Girls was established in Millfields Road in 1895.

The North Lambeth Divisional Labour Party was founded in 1926, when its constitution and rules were formally adopted and endorsed by the Labour Party's National Executive Committee. It consisted of members of Trade Union branches, Co-operative Societies, Socialist and other societies affiliated to the Borough Labour Party, plus any other men and women willing to subscribe to the Constitution who lived within the North Division of the Parliamentary Borough of Lambeth. Its objectives were to co-operate with the Borough Labour Party and to unite the forces of Labour within the Constituency, with a view to securing the election of Labour candidates to Parliament and local government authorities.
The Division was managed by a General Council consisting of representatives of affiliated bodies and individual members, Officers elected at the Annual Meeting of the General Council, and an Executive Committee consisting of the Officers and other members elected from the General Council. It also had Ward Associations, a Women's Section and a Young People's Section.
Raymond Colin Roberts was born in Monmouthshire in 1904. Between 1917 and 1933 he worked in various coal mining jobs, including being Miner's Organiser and Sectretary to the South Wales Miner's Federation. He was a student of Social Sciences at the Labour College in Earls Court, London, between 1923-1925, having won a scholarship from the South Wales Miners.
He was Political Agent and Secretary to the North Lambeth Labour Party from May 1933 to April 1941. An accident from his coal mining days meant he was exempt from military service during World War Two and instead was appointed as a Regional Shelter Officer. He was then trained as a Factory Personnel Manager and Welfare Supervisor under a Ministry of Labour scheme and subsequently became an inspector of factories.

The North London Collegiate School for Ladies (NLCS) was opened by Frances Mary Buss (FMB) in the Buss family home in Camden St, London, on 4 April 1850, with 38 pupils. It aimed to provide an education for the daughters of the middle class community in which it was situated.

FMB was the head and the school staff consisted of a number of full-time assistant mistresses (known as governesses) and part-time masters attending when required. FMB's brothers Alfred and Septimus Buss also gave instruction. The school primarily catered for day pupils, but in 1866, the boarding house where some of the girls from more distant homes were accommodated, was taken over by Miss Buss and moved to a location closer to the school, with a second boarding house opening soon after at 15 Camden Rd.

FMB insisted that all the (women) teaching staff at the school should be trained at the Home and Colonial Schools Society, and introduced regular weekly staff meetings as a means of securing uniformity of action and exact teaching. Discipline was maintained through a system of deduction marks and memorised impositions, rather than corporal punishment. In an era when education of girls was seen as a health concern, FMB took step to pre-empt criticism of the school on these grounds. There was a constant emphasis on health at the schools, and callisthenics and gymnastics were practised regularly. In 1868 senior girls were even given a physiology course by Miss Chessar of the Home and Colonial Schools.

The opening up of external examinations to girls stimulated the academic function of the school. In 1863, NLCS submitted 25 candidates to the Cambridge University Senior Local Examinations. And in 1865, it was one of only two girls' schools to participate in the Schools Inquiry Commission. The same year, FMB devised the term Head Mistress, in order to demonstrate the parity between the sexes as heads of schools. The Schools Inquiry Commission found that very little funding was being devoted to the education of girls by charitable endowments, compared to that available to boys (12 schools for girls and 820 for boys). The report of this Commission led to the Endowed Schools Act of 1869, which required annual examinations to be held at all schools, unless pupils took approved public examinations or were being inspected. The Act was also responsible for the creation of 80 endowed schools. The Endowed Schools Commission established a curriculum along the lines already being pursued at NLCS.

In 1869, a public meeting was held to form a Trust to take over the ownership and running of the NLCS, and its name was altered to the North London Collegiate School for Girls. The trust deed was signed on 26 Jul 1870, with the trustees including Alfred and Septimus Buss, Charles Lee (vicar of Holy Trinity, Haverstock Hill), and a number of women (at the insistence of FMB). Later trustees also included two members of the 1965 Schools Inquiry Commission - Dr John Storrar M D (Chairman of the Governors, 1870-1874), and Dr A W Thorold, (vicar of St Pancras, and Chairman of the Governors, 1875-1892). Fourteen of the trustees were appointed to the governing body for both the NLCS and a new lower school established at the Camden St site under Miss Elford, when the NLCS moved to larger premises at 202 Camden Rd. By 1871, the new Camden school had 113 girl pupils.

NLCS was a self supporting school, reinvesting surplus funds in the improvement of teaching salaries. In 1870, it was the largest school of its type in the country. New buildings were necessary, and an appeal for funds was begun in 1870. A loan of £3 000 and a gift of £1000 from Miss Ewart, one of the Governors, was received, which allowed for the purchase of premises in Sandall Rd. Augmented in 1872 by the allocation of a part of the income of the Brewers' Company educational bequest, and a donation of £20 000 from the same Company, building work could begin. This however was delayed by the passage of the Endowed Schools Amendment Act, which was not signed until May 1875. Initially both schools were to be located on the Sandall Rd site, however in 1876, plans were drawn up for buildings on two separate sites, and a site in Prince of Wales Rd acquired for the Camden School, at the suggestion of the Charity Commission (formerly the Endowed Schools Commission). Further delays occurred while the Governors and the Charity Commission negotiated over concerns at the cost of building on two separate sites. Eventually, a further £8000 from the Brewers' Company, £2000 from Dame Alice Owen's charity and a loan of £6000 enabled building to proceed. A further donation from the Clothworkers' Company was used for the erection of an assembly hall at Sandall Rd. The Camden School buildings, Prince of Wales Rd, were opened in 1878, and the NLCS buildings, Sandall Rd, 1879. From then on FMB concentrated mainly on the further development of NLCS.

Recognition of the value of a proper education for girls meant that numbers of pupils rose steadily at both schools and by 1876, there were 449 at NLCS and 393 at the Camden School. In 1876, an inspection team from London University visited the School. By this time, subjects such as elementary physics, practical chemistry and botany had been introduced, enhancing the school's reputation for science teaching. More academic opportunities were opening up for women, Oxbridge colleges for women were being founded, and in 1878, the Convocation of London University, with Dr Storrar as Chair, approved the motion proposed by Septimus Buss for the admission of women to take degrees. FMB began to recruit women graduates to teach in her schools, and by1885, there were nine graduates on the teaching staff, eight of whom were her former pupils. She was also concerned that proper salaries were paid to the new and well trained graduates, introducing a savings scheme for the teaching staff and a pension schemes. Following FMB's death in 1894, the two schools came to be known collectively as the Frances Mary Buss Schools.

