No further information.
Otto Bernstein grew up in late 19th century Elbersfeld and Kassel, Germany, and was an inmate of Theresienstadt concentration camp. Bern Brent, the depositor, provides us with an account of his experiences on the ship, the 'Dunera', bringing refugees from Europe to Australia where he made his home.
Priest's registers: Before the restoration of the hierarchy many individual priests, as opposed to parishes, often kept registers covering diverse geographical areas.
Born, 1629; physician in Montpellier, France; died, 1699.
Harrow Manor belonged to the archbishops of Canterbury from the early middle ages until 1545 when Henry VIII forced Cranmer to sell the manor to him. Henry sold the estate to Sir Edward North. The North family sold the manor to the Pitt family, whence it came to Alice Pitt and her husbands, Edward Palmer and then Sir James Rushout. The Rushouts acquired the barony of Northwick in 1797. Harrow stayed in the family until the death of the 3rd Baron, Sir George Rushout-Bowles, in 1887. His widow left the estate to her grandson Captain E. G. Spencer-Churchill. He sold the land in the 1920s.
Harrow Manor described both the manorial rights over the whole area and the chief demesne farm in the centre of the parish. This was known as Sudbury Manor or Sudbury Court. The ownership of Sudbury Manor followed that of Harrow, hence the name Harrow alias Sudbury.
From: 'Harrow, including Pinner : Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 203-211 (available online).
The Manor of Harrow Rectory alias Harrow-on-the-Hill originated in land owned by priest Werhardt in the 9th century. From 1094-1845 Harrow Rectory was a peculiar of the archbishopric of Canterbury within the deanery of Croydon. The rector had sole manorial jurisdiction over Harrow-on-the-Hill and Roxborough, and collected tithes from a large area. This was a prized position which attracted ambitious and important men, and the rectory house was accordingly fine and spacious. In 1546 the rectory was impropriated to Christ Church, Oxford, but in 1547 the college alienated the rectory, the advowson of the vicarage, and (from 1550) the tithes to Sir Edward North, lord of Harrow alias Sudbury Manor. The grant was made in fee farm in perpetuity, North paying the College an annual fee. North sublet the rectory and tithes while retaining the manorial rights, and enjoyed the rights and profits of the rectory. In 1630 the rectory was conveyed to George Pitt and thereafter descended with Sudbury Court Manor until 1807, when the rectory house and 121 acres of land north of it were sold to James Edwards; the remaining land becoming part of Harrow Park.
'Harrow, including Pinner : Harrow church', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 249-255 (available online).
The Manor of Poplar was formed in 1200 when part of the lands of Bernard of Stepney were sold to Henry of Bedfont. In 1339 the manor was owned by Sir John Pulteney, the Mayor of London. From 1405 to 1538 the manor was the property of the abbey of Saint Mary Graces, who gave it to the Crown in 1539. It was subsequently broken up, the manor house and the lordship and lands being granted to different people.
Source of information: 'Stepney: Manors and Estates', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11: Stepney, Bethnal Green (1998), pp. 19-52.
The early history of the estate later known as Swakeleys manor is obscure. In the early 13th century the estate seems to have passed to John de Trumpinton whose son, also called John, still held it about 1260. By 1329, however, part of this land had apparently been acquired by Robert Swalcliffe of Swalcliffe. Four years later Robert and his wife conveyed their lands to William le Gauger of London, but the family name Swalcliffe, later contracted to Swakeleys, continued to attach to the estate. In 1751 the estate was sold to the Reverend Thomas Clarke, Rector of Ickenham. Members of the Clarke family held Swakeleys for over a century. Thomas Clarke died in 1796 and was succeeded by his son Thomas Truesdale Clarke. Thomas Truesdale's son, another Thomas Truesdale, succeeded in 1840 and bought the manor of Ickenham in 1859. He died in 1890 and was succeeded by his son William Capel Clarke, who had married Clara Thornhill and had added his wife's name to his own. William Capel Clarke-Thornhill died in 1898 and in 1922 his son Thomas Bryan Clarke-Thornhill sold most of the Swakeleys estate to agents for development as a residential suburb.
