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Franz Bauer was born in Feldsberg, Austria in 1758; his first published botanical drawing appeared in 1771; moved to England in 1790 to take up a position of draughtsman at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew; amongst his publications was Strelitzia Depicta (1818). Bauer is considered to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of botanical artists.

Bavarian Political Police

The Bavarian Political Police was created by Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler in 1933. It was independent from the authority of the police headquarters in Munich, allowing the Nazi party to control the police.

Edward Bawden was born in Braintree, Essex in 1903. He was educated at Braintree High School, the Friends' School in Saffron Walden, Cambridge School of Art. From 1922-1925, he studied under Paul Nash at the Royal College of Art (RCA), and was a contemporary student and friend of Eric Ravilious and Douglas Percy Bliss. Bawden continued to study at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, and worked as tutor in the School of Graphic Design at the RCA, as well as teaching at the RA Schools and Goldsmiths' College. He exhibited watercolours at the St George's Gallery, 1927, and held his first on-artist show at the Zwemmer Gallery in 1934. In 1925 he was commissioned by Harold Curwen to illustrate a booklet, Pottery making in Poole, and together with Ravilious was designing patterned paper, borders and fleurons for Curwen Press. From 1928-50, he illustrated a number of other publications. Curwen became his friend, sponsor and teacher, and encouraged him to draw directly on the stone. In 1947, he illustrated The Arabs, for the Puffin Picture Book series, published by Penguin.

As an official war artist from 1940-1945, he was sent on a number of expeditions to the Middle East and other sectors, finally visiting Italy. He considered this period as the time when he "really learned to draw". During 1949 and 1950 he visited Canada as a guest instructor at Banff School of Fine Arts, Alberta.

He was a most skilful artist in black and white and colour, using several techniques in his work, including woodcuts, line drawing, linocutting and auto-lithography. As well as illustrating many books and book jackets, he painted in watercolour and gouache, painted a number of successful murals, designed wallpaper and ceramic wall tiles, produced linocut prints and did commercial work, including poster designs.

His work is represented in the Tate Gallery, London, and by water-colour drawings in several London, Dominion and provincial galleries; exhibitions at: Leicester Galleries, 1938, 1949, 1952; Zwemmer Gallery, 1934, 1963; Fine Art Society, 1968, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1987, 1989; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 1978; Imperial War Museum, 1983; V&A, 1988, 1989; retrospective touring exhibition, 1988-1989.

As printmaker and graphic designer, he designed and cut blocks for a series of wallpapers printed by Messrs Cole & Son, and painted mural decorations for the SS Orcades and SS Oronsay, also for Lion and Unicorn Pavilion on South Bank site of Festival of Britain.

In 1932 he married Charlotte Epton of Lincoln (died 1970). Bawden died on 21 November 1989.

He held the positions of Trustee of Tate Gallery, 1951-1958, Honorary Dr RCA; DUniv Essex; Honorary RE, RWS. He was awarded CBE 1946; RA 1956 (ARA 1947); RDI 1949.

Books written and illustrated: Hold fast by your teeth, Routledge, 1963; A book of cuts, Scolar Press, 1979.

Illustrated books include: The Histories of Herodotus, Salammbô, Tales of Troy and Greece, The Arabs, Life in an English Village, and many others.

Bawden was born in North Tawton, Devon, and educated at local grammar schools and Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 1926-1930, where he read for Part I of the Natural Sciences Tripos and the Cambridge Diploma in Agricultural Science. After graduating from Cambridge he worked as Research Assistant to R.N. Salaman at the Potato Virus Research Institute in Cambridge. In 1936 he moved to Rothamsted Experimental Station, Hertfordshire, as Virus Physiologist, and became successively Head of the Plant Pathology Department, 1940-1958, Deputy Director, 1950-1958, and Director from 1958 to his death. Bawden served on many committees, and on the Council of the Royal Society of which he was also Treasurer. He lectured and travelled widely and was frequently invited to advise on overseas agricultural projects. He was elected FRS in 1949 (Leeuwenhoek Lecture 1959) and knighted in 1967.