The second Headmistress of NLCS was Sophie Bryant (1850-1822), appointed in 1895. She had joined the staff in 1875, a brilliant scholar and teacher. She believed in the broadest possible education for children, rejecting the pressure from external exams on the School's curriculum. While emphasising intellectual education, she recognised its limitations and introduced the study of home crafts and household business.
NLCS enrolments declined along with the neighbourhood in the early 20th century. Numbers dropped from 480 in 1903, to 392 in 1910, then to 343 by 1914. In October 1913, the school increased from 10 to 25% the number of free places offered. However standards remained high, with 41 of the 46 in the sixth form matriculating, in 1911, and 23 of the 29 sixth form leavers in 1914, taking up university places.

The girls also participated in various clubs and societies, including a Hockey club, a Basketball team, a Science club with branches in photography, geography and gardening, Debating Society, Botanical Society, Dorcas Society, Missionary Society, and Sunshine League.

Sophie Bryant retired in 1918, and was succeeded by Isabella Drummond, who had joined the staff of NLCS in 1908. Drummond created more freedom in the school, reducing the rules, promoting self-reliance and intellectual enterprise in pupils, and espousing career advice. She also encouraged staff to develop their own subjects within the syllabus, and in 1919 introduced a sabbatical term for members of staff with more than seven years continuous service. She was also able to persuade the Governors to pay for supply teachers in the event of staff absences.

Following World War 1 there was a surge in school numbers, rising to 510 in 1919, with 600 pupils by 1925. The Sandall Rd site was becoming inadequate for a school this size. In 1927, the Governors decided to purchase Canons in Edgware, (the former home of the Duke of Chandos) for £17,000, and pupils travelled there once a week for sports and other activities until 1938, when the whole school moved to the Edgware site, and the Camden School For Girls took up residence in the vacated buildings in Sandall Rd.

In 1926 a cow shed in Bromley-by-Bow was purchased to commemorate 100 years since Frances Mary Buss' birth and was converted with the assistance of the Old North Londoners Association, for social services and a club premises for local children, It was known as Frances Mary Buss House.

Drummond retired at the end of 1940, and Eileen Harold was appointed the new Head Mistress having been formerly second mistress at Haberdashers' Aske's. During World War 2, approximately half the students were sent to Luton, though Edgware was outside the evacuation zone, most of the rest remaining at Canons. In 1944, Harold resigned to take up the post of Head Mistress of Haberdashers' Aske's, and was succeeded by Dr Katherine (Kitty) Anderson.

During Anderson's twenty year tenure the School became a Direct Grant Grammar School in 1945, and facilities were gradually expanded with the opening of the Drummond Library in 1954, a swimming pool in 1955, and a new drawing school in 1958. Pupil numbers rose and by 1956, there were 813 girls attending the school. In 1958, the school was inspected, and received a glowing report. Anderson was particularly enthusiastic that her pupils should have the opportunity to attend university. By 1964, 61 of the 123 leavers had university places, and another 42 were undertaking further training of different kinds.

Madeline McLauchlan was appointed Headmistress, in December 1964, taking up her appointment in Sep 1965. She handled the response of the school to the Public Schools Commission, established 1966, and the abolition of the Direct Grant Scheme, which had existed since 1926. It was replaced by a combination of bursaries and the Assisted Places Scheme, and NLCS became an independent school with charitable status.

The next headmistress, Joan Clanchy was appointed in 1986. She introduced a number of changes including moving the Junior School to its own building in 1987, and lessening the class size. In 1995, the First School was opened for girls aged 4 to 7 years.

In April 1850 Frances Mary Buss opened the North London Collegiate School for Ladies at 46 (later renumbered 12) Camden Street. Camden Town was then a professional neighbourhood near both Hampstead and the City, and 35 daughters of gentlemen and 'the most respectable' tradesmen assembled on the opening day. The girls received an education which from the first included Latin, French, natural science, and periods of recreation; German, Italian, and music were extras. The teaching encouraged thought and observation rather than learning by rote, and its success was immediate. By December 1850 there were 115 pupils and Miss Buss had founded 'the model for girls' Day Schools throughout the country'.

In 1870 Miss Buss decided to transform her flourishing private venture into a public grammar school for girls by transferring it to a trust which would carry on the work when she was no longer able to do so. New premises were acquired at 202 Camden Road; here there was a large schoolroom which could be partitioned by curtains, a similar room upstairs, two classrooms, and long passages for 'musical gymnastics'. The move allowed Miss Buss to found a second school, the Camden School, in the accommodation left vacant in Camden Street. The changed status of the school was confirmed in 1875, when a scheme for its administration was prepared by the Endowed Schools Commission. An appeal for an endowment fund for the two schools brought in gifts from several City companies, notably the Brewers' Company, which provided £20,000 for buildings and £600 annually from the Platt Charity, a Brewers' charity, while for scholarships there was an additional £2,000 from Dame Alice Owen's Charity. This enabled Miss Buss to proceed with her plans for a new school building in Sandall Road. The Clothworkers' Company granted £105 a year for scholarships and £2,500 for an assembly hall, which bore the company's name. The new school was opened in 1879 by the Prince and Princess of Wales. The latter had been the patroness of the schools since 1871. Meanwhile the Camden School had moved into new buildings in Prince of Wales Road in 1878.

Miss Buss was a pioneer in other directions, encouraging gymnastics, swimming, skating, hockey, and athletics. She incorporated in the new buildings the first gymnasium designed for a girls' school and obtained the use of the St. Pancras baths, but her proposal to make the girls 'really bold swimmers' by capsizing a boat in open water was not adopted. She started a school sports day, and in the interests of dress reform organized a tug-of-war between girls who wore stays and those who did not; the latter won. Miss Buss had little time for fainting girls, for whom she recommended the cold water treatment. She also encouraged the more usual accomplishments such as art, music, needlework, cookery, and handicrafts.

