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The Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital (EGA) was originally founded in 1872 and moved to its Euston Road site in 1889. Its aim was to enable women doctors to practice medicine and to give women the right to be treated by doctors of their own sex.

The future of the hospital was first threatened in the early 1970's due to the General Nursing Council decision to stop training student nurses there. Without subsidised trainee staff, the hospital was hard pressed to keep within its budget. Subsequently the MP Barbara Castle, Secretary of State for Health and Social Services, agreed to the closure of the EGA but only on the condition that a suitable alternative was found. In March 1976 the hospital lifts and fire escapes were declared unsafe and unsuccessful attempts were made by the Area Health Authority to transfer the functions of the EGA to the Whittington Hospital.

It was against such a background that the Staff Action Committee was set up, with representatives from all sections of the hospital, in an attempt to keep the hospital open and to maintain its objectives.

Between 1975 and 1979 the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Appeal Trust lobbied to save the hospital and raised £900,000 from the public. After the general election in May 1979, the new government reversed the earlier decision and granted £2 million to convert the hospital into a small gynaecological unit, where women could be treated by women. The hospital reopened in 1984 with modern facilities, a new Well Women's service and good operating theatres. In 1982 the hospital came under the control of the Bloomsbury Health Authority, and since 1991, Bloomsbury and Islington Health Authority. Despite closing the Soho Hospital for Women in 1988, the health authority decided in 1992 to close the beds at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital and to use the hospital for day surgery only.

The New Chapel, or as it later became known, Wesley's Chapel, was opened for public worship on 1 November 1778. It stood as a successor to the old Foundery Chapel bought in 1739 which was situated a few hundred metres to the south east.

The Chapel is important as the "Mother Church of World Methodism", the scene of many famous events such as the Uniting Conference of Primitive Methodists, United Methodists and Wesleyan Methodists in 1932. It also acts as the focal point of the City Road Circuit, also known as London East Circuit (1807-1823) and the First London Circuit. There has been much reorganisation as chapels closed and circuits were altered; for further details and names and dates of circuits, contact the Society of Cirplanologists who collect Circuit plans.

Parkhill Chapel was built at number 17 Fleet Road, Hampstead, in 1960. It was used by the evangelical mission which had previously been based at Malden Hall, Malden Road, Kentish Town. In 1982 it was used by a Strict Baptist congregation.

The Church is now disused. It was originally a Wesleyan Methodist Church in the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell. From 1965 it was in the London Borough if Southwark. It was in the Registration District of Camberwell. From 26 June 1972 the Congregation moved to Red Post Hill, North Dulwich and was renamed St Faith's Anglican/Methodist Shared Church. Marriage ceremonies continued to be conducted according to the rites and ceremonies of the Methodist Church. The Anglican parish church of St Faith, Red Post Hill continues to hold its services, and its registers are in the care of the incumbent.

The Metropolitan Asylums Board was established by an Order of the Poor Law Board, 15 May 1867. This Order combined the London unions and parishes in to one 'Metropolitan Asylum District' to comply with the stipulations of the Metropolitan Poor Act of 29 March 1867 (30 and 31 Vict c 6). This Act provided for "the Establishment in the Metropolis of Asylums for the Sick, Insane, and other Classes of the Poor and of Dispensaries; and for the Distribution over the Metropolis of Portions of the Charge for Poor Relief; and for other Purposes relating to Poor Relief". The Metropolitan Asylum District was responsible for "the reception and relief of poor persons infected with or suffering from fever or the disease of smallpox or who may be insane".

Under the Local Government Act, 1929 the powers and duties of the Board were transferred to the London County Council.

The Denbigh Road Methodist Church was founded in 1823 and built in 1856. The Lancaster Road Methodist Church was built in 1879. The two institutions subsequently merged and are now called the Notting Hill Methodist Church. The Church is based on Lancaster Road while the old Denbigh Road premises are used by the church as the Etheline Holder Hall.

Methodist services and a Sunday school were said to have been started in the coach-houses of Harefield Grove House, at that time belonging to Robert Barnes, a former Mayor of Manchester. Barnes built the church in 1864 and maintained a resident minister there. On his departure from Harefield in 1869 he offered the building to the Wesleyan Methodist authorities, whose property it became in 1871. The church hall was opened in 1906, but after the First World War the congregation declined in numbers. The Second World War brought evacuees to the village causing a slight increase, but in 1959 the chapel had no resident minister and was largely dependent on lay preachers. The Chapel is now closed.

From: 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. 256.

Wesleyan Methodists registered a preaching hall in Upton Road (later part of Belsize Road) from 1861 to 1870. This may have been a forerunner of the Quex Road Methodist Church. The Church was built by Wesleyan Methodists on a site bought in 1868, and was registered in 1870. Attendance in 1886 was 356 for morning service and 400 for evening service; in 1903 attendance was 282 for morning service and 409 in the evening. A Church Hall was built in 1905. The Church was replaced in 1975 with small block of flats in Quex Road and a 2-storeyed church was built in Kingsgate Road.

From: 'Hampstead: Protestant Nonconformity', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9: Hampstead, Paddington (1989), pp. 153-158.

Christ Church at Whetstone United Reformed Church has its origins in independent meetings first held in Whetstone in 1788. In 1817 the meetings were moved to Totteridge where at first the congregation met in private houses. A permanent chapel with adjacent school room were constructed on Totteridge Lane in 1827, named the 'Totteridge Lane Chapel'. In 1884 it was agreed that the church should move to the developing residential area of Oakleigh Park, Whetstone, and a plot of land was duly purchased. A new church and school were built and opened in 1888, with the name 'Whetstone Congregational Church, Oakleigh Park'. In 1900 the church was gutted by a fire. It was decided to convert the damaged church into a hall, and build a new church and school room. In 1972 the Congregational Church merged with the Presbyterian Church to form the United Reformed Church, and the Whetstone church accordingly changed its name to 'The United Reformed Church, Whetstone'. Extensive rebuilding work was undertaken in 1975-1976, including the construction of a new church and a block of flats. In 1979 the name 'Christ Church at Whetstone United Reformed Church, Oakleigh Park' was adopted.