The extent of Swakeleys in the Middle Ages is unknown: from the 14th century the manor included much land outside the parish. In 1531 it was said to comprise more than 1,000 acres and in 1608 over 2,000 acres. At inclosure in 1780 Thomas Clarke held 368 acres in Ickenham. A park is mentioned in 1453 and again in 1517. This presumably was that surrounding Swakeleys manor-house.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 69-75 (available online).
In 1086 Twickenham was part of the manor of Isleworth Syon. It is not mentioned as a separate manor until 1445 when it was held by the York family. It was sold in 1538 to Edward Seymour, later the Lord Protector, who later swapped it with the Crown for other lands. It was granted to Queen Henrietta Maria in 1629. The Crown leased out the manor houses and lands, and finally sold the manorial rights in 1836. By 1909 the manorial rights had lapsed.
Source of information: 'Twickenham: Manors', 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. 147-150 (available online).
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
The Bacon family owned extensive estates in the Finchley, Friern Barnet and Hornsey areas. See A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate (1980) for more information (available online).
The Andrews and Weall families were united by the marriage of Dr James Andrews, originally of Pershore, Worcestershire, to Margaret Weall of Hampstead, in about 1872. Trust funds for Margaret were set up under the wills of her great-uncles John and Benjamin Weall. She was also to inherit the residue of the real estate of Benjamin Weall which consisted of houses in Watford, Hertfordshire, and Headstone Farm and land in Pinner, Middlesex. Litigation was started by Margaret Andrews (ne Weall) against her trustees arising out of a dispute over law costs charged by the trustees to her estate. This resulted in a test case tried in the High Court, Chancery Division, 1889, in which Mrs Andrews was successful. The report in The Times called it 'a judgement of great importance and interest to trustees and their cestuis que trustent'.
According to the Post Office London Directory Charles Douglas Singer was in 1859 secretary to the Medical Invalid and General Life Assurance Society. By 1880 he was described as a letter clip manufacturer. He lived in several of the North London suburbs, from c. 1859-67 in Upper Holloway, from c. 1869-82 in Stoke Newington and by 1889 he was living in his brother George's home at 53, The Common, Upper Clapton.
Catherine Sarah Courtenay of Porterlington, Queen's County, Ireland mortgaged property to Charles Douglas Singer in 1860. These papers concern the legal problems and the incumbrances on the estates in which she had an interest, either through her husband John Courtenay who died in 1841, or inherited from her father George Murphy.
The Harrison family papers relate to Edward Harrison who died in 1865, a stationer presumably of Matthews Harrison and Sons Ltd. of 82, Cornhill; his widow Elizabeth who lived at Tulse Hill and Blackheath before moving to Eastbourne and the younger Edward Harrison who lived in Enfield from 1891 until his death in 1902 or 1903. It seems possible that his wife Emma was the daughter of Charles Douglas Singer who was made a trustee and executor of his will in 1891. In her will she in turn appointed two members of the Singer family trustees and executors.
These printed items were collected for their general or antiquarian interest, rather than having a united provenance (that is, being produced by the same institution or business).
Parish officials were responsible for early forms of local government as well as administration of the church. In Edmonton, overseers of the poor were first mentioned in 1639. One overseer was appointed for each of the four wards. Parish vestry meetings had begun by 1739 and included a workhouse committee which comprised the trustees, the vicar, churchwardens, overseers and elected parishioners. The committee administered poor relief, providing money or goods to paupers. It appears that the poor were admitted to the workhouse as a last resort, while poor children were apprenticed.
Source of information: 'Edmonton: Local government', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 175-179 (available online).
Members of the Strange family lived at various address across London and Middlesex.
Charles Hart of Greenwich was a hotel keeper.
There is no obvious connection between the families.
These papers relating to the local history of Middlesex were collected for their general or antiquarian interest and relevance to the subject, rather than having a united provenance (that is, being produced by the same institution or business).
Wright's Buildings were cottages, numbered 1 to 14, situated on the east side of Crouch End Hill. They were constructed in the early 19th century.
Park Road leads from Crouch End to Muswell Hill. It was called Maynard Street from 1503 until 1854, after a prominent local family.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate (1980).