Bax was the son of Henry Bonham Bax (q.v.). He entered the Navy in 1851 and specialized in surveying. From 1871 to 1875 Bax commanded the survey ship DWARF on the China Station and published an account of the voyage. From December 1876 until his death in July 1877, he commanded the SYLVIA, also on the China Station. He published The 'Eastern Seas' (London, 1875).

Born 1886; studied art at the Slade School and Heatherley's; Chairman of the Incorporated Stage Society, 1929; abandoned painting to concentrate upon literary and dramatic work; first play to be produced commercially was 'The Poetasters of Ispahan', 1912; subsequent productions were 'Polly', with music by Frederick Austin, 1923; 'The Insect Play', adapted in collaboration with Nigel Playfair, 1923; 'Midsummer Madness', with music by Armstrong Gibbs, 1924; 'Mr Pepys', with music by Martin Shaw, 1926; 'Waterloo Leave', with music by Martin Shaw, 1928; 'Socrates', 1930; 'The Venetian', 1931; 'The Immortal Lady', 1931; 'The Rose without a Thorn', 1932; 'The House of Borgia', 1935; also produced several anthologies of his own and others' poetry, biographies, volumes of short stories, and memoirs; died 1962. Publications: include Twenty-five Chinese Poems (W Budd & Co, London, 1910); Shakespeare. A play in five episodes with Harold Frederick Rubinstein (Benn Bros, London, 1921); Midsummer Madness. A play for music (London, 1923); Inland Far. A book of thoughts and impressions (William Heinemann, London, 1925); Mr Pepys. A ballad-opera (William Heinemann, London, 1926); Many a Green Isle (William Heinemann, London, 1927) [short stories]; Socrates. A play in six scenes (Victor Gollancz, London, 1930); Twelve Short Plays, serious and comic (Victor Gollancz, London, 1932); Leonardo da Vinci (Peter Davies, London, 1932); Pretty Witty Nell. An account of Nell Gwynn and her environment (Chapman and Hall, London, 1932); Farewell, My Muse (Lovat Dickson, London, 1932) [collected poems]; Ideas and People (Lovat Dickson, London, 1936); Highways and Byways in Essex (Macmillan and Co, 1939); The Life of the White Devil [A biography of Vittoria Orsini, Duchess of Bracciano] (Cassel and Co, London, 1940); Evenings in Albany (Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1942); Time with a Gift of Tears. A modern romance (Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1943) [novel]; The Beauty of Women (Frederick Muller, London, 1946); Golden Eagle. A drama (Home & Van Thal, London, 1946); The Silver Casket. Being love-letters and love-poems attributed to Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots (Home & Van Thal, London, 1946); Hemlock for Eight. A radio play with L M Lion (Frederick Muller, London, 1946); The Buddha. A radio version of his life and ideas (Victor Gollancz, London, 1947); Rosemary for Remembrance (Frederick Muller, London, 1948); Circe. A play in three acts (Frederick Muller, London, 1949); The Distaff Muse. An anthology of poetry written by women with Meum Stewart (Hollis & Carter, London, 1949); Some I knew well (Phoenix House, London, 1951); W G Grace (Phoenix House, London, 1952).

Bax was in the Navy from 1813 to 1817, after which he entered the service of the East India Company. In 1844 he became an Elder Brother of Trinity House. See Arthur Nesham Bax, A Bax family of east kent ( published privately, 1951).

Bax was the son of Bonham Ward Bax (q.v.). He joined the BRITANNIA in 1889, rose to captain in 1913 and saw active service in World War One. He was promoted to admiral on the retired list in 1932.

Henry Bonham Bax was in the Navy from 1813 to 1817, after which he entered the service of the East India Company. In 1844 he became an Elder Brother of Trinity House. See Arthur Nesham Bax, A Bax family of east Kent (published privately, 1951).

Captain Bonham Ward Bax was the son of Henry Bonham Bax (q.v.). He entered the Navy in 1851 and specialized in surveying. From 1871 to 1875 Bax commanded the survey ship DWARF on the China Station and published an account of the voyage. From December 1876 until his death in July 1877, he commanded the SYLVIA, also on the China Station. He published The Eastern Seas (London, 1875).

