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Sir John Moore, 1620-1702, was Lord Mayor 1681-1682, President of Christ's Hospital 1686-1687 and 1688-1702, member of the East India Company Committee 1669-1701 and Master of the Grocers' Company 1671-2. He came originally from Appleby in Leicestershire where his family continued to live and was bound as an apprentice to the Grocers' Company in 1647. He was the most important lead merchant of his time in London, exporting lead from Derbyshire and Yorkshire through Hull to Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

He died in 1702 with no children (his wife Mary Maddocks had died in 1690) and his large fortune passed to his nephews John (son of Charles) Moore and John (son of George) Moore. The papers also contain letters to and from his heirs and later Moores. A family tree has been drawn up by archives staff (Ms 29447).

Amongst the papers of Sir John Moore and his family (in Mss 507 and 29446) there are a few papers of Colonel John Moore and his son Sir Edward Moore of Bankhall, Lancashire. Sir John Moore may have been a distant relative, but these items have become mixed up with his papers because he was a mortgagee of the Bankhall estates.

Engelbert David Ferdinand Pickert was a merchant and shipper of 79 Mark Lane. He died in 1864.

These manuscripts were collected and compiled c 1937-52 by Wilfred S Samuel in connection with his research involving the daybook of Sir Charles Peers (1661-1737), Spanish merchant and Lord Mayor of London (1715-16) (see CLC/B/227/MS10187) and the journal of his protege Carleton Smith, kept during his service in charge of prisoners in Newgate who had participated in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715. The latter was borrowed from the Lord Mayor's descendant Sir Charles Peers (1868-1952), but was destroyed by enemy action in 1941. However a photocopy of it survives in this collection.

It is likely that this researcher is the same Wilfred S Samuel (d 1958) who was a prominent scholar of Jewish history, and a co-founder of the Jewish Museum.

Sir William Smith, citizen and member of the Company of Waxchandler, was sheriff 1741-42 and alderman for Aldgate Ward 1747-52.

Sir Frederick Tidbury-Beer was born in 1892. He attended Temple Grove, Mercers' and King's College Schools before beginning work aged 13 as an office-boy. He entered the Stock Exchange as a clerk in 1911, then served in the First World War in the French Army Medical Service and with the Royal Air Force. After the war he resumed his business activities, and in 1922 became a member of the Stock Exchange. He was knighted in 1947.

Sir Frederick was an active participant in the local government of the City of London. He was Master of the Company of Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers and of the Company of Parish Clerks. He sat on the Court of Common Council, 1940-1954, sitting on various Corporation committees particularly relating to post Second World War planning and reconstruction. He was Sheriff, 1945-1946, an Alderman of Cheap Ward, and one of the Lieutenants of the City of London. He was a trustee or governor of various schools and hospitals, and a churchwarden of St Botolph Without Bishopsgate, 1944-1953.

Sir Frederick gave his recreations as the history and topography of Old London, and was the vice-president of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, and the Roman and Medieval London Excavation Council. He was also an Honorary Associate of the Town Planning Institute. He died in February 1959.

Information from: 'TIDBURY-BEER, Sir Frederick (Tidbury)', Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920-2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 [ http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U243743, accessed 17 June 2011].

These manuscripts were compiled by Edward Tyrrell, City Remembrancer, 1832-63.

John Houghton Wickes and Alfred Nelson Wickes, both of Clements Lane, Lombard Street, were undertakers and successively parish clerk of the united parishes of St Edmund the King and Martyr and St Nicholas Acons. AN Wickes was also a watch and clockmaker.

John Wilkes was born in Clerkenwell in 1725. He was educated at the University of Leiden from 1744, where he developed life-long habits of vice and profligacy. In 1747 he returned to England to enter into an arranged marriage. The dowry was the manor of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. In London Wilkes was admitted to several clubs and moved in intellectual circles, while in Aylesbury he participated in local administration as a magistrate. In 1757 he stood for the Aylesbury Parliamentary seat in an uncontested by-election. In 1761 he again won the seat by bribing the voters. Wilkes began to write anonymous political pamphlets and in 1762 he established a political weekly, the North Briton which was highly critical of the Prime Minister Lord Bute and his successor, George Greville. In November 1763 the North Briton was declared to be seditious libel, leaving Wilkes exposed to punitive legal action. At the same time he was badly injured in a pistol duel with another MP. Wilkes fled to Paris to escape legal proceedings and was expelled from Parliament.

In January 1764 Wilkes was convicted for publishing the North Briton. He was summoned to appear at the court of the king's bench and when he failed to appear was outlawed. Wilkes therefore stayed abroad for four years as returning to England would mean imprisonment. In Paris he moved in intellectual circles and was praised as a champion of freedom, however, he was accruing serious debts. Between 1766 and 1767 he made brief return visits to London, hoping to be pardoned. In 1768 he returned permanently, living under a false name. He announced that he would attend the king's bench when the court next met, and declared his intention to run for Parliament. He contested for the Middlesex seat and ran a superbly organised campaign backed by popular enthusiasm, winning the seat in March by 1292 votes to 827.