The manor of Little Stanmore was also referred to as the Manor of Canons. In 1709 the manor was purchased by James Brydges, Duke of Chandos, who built a luxurious house filled with exotic collectibles. The Duke's son inherited the estate but had to sell it and much of the collection and even architectural elements of the house. The land passed through various owners until 1860, when it was bought by Dr David Begg. On his death the estate stretched from Whitchurch Lane north beyond London Road, and from Edgware Road westward to Marsh Lane. Apart from the mansion it contained the farm-house which had belonged to Marsh farm, North and South lodges, at the Edgware gates, and Stone Grove House, Lodge, and Cottage, along Edgware Road; there were also four 'superior' houses at the corner of Dennis Lane and London Road and fields at the corner of Marsh Lane and London Road.
After Dr Begg's death a Morris Jenks bought the entire estate, amounting to some 479 acres, and sold it in 1896 to the Canons Park Estate Company, which in 1898 issued a prospectus of its plans for development. Arthur du Cros, founder of the Dunlop Rubber Co. and later a baronet, bought the mansion but in 1905 sold part of the estate. In 1919 he formed a trust, the Pards Estate, and in 1920 Canons itself was offered for sale, with lands that had been greatly reduced in the north, west, and south-east. Canons Park, formerly Marsh, farm-house and the other houses had been sold and 150 acres remained, almost corresponding to the present open space but still stretching eastward, along the north of the avenue, to reach as far as Edgware Road. In 1926 George Cross bought 85 acres and in 1928 the remainder was bought by Canons Limited and, on the west, by Harrow Urban District Council as a park. The mansion and 10 acres were sold in 1929 to the North London Collegiate school. More land was acquired by the school in 1936 and by the county council for playing fields, which were lent to the school.
Canons Park Estate is a housing estate built in the 1920s and 1930s. The housing estate incorporates 340 houses, gardens, open spaces and ponds.
From: 'Little Stanmore: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 113-117.
Charles Bowles and his wife Mary lived in Ratcliffe. By 1792 they had moved to East Sheen, Surrey. Charles died before 1798.
Sir Edward Gould lived in Highgate with his wife Lady Frances. He died in 1728 leaving his estate to his closest male relative, his great nephew Edward Gould. Edward married Mary Thoroton and their son Edward Thoroton Gould later came into the Highgate estates.
The parishes of Feltham, Hanworth and Sunbury were all enclosed at the same date, in 1800. Until then the common land had formed part of Hounslow Heath.
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
Feoffment was an early form of conveyance involving a simple transfer of freehold land by deed followed by in a ceremony called livery of seisin.
Source: British Records Association Guidelines 3: How to interpret deeds (available online).
An 'indenture' was a deed or agreement between two or more parties. Two or more copies were written out, usually on one piece of parchment or paper, and then cut in a jagged or curvy line, so that when brought together again at any time, the two edges exactly matched and showed that they were parts of one and the same original document. A 'right hand indenture' is therefore the copy of the document which was on the right hand side when the parchment was cut in two.
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Probate (also called proving a will) is the process of establishing the validity of a will, which was recorded in the grant of probate.
Abstract of title is a summary of prior ownership of a property, drawn up by solicitors. Such an abstract may go back several hundred years or just a few months, and was usually drawn up just prior to a sale.
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
Feoffment was an early form of conveyance involving a simple transfer of freehold land by deed followed by in a ceremony called livery of seisin.
A bargain and sale was an early form of conveyance often used by executors to convey land. The bargainee, or person to whom the land was bargained and sold, took possession, often referred to as becoming 'seised' of the land.
Source: British Records Association Guidelines 3: How to interpret deeds (available online).
A Thomas Dewell is noted as a leader of non-established religions in Old Brentford; organising meetings of Independents and acting as trustee of a Baptist congregation in Old Brentford, founded in 1819.
Source: 'Ealing and Brentford: Protestant nonconformity', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 158-162.
Fulham House (or Hall), otherwise known as Stourton House, was occupied by Thomas Winter. It was situated in Bear Street, on the west side, just north of the Swan Inn. A portion of the site is now occupied by Cambridge House, number 156 High Street, and the houses northward. The approach to Putney Bridge covers most of the site. The house was demolished by M Henry Scarth in 1842.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Probate (also called proving a will) is the process of establishing the validity of a will, which was recorded in the grant of probate. If a person died intestate (without a valid will) their money, goods and possessions passed to their next of kin through an administration (or letters of administration) which had the same form in law as a will.
