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Joanna Southcott was born in Devon in April 1750, the daughter of a farmer. She promised her dying mother that she would devote her life to piety, and rejected all her suitors to work as a maid or labourer in households in and around Exeter. It was not until she was 42 years old, in 1792, that she began to experience the voices and visions which were to make her a celebrated public figure. She was spoken to by a voice which predicted future events. Joanna attempted to interest clergy of several denominations in her prophesies, sending them sealed copies of her predictions to be opened after a certain date - thus proving her foreknowledge of events. In 1801, spurred by the correct predictions she had made for 1796-1800, she spent her life savings and published a book of her prophesy entitled "The Strange Effects of Faith". Her publication was a success and began to attract followers. Joanna moved to London and received the patronage of Jane Townley, who promoted her cause, welcomed Joanna into her household and provided her with a maid to act as her amanuensis. Between 1801 and 1814 Joanna published 65 pamphlets outlining her prophesy and spiritual vision, becoming one of the most popular writers of her time. In 1815 it is estimated that her followers numbered 20,000.

At the age of 64 she claimed to be pregnant with Shiloh, the second coming of Christ. She was due to give birth in November 1814 but despite experiencing labour pains no child was forthcoming and instead Joanna died in London on 27 December 1814. An autopsy found no foetus, although the doctor noted swelling in the abdomen which could have mimicked the symptoms of pregnancy and caused pain similar to labour.

After Joanna's death a core of her inner circle kept the faith quietly, and protected the 'great box', which contained sealed prophecies that were to be opened some time in the unspecified future. In 1816 the box was passed to Jane Townley, and upon her death in 1825 to Thomas Philip Foley, and finally in 1835 to Foley's son, the Revd Richard Foley. In 1839, in order to gain control of Southcott's legacy, Lavinia Taylor Jones (niece of Lucy Taylor, one of Joanna's Exeter employers) dressed as a man to enter Richard Foley's rectory, where she tried to steal the box. Soon after that, rival boxes began to appear. As recently as 1977, the Panacea Society, a twentieth-century millenarian group dedicated to Southcott, claimed to know the secret whereabouts of the true box.

Source: Sylvia Bowerbank, 'Southcott, Joanna (1750-1814)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.

In 1819 there were two Methodist meeting houses in Edmonton, (W Robinson, The History and Antiquities of Edmonton, 1819, p 186). One of these was probably replaced by the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Fore Street, built in 1860. In 1909 the trustees purchased the freehold of the "Manor House", a site adjoining the chapel, for the building of the Edmonton Wesleyan Mission or Central Hall, which was opened in 1911. The old chapel and school were demolished and new Sunday school premises erected on the site in 1929. The Edmonton Methodist Church was part of the Stoke Newington Methodist Circuit until about 1896 when it joined the Tottenham Circuit. In 1941 Edmonton was one of the churches which constituted the Enfield Circuit.

A Methodist place of worship was first registered in the Tottenham area in 1765. Numbers grew slowly until a period of rapid expansion in the 1860s which encouraged the building of new chapels. The original 1765 chapel was rebuilt on a larger scale in 1867 and an ambitious construction project - to build 50 new chapels - was begin in Wood Green in 1871. In 1896 Tottenham became the head of a large circuit stretching from Seven Sisters Road to Cheshunt and had one of the most active communities in North London. A circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.

In 1882 a Roman Catholic chapel was opened in Hampton Wick, and in 1884 a Roman Catholic school was built in Fairfax Road, South Teddington. The ground floor served as a school and the upper floor as a chapel until the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Kingston Road was opened in 1893. Built of red brick in the classical style, this consisted at first of five bays and was extended westwards in 1935 by another two bays. The church was consecrated in 1944.

Source: 'Teddington: Roman catholicism', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 79.

The Teddington Methodist Circuit comprises the churches at Teddington, Sunbury, East Molesey, Hampton and Hanworth. These were originally part of the Richmond Circuit, but in 1887 were removed to form the new Hampton Court Circuit. This became known as the Teddington Circuit in 1892. A circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.

Shepperton lies on the north bank of the Thames opposite Walton and Weybridge on the Surrey bank. Until 1930 it consisted of 1,492 acres and formed a rough triangle, with the winding river as the base and the east and west sides meeting at the apex about two miles north of the village. In 1930 the parish was incorporated in Sunbury urban district, but 77 acres in the north (nearly all lying in the Queen Mary Reservoir) were transferred to Littleton civil parish, in the same urban district.