Wilkes was immediately expelled from Parliament as it was assumed he would be imprisoned when he attended court in April. The decision was reversed as it was feared that Wilkes' supporters would riot. In June Wilkes was sentenced to two years imprisonment in the King's Bench Prison. On 3 February 1769 he was again expelled from Parliament, only to be re-elected on 16 February in a by-election. He was expelled again but again re-elected in March, only to be expelled. At the April by-election Parliament produced a rival candidate who was soundly defeated, but nevertheless was awarded the Parliamentary seat. The resulting controversy forced the Prime Minister to resign.

Released in 1770 Wilkes stood for election as alderman for the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. In 1771 he was elected Sheriff and in 1774 Lord Mayor. In the same year he was again elected to the Parliamentary seat for Middlesex. He held this seat until 1790. In 1779 he became the City of London Chamberlain and after leaving Parliament concentrated on this post until his death in 1797.

The Home Guard was first raised in May, 1940, on a semi-civilian basis in close association with the Police force, and was originally known as the Local Defence Volunteers. It was organized in companies, grouped in zones, corresponding to Police districts. The aim of the Guard was to delay an enemy invasion force, providing the Government and the regular army with time to establish a professional defence and repel the enemy invasion.

Established in 1929 as the Lloyd's Clerks' Superannuation Fund, Lloyd's Superannuation Fund, the corporate trustee of which is LSF Pensions Management Limited, was set up for the members, or underwriters at Lloyd's who wished to establish under irrevocable trusts in connection with their said business a fund for the purpose of providing pensions for male Clerks employed in the business on retirement.

The first meeting of the Provisional Committee of Management which established Lloyd's Clerks Superannuation Fund, was held in the Committee Room at Lloyd's of London, Lime Street, City of London on 15th May 1929. The first trustees of the Fund were selected by the Committee of Lloyd's, and the Fund officially commenced on 1st October 1929, with the aim of admitting new members to the Fund on a quarterly basis. R Watsons and Sons were appointed as the first actuaries to the Fund, with Messrs Gerard van de Linde and Sons the Fund's first auditors.

Although only at first open to male Clerks, the Trust Deed and Rules were amended to admit female Clerks from 1st December 1969, in advance of government changes to the rules of private pension schemes in 1972.

The Fund continues to provide pensions services to Lloyd's underwriters, and to work closely with its members as part of the Lloyd's group.

This company was established by Charles Chubb (1772-1846) of Portsea, Hampshire following the grant of a patent to his brother Jeremiah Chubb for a detector lock. In 1827 Charles Chubb moved and opened a shop at 57 St Paul's Churchyard, City of London.

In 1830 manufacturing of locks began in Wolverhampton, first in Temple Street, then St James's Square in 1835 and then Old Mill Lane, Horsely Fields in 1841. The production of safes followed an award of a patent to Charles Chubb in 1835. The firm's safe manufactory was established at 27 Cow Cross Street, London by 1846. This later moved to Glengall Road, Old Kent Road in 1867. Glengall Road also saw the production of locks with the return of works from Wolverhampton to London in 1882.

The Wolverhampton lock works were re-established and returned to Horsely Fields in 1889. New lock works were opened in Railway Street and Chubb Street in 1899 with auxiliary safe works built in Railway Street in 1900. Wolverhampton became the manufacturing hub of the company when the London safe works were transferred to a new safe works on Wednesfield Road in 1909, which also absorbed the Railway Street works. Lock works were also moved to new factory in Wednesfield Road in 1938.

Branches opened in Manchester in 1838 and Liverpool in 1839. Showrooms opened at 68 St James's Street in 1874.

John Chubb (1815-1872) joined his father in partnership in 1841 and continued the business following his father's death in 1846. Following John Chubb's death, the firm continued under the direction of his executors and sons John Charles Chubb (1846-1899) and George Hayter Chubb, later Lord Hayter (1848-1946). G H Chubb became chairman in 1882 with the incorporation of the company as Chubb and Son's Lock and Safe Company Limited. Lord Hayter retired in 1940 and was succeeded by his nephew Harry Emory Chubb (1880-1960).

Major overseas trading began in the late 19th century, with South Africa in 1890. Chubb and Maxwell Limited was incorporated in 1895 to manage South African work. Business in Australia was managed by Chubb's Australian Company Limited which was established in 1897 in Sydney. This company managed a safe, strong room and bronze work factory which was built in 1921. Chubb-France SA was formed in 1922 and Chubb India Limited in 1926. Abroad manufacturing of security equipment began in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1950 and Toronto, Canada in 1954. The 20th century saw acquisition of key firms including Josiah Parkes (manufacturers of 'Union' locks), Hobbs Hart of London and other companies.

Company name changes 1818-2000:

Charles Chubb, Jeremiah Chubb, patent detector lock, 1818-1846;
Chubb and Son, 1846-1882 (Charles Chubb and his son John Chubb);
Chubb and Son's Lock and Safe Company Limited, 1882-1958;
Chubb and Son Limited, 1958-1982;
Chubb and Son plc, 1982-1984;
Racal-Chubb Limited (with constituent companies Chubb Safe Equipment Company Limited and Chubb Locks Limited), 1984-1986. Chubb taken over by Racal Electronics and came under Racal Group;
Racal-Chubb Products Limited 1986-1992;
Chubb Security plc, 1992 separating from Racal;
Acquired by Williams Holdings, 1997;
Demerged as Chubb plc, 2000.