Park Baptist Chapel was situated at the corner of Boston Manor Road and Great West Road, Brentford. The chapel had its origins in meetings begun in 1799 by a minister at Hammersmith. Services took place in various houses and halls until 1855, when the Park Chapel opened, seating 500. Classrooms were added in 1869 but were replaced in 1936 by a hall, where services were held between 1940 and the 1950 reopening of the bomb-damaged church. The Chapel seated 400 in 1978. In 1994 the Park Baptist Chapel merged with Brentford United Reformed Church to form Brentford Free Church.

In the early nineteenth century, London's water supply and the River Thames were heavily polluted with sewage. This resulted in several cholera outbreaks during which up to 20,000 people died annually. In 1858, Parliament instructed the newly formed Metropolitan Board of Works to remedy this situation.

Joseph Bazalgette, the Engineer of the Metropolitan Board of Works, was charged with finding a solution to these problems. His answer consisted of the construction of intercepting sewers north and south of the Thames, and immediately adjacent to the river. These were to receive the sewage from the sewers and drains which up to now had connected directly into the Thames. Until this time, Thames-side in central London was not protected by an embankment, and consisted of mud, shingle and sewage, onto which these various drains, outlets and ditches had discharged. Between 1856 and 1859, 82 miles of brick intercepting sewers were built below London's streets, all flowing eastwards. These were connected to over 450 miles of main sewers, themselves receiving the contents of 13,000 miles of small local sewers, dealing daily with half a million gallons of waste.

The major pumping stations were located at Abbey Mills near West Ham, and at Crossness itself on the south bank. The southern system contained three levels of intercepting sewers. The Low Level Sewer from Putney to Deptford picked up the Bermondsey branch and was joined by the High Level Sewer from Balham and the higher Effra Branch from Crystal Palace and Norwood; these combined at Deptford, and there lifted some twenty feet to discharge directly into the Thames at Deptford Creek. By 1860, work was proceeding on the Southern Outfall Sewer, and this, when complete, took the effluent from Deptford via Plumstead, and thence to Crossness. Here the sewage was pumped up into a reservoir 6.5 acres in extent by 17 feet deep, holding 27 million gallons, and was released at high tide to flow out on the ebb, towards the sea.

There was no attempt to treat the raw sewage: Bazalgette's concern was to get rid of it. Since the success of the enterprise rested on the use of the tides - two in each 24 hours - it follows that the reservoir had to be emptied in six hours, in order to utilise all of the ebb tide. In fact, to give some margin of safety, emptying had to take place in less time than this. And as soon as the ebb tide began to turn, the outlet culverts from the reservoir were closed by penstocks, and pumping continued, raising the incoming sewage from the deep-level culverts into the reservoir. Just before high tide in the river, the sluices connecting the reservoir and the river would be opened.

The Southern Outfall Works, as the complex at Crossness was originally called, was officially opened on April 4th 1865, by HRH The Prince of Wales (later Edward VII). Following an address by Joseph Bazalgette, the Royal party toured the works and reservoirs, and the Prince then turned the wheel which started the engines. Following that, in the true Victorian spirit, the "Prince and five hundred guests sat down to an excellent dejeuner, in one of the ancillary sheds, beside the Engine House".

Source: http://www.crossness.org.uk/

There was a Baptist meeting house in Hounslow as early as 1818, and a chapel was constructed on the south side of the High Street. However, following controversy over the admission of the unbaptized into the church, membership dropped to a dozen by 1878. Broadway Baptist Church on the north side of the High Street was constructed in 1929 following a resurgence in congregation numbers. It was damaged by enemy action in 1941 and narrowly avoided demolition.

The Baptist church in Acton originated in 1856, and a church was established in Church Road in 1864. The South Acton Baptist Church was formed in 1894 when the congregation at Church Road split over a disagreement. They constructed a Chapel on Newton Avenue in 1895. The designation of the church altered several times as the ministers changed: Newton Avenue Baptist church in 1900-1901, the Evangelistic Free church in 1902-1908, and the Church of Christ in 1909-1911. It reverted to a Baptist church between 1912 and 1915, but withdrew from the London Baptist Association and the Baptist Union between 1924 and 1926. The church registered as a Baptist Free church in 1944, and was renamed the South Acton Baptist church in 1960. In 1977 the church rejoined the Church Road Baptists and the Newton Avenue building was sold, and was used by the Ukrainian Autocephalic Orthodox church.

Grange Park Baptist Church, Lansbury Drive, Hayes was founded in 1935 and still serves the local community.

A Baptist meeting house in Staines is first recorded in 1778, but the congregation declined and it was closed. A meeting house reopened in Church Street in 1824. This was replaced in 1837 by the Baptist Chapel in Bridge Street.

The North Road Baptist Church, Old Brentford, is thought to have its origins in an earlier chapel at Troy Town. By 1819 the meetings were established in an outhouse on the east side on North Road. A permanent chapel was opened on the west side of North Road in 1840. It was heavily bombed in 1940 but was restored in 1954.

Plumstead Methodist Central Hall opened in 1905 on Plumstead High Street.

The Air-Raid Precautions Act of 1937 required local authorities to make schemes for neutralising, reducing or repairing the effects of enemy action against the civilian population. The London County Council immediately set up a special Air Raid Precautions sub-committee to organise and supervise arrangements made under the Act. During 1938 and 1939 the Council developed plans and preparations for the fire and ambulance services, precautions to be taken in relation to mains drainage and at residential establishments, for the evacuation of children and for other measures to be taken in the event of national emergency.