Robert Nesham Bax was the son of Bonham Ward Bax (q.v.). He joined the Britannia in 1889, rose to captain in 1913 and saw active service in World War One. He was promoted to admiral on the retired list in 1932.

Arnold Edward Trevor Bax was born in Streatham, London on 8 November 1883. He received his musical education from the Hampstead Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Music. Whilst at the Academy he won the Battison Haynes prize for composition in 1902, and the MacFarren scholarship for composition, which he held until he left the Academy in 1905. He gave his first public appearance as a composer at St. James Hall in 1902. In 1910 Bax was elected an associate and in 1920 a fellow of the Academy.

Bax composed many works including, The Garden of Sand 1916, The Tale the Pine Trees Knew, 1931 and the Cello Concerto, 1932. Bax's reputation as a composer brought him many honours. He was knighted in 1937. He also received honorary degrees from Oxford University 1934, Durham 1935 and the National University of Ireland 1947. He died in Cork, Ireland on 3 October 1953.

Born Dunedin, New Zealand, June 1926; poet and playright, his radio play, Jack Winter's Dream (1959), made him internationally famous. Among his poetry collections was Pig Island Letters, published in 1966. In that year, he accepted the Robert Burns Fellowship at the University of Otago. He resigned to live in Jerusalem, a Maori settlement on the Wanganui river and travelled to nearby cities to work with the poor. His poems of this period often railed against society for tolerating poverty. The ascetic life he led from this period resulted in his health suffering. He moved to a commune near Auckland and died there in October 1972.

John Baxter was born in Australia in 1939. He has written extensively on the cinema, producing biographies of Woody Allen, Stanley Kubrick, Luis Bunel, Steven Spielberg, Frederico Fellini, Josef von Sternberg and George Lucas. He lived for a time in Los Angeles, where he was a film journalist and wrote screenplays. Baxter is also known for writing and commentating on science fiction. He has lived in Paris since 1989.

John Bayley was an author and literary critic who was a professor at Oxford for many years. He married the author Iris Murdoch in 1956, and stayed with her until her death in 1999. He published a trilogy of books on his life with Murdoch, particularly on caring for her through her Alzheimer's. After Murdoch's death he married Audi Villiers.

Michael Howard was an army officer during the Second World War. He met John Bayley during this time and continued a friendship and correspondence with him afterwards.

William Maddock Bayliss was born in Wolverhampton in 1860. He was apprenticed at Wolverhampton Hospital, in order to follow his interest in medicine, but did not complete the course there. Instead, in 1881, he entered University College London, where he came under the influence of Edwin Ray Lankester and John Burdon Sanderson. In 1885 he followed Burdon Sanderson to Wadham College, Oxford, where he gained first class honours in the school of natural science in 1888. After a short time teaching physiology at Oxford, he returned to University College London where he remained for the rest of his life. In 1912 a professorship of general physiology was created specially for him. He was for a long time a member of the Physiological Society, acting as secretary from 1900 to 1922 and treasurer from 1922 until his death in 1924. He became a member of the Royal Society in 1903 and was knighted in 1922. During his time at University College London, Bayliss studied electric currents in the salivary glands and collaborated with EH Starling on electric currents in the mammalian heart. He published on venous and capillary pressures in 1894 and innervation of the intestine in 1898-99. In 1902 he discovered secretin and he also studied the vascular system, enzyme action and the use of saline injections for the amelioration of surgical shock. His principal publications were 'The nature of enzyme action' (1908), 'Principles of general physiology' (1915) and 'The vaso-motor system' (1923). In 1893 he married Gertrude Ellen Starling, sister of EH Starling. They had three sons and one daughter. One of the sons was Leonard Ernest Bayliss.Leonard Bayliss took his degree and PhD in physiology at Trinity College Cambridge, but spent most of his working life at University College London. From 1925 to 1933 he worked under Starling in the physiology department, then after some work in America and in Plymouth, he lectured in physiology at Edinburgh University. During the second world war he worked for the air force and in 1945 returned to University College. He retired in 1950 but continued as Hononary Research Assistant. In 1955 he wrote an account of the Brown Dog case from the point of view of the College, a version of which he later published in 'Potential' the journal of the University College Physiological Society (no.2, Spring 1957). He was married to a fellow physiologist, Dr Grace Eggleton.