In the early 19th century the vestry of Shepperton usually met once or twice a month and the rector was normally in the chair. Voting power was related to the amount of property held, so that in 1845 49 people had 81 votes, of which 41 belonged to 9 persons. With rare exceptions there were under a dozen people at the vestries and half or more were parish officers. By 1820 the officers appointed by the vestry included the constable and headborough, who continued to be appointed after the parish was included in the Metropolitan Police District in 1840. From 1822 there was a salaried assistant overseer and from 1826 there were one or two poundsmen. There was a parish fire-engine by 1819. The chief preoccupation of the vestry before 1836 was of course the administration of the poor law. From 1796, and possibly from 1776, there was a regular workhouse. This stood in 1834 in Watersplash Road and was held by the parish on lease.

The parish council which existed from 1895 until 1930, when the parish was absorbed by Sunbury urban district, met in the Shepperton church school. At first there were nine councillors who met seven times a year, but by the 1920's there was a monthly council meeting. In 1895 the council appointed one of its members to be unpaid clerk. Until 1929 its servants included a poundsman. The parish property which the council took over included not only the pound and a farren right in Cowey for the poundsman, but a small piece of land in Ferry Lane and the allotments and recreation ground set out under the 1862 inclosure, which had been managed by the vestry. From about 1907 the council managed Lower Halliford Green and Walton Bridge Green. A lighting committee was formed in 1906 but the first lighting scheme, which came into force a year or two later, was supported by voluntary subscriptions. It lapsed in 1915, and in 1922 the council took over the 30 lamps. By 1930 the Staines rural district council had built 110 houses in the parish. Others have since been provided by the Sunbury urban district council.

William Schaw Lindsay (1816-1877) purchased the manor of Shepperton in 1856, and was succeeded by his grandson William Herbert Lindsay (died 1949). W. S. Lindsay usually lived at the manor-house and died at Shepperton. He was a ship-owner and member of Parliament and wrote a history of merchant shipping as well as one of Shepperton. He was largely responsible for the construction of the Thames Valley Railway. In 1954 W. H. Lindsay's widow transferred the estate to her husband's nephew, Mr. P. A. R. Lindsay, who was the owner in 1958.

From: 'Shepperton: The hundred of Spelthorne (continued)', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 1-12 (available online).

Enfield Urban District was incorporated in 1955, by which date it was the second largest urban district in the country, with a population exceeding those of 39 of the 83 county boroughs. The borough had 10 wards: Bush Hill Park, Cambridge Road, Chase, Enfield Wash, Green Street, Ordnance, Ponders End, Town, West, and Willow, each electing three councillors. In 1965 the borough became part of Enfield London Borough, under the London Government Act of 1963.

The local board met in the Town until 1888, when Little Park, Gentleman's Row, was bought as council offices. Land for a new town hall in Church Street was purchased in 1902 but the Urban District Council remained at Little Park until 1961, when the first part of a new civic centre in Silver Street, designed by Eric G. Boughton, was opened. The uncompleted building was the administrative centre of Enfield London Borough in 1971, when the old offices in Little Park served as the health department. In 1972 work began on extensions to the civic centre, also designed by Boughton and including an eleven-storeyed tower block.

From: 'Enfield: Local government', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 241-243 (available online).

Princess Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was born on 17 May 1768 at Brunswick, the second daughter of Karl II, duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and Princess Augusta, sister of George III. She was married to George, Prince of Wales on 8 April. The Prince was reportedly the worse for alcohol and had to be supported to go through the ceremony. This inauspicious beginning heralded a series of quarrels between the royal couple. Caroline alleged that throughout the honeymoon the Prince consorted with his drunken cronies and ignored her. On his part, the Prince took offence at Caroline's accusation that he had mistresses, refused to change his social and domestic habits for her benefit, and demanded that she should submit to his authority, which she refused to do.

The only child of this stormy marriage, Princess Charlotte Augusta (1796-1817), was born on 7 January 1796. Caroline had attempted to live on amicable terms with George, but he neglected her and she became increasingly lonely, bored, and resentful. The inevitable separation took place in 1796. Caroline left Carlton House in 1797 and went to live in a rented house near Blackheath. The Prince would have forbidden her access to her child, but King George III, who always favoured Caroline, insisted that she should be allowed to visit Charlotte.