By present-day standards discipline appears to have been very strict; talking seemed to be the main evil, and 'every moment, almost every movement, was ordered'. There were many rules, breach of which involved signing the 'Appearance Book', but any form which went for half a term without a signature was allowed a 'gratification'-half an hour's free time-as a reward.

Miss Buss' successor at North London Collegiate, whom she had designated as early as 1878, was Mrs. Sophie Bryant, a mathematician and a brilliant teacher. In 1884 she had become the first woman D.Sc. and in 1894 she was one of the three women appointed to the Bryce Commission on secondary education. Miss I. M. Drummond, who was appointed to succeed Mrs. Bryant, was a former member of the staff of North London Collegiate and had been latterly headmistress of the Camden School. Miss Drummond relaxed some of the regulations and encouraged the free choice of creative activities in the arts and in school societies. In 1929, with the assistance of the Middlesex County Council, the school acquired 'Canons', a Georgian house standing in extensive grounds at Little Stanmore, and soon a section of the school was travelling there each morning of the week for lessons and games. Eventually it was decided to move the whole school to Canons, and the foundation-stone of a new building extending behind the house was laid in May 1939.

Source: 'Schools: The North London Collegiate School', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 1, pp. 308-310 (available online).

North London Magistrate's Court was based at 82 Stoke Newington Road, N16.

An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.

Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.

In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.

Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.

The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.

In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.

The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.

Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.

Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.

The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.

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

The North London Synagogue was opened in 1868, although services had been taking place in the area since 1864. It was situated on John Street (now Lofting Road) in Barnsbury, Islington. The synagogue was admitted as a Constituent member of the United Synagogue in 1878. The opening of Dalston Synagogue caused a decline in membership and in 1958 the two establishments were amalgamated.

From: 'Islington: Judaism', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 117 (available online).

The North Metropolitan Tramways Company operated horse-drawn trams in north and east London. The company was established in the 1860s. In 1896 the London County Council purchased sections of the North Metropolitan Tramways network, although the company continued to operate trams along the lines under a fourteen year lease; as until the passing of the London County Tramways Act, 1896, the Council's powers did not extend to operating a tramway undertaking itself. Once the lease expired the Council fully bought out the company's networks and began direct management of the operation.

Following a conference with the Ministry of Health on 24 September 1931, the Kingston-upon-Thames Borough Council, the Surbiton Urban District Council, the Maldens and Coombe Urban District Council, the Epsom Urban District Council and the Epsom Rural District Council appointed a joint committee to investigate the question of the centralisation of the sewage works in the Hogsmill Drainage Area. After discussions spread over several years, it was decided that such a scheme would be viable and the Hogsmill Valley Joint Sewerage Board was created with effect from 1 April 1940 by the Hogsmill Valley Joint Sewerage Order 1940. The Board consisted of three members from each of the constituent authorities who, following changes in local authority boundaries and the granting of charters of incorporation, were now the four corporations of Epsom and Ewell, Kingston-upon-Thames, Malden and Coombe and Surbiton. The Order, however, authorised the constituent councils to discharge the functions of the Joint Board concurrently in their districts until such time as the Board's new works should be completed. This concurrent jurisdiction lasted until 1960, when the name of the Board was also changed to the North Surrey Joint Sewage Board.

The Hogsmill Valley Sewage Works are situated in Lower Marsh Lane, Berrylands, Kingston-upon-Thames.

The Board's functions were transferred to the Greater London Council on 1 April 1965 by virtue of Section 35(1) of the London Government Act 1963.

The 1834 Poor Law Act led to improvements in the arrangements made for the education of pauper children. Poor Law Unions, and parishes regulated by local acts, were persuaded to establish schools and to appoint schoolmasters. The policy of separating the children from their parents (who were generally considered to be a bad influence on their children) and sending them, if possible, to the country was continued and in 1866 several Middlesex metropolitan authorities were sending children to schools outside London. The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1844 made possible a further development in this field which was of significance for the metropolitan area. Unions and parishes were empowered to unite and to form a School District which then set up a large separate school for the education of all the indoor pauper children of the constituents of the district. These were usually industrial schools where both boys and girls were taught the basics of a useful trade which, it was hoped, would provide them with better prospects in future.

The North Surrey School District was founded in 1849 and included the Poor Law Unions of Richmond, Croydon, Kingston, Lewisham, Wandsworth and Clapham, Chelsea and Kensington. The District constructed an industrial school for 500 children at Anerley, Upper Norwood.

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.

The North Thames Gas Board (1949-1973) was one of 12 Area Boards formed when the gas industry was nationalised in 1949, following the passing of the 1948 Gas Bill. It supplied an area of 1,059 square miles stretching from Bracknell, Marlow and High Wycombe to the south east coast of Essex.

When formed it was made up of a merger of 12 statutory gas undertakings:

Ascot and District Gas and Electricity Company,

Chertsey Gas Consumers Company;

Commercial Gas Company;

(Chartered) Gas Light and Coke Company;

Hornsey Gas Company;

Lea Bridge District Gas Company;

North Middlesex Gas Company;

Romford Gas Company;

Slough Gas and Coke Company;

Southend Corporation (Shoeburyness);

Uxbridge Gas Consumers Company and

Windsor Royal Gas Light Company.

The North Thames Gas Board was dissolved in 1973 when it became a region of the British Gas Corporation.

North Thames Gas Board (1949-1973) was one of 12 Area Boards formed when the gas industry was nationalised in 1949, following the passing of the 1948 Gas Bill. Supplied area of 1,059 square miles stretching from Bracknell, Marlow and High Wycombe to the south east coast of Essex. When formed it was made up of a merger of 12 statutory gas undertakings: Ascot and District Gas and Electricity Company, Chertsey Gas Consumers Company; Commercial Gas Company; (Chartered) Gas Light and Coke Company; Hornsey Gas Company; Lea Bridge District Gas Company; North Middlesex Gas Company; Romford Gas Company; Slough Gas and Coke Company; Southend Corporation (Shoeburyness); Uxbridge Gas Consumers Company and Windsor Royal Gas Light Company. The North Thames Gas Board was dissolved in 1973 when it became a region of the British Gas Corporation.