John Bayly was born in Chichester on 17 February 1735, the son of George Bayly, physician. He was one of twins, his sister dying early in childhood. Bayly himself was a feeble child. He was educated at the grammar school in Lymington, Hampshire, until the age of 12 when he was sent to a tutor in St Albans, where he became proficient in French. He was then tutored in Taunton for three years, before going to study medicine at Edinburgh University. A smallpox inoculation during his first year at Edinburgh affected his health so severely that he was forced to return home to convalesce for six months. He eventually graduated MD at Edinburgh, and in 1758 moved to London where he spent a year in hospital practice.

In 1759 Bayly returned to Chichester, at the age of 24, to become his father's partner in practice. He lived as a bachelor, with his parents, in a house in the East Pallant, Chichester. He remained in practice with his father until the latter's death in 1771. Bayly practiced in an era when the Royal College of Physicians held no jurisdiction in the provinces. The Apothecaries Act (55 Geo.III c.194) which compelled recognised qualifications was not passed until 1815, the year of Bayley's death. Bayly's life as a doctor in the second half of the eighteenth century, was that of

'a young man in a practice covering a large area round Chichester, competing with unlicensed apothecaries and quacks, applying his academic training, and trying to gain experience from the faithful recording of his failures as well as his successes' (Trail & Steer, 1963, p.9).

In 1784 Bayly was one of the pioneers in the establishment of a Public Dispensary in some cottages in Chichester (which became the West Sussex, East Hampshire and Chichester General Infirmary, and eventually the Royal West Sussex Hospital). Bayly had always suffered from ill health and his work as a doctor further exacerbated his weak constitution. This prevented him from direct or active involvement with the Dispensary, the work being undertaken by Dr Thomas Sanden, his cousin. He suffered from almost total deafness in one ear, and was partially sighted in his left eye.

Another professional interest of Bayly's was the relationship between the climate and disease. Throughout the late 1760s and early 1770s he made detailed meteorological observations and linked them with incidences of disease in Chichester.

Bayly had many interests outside of medicine, such as the stage; he was especially keen on Shakespeare's comedies. He also enjoyed poetry, art and music, and was an accomplished flutist. He had a particular interest in theology, and amassed a large library of theological works. Indeed he was a zealous Unitarian during the last thirty years of his life.

Bayly continued to practice until the end of the 1790s when he retired. In his retirement, despite ill health, he enjoyed through the

`society of a very few select friends, the fruits of early study, and the retrospect of maturer years devoted to beneficent exertion' (Sanden, 1816, p.13).

He died on 11 November 1815 at the age of 80, and was buried in the chancel of the church of All Saints in the Pallant, Chichester, on 18 November 1815.

Publications about Bayly:
A Tribute to the Memory of John Bayly, MD, Thomas Sanden (Chichester, 1816)

Baynes, son of Robert Lambert Baynes (q.v.), joined the Navy in 1866 and became a lieutenant in 1877. He served in the Pembroke, 1893 to 1895, and was promoted to captain in 1897. After attending gunnery and torpedo courses, his first active service as captain was briefly in the Minerva, 1899, and then in the Mildura, Australian Station, in 1900. He retired in 1902, advancing to the rank of rear-admiral in 1907.

Penelope Baynes and her twin sister, Frances, were born on 25th February 1782. She died 10th September 1849 in Upper Weston, Bath. Her mother was Penelope Dove and her father William Baynes (1740-1827), who served as Rector of Rickinghall and Vicar of Sherborne. Her grandparents were Katherine Wogan, decendant of Ethelred Wogan, and Robert Baynes (1718-1782), Rector of Stonham, Suffolk.

Baynes entered the Navy in 1810, serving in the BLAKE under Sir Edward Codrington (q.v.) and in the TONNANT and TARTER in North America. He was commissioned as lieutenant in 1818, serving as First Lieutenant in the VIGO in South America until 1826 when he joined the ASIA, flagship of Admiral Sir Edward Codrington (q.v.). It was in the Asia that he was present at the Battle of Navarino. In 1828 he was promoted to captain. After ten years on half-pay he joined the ANDROMACHE in Nova Scotia during the rebellion in Canada, after which he commanded on the Cape Station, 1840 to 1841. In 1847 he was in the BELLEROPHON off the coast of Tuscany, when Leghorn was taken by the Austrians, and in 1855 was on Particular Service with the blockading fleet in the Baltic. He became Commander-in-Chief in the Pacific in 1857, remaining there until 1860 and was promoted to admiral in 1865.