Caroline made no attempt to exploit her situation politically. She remained prominent in society and entertained frequently at Blackheath, often in an informal and high-spirited atmosphere. During the Regency she was excluded from the court and only with difficulty could she obtain permission to see Charlotte, who was educated under the Prince of Wales's supervision. Caroline therefore decided to leave England, and set off on a series of travels, initially to Brunswick but shortly afterwards around the Mediterranean. Almost weekly reports came in of indiscreet and scandalous behaviour, improper entertainments in which she took part, and extravagant and theatrical behaviour which became a subject of scandal in the newspapers, providing further ammunition for her estranged husband in his efforts to divorce her.

As soon as George IV became king Caroline set off for England to claim her position as Queen. She was met at St Omer by Henry Brougham, whom she made her Attorney-General, and by Lord Hutchinson on behalf of the Cabinet who brought a proposal, reluctantly accepted by the King, to give her an annuity of £50,000 provided she would not cross the Channel nor claim the title of Queen. She refused, despite Brougham's plea to her to negotiate a settlement. She was now being advised by Matthew Wood, an alderman and former Lord Mayor of London, who represented a group of metropolitan radicals who wanted to use her to stir up opposition to the king and the government. The Queen's arrival became, as the government had feared, the occasion for widespread public rejoicings. She reached London on 6 June and went first to Alderman Wood's house in South Audley Street, later renting Brandenburg House at Hammersmith. Throughout the proceedings against her in the summer and autumn of 1820 she was the focus of many demonstrations, receiving over 350 addresses of support from all sections of the population, many from groups of women who saw her as a symbol of the oppression of their sex. She also had the support of The Times and many other opposition or radical newspapers. She herself had no interest in or sympathy with radicalism, but her cause was now overtly political as the nation divided into two camps.

The Cabinet, spurred on by the vengeful King, unwillingly prepared a bill of pains and penalties to strip Caroline of her title and to end her marriage by Act of Parliament. The bill was introduced into the House of Lords on 17 August. It was one of the most spectacular and dramatic events of the century. The Queen's progresses to and from Westminster to attend the 'trial', as it became known, were attended by cheering crowds; deputations by the dozen visited Brandenburg House to present addresses, the newspapers published verbatim accounts of the Lords' proceedings, and the caricaturists on both sides had a field day. So obscene were some of the prints against the King that over £2500 was spent in buying them up and suppressing their publication. Against this proof of public support for the Queen the 'trial' was doomed to failure. The witnesses were clearly unreliable and were discredited by the cross-examination of her counsel, Henry Brougham and Thomas Denman. Many of the witnesses were believed to have been bribed or intimidated, and the widespread knowledge that George himself had had several mistresses added to the belief that Caroline was a victim, if not an entirely innocent one, of royal and political persecution. In the end, though the circumstantial evidence against her was strong enough to convince many peers of her guilt, many also feared that her condemnation would spark off popular rioting or even revolution. Ministers realized that even if the Lords passed the bill the House of Commons would almost certainly reject it under intense pressure from their constituents. The bill passed its third reading in the Lords by only nine votes and Liverpool, the Prime Minister, announced on 10 November that it would proceed no further.

Caroline had not, strictly speaking, been acquitted of the charges against her, but the public verdict was in her favour as a wronged woman unjustly persecuted by a husband no better than she was. A great crowd turned out to witness her procession to a thanksgiving service organized by her supporters in St Paul's Cathedral on 29 November 1820, when the psalm ordered for the service was no. 140-'Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man'. Nevertheless, attempts to exploit her victory were unsuccessful. The Cabinet rejected her demand for a palace and the King refused to let her be crowned with him. He was supported by the Privy Council who declared that a Queen had no inherent right to coronation, which was at her husband's discretion. When she tried to force her way into the Abbey on coronation day, 20 July 1821, she was humiliated by being refused entry and she was jeered by the crowd that had so recently acclaimed her.

Caroline now accepted the Government's offer of an allowance of £50,000 a year if she went to live abroad, but less than a fortnight after the coronation she was taken ill at the theatre, and after a short but painful illness she died, apparently of an intestinal obstruction, on 7 August 1821. She wished to be buried beside her father at Brunswick, and the British government was only too anxious to get her corpse out of the country. Her funeral procession was intended to pass round to the north of the City of London to avoid public demonstrations. The cortège was intercepted by a crowd at Hyde Park Corner and forced to go through the city after a battle with the Life Guards in which two men were killed by the soldiers. The coffin was eventually embarked from Harwich, her supporters placing on it as it left British waters the inscription 'Caroline, the injured Queen of England'. Her body was taken to Brunswick and laid in the ducal vault on 24 August.