The Phoenix Gas Light and Coke Company was incorporated by Act of Parliament (5 Geo.IV, c. lxxviii) in 1824. The Company served Southwark, Brixton, Deptford and Greenwich. It was amalgamated with the South Metropolitan Gas Light and Coke Company in 1876.

The South Metropolitan Gas Light and Coke Company was founded in 1834 to serve Southwark and other places in what was then Surrey and Kent. The following companies were amalgamated with the South Metropolitan: Surrey Consumers, 1879 (established 1854); Phoenix, 1880 (established 1824); Woolwich, Charlton and Plumstead, 1884 (established 1855); Woolwich Equitable, 1884 (established 1855). The Company was nationalised in 1949 and placed under the control of the South Eastern Gas Board.

North Thames Gas Board (1949-1973): one of 12 Area Boards formed when the gas industry was nationalised in 1949, following the passing of the 1948 Gas Bill. Supplied area of 1,059 square miles stretching from Bracknell, Marlow and High Wycombe to the south east coast of Essex. When formed it was made up of a merger of 12 statutory gas undertakings: Ascot and District Gas and Electricity Company, Chertsey Gas Consumers Company; Commercial Gas Company; (Chartered) Gas Light and Coke Company; Hornsey Gas Company; Lea Bridge District Gas Company; North Middlesex Gas Company; Romford Gas Company; Slough Gas and Coke Company; Southend Corporation (Shoeburyness); Uxbridge Gas Consumers Company and Windsor Royal Gas Light Company. The North Thames Gas Board was dissolved in 1973 when it became a region of the British Gas Corporation. Note - Consumers Gas Companies were set up in consequence of dissatisfaction with the existing supplier.

Gas Light and Coke Company (1812-1949): founded in 1812, this was the first company to supply gas to London. The Company absorbed 27 smaller companies and several undertakings during its period of operation, including the Aldgate Gas Light and Coke Company (1819), the Brentford Gas Company (1926), the City of London Gas Light and Coke Company (1870), the Equitable Gas Light Company (1871), the Great Central Gas Consumer's Company (1870), Imperial Gas Light and Coke Company (1876), the Independent Gas Light and Coke Company (1876), the London Gas Light Company (1883), Pinner Gas Company (1930), Richmond Gas Company (1925), Southend-on-Sea and District Gas Company (1932), Victoria Docks Gas Company (1871) and Western Gas Light Company (1873). In May 1949, after the passing of the Gas Bill 1948, the Company handed over its assets to the North Thames Gas Board.

Brentford Gas Light Company (1821-1926): founded in 1821 at the instigation of Sir Felix Booth, the company had works at Brentford and retorts at Southall and covered a wide area including Hammersmith, Kensington, Southall, Twickenham and Richmond. Merged with the Gas Light and Coke Company in 1926.

Harrow and Stanmore Gas Company (1872-1924): Harrow Gas Works founded in 1855 by John Chapman and rebuilt in 1872 as the Harrow Gas Light and Coke Company Limited and became a statutory company as the Harrow District Gas Company in 1873. In 1894 it became the Harrow and Stanmore Gas Company. Merged with the Brentford Gas Company in 1924. Both merged with the Gas Light and Coke Company in 1926.

Pinner Gas Company (1868-1930): founded between 1868 and 1872, merged with Gas Light and Coke Company in 1926.

Hornsey Gas Company Limited (1857-1949): formed in 1857, became statutory in 1866, controlled by the South East Gas Corporation from 1939 and merged with the North Thames Gas Board in 1949.

Staines and Egham District Gas and Coke Company Limited (1833-1915): founded 1833, merged with Brentford Gas Company in 1915.

North Middlesex Gas Company (1862-1949): founded in 1862, with works at Mill Hill.

Uxbridge Gas Company (1841-1861): founded 1841 by T Stacey; faced competition from the new Uxbridge and Hillingdon Gas Consumers Company from 1854 onwards (the companies were known as the 'Old' Gas Company and the 'New' Gas Company). Amalgamated with The Uxbridge and Hillingdon Gas Consumers Company in 1861.

Uxbridge and Hillingdon Gas Consumers Company (1854-1949): formed in 1854 in competition with the Uxbridge Gas Company; became statutory in 1861; after 1918 expanded rapidly and purchased surrounding companies including the Beaconsfield Gas Company, Great Marlow Gas Company and Maidenhead Gas Company. Known as the Uxbridge, Wycombe and District Gas Company from 1921; the Uxbridge, Maidenhead, Wycombe and District Gas Company from 1925 and the South East Gas Corporation from 1936. It merged with the North Thames Gas Board in 1949.

When the National Health Service was established in 1948, it was divided into three parts.

The personal health services, including ambulances, health visitors, community nursing and midwifery were run by local authorities. General medical services, including general practice, dental and ophthalmic services were the responsibility of the executive councils. Hospitals were placed under the control of regional hospital boards. Within each region hospitals were formed into groups and responsibility for more routine administration was delegated to the hospital group management committee. Teaching hospitals were excluded from this system. They had their own boards of governors who were directly responsible to the Minister of Health. Within each hospital region joint committees were established to facilitate consultation and cooperation between teaching hospitals and the board's hospitals.

In 1974 the regional hospital boards, hospital management committees and most boards of governors were abolished. They were replaced by regional health authorities and area health authorities, which were responsible for the three formerly separate parts of the NHS. In 1982 the area health authorities were in turn abolished. Their powers were transferred to district health authorities.

In 1948 the North West Metropolitan Regional Health Board was formed with responsibility for Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, north west London, and Spelthorne; while the North East Metropolitan Regional Health Board was formed with responsibility for Essex and north east London. In 1974 they were renamed as the North West Thames Regional Health Authority and the North East Thames Regional Health Authority. In 1994 the two services were merged to form the North Thames Regional Health Authority, with responsibility for Essex, Hertfordshire and north London.

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.

The North West France Anglican Chaplaincy covered Le Touquet, Boulogne, Calais and Arras.