London Head offices: 57 St Paul's Churchyard (1827-1877); 128 Queen Victoria Street (1877-1941); St James's Street (1941-1946); 40-42 Oxford Street (1946-1955); 175-176 Tottenham Court Road (1955-1960); 14-22 Tottenham Court Road (from 1960); Manor House, Feltham, Middlesex; moved to Wednesfield Road, Wolverhampton in 1985.

An Accepting House is a firm or company, an important part of whose business consists of accepting bills of exchange. Following the sudden outbreak of war in 1914, a large group of London merchant banks, heavily exposed to losses through customers in enemy countries not providing funds to meet acceptances when they fell due for payment, formed the Accepting Houses Committee. Its representations to the authorities assisted in the establishment of a moratorium on the payment of enemy bills. After the war, the Committee continued as a loose knit body represented by a small executive committee which met irregularly to discuss matters of mutual concern, in particular the Standstill arrangements concluded with Germany and other countries in the early 1930s. Its role was enhanced in 1936 when the British Government instituted a clearing for trade and payments between the United Kingdom and Spain. The Committee became the official liaison between the Government and Accepting Houses for making special arrangements for the clearing. On the outbreak of war in 1939, Exchange Control regulations were brought into force, and much of the administration was entrusted to the banking community including Accepting Houses. Membership of the Committee at this time meant that the member was automatically an authorised dealer in foreign exchange, and the need for an Accepting House to be a member of the Committee was almost a necessity. This led to a revision of the membership and by 1940 the Committee was fully representative of all Accepting Houses doing active business.

In 1939, the Accepting Houses Committee was reorganised into a body of 14 "recognised" merchant banks with the remaining members being categorised as "constituents". After the war, membership stabilised at 17 first class houses and no "constituents". Membership was by invitation, but an essential qualification was that members' bills had to be taken by the Bank of England at the finest discount rate. The Committee therefore became the forum and mouth piece of the City's most respected merchant banks. In 1988, its activities were merged with those of the Issuing Houses Association, with which it had shared premises and a small secretariat, resulting in the formation of the British Merchant Banking and Securities Houses Association. Further information about the history of Accepting Houses and the Accepting Houses Committee may be found in The Accepting Houses of London (CLC/B/003/MS29321) and in CLC/B/003/MS29325.

Until 1936, the Accepting Houses Committee did not have premises or staff of its own. From the formation of the Committee in 1914, Frederick Huth and Company had accommodated the Committee and provided, without charge, secretarial and other services. Frederick Huth Jackson was the person primarily responsible for bringing the Committee about and had been its first Chairman. In 1936 Frederick Huth and Company decided to transfer its business to the Overseas Bank Limited and withdraw these facilities. The Committee had to find premises, engage staff, and also set up a mechanism by which its constituents could bear the expenses of its work. The first premises were at 16 Bishopsgate where the Committee remained until 1959. Subsequent premises were as follows: 19 Fenchurch Street, 1959-63; St Albans House, Goldsmith Street, 1963-9; 20 Fenchurch Street, 1969-73; Roman Wall House, 1-2 Crutched Friars, 1973-81; and Granite House, 101 Cannon Street, 1981-8.

In 1766 Lewis Agassiz was granted naturalization by a private act of Parliament (7 George III c.4). In 1769 he went into partnership with Joseph Lieutand and their business first appears in the trade directories in 1771 under the name of Lewis Agassiz and Company. Agassiz was a Swiss merchant, dealing in cotton, silk, sugar, cocoa, coffee, tobacco, cochineal and other tropical goods. He had trading connections not only throughout Europe (France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland), but also in Russia, North and South America and the East and West Indies. There is a large component of private and family papers kept with the business records.

Samuel Grellet joined the company sometime before 1772 and the name was changed to Agassiz, Grellet and Company. On Grellet's death in 1776, Francis Anthony Rougemont joined the partnership under the name of Agassiz, Rougemont and Company. Lewis Agassiz left the company in 1784 to retire to Margate in Kent. He had two sons, Arthur David Lewis Agassiz (who took over the family business) and James John Charles Agassiz. In 1792 the name was changed to Agassiz and Wilson when Thomas Wilson joined the business. From 1802, the company was listed as Wilson, Agassiz and Company. Around 1818 the company split. Thomas Wilson and Richard Blanshard traded from 4 Jefferies Square, St Mary Axe under the name Wilson and Blanshard, while Agassiz, Son and Company moved to 15 New Broad Street. After 1825 the Agassiz firm no longer appears in the trade directories.

The company was based at 92 Little St Helen's (1771-92), 36 Fenchurch Street (1793-1812), 4 Jefferies Square, St Mary Axe (1813-19), 15 New Broad Street (1820-4) and 6 Finsbury Square (1825).

The company was formed in 1912 to acquire and hold the share capital of an existing Argentine company, La Sociedad Anonima Compania de Maderas del Alto Parana. Its purpose was to exploit and develop the pine and hardwood and other crops on the Argentine company's estate of 600,000 acres in Parana province, Brazil. The company became an investment trust company by special resolution of its annual general meeting of 1949. In 1951 it changed its name to Scottish and Mercantile Investment Co Ltd.

From 1912 to 1951 the company address was River Plate House, variously described as Finsbury Circus EC2 (1912-38), 10-11 Finsbury Circus EC2 (1939-48), or 12-13 South Place EC2 (from 1948), but the company disappears from the directories after 1948. In 1951 the company moved to 36-37 King Street EC2.