Abstract of title is a summary of prior ownership of a property, drawn up by solicitors. Such an abstract may go back several hundred years or just a few months, and was usually drawn up just prior to a sale.
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
A marriage settlement was a legal agreement drawn up before a marriage by the two parties, setting out terms with respect to rights of property and succession.
Source: British Records Association Guidelines 3: How to interpret deeds (available online).
The Goldsmith's Company held estates in East Acton which they acquired in 1682. The estate comprised a house, farmhouses, cottages, and several acres of land. The Company leased out the house, as evidenced by document ACC/0455/001, a lease from the company to Charles Watson. In the twentieth century the Company sold off most of the land and demolished the house.
From: 'Acton: Manors and other estates', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 16-23 (available online).
Bentley Priory was a freehold estate in Harrow. It was originally owned by an Augustinian house but passed into private hands when the priory was dissolved in 1536. In 1788 the estate was sold to John James Hamilton, the Marquess of Abercorn, who died in 1818. In 1857 the estate was sold to builder and railway engineer Sir John Kelk who sold it in 1882.
Aylwards was a tenement of Great Stanmore Manor which later passed into private hands and thence into the ownership of the Marquess of Abercorn.
Source of information: 'Harrow, including Pinner : Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 203-211 and 'Great Stanmore: Economic history', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 99-102 (available online).
The Christmas cards are from Sir James Boyton, M.P. for Marylebone; Henry John Yeend-King, landscape painter and Royal Academician; and Adrian Jones, sculptor and Royal Academician.
The Manor of West Drayton was owned by Saint Paul's Cathedral from around 1000. It was leased out or farmed for the common benefit of the canons. Henry VIII acquired the manor in 1546 and granted it to Sir William Paget (1506-1568). It remained in the Paget family until 1786 when Henry Paget, the first Earl of Uxbridge (1744-1812) sold it to Fysh Coppinger, a London merchant. Coppinger assumed his wife's surname of de Burgh and the manor stayed in the de Burgh family until 1939.
Information from: 'Hillingdon, including Uxbridge: Manors and other estates', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 69-75 (available online).
An apprenticeship indenture is a legal document, signed by the apprentice and their master, which laid out the terms and conditions of the apprenticeship. The length of service is usually specified; while sometimes the obligations of the master are mentioned (e.g. to provide food, shelter and lodging) and any premiums paid are noted.
These statistics were prepared by local judicial administrators for the Home Office.
There is no unifying factor to these papers (e.g. that they relate to property owned by one estate or family or the legal work of one office), they came into the possession of the Kansas City Museum who passed to the archive.
A most unusual form of Victorian country house guest book. Each guest has signed on arrival, but the book requires them to record their weight, and also indicate how they were dressed. Lord Bingham suceeded his father as Lord Lucan, and therefore the visitors are particularly high status. The final entries, dated February 1st 1910 are of Edward VII, Queen Alexandra, Princess Victoria Mary (soon to become Queen Mary) and the princesses Victoria and Mary. The Royal Family did not include thier weight entries! Other high status Victorians who do include notification of their weight include Hardinge of Penshurst, Prince Hermann of Saxeweimar, Prince Francis of Teck, the future Queen Mary, Earl Howe, Lord Dorchester, the Duke of Hamilton, George Duke of Cambridge, the Earl of Munster, the Duke of Richmond and Gordon.
Laleham House was the seat of the Earl of Lucan, situated to the south of the village of Laleham.
The Benedictine monastery of Saint Peter in Westminster is better known as Westminster Abbey. The exact date of foundation is unclear. The monastery was situated on Thorney Island in the Thames, a suitable place because of the fresh water and food resources of the river. When Edward the Confessor became king in 1042 he had vowed to make a pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Peter in Rome, but as this would have been impractical the Pope released him from this vow on condition that he build or restore a monastery to the saint. He therefore moved his palace to Westminster and began work on a new monastery and church. The new building was completed in December 1065 and consecrated just 8 days before Edward died. William I (the Conqueror) was the first monarch to be crowned in the Abbey, and to date all but two of his successors have been crowned there.