Founded in 1945 by Rabbi Margulies, the 'Premishlaner Rebbe' for the Jewish Community in the area, the North West London Jewish Day School is still an active school for local orthodox communities of Brondesbury, Hampstead and St John’s Wood.

Rabbi Maurice Landy, the rabbi of the Cricklewood community, took on the development of the school and was involved as Honorary Principal and Chair of Governors and Trustees for over 40 years until his passing in 1996.

When the National Health Service was established in 1948, it was divided into three parts.

The personal health services, including ambulances, health visitors, community nursing and midwifery were run by local authorities. General medical services, including general practice, dental and ophthalmic services were the responsibility of the executive councils. Hospitals were placed under the control of regional hospital boards. Within each region hospitals were formed into groups and responsibility for more routine administration was delegated to the hospital group management committee. Teaching hospitals were excluded from this system. They had their own boards of governors who were directly responsible to the Minister of Health. Within each hospital region joint committees were established to facilitate consultation and cooperation between teaching hospitals and the board's hospitals.

In 1974 the regional hospital boards, hospital management committees and most boards of governors were abolished. They were replaced by regional health authorities and area health authorities, which were responsible for the three formerly separate parts of the NHS. In 1982 the area health authorities were in turn abolished. Their powers were transferred to district health authorities.

In 1948 the North West Metropolitan Regional Health Board was formed with responsibility for Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, north west London, and Spelthorne. The North West Thames Regional Health Authority was formed in 1974 and was responsible for health services in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, the London Boroughs of Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster.

This area of operations was similar to but not identical with the former North West Metropolitan Hospital Region, which comprised Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire (except Royston and east Hertfordshire) Middlesex (except Edmonton, Enfield and Tottenham) part of Berkshire (including Windsor and Maidenhead), part of Buckinghamshire (including Beaconsfield, Eton and Slough), the Metropolitan Boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, Islington, St Marylebone and St Pancras, and the northern parts of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Hammersmith, Kensington, Paddington and Westminster.

In 1994 the North West Thames Regional Health Authority was merged with the North East Thames Regional Health Authority to form the North Thames Regional Health Authority, with responsibility for Essex, Hertfordshire and north London.

The Metropolitan Asylums Board was established in 1867 and soon acquired three sites for infectious diseases hospitals. One of these was near Pond Street, Hampstead, where on 25 January 1870 Hampstead Hospital opened in temporary buildings for the reception of patients suffering from relapsing fever. Nurses were provided by the Anglican Sisters of Saint Margaret, East Grinstead. The hospital closed when this epidemic subsided, but was reopened on 1 December 1870 to admit patients suffering from a particularly virulent form of small pox, which was raging through London. This epidemic had passed by 1873. From 1873 to 1876 Hampstead Hospital was used for the accommodation of mentally handicapped children until the Darenth Schools in Kent were opened by the Metropolitan Asylums Board. Meanwhile permanent smallpox and fever hospitals were being built on the Hampstead site despite vigorous local opposition.

In the autumn of 1876 another epidemic necessitated the use of Hampstead Hospital for the treatment of smallpox again. Hampstead residents brought a series of expensive lawsuits against the Metropolitan Asylums Board to force it to close the hospital or severely restrict its use for smallpox or fever patients. As a result, a Royal Commission appointed to consider these problems in 1881 recommended that smallpox patients should be treated on hospital ships or adjoining riverbanks on isolated parts of the River Thames. Hampstead Hospital (renamed the North Western Hospital) now became entirely a fever hospital, treating mainly cases of diphtheria and scarlet fever. The Metropolitan Asylums Board infectious diseases hospitals were gradually removed from the provisions of the Poor Law, until after 1 January 1892 every citizen of London suffering from infectious disease was legally entitled to admission to an Metropolitan Asylums Board hospital for treatment free of charge.

In 1930 the Hospital was transferred to the management of the London County Council and was administered by the Central Public Health Committee, later the Hospitals and Medical Services Committee. In 1948 the North Western Hospital became part of the National Health Service as one of the Royal Free Hospital Group of teaching hospitals. For a report on the North Western Hospital by King's Fund Visitors in 1956 when it had become an integral part of the Royal Free Hospital see A/KE/737/14. The new Royal Free Hospital was subsequently built on this site.

The North Western Polytechnic (NWP) - founded in 1896 - opened in Prince of Wales Road, Kentish Town, NW London, in 1929. It had more than 2200 students, mainly in evening classes, and an academic staff of 150, concentrating on social sciences, humanities and arts. By 1967 the NWP was the largest polytechnic in London. On 26 January 1971, as more polytechnics were designated, it was decided that the Northern and North Western polytechnics should merge to form the Polytechnic of North London (PNL), which then had its degrees awarded by the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA). In 1992 the Polytechnic won the right to the title of 'University' and to award its own degrees and diplomas as the University of North London, rather than those of the CNAA. In December 2001, the University announced that it would be merging with London Guildhall University, to create London Metropolitan University, London's largest unitary university and one of the country's largest higher education institutions.

The North Woolwich Undertaking was founded in 1850. It was taken over in 1858 by the Victoria Docks Gas Company, which was in turn taken over by the Gas Light and Coke Company in 1871.

Funding the original building and equipment of the Northampton Institute came from a number of sources. The site for the building had been donated by the Marquess of Northampton and Earl Compton. The greatest part of the building capital came from the Trustees of the London Parochial Charities (the City Parochial Foundation) who were the Central Governing Body of the City Polytechnic scheme, particularly the proceeds of the Charity of Sir Thomas Smythe, transferred from the Skinners' Company. Subsequent annual income was to come from Skinners' Company, the City Parochial Foundation, Robert Kitchen's Charity via the Saddlers' Company, the London County Council (LCC), and students' own fees. LCC funding came to predominate, and resulted in tighter central control over the expenditure and activities of the Institute. In 1962, the then Northampton College of Advanced Technology (CATs) received direct grant funding from the Ministry of Education, as the CATs moved towards full university status, with central funding overseen by the University Grants Committee.