The Corporation was founded in 1890. The offices were in 17 Lombard St 1891; 75 Lombard St 1892-1905; 20 Birchin Lane 1906-22; 3 Bank Buildings, Lothbury 1923; and 320 Gresham House, Old Broad St 1924-54. In 1960 it merged with other investment trusts to form the Anglo-American Securities Corporation.

The company was formed in 1897 as a holding company in St Petersburg controlling the Petroffsky and Spassky Cotton Spinning and Weaving Companies, and the Schlusselburg Calico Printing Company. It had offices at 4 St Helen's Place, Bishopsgate, London, 1897-ca. 1912, then at 17 St Helen's Place, ca. 1912-1934, 91 Wool Exchange, 1934-6, 35 Wool Exchange, 1936-7, and 157 Wool Exchange from 1937.

Ashanti Goldfields Corporation Limited was incorporated in May 1897 as a company to work the concession acquired by Edwin Cade in 1895. A small company, the Cote d'Or Company, had been established to provide funds for an expedition by Cade to Ashanti, during which he had signed an agreement with local chiefs and had secured the concession to mine for gold. In 1896 Ashanti had been annexed by the British Government and negotiations secured agreement whereby the concession to mining, trading and agricultural rights over a square mile area was recognised by the Government for 90 years, and the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation Limited was registered.

Edwin Cade and John Daw were members of the first expedition to work the concession and both were important figures in the early development of the Corporation, the former as a director until his death in 1903, the latter as consultant engineer, general manager, and eventually director until 1906. In 1972 Lonrho acquired an interest in the company which became jointly owned by them and the Ghanian Government until 1996. In 2000 the company entered into a strategic alliance with AngloGold which resulted in merger in 2004. The new company is called AngloGold Ashanti and continues to mine in Ghana. The Corporation had offices at 9 Broad Street in 1900; 6 Southampton Street 1902-1935; 10 Old Jewry 1936-1963; Moor House, London Wall 1964-1970; Cheapside House, 138 Cheapside from 1971; and Roman House, 4Wood Street from 1996. In 2004, the company closed its London offices.

The Association was founded in 1860 as the Association of Chambers of Commerce of the United Kingdom and its name was changed to the Association of British Chambers of Commerce in 1919. The Association is now known as the British Chambers of Commerce. Early chambers of commerce had been established in Jersey, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow , Edinburgh and Belfast amongst others but there was no concerted attempt to work together until the presidents of the Yorkshire Chambers met at the Social Science Congress in Bradford in 1859 and decided they needed their own national forum. The Association had London offices in Queen Anne's Gate, City of Westminster (to be close to the Houses of Parliament) and at Cannon Street and Queen Street in the City of London.

The Association was concerned in the 19th century with a wide variety of subjects including bankruptcy and partnership law, patents and trade marks, copyright, reform of copyright law, shipping and railways and foreign tariffs. By 1900 the Association comprised 90 chambers and included more than 50 Members of Parliament among its honorary members. Much of its success in this period stemmed from its ability to influence Parliament. One cause for which it lobbied for over a century was adoption of the metric system. After the Second World War it argued for UK membership of a European trading area. In the postwar period the Association argued against the Labour Government's increased involvement with the economy and industry. The increasing interest of the state in industrial affairs led the Association to seek to influence Ministers directly and to liaise with government departments to amend proposed legislation, rather than by lobbying MPs.

The Debris Clearance Pool, also known as the Debris Clearance Pool Committee, was established in 1941 by the Accident Offices Association for the rating of site clearance risks in wartime. It was wound up in 1947.

The Engineering Offices Association was set up on 15 December 1920 by companies interested in engineering insurance. It administered a tariff for engineering insurance established at the same time. The Association met at the offices of the Accident Offices Association which provided it with executive and secretarial services.

Offices transacting fire insurance business overseas had been meeting since at least 1859 (see Ms 18862/1). By 1869, 29 foreign fire insurance tariffs were in operation, and the participating offices formed the Fire Offices' Committee (Foreign) for supervising rates. Co-operation assisted British fire offices in their development of overseas markets where they had problems with competition from local companies and the novelty and complexity of overseas risks, and had to deal with legislation by foreign governments (see Ms 29489). During the 20th century, the growth of foreign business was such that several committees were established by the Fire Offices' Committee (Foreign) to protect and promote the interests of companies transacting business in particular parts of the world. These were: the London Continental Fire Insurance Committee set up in 1920 (see CLC/B/017-21); the London Australasian Insurance Committee in 1925 (see CLC/B/017-20); the London West Africa Insurance Committee in 1958 (see CLC/B/017-25); the London South African Insurance Committee in 1966 (see CLC/B/017-24); and the Fire Offices' Committee of Ireland in 1975 (see CLC/B/017-13). The interests of some of these committees extended beyond fire insurance to accident, life and marine insurance.

The inaugural meeting of the committee was held on 14 October 1943. Its object was to advise Government on the interests of insurance companies in post-war settlements. The committee considered all classes of business dealt with by the companies: accident, fire and life insurance. Lloyd's of London had its own War Settlement Committee.

The first meeting of offices conducting insurance business on the continent of Europe was held on 7 October 1920 under the auspices of the Fire Offices' Committee (Foreign). This led to the formation of the London Continental Fire Insurance Committee.This committee was managed and administered by the Fire Offices' Committee.