After Edward the Confessor was canonised in 1139 the importance of the Abbey increased and various kings gave gifts, endowments and privileges to the monastery. Henry III began a rebuilding project in 1245, determined to make a sumptuous building, influenced by recent French architectural styles. Saint Edward was given a special shrine in a chapel. The rebuilding was not completed until 1532. The monastery was dissolved in 1540 but because of its royal associations it was saved from destruction. It became the cathedral of the new diocese of Westminster and a Dean and Chapter were appointed.
The Abbey is full of monuments and tombs including those of several kings and queens; churchmen; statesmen and politicians; members of the armed forces, poets and writers; scientists; explorers; architects; educators and actors. The dead of the First World War are commemorated by the monument to the Unknown Warrior.
Information from The London Encyclopaedia, eds. Weinreb and Hibbert (LMA Library Reference 67.2 WEI).
Sir John Buckworth was a leading merchant, trading with Turkey. The property referred to in this collection comprises four capital messuages variously known as Augustine Fryers, Winchester Place or House, St John House, the Excise House and the Glasshouse, and a number of adjacent messuages, all formerly part of, or on part of the site of, the dissolved Augustine Friary.
William D'Oyley was a surveyor from Loughton, Essex. He was appointed as the first Superintendent of Epping Forest in 1876 (to oversee the forest lands which the City of London Corporation had begun to acquire in anticipation of the Epping Forest Act 1878). He was succeeded as Superintendent by Alexander McKenzie in 1878.
The Court of King's Bench (or Queen's Bench, depending on the monarch) was founded circa 1200 to hear common pleas, although it came to specialise in pleas of special interest and concern to the king, such as those which involved his own property interests, or breach of his peace, or an error of judgment by another royal court. By 1675 the King's Bench was the highest court of common law in England and Wales, with jurisdiction over both civil and criminal actions. Civil business was conducted on the 'Plea Side' and criminal business on the 'Crown Side'. It was absorbed into the High Court in 1875 (source of information: The National Archives Research Guides Legal Records Information 34 and Legal Records Information 36).
The Court of Exchequer originated after the Norman Conquest as a financial committee of the Curia Regis (the King's Court). By the reign of Henry II it had become separate, and was responsible for the collection of the king's revenue as well as for judging cases affecting the revenue. By the 13th century the court proper and the exchequer or treasury began to separate. The court's jurisdiction over common pleas now steadily increased, to include, for example, money disputes between private litigants. A second Court of Exchequer Chamber was set up in 1585 to amend errors of the Court of the King's Bench. These were amalgamated in 1830 when a single Court of Exchequer emerged as a court of appeal intermediate between the common-law courts and the House of Lords. In 1875 the Court of Exchequer became, by the Judicature Act of 1873, part of the High Court of Justice, and in 1880 was combined with the Court of Common Pleas (source of information: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008).
The Lord Chancellor and his deputies sat in the Court of Chancery to hear disputes about inheritance and wills, lands, trusts, debts, marriage settlements, apprenticeships and so on. As an equity court, Chancery was not bound by the stricter rules of common law courts. Please see The National Archives Research Guides Legal Records Information 22, Legal Records Information 42 and Legal Records Information 28 for more information (all available online).
The Star Chamber was a special court which sat in the Palace of Westminster. It was intended to ensure that prominent and powerful individuals could be tried. Sessions were held in secret with no jury or witnesses. The system was vulnerable to corruption.
Sir John Chapman was a mercer who held office as Alderman of London. He was a Sheriff 1678-79 and Lord Mayor 1688-89, dying while in office.
Buzzacott and Company is a firm of chartered accountants based at 12 Fetter Lane, formed out of numerous predecessor firms.
Down and Harper was formed from the partnership of A N Harper and H E Down in 1945, and became Down, Son and Harper on Down's son's qualification and entry into the partnership in 1952. They were based at 44 Bow Lane. Their successor firms merged with Watson, O'Regan and Company, Buzzacott, Lillywhite and Company and Vincent and Goodrich to form Buzzacott and Company in 1971.
No historical information has yet been found for the other companies represented in this collection.
The companies listed in this collection had several connections, such as shared premises and directors.
They had ceased trading or had become holding or investment companies by 1982 when those that survived became subsidiaries of the Caparo Group Limited.