The original Governing Body of the Northampton Institute was to comprise seventeen members composed as follows: three appointed by the Central Governing Body of the City Polytechnic (the Trustees of the London Parochial Charities, also known as the City Parochial Foundation or CPF), one by the London County Council (LCC), one by the Schools Board for London, four by the Skinners' Company, one by the Saddlers' Company, one each by the Governing Bodies of the Birkbeck Institute and the City of London College, and five co-opted members (these original five comprised three then engaged in the major local industry of the watch and clock trade). The Governing Body first met at the Birbeck Institute on 1 Feb 1892. The 4th Marquess of Northampton and his son, the Earl Compton both desired to become members of the Body, and the scheme was amended to increase its composition to twenty one members. Meetings were held monthly.
Designation of the Institute as College of Advanced Technology (CAT) in 1957 also involved a revision of the Governing Body. No less than five members were now to be appointed by the LCC, one each by the County Councils of Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex, one from the University of London, four by the Skinners', one by the Saddlers', three by the CPF, and six cooptative members. Not less than six of the Governors were to have current professional or industrial experience relating to the work of the college. Advisory bodies representing industry and professional bodies in each technology were also established. The transition of CATs to direct grant' funding from the Ministry of Education in 1962 involved another reform of the Governing Body; five Local Education Authorities (of which four were to be LCC), one from the Regional Advisory Council, two from the University of London, four from the Skinners', one from the Saddlers', four from the Academic Board of the College, one from the Ministry of Education, the Principal ex-officio and co-opted members. As a result of the Robbins Report of 1963, proposing the conversion of the CATs into full technological universities, the College sought interest of affiliation with other relevant institutions. Discussions were begun with Sir John Cass College, Jewry Street, London and the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield, though no resultant link was achieved. The Governing Body held its final meeting on 26 Sep 1966. This was also its first meeting as the successor body, the Council of The City University, which controls the financial and legal side of the university. The Lady Superintendent wasresponsible, under the direction of the Principal, to the Governing Body, for all matters educational and social connected with women attending the institute'. The first Lady Superintendent, Mrs A Winton Thorpe, was appointed in 1896, and was succeeded by Mrs A M Tuck in 1898. Her successor, Miss V P Muddock, was appointed in 1928. On her retirement in 1949, the post was not filled again.

City University was founded as the Northampton Institute in 1894 with the aim of "the promotion of the industrial skill, general knowledge, health and well-being of young men and women belonging to the poorer classes". In 1906 the name was changed to Northampton Polytechnic Institute, from 1935 it was Northampton Polytechnic which in 1957 became Northampton College of Advanced Technology (CAT). Following the Robbins Committee Report of 1963 the College acquired University status and its charter was granted in 1966 when it became The City University (TCU), it is now known as City University London.

The first proposal for the Institute was made in 1891 in a Charity Commissioners' scheme for a City Polytechnic, linking Birkbeck College, the City of London College and a proposed Northampton Institute in Finsbury, to facilitate funding for these institutions by the City Parochial Foundation. The City Polytechnic was dissolved in 1906 without any real links having been established between the three institutions but it had enabled funding for the building and establishment of the Northampton Institute on land given by the Marquess of Northampton. Other funding came from the Skinners' Company, the Saddlers' Company and the Technical Education Board of the London County Council.

Building began in 1894 to a design by Edward Mountford (1855-1908) and teaching at the Institute commenced in 1896 under Robert Mullineux Walmsley (1854-1924), its first Principal, with the Institute being fully operational by September 1897. The organisation of the Institute was greatly influenced by the nearby Finsbury Technical College, and, in common with the Polytechnic ethos, the social aspects of the Institute, which survived until World War I, were as important as the educational classes which concentrated on providing technical instruction, initially in the evenings only, relevant to the trades and crafts of its immediate neighbourhood of Clerkenwell. Its six departments were mechanical engineering and metal trades; artistic crafts; applied physics and electrical engineering; horology; electro-chemistry; and domestic economy and women's trades. From 1900 the Institute had a number of University of London recognised teachers and students were able to register for internal degree courses of the University. In 1903 the sandwich course system was introduced requiring students to spend one quarter of their course working under supervision in an appropriate industry. The Institute pioneered systematic courses of instruction rather than the study of isolated subjects.

With recognition as a CAT in 1957 Dip.Tech courses were introduced and residential accommodation for students was provided. The relationship with the London County Council and its funding ended in 1962 with the award of direct grant status through the Department of Education and Science, followed by transfer to the University Grants Committee in 1965 and university status the following year. City University has remained on its original site and a conscious decision to limit student numbers and not move out of London to a country site was taken in 1966.

On conversion to a university in 1966, the Northampton College of Advanced Technology (CAT) adopted typical university administrative organs. These comprised the Council as the governing body, controlling the financial and legal side of the university's business; the Senate as the supreme academic body; the Court, a body representing wide and various interests across the university and meeting annually, and Convocation, the corporate body of graduates. Senate itself has a number of committees, beneath which lie other Boards of Studies, Boards of Examiners, Departmental Boards and Staff-Student Committees. The Northampton CAT was required under the terms of the Robbins Report of 1963 to institute an Academic Advisory Committee (AAC) to inform its transition to a university, and oversee the drafting of a charter and approval of its courses. The AAC first met in May 1964.
The Academic Board of Northampton CAT began in 1962 as a replacement for the Board of Studies, which had itself started life in the Northampton Institute as the Board of Heads and Associate Heads in 1912. Under the new College Scheme of 1962, reflecting the direct funding from central government, the Academic Board acquired legal status, and four members were entitled to sit on the College's Governing Body.
The official newsletter of the Northampton College was the Northampton College Gazette which began in 1961, and continued after the change to university status in 1966 as TCU Gazette, and later as City News in 1977. The magazine Quest was produced for distribution to individual subscribers and outside bodies, including schools.

No further information at present.