A national system of marriage registration introduced in 1837 by the Registration of Births and Marriages Act. Local registration was managed by the Poor Law Boards of Guardians until 1929, after this date it was managed by local government. The General Registry Office was in overall charge of the collection and collation of the data.

Harrow Methodist Circuit is now Harrow and Hillingdon Methodist Circuit of 17 churches, covering the London Boroughs of Hillingdon and Harrow and stretching from West Drayton and Hayes in the South to Kenton and Wealdstone in the North. 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.

For histories of the individual churches in ACC/3393 please see the sub-fonds record for each church (ACC/3393/BR, ACC/3393/CA and so on).

A Wesleyan Methodist 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 theNorth Harrow Methodist Church.

Harrow Methodist Circuit is now Harrow and Hillingdon Methodist Circuit of 17 churches, covering the London Boroughs of Hillingdon and Harrow and stretching from West Drayton and Hayes in the South to Kenton and Wealdstone in the North. 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 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 l 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.

Staines Urban District Council was formed in 1894 and comprised Staines and part of Stanwell. In it was expanded to include Ashford, Laleham, and all of 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. Urban district councils were abolished in 1974.

The Leysian Mission was founded in 1886 as a large Wesleyan Methodist settlement and mission by past and present scholars of the Leys School, Cambridge. The work started in Whitecross Street, moved to 12 Errol Street in 1890, and then moved in 1904 to the new headquarters building in City Road, Finsbury. This striking building of terracotta bricks and red granite, costing £124,000, was designed by Messrs Bradshaw and Gass. The Queen Victoria Hall seated 2,000 persons and the building itself accommodated 125 rooms and four roof gardens for settlement purposes, with commercial premises at street frontage level.

At the opening of the building by the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1904, Lord Strathcona described the object of the mission as two-fold "to bring religious and ameliorative influences to bear upon the lives of toilers in one of the most crowded districts in London" and "to give to those who have enjoyed the privilege of a public school education the opportunity of coming into direct and sympathetic contact with the social problems that appeal for their solution to the Christian Church and to all good citizens at large".

The Circuit included Haggerston Methodist Mission, Brownlow Street and Shoreditch Methodist Mission, Nichols Square, Hackney Road. The Leysian Mission closed in 1989 and the congregation united with Wesley's Chapel, City Road to form Wesley's Chapel and Leysian Centre.

Ruislip Common Chapel was built in 1854 and taken over for use by a Methodist congregation in 1882. It is now closed.

The company was founded by William Symington in 1827 when he acquired a warehouse in Adam and Eve Street, Market Harborough, Leicestershire. He later moved to Church Street as a wholesale grocer. William Symington perfected and patented a process for the preparation of pea flour. In about 1865 he was joined by his son, Samuel. The business expanded and became well known for dehydrated soups, gravy, custard powder, blancmange powder, table creams, jellies, and fruit puddings. In 1903 registered offices were at Bowden Steam Mills, Little Bowden, Market Harborough. In 1904 Symington supplied pea flour to Scott's first Antarctic Expedition. Acquired by J Lyons and Company Limited in 1969 and merged with Lyons' Catering Sales Limited.

Main source: http://www.kzwp.com/lyons/symington.htm, accessed 15 August 2011.

The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) ran 33 Adult Education Institutes.

This set of copies of photographs belonged to W.W. Sheppard, who taught in London 1925-1927 and 1939-1940. During the Second World War he was seconded to the RAF Education Service from the post of headmaster of The Grange boys' modern secondary school, Wirral, Cheshire. It is probable that he used the photographs as a teaching aid while he was Education and Welfare Officer at RAF Nassau. In June 1946 he was appointed Principal of the London County Council Emergency Teacher Training College at Leavesden, near Watford, Hertfordshire.

St Aidan's Presbyterian Church, Ealing, was built in 1922 to replace Elthorne Park Presbyterian Church, Hanwell, which had formed in 1906. The church was situated at the corner of Leybourne Avenue and St Aidan's Road and had 200 seats. Following the formation of the United Reformed Church in 1972 by the union of the Presbyterian Church of England and the Congregational Church of England and Wales, St Aidan's became part of the United Reformed Church. The church closed in about 1991.

Saint John the Divine Spiritual Baptist Church, Deptford closed in 1991. The Spiritual Baptist Church has Caribbean origins, and is particularly prevalent in Trinidad. Members are sometimes referred to as 'Shouters' because they shout, clap and dance during services, however, this term is now considered derogatory as it was used by the British Colonial government which outlawed Church meetings until 1951.

William W Rollinson was history master at Kilburn Grammar School, 1936-1940 and Headmaster, Salusbury County Secondary School, 1948-1956.

Kilburn Grammar School was opened in 1898 by the vicar of Saint Paul's, Kilburn, as a choir school. The school was first situated on Willesden Lane but moved in 1900 to Salusbury Road, opposite the Brondesbury and Kilburn High School for Girls. At this date it also became a grammar school for boys. The school was acquired by Middlesex County Council in 1908 and enlarged in 1927. It was damaged in the Second World War and rebuilt in 1951-1952. It amalgamated with Brondesbury and Kilburn High School for Girls in 1967 as Brondesbury and Kilburn High.

Source: 'Willesden: Education', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 247-254.

John Howard, prison reformer and author of The State of the Prisons in England and Wales, with Preliminary Observations, and an Account of some Foreign Prisons, Sir William Blackstone, the High Court judge, and William Eden, member of Parliament and author of Principles of Penal Law, were responsible for the 1779 Penitentiary Act "to explain and amend the Laws relating to the Transportation, Imprisonment, and other Punishment of certain offenders ---" (19 Geo. III, c.74). As an alternative to transportation this provided for the building of two penitentiaries, one for males and one for females, where "solitary Imprisonment, accompanied by well regulated labour, and religious Instruction" "might be the means, under Providence, not only of deterring others from the Commission of the like Crimes, but also of reforming the Individuals, and inuring them to Habits of Industry".