Globe Telegraph and Trust Company Limited was incorporated in 1873 by John Pender, a Liberal MP, who also founded the Eastern and Associated Telegraph Companies Group. Globe was formed in order to spread the short term risk of cable laying over a number of companies, and shares in Globe were offered in exchange for shares in submarine telegraph and associated companies. The Eastern and Associated Telegraph Companies Group, meanwhile, was built up by Pender over a number of years in the late 19th century, as described below.
MEDITERRANEAN AND INDIA. 1869: British Indian Submarine Telegraph Company Limited was formed to lay a cable from Bombay to Suez and thence to Alexandria and to Malta; and Falmouth, Gibraltar and Malta Telegraph Company Limited was formed to complete the chain to England with cables via Gibraltar and Portugal. 1872: British Indian Submarine; Falmouth, Gibraltar and Malta; Marseilles, Algiers and Malta (formed 1870); and Anglo-Mediterranean (formed 1868) telegraph companies were amalgamated by Pender to form Eastern Telegraph Company Limited.
THE FAR EAST. 1869: British Indian Extension Telegraph Company Limited was formed to lay a cable from Madras to Penang and on to Singapore. 1870: British Australian Telegraph Company Limited was formed to bring Australia within the ambit of submarine telegraph communication with Britain and laid a cable from Singapore to Java and on to Australia. 1869: Pender had meantime formed China Submarine Telegraph Company Limited to extend the cable from Singapore to Hong Kong via Saigon. 1873: Pender amalgamated the above three far eastern companies into Eastern Extension, Australasia and China Telegraph Company Limited which, with Eastern Telegraph Company Limited, formed the nucleus of the Eastern and Associated Telegraph Companies Group.
SOUTH AMERICA. 1865: River Plate Telegraph Company Limited was formed, with a head office in Scotland, to lay a cable across the mouth of the River Plate and operate a telegraph service between Argentina and Uruguay. 1872: Companhia Telegrafica Platino Brasileira was incorporated in Brazil, but reformed in England in 1878, as London Platino Brazilian Telegraph Company Limited and became part of the Eastern Group. 1892: Pacific and European Telegraph Company Limited was formed to compete with South American telegraph companies which connected the main Brazilian ports with each other and with Europe.
AFRICA: 1879: Eastern and South African Telegraph Company Limited was formed to lay cables up the east coast of Africa from Durban to Aden where they would join Eastern Telegraph Company's main line system. 1885: West African Telegraph Company Limited was formed to lay cables along the west coast of Africa and connect them with, in the main, foreign government systems. 1885: African Direct Telegraph Company Limited was formed to link the main British ports on the west coast of Africa with each other and with England. 1889: Eastern and South African, West African and African Direct all became part of the Eastern and Associated Telegraph Companies Group.
AZORES. 1893: Europe and Azores Telegraph Company Limited was formed under the aegis of the Eastern Group to lay a cable from Lisbon to the Azores.
By the turn of the century, therefore, the Eastern and Associated Telegraph Companies Group possessed a virtual monopoly of worldwide communication by telegraph cable. However, from this time on, cable communication came increasingly into competition with wireless telegraphy, chiefly in the form of Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company Limited.
In 1928 the Imperial Wireless and Cable Conference recommended that the overseas cable and wireless resources of the British Empire be merged into one system. As a result Cable and Wireless Limited (known from 1934 as Cable and Wireless (Holding) Limited) was formed in 1929 to acquire the shares of both the Eastern Group and the Marconi company, and Imperial and International Communications Limited (known from 1934 as Cable and Wireless Limited) was formed also in 1929 to acquire the communications assets of both the Eastern Group and the Marconi company.
In 1935 Globe Telegraph and Trust Company Limited acquired Cables Investment Trust Limited as a subsidiary. In 1946, when Cable and Wireless was nationalised, Globe owned a third of Cable and Wireless (Holding) Limited which was converted into an investment trust. It was renamed in 1971 as Cable Trust Limited. Since 1948 Globe and its associates have been concerned chiefly with general investment business, and in 1969 Globe was renamed as Globe Investment Trust Limited. In 1977 it merged with Cable Trust Limited.
Globe and the associated telegraph companies had offices at Winchester House, Old Broad Street until 1902; Electra House, Moorgate, until 1933; then Electra House, Temple Place, Victoria Embankment (more recently known as Globe House). Cable and Wireless shared accommodation with Globe until 1955 when Cable and Wireless moved to Mercury House, Theobalds Road, WC1.