The original site of the Northampton Institute comprised one and a half acres donated by the 4th Marquess of Northampton and his son. The area faced St John Street, Ashby Street and Lower Charles Street, London, on the site of the former Clerkenwell Manor House, subsequently used as a school and lunatic asylum. The Institute's first building was designed by the architect Edward W Mountford (1855-1908), later the architect of the Old Bailey. The foundations were laid in 1894, with gradual use of the facilities as completed until the official opening of the building in 1898 by the Lord Mayor of London. Extensions were provided in the courtyard of the building for Metallurgy in 1898 and Mechanical Engineering in 1901. The Governing Body authorised the building of a five storied block in the residue of the courtyard in 1908, completed and opened by the Earl of Halsbury in the following year. However growth of the Institute placed greater pressures on existing accommodation, and loans from the New River Company and Skinners' Company provided the means to provide a site for an annex by the purchase of houses on the west side of St John Street in 1908. The intervention of war and economic depression prevented the exploitation of this site until an extension fund was started in 1927. Work began in 1930, and the Connaught Building was opened in 1932 by Prince George, Duke of Kent. It occupied around half the annex site and provided accommodation for chemistry, clockmaking, furriery, a lens workshop, automobile laboratories and general classrooms. Work started on extensions and additional floors to the Connaught Building from 1938 but was curtailed by the coming of war.
The next major phase of development was carried out during from 1949, when it was proposed a further site in St John Street be acquired, the Great Hall be rebuilt, and the Gymnasium block was also to be rebuilt to provide five stories for engineering workshops, classrooms, a staffroom and new library. The site in St John Street was replaced by another in Spencer Street and work started in 1950. The new library was opened in 1955, as was the new Great Hall. The new hall block provided new laboratories in the basement. The new development was officially opened by Sir David Eccles, the Minister of Education, in 1956. In 1959 work started on adding two extra floors were added to the Connaught Building to provide extra laboratories for chemistry and additional classrooms. These were opened by Lord Fleck in 1961.
At the same time a larger development was planned on a site on the north east corner of the Connaught site. The first phase was to comprise the Electrical Building, High Voltage Laboratory and refectory block, followed by a new library, Student's Union, lecture theatres and a new hall. These were completed and handed over during the period 1969-1970, and opened by the Chancellor, Col Sir Ian Bowater, in Nov 1970.
The next development (subsequently named the Tait Building), was to comprise a new Civil and Mechanical Engineering Building and lecture theatre). Construction began in 1971 and it was opened by Dr O A Kerensky in 1974.
Northampton Hall, the first hall of residence, opened in 1964, followed by the Finsbury hall of residence on the Goswell Road site, which opened in 1972. The Saddlers' Sports Centre was opened in 1974, and another hall of residence, Heyworth Hall, was in use by 1977. The City Parochial Foundation provided the funding for the purchase of six acres of land in Oakthorpe Lane, Palmers Green, North London, in 1906, to use as playing fields for the Institute.

Dr Robert Mullineux Walmsley, the first Principal of the Northampton Institute, was appointed in Sep 1895 at the age of 41, from some 94 applicants, and commenced work in Jan 1896. He had previously been First Senior Demonstrator at Finsbury Technical College, 1883-1887; Principal of the Sindh Arts College in Bombay, India, 1887-1888; on the staff of the City and Guilds (Engineering) College, 1888-1890; First Professor of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics, Heriot-Watt University, 1890-1895.
At a meeting of academic staff in Nov 1922 it was proposed that `a committee be appointed to represent the staff'. Draft rules were drawn up in Jan 1923 for the organisation, which determined that it be called the Northampton Polytechnic Staff Association (subsequently known as the Academic Staff Association or ASA). The business of its early years was concerned with social activities, redundancies, workload and leave allowance for summer holidays. A Staff Social Committee was formed from the main committee in 1930 to supervise social activities. In 1962 the ASA became involved in the actual administration of the institution, and were closely involved in the change to university status. The ASA has its place in the university charter as the forum from which academic staff are elected to Senate.

A Social Committee was formed by students to improve the social life of the Northampton Institute in 1910, and the Union Society was instituted in Mar 1912. A number of Northampton students were also instrumental in the foundation of the University of London Union in the 1920s. The Northampton Polytechnic Institute Day Students Magazine commenced in Dec 1912 but ceased publication in 1915 due to wartime restrictions. Its successor (the newspaper of both the union and past students' society), the Northampton Gazette, commenced publication in Jul 1919. The Students' Union started its own newspaper, the Beacon, in 1948. The Union was appointed its first sabbatical president in 1968, and moved into new purpose built premises in 1970. The Engineering Society was formed in 1905, and the energy of its own social activities served to promote the foundation of the Students' Union Society in 1912. The name of the society was changed to the Northampton Engineering College Engineering Society in 1913. The Principal, Dr Robert Mullineux Walmsley, was first President, and after his death, the `Mullineux Walmsley' lectures on engineering were instituted by the Society. Two prizes were available from the foundation of the Society in 1905, namely for the best papers read by a current and a past student.
The N'Ions is the association of past students of the Northampton Institute and City University, founded in 1909 as the Northampton Past Day Students' Association, and serving to promote the interests of the City University and its past students. The first annual dinner of the N'Ions was held in 1922, and branches were organised in the midlands and north west of England. Its magazine, the Northampton Gazette commenced publication in 1910, and following a temporary cessation during World War One, resumed joint publication with the Union Society in 1919. Its title was changed to The N'Ion in 1935. Following World War Two, two means of commemorating those former students killed during the war were instituted. A plaque was erected and a fund was established to enable undergraduates and graduates to visit other countries to enable them to gain experience in their chosen field by the observation of other nationals engaged in the same sphere of industry or research. The first award was made in 1951.