Source: E. A. Smith, 'Caroline (1768-1821)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004.

The first known Baptist Church in Crouch End was formed in 1807 and met in what was called the Broadway Hall, once part of the outbuildings of Old Crouch Hall. It continued until 1837. From 1879-1889 a second Baptist congregation met in the Broadway Hall, until the increasing urbanisation of the area, bringing an increased population, led to the erection of a more permanent chapel and the formation of the Ferme Park Baptist Church in 1889, located on the corner of Ferme Park Road and Weston Park. Ever growing congregations resulted in a new chapel being built adjacent to the old, between 1897-1900. The Baptist Chapel merged with the United Reformed Church in 1973 and opened on the same site as the Union Church in 1980.

Once established, the church membership met as a whole at the Church Meeting and the leaders of the church met as the Deacons' Meetings. An unbroken series of minute books for both meetings survive.

The parish of Southgate constituted a local government district under the provisions of the Edmonton Local Board (Division of District) Act, 1881. The area was extended in 1892 and, by 1908, it comprised Southgate and Palmer's Green, Winchmore Hill, part of New Southgate and part of Bowes Park. Under the provisions of the Local Government Act, 1894 (56 and 57 Vict c.73) the district was controlled by an Urban District Council.

For a detailed history please see the entries for each individual chapel (ACC/1388-01, ACC/1388-02 and so on).

In Northwood, Hillingdon, Primitive Methodists first met in a house called 'Elthorne' from about 1896. In that year a school chapel was built on the corner of the High Street and Hallowell Road. The present church next to the school chapel was completed in 1903, with further extensions made in 1910 and 1927. Enemy action caused considerable damage to the building in 1944.

John Wesley frequently visited Brentford, where a Methodist group existed in 1745. Congregations met in a large building, perhaps near St. George's Church. The former Presbyterian chapel at Ferry Lane, Old Brentford, was used from 1783. In 1811 a new meeting house north of the High Street was opened. As attendance grew the church was expanded and in 1890 it was replaced by an ornate Gothic building at the corner of Windmill and Clifden Roads. The church was restored in 1951 after bomb damage sustained during the Second World War. In 1964, after union with the Jubilee Chapel, the current Clifden Road Methodist Church, was built on part of site in Clifden Road, off Windmill Road, and has been used ever since. The church is part of the Richmond and Hounslow Methodist Circuit.

Ealing Broadway Wesleyan Methodist church originated in services at 1 Milford Villas, the Mall, 1864. A new chapel seating 300 was built in Windsor Road in 1865 while an adjoining church seating 1,000 was added on the corner with the Mall in 1869. The chapel was replaced by a hall in 1925. This building was compulsorily sold in 1970 and the church members moved to Ealing Green United Reformed Church in 1972.

The Ealing Dean or West Ealing Primitive Methodist church on Uxbridge Road was built in 1900 with seating for 450. The congregation had been housed in a temporary chapel since 1861. The church was closed in 1959, when the congregation moved to the Kingsdown Methodist church. The buildings were sold in 1963.

The area of West Ealing was known as "Ealing Dean" until the late nineteenth century.

In 1819 there were two Methodist meeting houses in Edmonton, (W. Robinson, The History and Antiquities of Edmonton, 1819, p 186). One of these was probably replaced by the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Fore Street, built in 1860. In 1909 the trustees purchased the freehold of the "Manor House", a site adjoining the chapel, for the building of the Edmonton Wesleyan Mission or Central Hall, which was opened in 1911. The old chapel and school were demolished and new Sunday school premises erected on the site in 1929. The Edmonton Methodist Church was part of the Stoke Newington Methodist Circuit until about 1896 when it joined the Tottenham Circuit. In 1941 Edmonton was one of the churches which constituted the Enfield Circuit.

A Wesleyan chapel was first erected in 1810 on the eastern side of Lower Road, Roxeth, and accommodated 218 people. The chapel was registered in 1856, but was replaced in 1905 by a red brick Gothic building, with room for 650, in Bessborough Road. The chapel was closed in 1972 and the congregation joined the North Harrow Methodist Church.

A Primitive Methodist chapel was opened in Welldon Crescent, Greenhill, in 1904. The church has closed and the buildings are now used as a community centre.