The three supervisors appointed to arrange for the purchase of a site and the erection of the penitentiaries were John Howard, Dr John Fothergill, physician and botanist, and George Whatley, Treasurer of the Foundling Hospital. Despite their efforts, the supervisors failed to find a site acceptable to the Lord Chancellor, the Speaker of the House of Commons, the judges, and the Lord Mayor of London. John Fothergill died in December 1780 and John Howard shortly afterwards resigned. Three new supervisors were appointed to join George Whatley. Although they agreed on a site and on a plan for a penitentiary, no prison was ever built.

In 1784 the Government obtained a new Transportation Act. The Gilbert Acts of 1782 and 1784 allowed local justices to build houses of correction. Local Prison Acts also gave counties the powers to build new prisons. Ironically the Middlesex House of Correction was built between 1788 and 1794 at Cold Bath Fields, Clerkenwell, in the vicinity of the site originally preferred by the Penitentiary Act supervisors, close to New River Head and between Grays Inn Road and Bagnigge Wells Road.

Poor relief was based on the Act for the Relief of the Poor of 1601 which obliged parishes to take care of the aged and needy in their area. Parish overseers were empowered to collect a local income tax known as the poor-rate which would be put towards the relief of the poor. This evolved into the rating system, where the amount of poor-rate charged was based on the value of a person's property. Early workhouses were constructed and managed by the parish. However, this process was expensive and various schemes were devised where groups of parishes could act together and pool their resources. As early as 1647 towns were setting up 'Corporations' of parishes. An Act of 1782, promoted by Thomas Gilbert, allowed adjacent parishes to combine into Unions and provide workhouses. These were known as 'Gilbert's Unions' and were managed by a board of Guardians.

Under the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, the Poor Law Commission was given the power to unite parishes in England and Wales into Poor Law Unions. Each Union was to be administered by a local Board of Guardians. Relief was to be provided through the provision of a workhouse. An amendment to the 1834 Act allowed already existing 'Gilbert's Unions' or Corporations of parishes to remain in existence, although they were encouraged to convert themselves into Poor Law Unions. Although there was some reorganisation of union boundaries, particularly in London, the majority of Unions created under the 1834 Act remained in operation until 1930. In March 1930 a new Local Government Bill abolished the Poor Law Unions and the Board of Guardians. Responsibility for their institutions passed to Public Assistance Committees managed by the county councils - in the metropolis either the London County Council or the Middlesex County Council.

Edmonton Poor Law Union was formed in February 1837. It had 7 constituent parishes spanning 3 counties: from Middlesex: Edmonton, Enfield, Hampstead, Hornsey (including Highgate) and Tottenham; from Essex: Waltham Abbey and from Hertfordshire: Cheshunt. In 1894 Southgate and Wood Green parishes were added, while Hampstead separated from the Union.

There were several workhouses already existing in these areas but most of them were too dilapidated for use. The Union constructed a new workhouse at Tanners End in Edmonton. This later became the North Middlesex Hospital. The old Enfield workhouse was converted into a school, but proved inadequate. New school buildings were constructed at Chase Farm, which later became Chase Farm Hospital.

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.

Poor relief was based on the Act for the Relief of the Poor of 1601 which obliged parishes to take care of the aged and needy in their area. Parish overseers were empowered to collect a local income tax known as the poor-rate which would be put towards the relief of the poor. This evolved into the rating system, where the amount of poor-rate charged was based on the value of a person's property. Early workhouses were constructed and managed by the parish. However, this process was expensive and various schemes were devised where groups of parishes could act together and pool their resources. As early as 1647 towns were setting up 'Corporations' of parishes. An Act of 1782, promoted by Thomas Gilbert, allowed adjacent parishes to combine into Unions and provide workhouses. These were known as 'Gilbert's Unions' and were managed by a board of Guardians.

Under the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, the Poor Law Commission was given the power to unite parishes in England and Wales into Poor Law Unions. Each Union was to be administered by a local Board of Guardians. Relief was to be provided through the provision of a workhouse. An amendment to the 1834 Act allowed already existing 'Gilbert's Unions' or Corporations of parishes to remain in existence, although they were encouraged to convert themselves into Poor Law Unions. Although there was some reorganisation of union boundaries, particularly in London, the majority of Unions created under the 1834 Act remained in operation until 1930. In March 1930 a new Local Government Bill abolished the Poor Law Unions and the Board of Guardians. Responsibility for their institutions passed to Public Assistance Committees managed by the county councils - in the metropolis either the London County Council or the Middlesex County Council.

Camberwell became a Poor Law Parish on 28 October 1835, overseen by an elected Board of Guardians and comprising just one parish, that of Saint Giles. The workhouse buildings on Havil Street had been constructed in 1818. In 1873 they were extended with a new infirmary. This later became Saint Giles Hospital.

In 1878 the Board of Guardians constructed a new workhouse on Gordon Road. It was intended to house 743 able bodied inmates. Males chopped wood or broke stones; while females were employed in laundry work. In 1892 construction of another workhouse began, this one situated in Constance Road, East Dulwich, near the Saint Saviour's Poor Law Union Lunatic Asylum.

Camberwell also managed 'scattered' children's homes in Peckham. Scattered home housed children in smaller, family-home style houses rather than in large institutions.

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.