Under the 1883 London Parochial Charities Act, the Trustees of the London Parochial Charities were required to administer the numerous charitable funds existing in the many City of London parishes for ecclesiastical purposes and to `promote the welfare of the poor of the Metropolis by way of education, free libraries, open spaces or otherwise'. They therefore allocated capital to the formation of the City Polytechnic, of which under the Charity Commissioners' City Polytechnic Central Scheme of 1891, the Northampton Institute was one of the three constituent educational institutions. Under the original constitution of the Northampton Institute, three of the Trustees of the London Parochial Charities (or City Parochial Foundation) would be members of the Governing Body. By 1962, one Trustee still sat on the College's Governing Body, although donations from the CPF were small in relation to the College's other sources of income. Between 1891 and 1935 the CPF had donated nearly £2,000,000 to the institutions which had comprised the original Central Scheme. CPF funding from 1891-1931 covered some examination fees, and from 1902 covered endowment insurance for staff, and a compassionate scheme in 1903. The CPF was instrumental in purchasing recreation grounds for the Institute at Palmer's Green. The City University still receives monies from the CPF as the corporate successor to the Northampton Institute. In 1893 the London County Council (LCC) had set up a Technical Education Board, and a member of the Board sat on the Governing Body of the Northampton Institute. Thereafter LCC control and regulation was to strenghthen, reflecting the increasing proportion of LCC's financial contributions in relation to other sources of the Northampton's income. The 1903 Education (London) Act made the LCC the Education Authority for London, and while the power the LCC wielded over the Northampton had been discreet, from 1909 the LCC was its using its award of block maintenance grants to enforce its recommendations on the future of the Artistic Crafts Department on an unwilling Institute. By 1924, the Institute was complying with all the LCC's requirements, and LCC was regulating many of the Institute's operations, from setting student's fees, to the number of hours work required by staff to qualify for superannuation. The annual reports of the LCC Inspectors were an important influence on regulation, covering most matters from quality of courses to the standards of accommodation and hygiene.

Prior to 1957, the library (known as the Skinners' Library due to the original charitable contribution of the Skinners' Company to the Northampton Institute) had received little in the way of adequate funding or accommodation. It had opened in 1896 with 1700 volumes and the totat had only increased to some 4500 by 1956. Redesignation of the Institute as a College of Advanced Technology (CAT) required large investment in provision. In 1955 a further substantial donation from the Skinners' Company allowed the opening of a new Skinners' Library, though growth in holdings continued to be slow in comparison to other CATs. A new library was planned in the mid 1960s; the lack of funding and book stocks were highlighted in a survey of 1969 which placed the library at the bottom of a league table of university libraries. Major new grants were given from Senate and from the Skinners' to double the book stock within five years, and the move into the new library premises was made in 1970. The Cranwood Annexe branch library rejoined the main university library in 1976. A further floor was added and opened in 1979. In 1967 microform, non-book media collections, and the University Archives Collection were started. Special collections were acquired, including the Fincham collection on optics, the Auerbach collection on art and the London Society Library.

The early educational work of the Northampton Institute reflected the trades found in the Clerkenwell district of London. Thus the six departments of the 1890s were Mechanical Engineering and Metal Trades (including the building and furniture trades), renamed Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering in 1918; Artistic Crafts (for industrial applications), which closed in 1916 and was transferred to the London County Council Central School for Arts and Crafts; Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering; Horology, which developed into a National College of Horology and Instrument Technology in 1947; Electro-Chemistry (renamed Technical Chemistry in 1900, and later Applied Chemistry); Domestic Economy and Women's Trades. The Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering department, under the direction of the Principal, was the largest department and included telegraphy and optics, and introduced pioneering sandwich courses in engineering in 1904-1905. In 1903-1904 Technical Optics emerged as a department in its own right, renamed the Department of Applied Optics in 1926, Ophthalmic Optics in 1946, and Optometry and Visual Science in 1977. In 1909 the Institute started classes in Aeronautics, with Frederick Handley Page arriving as lecturer in the following year, though Aeronautical Engineering remained with the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering until 1958, when it became a separate Department of Aeronautics. In 1925 Electrical Engineering became a department in its own right. Physics and Mathematics became separate departments in 1937 and 1931 respectively. A Computer Unit emerged as a separate department from Mathematics in 1976. A Department of Production Technology and Control Engineering was introduced in 1959 (renamed Automation Engineering in 1968 and Systems Science in 1973), following redesignation of the Institute as a College of Advanced Technology.

Upon conversion to The City University, Civil and Mechanical Engineering became separate departments in 1966. A Department of Management Studies commenced in 1966, developing into the City University Business School in 1976. A Centre for Information Science was started in 1970. A Department of Social Science and Humanities was developed and a City University Business School evolved in 1975 from the Department of Management Studies. A Centre for Arts and Related Studies was inaugurated at the same time to cater for courses in Arts Administration, Music, Journalism and Adult Education.

There is no unifying factor to these papers (e.g. that they relate to property owned by one estate or family or the legal work of one office), they were simply collected for their antiquarian interest before being passed to the archive.

This company was established in 1836 in Aberdeen as North of Scotland Fire and Life Assurance Company; it was renamed Northern Assurance Company in 1898. Its business was fire and life assurance in the United Kingdom, the Far East, "and most Foreign Countries". The company became a subsidiary of Commercial Union Assurance in 1968.

This company, growers and manufacturers of tea in Assam, India, was part of the Inchcape Group of companies.

The Northern Friendly Society was established on 31 January 1837 with the objective of being a sociable organisation which could share information of interest in the trade. An extract from the Pawnbrokers' Gazette reporting on the Jubilee of the Society in 1887 stated it was formed, "to protect the Trade against 'duffers' and to exterminate a class of vermin called 'common informers.'" The names of the founding members have not all survived, from later minutes it can be established that one was Mr James Telfer (of Ponders End) and a second was Mr Sharwood who in the Jubilee year of the Society (1887) was aged 86 and acted as the chair of the meeting, he resigned in October 1888 due to 'old age and its consequences.'

Membership was to be restricted to master pawnbrokers or gentlemen connected with the trade. The membership was limited to fifteen members according to a list of rules drawn up in 1844 (later expanded to thirty members), each paying a subscription. On occassion, Honorary Members could be elected by unanimous vote. Members were also often members of the Bouverie Society, a social club for master pawnbrokers (see CLC/034).

The subscriptions were used to defray the costs of the meetings and also to make special purchases. In the Jubilee Year of the society (1887) a silver loving cup was purchased at a cost of £35 4s; according to an inventory attached to an insurance schedule of 1965 the value of the loving had risen to £58 and this was just one of seven pieces of silver that belonged to the Society with other pieces having presented to the society by members and one piece a plain silver cup and cover with wood plinth in a case commemorating the Bouverie Society versus the Northern Friendly Gold Challenge Cup.