The property in Paddington was owned by Daniel Tidey, Westbourne Grove, Paddington, builder, in the 1850s. The premises then passed into the ownership of the Reverend T Blockley.
F P Morrell took over property in Spitalfields from Reverend L L Sharpe of Brixton. F P Morrell lived at Black-Hall, Oxford and was the coroner for the University.
Fenton House in Hampstead was built some time between 1686 and 1689. The first owner was Thomas Sympson, whose widow sold the house in 1706 to Joshua Gee, a merchant. Later owner Philip Fenton gave the house its name, while it was owned from 1936 by Lady Katherine Binning who was a keen collector of porcelain, furniture and needlework.
For more information see: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-fentonhouse (accessed August 2011).
24 Cheyne Row was constructed in 1708 on land owned by Lord Cheyne. In June 1834 the writer Thomas Carlyle and his wife Jane moved into the property (then known as number 5, not 24). The couple rented the house until Carlyle's death in 1881 (Jane died in 1866). After 1881 the house continued to be rented out, although largely untouched. In 1895 the freehold was purchased by public subscription and the Carlyle's House Memorial Trust was formed to manage the property and open it to the public. It was transferred to the National Trust in 1936.
For more information see: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-carlyleshouse.htm (accessed August 2011).
These papers relating to Battersea Park were collected by James Phillips for their general or antiquarian interest and relevance to the subject, rather than having a united provenance (that is, being produced by the same institution or business).
Battersea Fields were converted into Battersea Park between 1846 and 1864, designed by Sir James Pennethorne.
The London Fish Trade Association was formed in 1880 as the London Fish Salesman's Association to protect the interests of Billingsgate merchants. It changed its name to the London Fish Trade Association in 1881. From 1884 it occupied the subscription rooms in Billingsgate Market. From 1934 the Association operated coastal advice and bulking schemes for the benefit of members; various other schemes were undertaken later.
The Association was incorporated in 1946 as the London Fish Merchants' Association (Billingsgate) Ltd (see CLC/B/151-01), and a trading company, London Wholesale Fish Trade (Billingsgate) Ltd (see CLC/B/151-05), was formed at the same time to take over the operation of the various schemes.
Phoenix Oil and Transport Company Limited was registered on 24 June 1920 to acquire various interests in Roumanian oil undertakings. In 1922 it acquired control of Roumanian Consolidated Oilfields Limited and in 1926 Phoenix Oil Products Ltd.
In 1926 Phoenix Oil and Transport also acquired Orion S.A.R. de Petrol, which owned oilfields in Roumania. Orion, although a Roumanian registered company, was a Dutch undertaking, formed in 1910. Unirea S.A.R. de Petrol, a wholly owned subsidiary of Phoenix Oil and Transport, was registered in Bucharest in 1920. Into it went the assets of several small English companies partially destroyed during the First World War.
Arbanash (Roumania) Oil Company Limited, incorporated in the United Kingdom in 1912, was the nominee through which Phoenix Oil and Transport held the whole of the issued capital of Unirea. In 1935 Unirea amalgamated with Orion and in 1938 with Roumanian Consolidated Oilfields Limited, so that by this date all of Phoenix Oil and Transport's Roumanian interests were consolidated in Unirea and its subsidiaries.
The company's assets were in enemy hands from 1941 until early in 1945, although the Roumanian subsidiaries continued operating, despite aerial bombardment which caused serious damage to refineries, tankage and loading stations. Production in Roumania declined sharply from about a million tons in 1936 to 396,000 tons in 1945. Unirea was taken into Roumanian state ownership in 1948.
Until 1946, a substantial interest in Phoenix Oil and Transport was held by General Mining and Finance Corporation Limited, which was represented on the board. Its interests were purchased in 1946 by Alpha Petrol Company of South Africa, and in 1948 the head office of Phoenix Oil and Transport moved to South Africa. On 27 February 1950 the company went into compulsory liquidation.
Phoenix Oil and Transport Company Limited had registered offices at 308 Winchester House, Old Broad Street, until 1923, then 6 Princes Street (1923-1926), 9-13 Fenchurch Buildings, Fenchurch Street (1926-49) and 33 King William Street from 1949.