The London Salvage Corps and the London Fire Engine Establishment were created and maintained by the principal fire insurance offices of London. The London Fire Engine Establishment had undertaken salvage work as part of its normal fire extinguishing duties. However, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act of 1865 was vague enough to enable the Metropolitan Board of Works to refuse responsibility for any salvage work without payment. The amount sought by the Metropolitan Board of Works for this service exceeded that for which an independent salvage corps could be maintained by the fire offices themselves. Therefore it was decided at a meeting of the London Fire Engine Establishment on 22 December 1865 to establish a salvage corps independent of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade. The London Salvage Corps commenced operations during January 1866. The original subscribers to the London Salvage Corps were the Alliance, Atlas, Globe, Imperial, London, Protector, Royal Exchange, Sun, Union and Westminster fire offices, but membership varied subsequently.

The London Salvage Corps was based at 31 Watling Street until 1873, 63-64 Watling Street from 1874 to 1884, 64 Watling Street from 1885 until 1905, 63-66 Watling Street from 1906 until sometime after 1955. The Corps was located at 140 Aldersgate Street when it was wound up in 1984.

The Printers and Theatres Rating Committee (Southern Committee) (CLC/B/017-29) was set up under the auspices of the London Salvage Corps towards the end of the 19th century to administer a scheme for the rating of insurance premiums on theatres, music halls and printers and allied trades. The scheme was later extended to cinemas and film production studios. The Southern Rating Committee became increasingly associated with the Fire Offices' Committee rather than the London Salvage Corps until, in 1962, its administration was taken over by the Fire Offices' Committee.

The first formal meeting of the London South African Insurance Committee was held on 1 September 1966. Its aims were to promote and protect the interests of companies transacting direct insurance business in the Republic of South Africa, south west Africa, Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland. It was set up under the auspices of the Fire Offices' Committee (Foreign) (see CLC/B/017-12) and was managed and administered by the Fire Offices' Committee (see CLC/B/017-11). It disbanded on 11 August 1976.

The National Conference of Industrial Assurance Approved Societies was formed in 1913, by the industrial assurance companies and collecting societies who had formed non-profitmaking "approved societies" to administer the 1911 National Insurance Act. The Conference met to consider the Offices' experience of National Insurance administration, and changes that could be recommended to the Insurance Commissioners. Under the 1946 National Insurance Act, approved societies were abolished, and the records of the Conference cease in 1948. The Conference does not appear to have held permanent offices; correspondence being directed as appropriate to the individual offices of Conference office-holders.

The Trading with the Enemy Joint Committee was set up as a result of the Trading with the Enemy Act, 1939. Its object was to advise Government through the Trading with the Enemy Branch (administered jointly by the Treasury and Board of Trade) about the application of the Act as far as the insurance business was concerned. In particular, it made recommendations in relation to the issue of licences, balancing what would be conferring a benefit on the enemy against what would inflict damage on British insurance. The committee was representative of the fire, accident and marine insurance business and included members of insurance companies representing the Fire Offices' Committee, Fire Offices' Committee (Foreign), Consequential Loss Committee, Accident Offices Association, Accident Offices Association (Overseas), non-tariff companies, Institute of London Underwriters and Lloyd's of London.

These are the only surviving records of the Jerusalem Coffee House, of Fleece Passage, Cornhill, later known as 32-33 Cowper's Court. The Jerusalem Coffee House was frequented by managing owners of East India Company ships and East India merchants and brokers. The Jerusalem Coffee House became "The Jerusalem Limited" in 1880 as the coffee house was demolished in 1879 and replaced by a purpose built commercial resort, sale, exchange and news rooms.

In 1892 the Jerusalem became the Jerusalem Shipping Exchange of 22 Billiter Street, setting itself up as a rival to the newly established London Shipping Exchange. The London Shipping Exchange was more successful and bought out the Jerusalem Shipping Exchange later that year. In 1900 the London Shipping Exchange amalgamated with the Baltic Committee to become the Baltic Mercantile and Shipping Exchange Limited.

This firm of watch, clock and chronometer manufacturers, silversmiths and jewellers was founded by William Birch, becoming Birch and Gaydon Limited in 1877. It had premises at 173 Fenchurch Street (1841-73 - premises occupied 1825-40 by William Turner, watch and chronometer maker); 172 Fenchurch Street (1874-1905); and 153 Fenchurch Street (1905-).

Major Blundell was a haberdasher and warehouseman, of Cheapside; later of Holborn Hill.

Francis Nicholls White and Company originated before 1858 as Robinson, Nicholls and Company of 13 Old Jewry, London. In 1863 the name was changed to Francis Nicholls White and Company, in 1866 to Nicholls and Leatherdale and, in 1885, back to Francis Nicholls White and Company. From its beginnings, the firm practised as accountants dealing only with insolvency matters; it also acted as proprietors of a debt collection business known as the British Mercantile Agency and of a number of trade associations. The practice continued at 13/14 Old Jewry Chambers until 1924 when it moved to 73 Cheapside; in 1954 it moved to 19 Eastcheap. In 1967 the firm amalgamated with Parkin S Booth and Company.

Francis Nicholls White and Company owned a number of trade associations formed as specialised branches of the agency, including the Paper Trade Protection Association. The aims of the association were to safeguard members against the risk of bad debts, to recover overdue accounts and to minimise the loss to members in insolvencies.