Methodists were the largest non-established denomination in the Harrow and Wembley area, with the first of many chapels in this area erected in 1810. Several churches were built in the 1920s including the chapel on Park Lane, Wembley, which was first called the Wesleyan Church. From 20 September 1932 (when the different branches of Methodism united) the name was changed to the Methodist Church. It was closed in 1961.

Methodists were the largest non-established denomination in the Harrow and Wembley area, with the first of many chapels in this area erected in 1810. The Methodist church on East Lane, North Wembley, was opened in 1938.

John and Charles Wesley preached in Hayes church on at least ten occasions between 1748 and 1753. By 1816 the Methodists had erected a chapel in Hayes, but nothing else is known of the Methodist congregation in Hayes until 1906, when the Hayes Tabernacle at Wood End Green was registered by Wesleyan Methodists. Hayes Methodist Church began in Station Road, in 1907. It was registered at that address in 1927. In 1930 the registered name was changed to Queen's Hall Methodist Church, Station Road. In 1973 Queen's Hall closed and work began on a new church, which opened in September 1977, and was renamed Hayes Methodist Church.

In 1878 the Primitive Methodists registered a chapel in Western Road, Southall. A new chapel building, standing on the corner of Western and Sussex Roads, was erected in 1876-1877. This was the first Methodist building in the Southall area.

Trinity church, Wood Green, had its origins in open-air services which had begun in 1864. In 1869 a site on the north side of Southgate (later Trinity) Road was purchased and a chapel was constructed, dedicated in 1872. The building was designed by the Reverend J. N. Johnson, a steward of the Highbury circuit; it was of greyish brick with stone dressings, in the Early English style. A new school was built to the rear of the chapel in 1880, and in 1900 three halls were opened. In 1903, with nearly 700 worshippers on Sunday morning and 800 in the evening, there was a larger attendance than at any other nonconformist church in Tottenham or Wood Green. The former Baptist chapel of Saint George, Bowes Park (Edmonton), was placed under the care of Trinity church, and was eventually purchased by the Methodists in 1901. Trinity church itself was sold to the Greek Orthodox Church in 1970.

Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5.

The Wesley Central Hall was constructed in 1930.

Ridgeway Wesleyan Methodist church originated in the late 1880s, when a Wesleyan mission was opened in a temporary hall in Mill Hill. In 1893 a red-brick chapel in the Perpendicular style was built. At first the church was under the control of Hendon Methodist church, but in 1970 it was linked with Goodwyn Avenue Methodist church.

John Wesley preached in Hillingdon and Uxbridge in 1754 and 1758, but there is no other evidence of 18th-century Methodist activity. By 1851, however, there were five Methodist meetings in Hillingdon. The Methodist Central Hall was erected in 1930 at the junction of High Street and Park Road. In 1957 Lawn Road Primitive Methodist congregation was amalgamated with that of Central Hall. The Central Hall was renovated and extended in 1959 to meet the increased demand.

Highgate or Jackson's Lane Wesleyan Methodist church was opened in 1905, on a site at the corner of Archway Road. The building included a Sunday school and was designed by W. H. Boney of Highgate. The church seated 650 and the schoolroom 400. Jackson's Lane was well known during the 1960s for its counselling centre. The church was closed in 1976.

Mattison Road church, later renamed Harringay church, opened in 1891 as an iron tabernacle (a pre-fabricated timber framed structure clad with corrugated iron which could quickly be assembled from a kit to provide a building until a more permanent structure could be constructed). The tabernacle was replaced by a permanent church and halls in 1901. Originally part of the Caledonian Road circuit of the Primitive Methodists, it joined the Finsbury Park circuit after the Methodists' union in 1931. In 1903 membership was so high that Mattison Road was described as the chief Primitive Methodist church in London. The church closed in 1963 and became a Roman Catholic church.

The Bath Road Methodist Church, Hounslow West, was opened in 1956. Before this, services had been held in the Hounslow Heath schools in Martindale Road since about 1930.

There was said to be a congregation of about 30 Wesleyans at Isleworth in 1810, but they did not open a chapel until 1829, in North Street. A new chapel was built in 1924 in Twickenham Road, just south of North Street.

Acton Green Wesleyan Methodist church originated in meetings held in a house in Antrobus Road. In 1885 a chapel and school were constructed in Steele Road, Acton Green. This church was rebuilt in 1930 on the same site by Smee and Houchin in the style of the Methodist Central Halls at Westminster. The new building had two halls, classrooms, vestry, and others rooms split over two levels.