Under the provisions of the Asylums Act 1853, the Corporation of London was empowered by statute to provide an Asylum to house the insane of the City of London. Land was acquired at Stone, near Dartford, Kent, in 1859 and in July of the same year James Bunstone Bunning, the City's Clerk of the Works (later City Architect and Surveyor), was instructed to prepare plans and estimates. These were laid before the special Lunatic Asylum Committee at the end of September 1859. Initially provision was made for more than 300 patients but this was reduced to 250 by the Commissioners in Lunacy in 1860. The Asylum was officially opened on 16th April 1866 and was managed by a Committee of Visitors composed of Aldermen and JP's.

By 1872 the asylum was full and extensions were necessary. Development soon began on a new wing, opened in 1875. The passing of the 1890 Lunacy Act meant the Hospital could take advantage of the authority contained therein and admit private patients. From 1st January 1892 it was in a position to do so; and by 1897 such was the demand for accommodation of private patients - who wore their own clothes, had improved dietary provision and had separate wards from the pauper patients - that some admissions were declined. By 1910 305 of the 610 patients in the hospital were private. By 1921 the number of private patients had risen to 357.

By November 1905, the Visiting Committee wanted to adopt the description 'City of London Mental Hospital' instead of asylum. The 1923 Mental Treatment Bill confirmed the term 'Mental Hospital' replaced 'Asylum'; and from 1924 the name of the hospital was changed to the City of London Mental Hospital. After the Local Government Act 1929 conferred upon the London County Council the mental and isolation hospitals formerly run by the Metropolitan Asylums Board (MAB) and local Boards of Guardians, there was discussion over whether the City of London Mental Hospital should be similarly transferred. The Visiting Committee strongly opposed this and it was agreed the hospital could remain under the auspices of the City of London. In July 1948 the Hospital passed out of the Corporation's administrative control into that of the NHS.

During April 1948, the Darenth and Stone Hospital's Management Committee (DSHMC) was set up as part of the transferral programme of hospitals into the NHS. The other hospitals in the group were Darenth Park and Mabledon Park, Maidstone. All apart from Stone House had been previously run by the LCC. Re-organisation of the Heath Service in June 1971 meant that Stone House and Mabledon and Darenth Park amalgamated with the Dartford Hospital Management Committee, forming the Dartford and Darenth Hospital Management Committee.

In April 1973, when Health Boards were re-organised again, this time as Area Health Authorities, the hospital group came under the Dartford and Gravesham Heath District. In 1998 the Trust in charge of Stone House, Thameslink Healthcare NHS, agreed the hospital was no longer suitable for provision of modern healthcare and would be closed in line with Department of Health policies. This decision was carried forward by the next healthcare providers Thames Gateway NHS Trust. The West Kent NHS and Social Care Trust started the work of closing the hospital in 2003, and after 139 years of service, Stone House finally closed in 2005. The main hospital, chapel, service blocks, and staff accommodation presently survive largely unaltered - they are Grade II listed - but are becoming run down and await suitable redevelopment.

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

A permanent Court of Commissioners of Sewers for the City of London was set up in 1667 after the Great Fire of London to undertake the construction of sewers and drains as well as the paving, cleaning and lighting of the City streets. Its powers were greatly extended by subsequent Acts of Parliament.

Under the City of London Sewers Act 1897, the Commission was dissolved with effect from January 1898 and its duties and responsibilities transferred to the Corporation and subsequently exercised by a separate Public Health Department until 1947 when the department was merged in the Town Clerk's Office.

Bridge House Estates was established by Royal Charter in 1282 with responsibility for the maintenance of London Bridge, and subsequently built Blackfriars Bridge and Tower Bridge and bought Southwark Bridge and the pedestrian-only Millennium Bridge. Bridge House Estates are run by a committee of the City of London Corporation.

Bridge House was the administrative headquarters of the old London Bridge, situated near St Olave's Church. It was formed of properties bequeathed by Peter de Colechurch, the warden of the bridge from 1163, and Henry Fitz Ailwyn, the first Mayor of London in 1189.

The Bridge House Committee was originally part of the City Lands Committee, founded in 1592, but separated in 1818.

Bridge House Estates was originally funded by tolls on London Bridge as well as rents and leases of the buildings along the bridge. It soon acquired extensive property which made it financially self-sufficient. These funds are used to maintain the City bridges, while surplus monies are used to make charitable grants under the City Bridge Trust, established in 1995.

Newgate Market was probably a medieval foundation, mentioned in a Charter by King Stephen (1097-1154). It was situated between Rose Street, Newgate Street, Paved Alley and Paternoster Row, near St Paul's Cathedral. Before the Great Fire of London it was held in open stalls down the middle of the street, but after the fire it was relocated to an open piece of ground and a market building was erected. The market sold pigs and poultry as well as game, butter and eggs - with Leadenhall Market, it was the principal supply of pork and poultry to the City. The Market was abolished in 1869 when Smithfield Market was opened, and its site is now occupied by Paternoster Square.

Smithfield Market was well established by 1174, when a Friday market for horses, pigs and cattle was held. The City of London gained rights over the market in 1327, under a charter granted by Edward III. In 1852 the live cattle market was relocated to a new site in Islington to ease pressures of space.

In 1860 the market was reorganised and renamed following the passing of the Metropolitan Meat and Poultry Market Act. Work began in 1866 on rebuilding the two main sections of the market, the East and West Buildings. The buildings, designed by architect Sir Horace Jones (who also designed Billingsgate and Leadenhall Markets), were completed in November 1868. These buildings were built above railway lines, enabling meat to be delivered directly to the market.

The principal meat market buildings were opened as the Metropolitan Meat and Poultry Market on 1 December 1868. An additional building was opened as the Poultry and Provisions Market on 30 November 1875. A few months earlier the market complex had been renamed the London Central Markets.