The Committee of London Clearing Bankers was based at 10 Lombard Street. It was formed in 1821 as the Committee of Bankers to oversee the London Clearing House (no records of the London Clearing House are held, except those of Bankers' Clearing House Limited). It also came to represent the interests of the London private and joint stock banks and later the "Big Five" clearing banks. It was renamed the Committee of London and Scottish Bankers in 1985. In 1991, it was subsumed into the British Bankers' Association.

The British Funeral Workers' Association was based at 23 Bride Lane (1917-1925), 7 Milford Lane (1925-1938) and St Bride's Institute (1939-1940). In 1920, the Association had seven branches in London, as well as branches in Portsmouth, Kingston and Southampton. From evidence inside the minute books, the Association may have become the National Union of Funeral and Cemetery Workers by 1963 (based in Wembley).

Founded in 1917 as the British Overseas Banks Association, the association's name was changed to British Overseas and Commonwealth Banks Association in 1964. It was based at 10 Clements Lane (1917-85), 38 Bishopsgate (1985-7), 8 Old Jewry (1988-9), 99 Bishopsgate (1990), 110-112 Fenchurch Street (1991-2), 91 Gresham Street (1993-4) and 35 John Street (1995-6). The Association was dissolved in 1997.

Brown, Shipley and Company, merchant bankers, of Founders' Court, Lothbury, originated with the establishment of William Brown and Company, merchants and shippers, in Liverpool in 1810, by William Brown. In 1814 William was joined by his brother James to form William and James Brown and Company. Joseph Shipley became a partner in 1825 and in 1837 the company changed its name to Brown, Shipley and Company. Although originally formed to act as agents for the American business interests of Alexander Brown (William and James' father), the company soon became involved in the exchange and credit business. Its merchant banking interests developed rapidly and by 1860 had become more important than its mercantile and shipping interests. Consequently a London office was opened at Founders' Court, Lothbury, in 1863, where the company has remained ever since. It changed its name to Brown, Shipley and Company Limited upon incorporation in 1946. The Liverpool office was closed in 1888. The surviving archive of the London office dates from 1864.

Until 1914 the company was a branch of the American company Brown Brothers and Company, and partners were individually members of both the American and English companies. In 1914 the articles of association were changed so that each company became a partner in the other. This arrangement became impossible after the Registration of Business Names Act became law in 1916 in England, and new taxation laws became effective in the United States, so on January 1st 1918 Brown, Shipley and Company withdrew from Brown Brothers and Company, and the latter withdrew from Brown, Shipley; but they continued to work in close co-operation as correspondents and agents.

In April 1900 the company opened an office at 123 Pall Mall to deal primarily with letters of credit for American travellers. Records of this branch are catalogued as Ms 20151-153 (CLC/B/032-02). The decline in the issue of letters of credit due to the growth in the use of travellers cheques led to the closure of the branch in 1955.

A publishing company was set up in 1960 called Butterworth and Company (Australia). Earlier records of Butterworths operations in Australia can be found under Butterworth and Company (Overseas).

R J Acford Ltd (Acfords) were a printing firm, specialising in legal printing such as the Law Journal. They were bought by Butterworths after the Second World War and sold off in 1974.

Camp Bird Limited was incorporated 8 September 1900. Its principal business was the Camp Bird mine, a gold mine in the Mount Sneffels mining district, County Ouray, Colorado, with a stake of £49,900 in the Camp Bird Mining Co, Denver, Colorado, acquired in June 1902. The company acquired substantial holdings in various Mexican enterprises, in particular the Santa Gertrudis gold and silver mines (1910). Revenue from the Camp Bird mine was decreasing by the 1940s, but in the meantime, the company's mining interests had expanded into Nicaragua, Canada, Australia, Nigeria, South Africa and Rhodesia. By 1952 66% of the company's total investments were in South Africa and Rhodesia.

In the late 1950s, an industrial and trading group in the electrical industry was built up and concentrated into the subsidiary Hartley Baird Limited. The parent company had become purely a holding company by 1958, but in 1960 Camp Bird Limited ceased to be a finance company and was restored as a mining house, with interests in Colorado, Canada, and elsewhere, the parent company becoming an investment company. A winding-up order was made on 7 October 1963.

Camp Bird's first registered office was at 3 Princes Street. It moved to 43 Threadneedle Street in 1902, to 1 London Wall Buildings in 1919, to 49 Moorgate in 1929, and to 39 Dover Street (Camp Bird House) in 1957.

A large number of Grahams companies, registered in Glasgow, were trading individually in Glasgow and elsewhere, including Portugal and India, as early as the late 18th century. Grahams Trading Company Limited, however, was incorporated on 29 July 1924, as general merchants and manufacturers all over the world, with a registered office at 7 St Helen's Place, EC3. It was an amalgamation of several of the older Grahams companies and the newly acquired "Portuguese companies". The latter, Abelheira Paper Mills Limited, Boa Vista Spinning and Weaving Company Limited and Braco de Prata Printing Company Limited, had all begun in the late 19th century and were registered in Glasgow but traded in Portugal through William Graham and Company, William and John Graham and Company, and William Graham Junior and Company, who acted as their agents and held title to the real estate in Portugal.