The College Park Primitive Methodist chapel was built in 1897 at the corner of Harrow Road and Victor Road, College Park. It was closed in 1958.

Earlsmead United Methodist Church and Central Hall, Tottenham had its origins in meetings over a shop in Saint Ann's Road, which led to the building of Earlsmead Bible Christian hall, registered in the High Road in 1886. The hall came to be used by Methodists from the nearby Westerfield Road hall. In 1909 the congregation joined the United Methodist Free Churches and opened a second chapel in the High Road, converting the older chapel into a schoolroom. Earlsmead United Methodist church was recertified as Central Hall in 1935. It had seating for 750 and was closed in 1953.

Northumberland Park Primitive Methodist church was founded in 1870. The church was constructed on the north side of Northumberland Park almost opposite Worcester Avenue and was registered in 1872. It was sold to the Calvary Church of God in Christ in 1971.

West Green Road Primitive Methodist church began in a temporary building, registered in 1877 but out of use by 1896. A new chapel of yellow brick was constructed on the south side of West Green Road opposite Belmont Road, in 1888, registered in 1894. The building was sold in 1969 and became the Derby Hall Christian Assembly room in 1972.

Trinity Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1899 at the corner of Walm Lane and Dartmouth Road, Willesden. The church was closed in 1948.

Harlesden United Methodist Church was founded in 1869. Since September 1932 it has been called Harlesden Methodist Church. It was damaged by enemy action in 1941, and rebuilt in the 1950s on its present site.

Willesden Green Primitive Methodist chapel was opened in the High Road, Willesden Green by 1897. The church was rebuilt in 1904 but closed in 1963.

The first Methodist Chapel in Harrow was established at London Hill, Roxeth, by 1809. A new chapel in Lower Road was opened in 1855. This building subsequently became the Welsh Church. In 1905 the Methodist congregation moved to larger premises in Bessborough Road, Harrow.

The London County Council, among its other powers taken over from the Board of Works, had the right to purchase the undertakings in London of the tramway companies. Between 1892 and 1903 the Council gradually acquired all the London undertakings. These were horse-drawn and not fully interconnected. The Council unified the whole into one system, converted it to electricity, reduced the fares to a half-penny for a two mile journey, introduced workmen's fares and other concessions and provided some all night services. As part of the system, the subway under Kingsway was constructed and the power station at Greenwich was built. Special powers were obtained to continue the tramways over certain bridges and along the Victoria Embankment.

In 1933 the whole tram network passed to the newly formed London Passenger Transport Board who entirely discontinued the trams.

The first known Baptist Church in Crouch End was formed in 1807 and met in what was called the Broadway Hall, once part of the outbuildings of Old Crouch Hall. It continued until 1837. From 1879-1889 a second Baptist congregation met in the Broadway Hall, until the increasing urbanisation of the area, bringing an increased population, led to the erection of a more permanent chapel and the formation of the Ferme Park Baptist Church in 1889, located on the corner of Ferme Park Road and Weston Park. Ever growing congregations resulted in a new chapel being built adjacent to the old, between 1897-1900. The Baptist Chapel merged with the United Reformed Church in 1973 and opened on the same site as the Union Church in 1980.

Park Chapel on Crouch Hill was opened in 1855. Alterations increased its seating to 1,017 in 1877 and 1,430 by 1894. After further extensions it had the largest Congregationalist attendances in Hornsey. The chapel and its halls formed a popular social centre, accommodating Hornsey British school until 1877. The Grove mission was apparently established in 1881 and served from Park chapel in 1951.The Chapel amalgamated with Ferme Park Baptist Church to form Union Church, Crouch End in 1974.

Mount View Congregational church was founded to serve Stroud Green. A hall was opened in 1887 and used for worship until the completion of a larger building in 1893. The church was closed and demolished in 1935.

Hornsey British school was built in 1864 and opened in 1865, largely through the efforts of Russell Maynard, a member of Park chapel. The schoolrooms, for boys, girls, and infants, adjoined the chapel. The school was supported by voluntary contributions in 1870 but received a parliamentary grant from 1871. Between 1871 and 1873 the average attendance rose from 94 to 177. Hornsey school board took over the premises in 1875 and later moved the pupils to Park Road school.

Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate.