When the London Coal and Wine Duties Continuance Bill was before the House of Commons in 1868, it met strong opposition. The suggestion was made that some compensation should be given by setting free the bridges across the Thames and Lea. This suggestion was embodied in the Act of 1868 by which the duties for the year 1888-1889 were to be applied in the first instance to freeing from toll the following bridges: Kew, Kingston, Hampton Court, Walton and Staines on the Thames, and then Chingford and Tottenham Mills Bridges (including Hellyer's Ferry Bridge) upon the River Lea. These objects were provided for by the Kew and other Bridges Act of 1869 and an amendment Act of 1874 by which a Joint Committee of the Corporation of London and the Metropolitan Board of Works was appointed. The Coal and Wine Duties of 1888-1889 were allocated as security for raising the necessary funds. The total cost of the purchase of the bridges was £155,485.2.0.

Kingston Bridge was vested in the Bailiffs and Freemen of the town, but mortgaged in 1826 to the Commissioners for the issue of Exchequer Bills for Public Works. It was thus a simple matter for the Committee in 1870 to redeem the outstanding debt of £15,600. On 12th March 1870 the bridge was opened free of toll.

Walton Bridge was owned by Thomas Newland Allen of the Vache, Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks. He claimed compensation of £29,510 from the Committee, but a jury summoned by the Sheriff of Middlesex assessed the value at £7,000. This was paid to Allen and the bridge was opened on 1st August 1870.

Staines Bridge was of Roman origin and was for many centuries the first bridge across the Thames above London. The newest bridge was built in 1828-1834. The title deeds of this bridge include many relating to the approaches of the old bridge, the site of the Bush Inn and Gardens. At the time of the freeing of the bridge, it was owned as a public trust. After negotiation the Solicitor to the Committee obtained agreement among the bondholders to accept a quarter of the capital sum, and a verdict for this amount was given on 2nd August 1870. The bridge was opened free of toll on 25th February 1871.

Kew Bridge was owned by Henry Hewett Mason by 1865 who claimed £73,832 as compensation, and although this claim was later moderated, £60,000 was the least he would accept voluntarily. The matter went to arbitration and he was awarded £57,300. The bridge was opened on 8th February 1873.

Hampton Court Bridge was owned by Thomas Newland Allen who claimed £61,600. The matter went to arbitration and an award of £48,048 was made on 19th April 1876. The bridge was freed on 8th July.

Tottenham Mills Bridge was owned by the New River Company which claimed £7,245 as compensation. A jury awarded £1,750. Chingford Bridge and Hellyer's Ferry Bridge at Tottenham were both owned by the East London Waterworks Company. The sums of £3,382 and £1,568 respectively were settled for the bridges. All three bridges were freed on 23rd February 1878.

London Bridge is the oldest bridge in the City of London. A Roman structure existed in the same area and there were several Saxon versions in wood. The first stone bridge took 33 years to construct under the direction of priest Peter de Colechurch, finished in 1209. Bridge House Estates was established by Royal Charter in 1282 with responsibility for the maintenance of this Bridge.

In 1758 the houses and shops that lined the bridge were demolished to make it easier to cross, but problems with congestion only increased. In 1800 a committee was established to consider improvements to the bridge, but when it was discovered that tidal scouring had severely weakened the bridge's abutments, the decision was made to reconstruct. A granite bridge with five arches designed by John Rennie and his son Sir John Rennie was chosen and completed by 1831. The wider arches had the unforeseen consequence of allowing the tide further access inland and causing a problem with sewerage.

The 1831 bridge was unable to accommodate the increased traffic of the 20th century and was reconstructed in the 1960s, opening in 1973. The 1831 bridge was dismantled and shipped to Arizona where it was reconstructed over Lake Havasu.

The Court of Husting was the oldest civic court in the City of London. Its business was divisible into Pleas of Land and Common Pleas. In the Court of Husting for Pleas of Land were pleaded writs of Right Patent (writs to recover possession of land and the property in them). In the Court of Husting for Common Pleas various writs could be pleaded, including among others recovery of a widow's dower of lands, recovery of lands and rents and recovery of distress wrongfully taken. Deeds and wills were also enrolled at this Court, and no foreigner could be admitted into the freedom of the City of London except at the Court of Husting.

The Court sat on Mondays, alternating between Pleas of Land and Common Pleas. The presiding judges were the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, or six Aldermen if the Mayor was unavailable. A junior attorney took the job of Clerk of the Enrolments whose duty it was to enrol deeds and wills.

The business of the Court gradually declined and by the 1880s it hardly sat, being used mainly for the purpose of considering and registering gifts made to the City.

The City of London Court was formed when all Sheriff's Courts were united in 1867. The court handled actions of debt and other personal actions arising within the City. The court was amalgamated with the Mayor's Court in 1921.

The office of Sheriff predates the Norman Conquest and refers to a high officer and representative of royal authority in a shire, who was responsible for the administration of the law. London had two sheriffs who were elected in September of each year. In the City of London each Sheriff was responsible for a Compter, a city prison for debtors and other civil prisoners. The Poultry Compter was the oldest of the three City compters. The prisoners here were mainly committed by the Lord Mayor. The compter was demolished in 1817.

The conservation of the River Thames was entrusted to the citizens of London by a charter of 1197 and was exercised by the Corporation of London until 1857. Their jurisdiction extended from the River Colne near Staines to Yantlett Creek, Kent and included streams and creeks within these bounds. In 1857 jurisdiction was transferred to the Thames Conservators.

In the medieval period, the office of Coroner for the City of London was executed by the King's Butler and Chamberlain, but by a charter of Edward IV dated 20 June 1478, the future appointment of the City Coroner was granted to the Corporation of London, which retains that right to this day.