The Portuguese business of Grahams Trading Company Limited was held through West European Industries Limited. In 1947, the "Portuguese companies" went into voluntary liquidation, and the various mills and factories were gradually closed down and sold off in the 1950s. Grahams Trading Company Limited was taken over by Camp Bird Limited in 1957 and went into voluntary liquidation in 1960.

George Davis established himself as a commission merchant in 1852 at 4 Railway Place, Fenchurch Street. The firm became African, Australian, middle and far eastern export merchants. In 1860 Davis went into partnership with William Garland Soper (1837-1908). From 1863-76 they traded from 14 Fenchurch Street, and from 1877-81 from 10 King's Arms Yard, before moving to 54 St Mary Axe in 1882. On William Garland Soper's death in 1908, the firm was taken over by his son, William Soper.

The firm became a limited company in 1915. It went into liquidation in 1960. It was a subsidiary of Camp Bird Limited.

A large number of Grahams companies, registered in Glasgow, were trading individually in Glasgow and elsewhere, including Portugal and India, as early as the late 18th century. Grahams Trading Company Limited, however, was incorporated on 29 July 1924, as general merchants and manufacturers all over the world, with a registered office at 7 St Helen's Place, EC3. It was an amalgamation of several of the older Grahams companies and the newly acquired "Portuguese companies". The latter, Abelheira Paper Mills Limited, Boa Vista Spinning and Weaving Company Limited and Braco de Prata Printing Company Limited, had all begun in the late 19th century and were registered in Glasgow but traded in Portugal through William Graham and Company, William and John Graham and Company, and William Graham Junior and Company, who acted as their agents and held title to the real estate in Portugal.

An assets company was also formed in 1924, known as the Reserved Assets Company Limited. Its registered office also was 7 St Helen's Place. It was wound up in 1936 on the reduction and reorganisation of the capital of the trading company. West European Industries Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary, was incorporated on 26 March 1930. Its registered office was 7 St Helen's Place, moving to 5 St Helen's Place in 1947. The Portuguese business of Grahams Trading Company Limited was held through West European Industries Limited. In 1947, the "Portuguese companies" went into voluntary liquidation, and the various mills and factories were gradually closed down and sold off in the 1950s. Grahams Trading Company Limited was taken over by Camp Bird Limited in 1957 and went into voluntary liquidation in 1960.

The company began trading in 1896 and had offices at 88 Bishopsgate until 1911. From 1911 to 1936 it was at Winchester House, Old Broad St, and 1936-65 at 14-19 Leadenhall St. The company ceased trading in 1965 and amalgamated with Assam Frontier Tea Company in 1977.

Shirley Fielding Palmer founded the Guild of Saint Alban the Martyr in 1851, probably inspired by Newman's suggestion that laymen should assist clergy in densely populated areas. It was formed from lay communicants, clergy being admitted as associates, and aimed to assist them in maintaining and extending the Catholic faith, to defend the faith against attacks of error and unbelief and to support the independence of the English Church from the jurisdiction claimed by the Church of Rome. Within the Guild were grades of fellows and brethren and an order of Sisters of the Poor. The brotherhood was divided into sections forming separate brotherhoods under the superintendence of a master e.g. the Brotherhood of Saint John the Divine, Clapham.

Until 1945 Hornchurch was part of the Romford parliamentary constituency. The party for the Hornchurch Urban District Council area was the Hornchurch Central Labour Party, which sent delegates to the Romford Divisional Labour Party. In 1945 Romford was split into the Barking, Dagenham, Romford and Hornchurch parliamentary constituencies, and on 15 March 1945, Hornchurch Divisional Labour Party was formed. Hornchurch Constituency Labour Party is an alternative title for this body. As a result of the redistribution of parliamentary boundaries in 1969, the Hornchurch Constituency Labour Party ceased to exist in March 1971. Its successor was the Havering-Hornchurch Constituency Labour Party.

The King's Fund was established in 1897 as the Prince of Wales Hospital Fund for London for the purpose of raising money for the Voluntary Hospitals within a seven mile radius from Charing Cross. A letter by the Prince of Wales was published in 'The Times' on 6 February 1897 inviting subscriptions in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the reign of Queen Victoria.

The first distribution of grants by the Fund took place in 1897/1898 and amounted to £57,000 however, it was the intention of the Prince and the founding members of the first General Council that the Fund woud become a permanent body with sufficient captial to produce an annual income for distribution. On 1 January 1902 the Fund was renamed King Edward's Hospital Fund for London and in 1907 the Fund was incorporated by an Act of Parliament.

As the amount available for distribution grew so did the remit of the Fund. The initial seven mile limit from Charing Cross was extended in 1924 to nine miles and in 1940 to the whole of the Metropolitan Region. The Fund also began to include Convescent Homes in its annual distributions.

Thanks to its financial success, the Fund soon began to have a considerable influence on the work and administration of the London voluntary hospitals and its activities soon diversified into inspecting hospitals and encouraging a more rational distribution of health services across the growing expanse of the city, for example they were instrumental in the move of King's College Hospital to Camberwell, South London. The King's Fund also began to undertake a number of pan-London roles, for example by opening and operating a service of emergency admissions to hospitals and encouraging combined fund raising appeals. The Fund as part of the conditions of its grants required hospitals to submit particulars of their accounts and this led to the introduction of a uniform system of hosptial accounts. They also began to be the representing body of the voluntary hospitals in debates about health and welfare policy.