The Port of London Authority was established in 1908 to take full control of the tidal river Thames and its docks.
The Authority was housed in a large stone office in Trinity Square, overlooking Tower Hill. The offices were built between 1912 and 1922 to designs by Edwin Cooper.
The history below relates to Sun Insurance Office Limited only. For the histories of subsidiary companies and companies which merged with Sun Insurance please see their sub-fonds entries (CLC/B/192-02 to -37).
In 1708 Charles Povey founded the Exchange House Fire Office. In the next year, a Company of London Insurers was formed, consisting of 24 members. In 1710 Povey transferred his right in the Exchange House, also known as the Sun Fire Office, to the Company of London Insurers. The business of the Sun Fire Office was henceforth conducted in Causey's Coffee House near St Paul's Cathedral. In March 1711 it moved to a house in Sweeting's Rents. The Company was governed by two bodies: the General Court which was a meeting of all the managers, and the Committee of Management (consisting of 7 members) which met weekly.
A branch office, known as the Charing Cross office (or Westminster House), was opened in Craig's Court in 1726. The office was moved to 60 and 61 Charing Cross in 1866.
Business in Germany was established during the first half of the 19th century, and during the second half of the century the Sun Insurance Office began to operate in rest of Europe, the Near East, the Far East, the USA, Canada, South America, Australasia, China and Africa.
The Accident Department and the Marine Department were established in 1907 and 1921 respectively.
The name of the company was changed to the Sun Insurance Office in 1891. It became a public limited liability company in 1926. In 1959 it merged with Alliance to form Sun Alliance Insurance Limited, and in 1996 Sun Alliance merged with Royal Insurance to form the Royal and Sun Alliance Insurance Group.
The Sun Life Assurance Society was established in 1810 to take over the life insurance business of the Sun Fire Office. The membership of each company's board of managers was identical. Sun Life was based in Bank Buildings, then at Threadneedle Street, and later at Cheapside. The collection includes very few records of Sun Life Assurance Society.
The Sun Insurance Office archive includes records relating to the Sun Indemnity Company of New York. In 1822 the Sun Fire Office took over the Watertown Insurance Company and a US manager was appointed. By the end of 1886 the company was represented in 20 states. The following year the head office of the US branch was moved to New York. The Sun Insurance Office floated the Sun Indemnity Company of New York and the Patriotic Insurance Company of America in 1922. In 1929 the Sun Underwriters Insurance Company of New York was formed. In 1955 these companies were reorganized into two firms: the Sun branch, and the Sun Insurance Company of New York (incorporating Sun Indemnity, Patriotic, and Sun Underwriters).
The Sun Insurance Office had a number of UK subsidiary companies, including: Bath Sun Fire Office (from 1838, see CLC/B/192-06); Patriotic Assurance Company of Dublin (from 1906, see CLC/B/192-30); Alliance Assurance Company (from 1959, see CLC/B/192-02); London Assurance (from 1965, see CLC/B/192-26); and Planet Assurance Company (from 1968, see CLC/B/192-32).
The company was based at Causey's Coffee House in St Paul's Church Yard (1710-11), Sweeting's Rents (1711-27), Threadneedle Street (1727-63), Bank Buildings in Cornhill (1763-1843), and Threadneedle Street (1843-).
Of the five companies, three are subsidiaries of the depositing company. City and West End Properties Limited, property company, was established in 1897 and based at 101 Leadenhall Street. In 1907 it moved to Bush Lane House where it remained until it was acquired by Trafalgar House Development Limited in 1964.
Corbett and Newson Limited, property company, was acquired by Trafalgar House Development Limited in 1966.
Woodgate Investment Trust Limited, property company, was incorporated in 1932 and shared offices with Corbett and Newson Limited at 17 Gracechurch Street (to 1933) and 34 Great St Helen's (1934-66). It too was acquired by Trafalgar House Development Limited in 1966.
Two of the five companies have no connection with the depositing company. Metropolitan Properties Company Limited and Consolidated London Properties Limited (which was acquired by Capital and Counties Properties Limited in 1964). The inclusion of these two companies derives from their previous association with City and West End Properties Limited, with which they shared both offices and directors before 1964: in some cases their records are intermingled.