Under the City of London Fire Inquests Act, 1888, the City Coroner was empowered to hold a special "Fire Inquest" in any case where there was a "loss or injury by fire", irrespective of whether a death had occurred, within the City of London (the Act did not apply to Southwark, or to the metropolis outside the City itself). The Act stipulated that the City Police, and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade were to report all City Fires to the Coroner, and a fire inquest was to be held if the Coroner, the Lord Mayor, the Lord Chief Justice or a Secretary of State judged one necessary. Fire inquest proceedings were to be as similar as possible to a coroner's inquest on a dead body, and following it, a written report and copies of the inquest depositions were to be sent by the City Coroner to the Lord Mayor and the Home Secretary.

The Corporation of London acquired the right to appoint the Coroner of the Borough of Southwark as well by a charter of Edward VI dated 23 April 1550, and for many years prior to 1932 the same person held the offices of Coroner of both London and Southwark. In 1932, the then Coroner for the City of London and Southwark, Dr. F.J. Waldo, resigned, and the provisions of the Coroners' (Amendment) Act, 1926 came into force. Under this Act, the right to appoint the Coroner for Southwark passed to the London County Council, but the Corporation of London retained the right to appoint the Coroner for the City of London.

General and Quarter Sessions were courts of limited criminal and civil jurisdiction and of appeal, held quarterly before a Justice of the Peace in counties or the recorder in boroughs. They were abolished in 1972.

The City of London Sessions were held in the Sessions House in the Old Bailey, adjoining Newgate gaol. The Lord Mayor, Aldermen, Recorder and Common Serjeant were declared to be Justices of the Peace and given the power to try felonies, trespasses and other misdemeanours.

The City of London have had the right to control their own police force, anciently called 'the watch', from time immemorial. The Watch was controlled through the Watch and Ward Committee under the government of the Aldermen. Constables were appointed annually and were responsible for peace and good order. Constables were chosen from householders acting in rotation, although they often paid for a stand-in to be hired instead. Marshalmen and Night Watchmen were appointed to assist them. In 1693 an Act of Common Council was passed stating that 1000 Watchmen should be constantly on duty in the City from sunset to sunrise - this was called the 'Standing Watch'. In 1737 an Act was passed allowing the Common Council to pass an annual order settling the number of Watchmen and imposing taxes for their maintenance. This was known as the 'Nightly Watch Act'.

From around 1737 attempts were made to create an equivalent day force. For several years Extra Constables were sworn in to provide assistance to Ward Constables. In 1800 an experimental force of professional police was created to ensure policing during the day as well as at night. In 1834 the Common Council formed the Day Police Committee to send a deputation to the Court of Aldermen asking them to consider ways of providing a permanent day force. In 1838 the Common Council attempted to levy a rate to support a new combined police force for day and night, however, proposals were being put before Parliament to make the City of London part of the Metropolitan Police District. This was strongly opposed by the Corporation and in 1839 they put a Bill into Parliament which led to the 'Act for regulating the Police in the City of London'. This Act established that the Corporation should appoint a suitable person to be Commissioner of the Police Force of the City of London and that they should form a Police Committee to provide supplies for the force and maintain their buildings.

In 1911 it was decided to form Police Reserves to cope with any civil disturbances which might arise, and to avoid recourse to military assistance. Two reserves to the City Police were then formed: the first Police Reserve, consisting of pensioners from the regular police prepared to rejoin when required in time of emergency; and the second, or Special Police Reserve (later renamed the Special Constabulary), consisting of citizens of suitable age and physical fitness, who would register their names as willing to undertake to serve as special constable in the event of an emergency arising to require their services. The registered members were formed into divisions, and provisional arrangements made for calling out and swearing them in emergency arose. In 1939 the strength of the Special was 2014. Many members of the Special Constabulary undertook full time police duties during the war, temporarily becoming members of the branch of the Civil Defence organisation known as the Police War Reserve.

The Honourable the Irish Society owes its existence to James I's policy of settling or 'planting' Ulster with English and Scottish Protestants, a policy which the Corporation of the City of London and the London Livery Companies were somewhat reluctantly compelled to administer.

Originally established by the City of London's Court of Common Council on 30 January 1609/10, the Irish Society was formally incorporated by the royal charter of 29 March 1613 which also gave to the Society grants of lands and privileges in the newly constituted county of Londonderry. Apart from a period during which the Society's charter was suspended (1638-1657), the Irish Society has continued to operate ever since, and still has interests in Londonderry and Coleraine.

The Irish Society is appointed each year at the first Common Council meeting after 2 February, and comprises a Governor (always an Alderman and ex-Lord Mayor of the City of London), Deputy Governor (always a Common Councilman of the City of London) and a Court of Assistants, chosen from amongst the Court of Common Council of the City of London. All administrative matters were, until 1992, and have been again since 1994, dealt with by a Secretary based in London, and a General Agent based in Northern Ireland. The Irish Society has always had its administrative centre (the Irish Chamber) at or near the Guildhall of the City of London. Prior to the completion of the purpose-built Irish Chamber in Guildhall Yard (built 1824-1825, first used 1826), the administrative offices and archive stores were over the Guildhall Porch. In 1992, on the sale of the Irish Chamber, the Society's Secretary moved to the former premises of the Guildhall Justice Room near to Guildhall, and for a short period before the appointment of a new Secretary, some of the central administration was transferred to the Corporation of London's Town Clerk's Department.

The Irish Society always had a tradition of care of its administrative records, and many early volumes exhibit early 19th century repair methods. Although such methods are not up to present standards, they do show a willingness to take measures to preserve the archives, some series of which are remarkably complete. By an unfortunate quirk of fate, the Irish Society's very care of its archives was to prove disastrous, when, as a result of building work in the then Irish Chamber over the Guildhall Porch in February 1786, the archives were carefully sealed, and removed for safekeeping to the Chamber of London's strongroom on the north-east side of Guildhall. A fire broke out amongst other building works on the north side of Guildhall, and a great many of the Chamber's and the Irish Society's archives were destroyed or (like the Great Parchment Book) badly damaged.