At the end of the First World War many voluntary hospitals were in considerable difficulty owing to lack of resources. A Hospital Commission was set up for the country to administer a government grant, with King Edward's Fund acting as the coordinating body for the London area. As a result, the Fund overhauled its own constitution into five main committees, Finance, Distribution, Hospital Economy, Revenue and Management. Several special committees were established in the 1920s to investigate various matters, including pensions schemes for nurses and hospital staff, provision of ambulances, and for road casualties.

The establishment of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948 led to a reappraisal of the work of the King's Fund. Instead of giving maintenance grants to the now tax-funded health service, it concentrated its resources on developing good practice in the NHS and opened a number of new services to provide training, learning and sharing opportunities for NHS staff including the Division of Hospital Facilities (opened 1948, became The Hospital Centre), the College for Ward Sisters (opened 1949), the Catering Advisory Service (opened 1950), th Hospital Administrative Staff College and the School of Hospital Catering (opened 1951) and the Staff College for Matrons (1953). The Fund's colleges were amalgamated in 1968 to become the 'King's Fund College' and in 1997 a change and leadership centre was established. Leadership development is still continued under the Leadership and Development Team.

Post NHS the Fund also became the home of numerous development projects to improve the quality of health care and opened a specialist health services library in Camden Town. The range of projects ranged enormously from investigations into the use of disposal goods in hospital wards through to the investigation into the design of the hospital bed-stead in the 1960s. In the 1980s, the King's Fund established a unit to analyse health policy issues and a service offering organisational audit to health services. It was also in this era that the Fund widened the scope of its activities to look at social care and public health becoming an influential organisation in health policy, pioneering the development of patient choice in the NHS, of partnerships between health and social care, and of the arts in health. It also began working to tackle health inequalities in London working with the Greater London Authority and other health agencies as well as continuing its work analysing national health policy and developing new ways of working in the NHS and social care services.

In 2008 the Fund was granted a Royal Charter which in effect gave a new set of governance arrangements, which include a modern version of the original objectives. Allowing the Fund to remain an independent and expert body able to exercise influence and use ideas to change health care.

The 1820's saw the foundation of two schools at the Oval, Kennington. After raising the necessary voluntary subscriptions, the boys' school opened at the end of 1824 and the girls' school in the spring of 1825. The name proposed for the schools was the Kennington and South Lambeth National School, but they were soon referred to as the National Schools or District Schools, even the Oval Schools. In reflection of the close links with Saint Mark's Church, the name was later changed to Saint Mark Kennington Schools. The school is now known as Saint Mark's CE Primary School.

The association began life as the Saint James Society in 1824, as its early meetings were held at Saint James Clerkenwell. In 1903 it expanded and became known as the London County Association of Change Ringers. In 1911 the association formed separate Northern and Southern Districts with separate officers but responsible to the overall association via its General Body officers and meetings - this situation lasted until World War II when the district operation was suspended. In 1929 the association had 'North Southwark Diocesan Guild' added to its title, but this was dropped in the early 1970s, and the title altered to London County Association of Church Bell Ringers.

Archbishop Temple's School was founded using a bequest of £24 made by Alexander Jones in 1660. In 1661 Richard Lawrence, a trustee appointed by Mr. Jones, bequeathed a property known as "Dog House Fields" for the school. In 1723 the school merged with another charity school and moved into new premises. In 1848 the school was again moved, this time to Hercules Road. The school could now accommodate 300 pupils. In 1904 another move was necessary due to the expansion of the railway. A site next to Lambeth Palace was donated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Temple. On the death of the Archbishop the name of the school was changed to reflect his contribution. In 1961 the school was merged with the local Archibishop Tenison's Girls School. The school was merged with other local schools in 1964 and in 1972 moved to a new site in Camberwell to accommodate the increase in pupils.

On Nov. 9th, 1855 a public meeting was held in Willis's Rooms, King Street, St James to inaugurate a public subscription in gratitude for Florence Nightingale's work in the Crimean War. £44,000 was raised, the Nightingale Fund Council was set up to administer this fund, and on March 13th 1860, A. H. Clough wrote on behalf of the Nightingale Fund Council to the President, Treasurer and Governors of Saint Thomas' Hospital about the possibility of founding a training school for nurses at the hospital. This was Florence Nightingale's idea as to how the fund could best be used.

The first fifteen Probationers arrived on July 9th 1860. They were paid a salary of £10 during the one year's course, with board and lodging provided. At the end of the year, if they were approved, they were entered on the Register of Certified Nurses, and employment was found for them. If they stayed in employment for a complete year after their training they could earn gratuities of £3 and £5. Instruction during the course was mainly practical, with the Probationers working in the hospital wards under close supervision. Considerable emphasis was placed on high moral character. From 1867 there were two classes of entry to the school: 1) Ordinary Probationers, who entered on the basis of a small salary and free board, as above and 2) Lady Probationers or Special probationers. These were trained specially for posts as Superintendents and Matrons of other institutions on completion of their training. They paid a sum of £30 for the year's tuition, and board and lodging.

One of the particular features of the Nightingale Training School was that nurses were trained not merely for Saint Thomas' Hospital, but with the clear intention that they be sent out in groups to other institutions to undertake nursing reform. The school had only been open two years when the first group went to Liverpool Royal Infirmary, and subsequent groups went as far as Canada and Australia, as well as to many British hospitals.