The Local Government Act 1894 made provision for local self-government in England and Wales in the form of parish councils for every rural parish with a population of 300 and upwards. The existing rural and urban sanitary authorities became the new district councils. Further re-arrangement of districts was carried out by review, by county councils under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1929.

Rating remained in the hands of the parish overseers in 1894, although under the Public Health Act 1875 a general district rate was levied by the urban authorities. The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 abolished the rating powers of the overseers of the poor and named the new rating authorities as the councils of every county borough and urban and rural districts. A consolidated rate - 'the general rate' - replaced the confusion of various separate rates. In addition, a new valuation list was to be made for every rating area, to come into force on either 1 April 1928 or April 1929, followed by a second list in 1932, 1933 or 1934. Instructions were given in the act for draft valuation lists and records of totals to be made.

Summary of constituencies of Sunbury and Staines District Councils:

Sunbury Urban District Council:

Sunbury UDC included Sunbury Common, Charlton and Upper Halliford, Shepperton (including Lower Halliford and Shepperton Green), Ashford Common and Littleton. By the Middlesex (Feltham, Hayes, Staines and Sunbury-on-Thames) Confirmation Order, 1930, the parish of Shepperton and parts of Ashford and Littleton were transferred to Sunbury Urban District on the dissolution of Staines Rural District. As a result of local government re-organisation in the Greater London area, Sunbury Urban District was transferred to the administrative county of Surrey with effect from 1 April 1965.

Staines Urban District Council:

Staines UDC included Staines, Ashford, Laleham, Stanwell (including Stanwell Moor and Poyle). As a result of local government re-organisation in the Greater London area, Staines Urban District was transferred to the administrative county of Surrey with effect from 1 April 1965.

Staines Rural District Council:

Staine RDC included Ashford, East Bedfont with Hatton, Cranford, Hanworth, Harlington, Harmondsworth, Laleham, Littleton, Shepperton, Stanwell (part). On the dissolution of Staines Rural District in 1930, East Bedfont with Hatton and Hanworth were transferred to Feltham Urban District, Cranford and Harlington to Hayes and Harlington Urban District, and Harmondsworth to Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District. The remaining areas were transferred to Sunbury and Staines Urban Districts, as detailed above.

In 1974 the Urban Districts of Sunbury and Staines became part of Spelthorne Borough Council, in the administrative county of Surrey.

A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.

The German Evangelical Reformed Church was established in London in 1697 by Protestant refugees fleeing religious oppression in the Palatinate. William III permitted services to be held in the chapel of the Savoy Palace. A new church built in Duchy Lane, Savoy, on the site of a French Church was consecrated in 1771. It was closed and demolished in 1816 to make way for the construction of Waterloo Bridge. A new church was consecrated in 1819 in Hooper Square, Leman Street, Whitechapel, which was in turn demolished as the site was required for railway purposes. The replacement church built in Goulston Street, Whitechapel, in 1886-1887 was destroyed by bombing in 1941.

The Local Government Act 1894 made further provision for local self-government in England and Wales by establishing parish meetings for every rural parish and parish councils for every rural parish with a population of 300 and upwards. The existing urban and rural sanitary authorities became the new district councils, thus Staines Local Board of Health, set up in 1872, became Staines Urban District Council and Staines Rural District Council was formed out of the Staines Union Rural Sanitary Authority. Under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1929 a rearrangement of county districts was carried out by review by Middlesex County Council. Staines Rural District Council was dissolved in 1930 and the constituent parishes were transferred to neighbouring urban districts.

Summary of local authorities in Staines:-

Staines Local Board of Health, 1872-1894

Staines Urban District Council, 1894-1974, comprising:

1894-1930 Staines, Stanwell (part from 1896)

1930-1974 Staines, Ashford, Laleham, Stanwell (including Stanwell Moor and Poyle).

Staines Rural District Council, 1894-1930, comprising:

Ashford, East Bedfont with Hatton, Cranford, Hanworth, Harlington, Harmondsworth, Laleham, Littleton, Shepperton, Stanwell (part).

The Methodist Church in Britain is arranged into over 600 Circuits, which in turn are grouped into 32 Districts covering Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Each District is supervised by a District Synod. A Circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.

A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.

A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.

The Brunswick Church was constructed in 1834 while the Zion Church, Neate Street, was constrructed in 1855.

A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.

Brentford is now part of the Richmond and Hounslow Methodist Circuit.