The City Imperial Volunteers originated in conversations between the Lord Mayor and Lord Garnet Wolseley, a senior Army officer, as to the possibility of raising a force of volunteers for the war in South Africa. Having received authorisation from the War Office and having been assured of financial support by the masters of the City Livery Companies, bankers and merchants, a fund for that purpose was opened by a donation of £25,000 voted by the Common Council on 20 December 1899.

On 1 January 1900 the first volunteers were sworn in at Guildhall by the Lord Mayor, five aldermen and the sheriffs. On 12 January volunteers received the Freedom of the City of London and the following day the first detachment embarked on the troopship BRITON at Southampton. The C.I.V.s served in South Africa until October 1900. On 29 October they landed in England and marched through the City of London to be welcomed by the Corporation. On 31 October 1900 the Force was disbanded.

On 31 October 1900 the unexpended money in the C.I.V. fund was transferred to a new fund for the granting of compassionate allowances or pensions 'for the succouring supporting assisting maintaining or advancing in life Freemen of the City of London who were Members of the City of London Imperial Volunteers their families and dependants'. The trustees of this fund were the Lord Mayor and the Recorder ex officio, and the Chief Commoner (at the formation of the fund) for life. The fund exhausted its capital in 1971. At this time there remained four widows who were beneficiaries. The fund was continued by donations given by the Corporation with the proviso that when the last of the beneficiaries died, the fund would cease to exist. In November 1978 the last surviving recipient died and the fund was declared defunct.

A C.I.V. Old Comrades Association was formed in 1902, its last reunion appears to have been held in 1964.

Major Harry Ronald Jacobs (1912-1966): Born on 3 January 1912 at 75 Ickburgh Road, Upper Clapton, Middlesex, son of Hyman [Hymie] Jacobs, furniture dealer and Common Councilman for the City Ward of Portsoken 1930-1945. Jacobs became a solicitor's articled clerk in July 1933, and later a solicitor. He served nearly 6 years in the Army during the Second World War, rising from the ranks to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and retiring with the honorary rank of Major. He was admitted to the Freedom of the City of London by redemption (purchase) in July 1933. He is recorded in the Solicitors' Company by Order of the Court of Aldermen, 11 March 1947. He was a Liveryman of the Solicitor's Company by 1947, and a member of the Guild of Freemen of the City of London. He was Common Councilman for the City Ward of Portsoken 1946-1966. He died 28 October 1966.

Hyman Jacobs (1888-1945): Born 7 February 1888 at 7 White Street, Houndsditch, London EC, son of Isaac Jacobs. Jacobs was a furniture dealer (at least in 1933) with a business at 2 Houndsditch (at least 1930-1934). He was Common Councilman for the Ward of Portsoken 1946-1966. He died late in 1945 (death reported to Common Council 13 December 1945).

Charles Telford (1820 or earlier - 1876): Son of George Telford, of Widmore, near Bromley, Kent, gentleman (dead by May 1841). Telford was a stock-broker, admitted to the Freedom of the City of London [in order to qualify as a City of London Sworn Broker] by redemption [i.e. purchase] in May 1841. He was sworn as a City of London Sworn Broker 24 June 1841, his sureties being Henry John Telford of Billiter Street, City of London, merchant, and Charles Williams Allen, of the Moor near Kington, Herefordshire, gentleman. Continued as a City of London Sworn Broker until his death on 26 July 1876.

The Royal Exchange was built at the expense of Sir Thomas Gresham as a centre of commerce for the City of London. It was opened in January 1571 by Queen Elizabeth I who awarded the building its Royal title. In his will dated 1575 Gresham left equal parts of the Royal Exchange to the Corporation of London and the Mercers' Company upon various trusts. One was that the Corporation should pay £50 a year to lecturers in divinity, astronomy, music and geometry; and the Mercers' Company should make similar payments to lecturers in law, physic and rhetoric. He also left his house in Bishopsgate Street on the understanding that the lecturers would occupy the house and read their lectures there. The house was soon renamed Gresham College and became a centre of learning from which grew the Royal Society, founded in 1662, which met at Gresham College until 1710.

In 1768 the Crown purchased the site of the College for a new Excise Office, and provided that the salaries of the professors should be doubled to compensate them for the loss of their lodgings. A new College was erected at the corner of Gresham Street and Basinghall Street, near Moorgate, in 1842 and was enlarged in 1913. The College moved to Barnard's Inn Hall, Holborn, in 1991 and still runs a programme of free lectures.

In 1596 the Corporation of London and the Mercers' Company appointed committees to control the estates and carry out the directions of the will. These committees sat together as the Joint Grand Gresham Committee.

Bridewell was originally built in 1515-1520 as a palace for Henry VIII on the banks of the River Fleet near to Blackfriars Monastery, however, it was not used as a royal residence after 1531. In 1553 Edward VI gave the palace to the Mayor and citizens of London to be converted into a house of correction and workhouse for the 'able poor', vagabonds who did not work but were not infirm. A school was also founded to provide trade and domestic skills to destitute children. In 1700 a doctor was appointed to tend the prisoners - the first prison doctor and the only one until 1775. The hospital was put under joint administration with Bethlem Hospital until 1948.

The prison side of Bridewell was closed in 1855 and the remaining male and female prisoners were transferred to the City's new prison at Holloway. In 1867 the school moved to Witley in Surrey and was renamed King Edward's School. The buildings were demolished in 1863-1864.

The Royal Hospitals were obtained by the Corporation of London following the dissolution of the monasteries and seizure of monastic property. The hospitals were St Bartholomew's, Bethlem, Christ's Hospital, St Thomas's and Bridewell.