Born 1924; educated St George's College, Weybridge; took part in the Dunkirk evacuations, 1940; joined SOE, 1942; in ranks till 1943; 2nd Lieutenant, 1943; commissioned into Royal Signals, 1945; Lieutenant, 1946; ADC to the Viceroy of India and the Governor of Burma; Captain, 1951; Major, 1958; operations officer to the Director of Operations in Cyprus, 1958-1960; Joint Services Staff College, Latimer, 1963; Lieutenant Colonel, 1966; commanded Signal Wing, School of Infantry, Hythe, 1966; Colonel, 1970; Brigadier, 1973; commander, 11 Signal Group (V), Liverpool, 1974; Chief Signal Officer, UK Land Forces, Wilton; retired 1979; died 2006.

Bayntun was a lieutenant of 1783. Apart from a short interval in 1796, he served in the West Indies from 1794, the year in which he was promoted to captain, until 1804. On his return to England he was appointed to the LEVIATHAN and sent to the Mediterranean to join Nelson. He then took part in the pursuit of the French to the West Indies and in the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805. From 1806 to 1808 he served in the AFRICA on the Cape Station, returning for a period in home waters in 1808. In 1809 he was appointed to the MILFORD and three years later reached the rank of rear-admiral, after which he saw no more active service. He was made an admiral in 1837.

This circuit was formed in 1936 by an amalgamation of Walham Green Church from the Chelsea (ex-Wesleyan) Circuit with the Fulham (ex-United Methodist) Circuit, which included Walham Grove Church, Munster Road Church, Bethel Chapel and Ebenezer Chapel. Munster Road transferred to the Chiswick and Munster Park Circuit in 1943; Ebenezer and Bethel were closed following war damage during the Second World War. Walham Green Church was condemned as unsafe and closed in 1965. It was resolved that the congregations at Walham Green and Walham Grove should unite to form the Fulham Central Methodist Church, which would meet at Walham Grove until new premises were ready. Fulham Central Methodist Church was opened in June 1971.

Bayswater Synagogue

Bayswater Synagogue, at the west corner of Chichester Place and Harrow Road, was consecrated in 1863. In 1870 Bayswater joined the Great, New, Hambro, and Central synagogues to form the United Synagogue. The building was designed in red brick in the Gothic style. Although numbers had fallen by the time that the site was taken for the Harrow Road flyover, litigation compelled the United Synagogue to promise to rebuild on land provided by the Greater London Council. From 1965 services were held in the hall of the Lauderdale Road synagogue until a new building was constructed in 1971-2 in Kilburn Park Road.

From: 'Paddington: Judaism', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9: Hampstead, Paddington (1989), pp. 264-265 (available online).

The firm of Bruce de Ponthieu and Company, merchants and East India agents, of 71 Old Broad Street, became Bruce de Ponthieu Bazett and Company (1805-12); Bruce Bazett and Company (1813-16); Bazett Farquhar Crawford and Company (1816-28); and Bazett Colvin Crawford and Company (1829-33).

Thomas Bazley was born and educated in Bolton, Lancashire. He became successful in the textile industry in Manchester and was heavily involved in local politics. He became an MP in 1857 and a baronet in 1869. Bazley was also deeply interested in education, supporting the Manchester School system and becoming one the founding governors and a trustee of the Victoria University of Manchster. From the 17870s he lived mainly in Gloucestershire, at his country estate at Eyford Park.

Benjamin Charles Thomas Gray appears to have started in business in London as a West Indies merchant in about 1832. By 1846 he was already also acting as a North America merchant, and had taken his son Charles William Gray into partnership. The firm was known at this time as B.C.T. Gray and Son. By 1856 another son, Benjamin Gerrish Gray, was also a partner, and the firm was styled B.C.T. Gray and Sons. BCT Gray died in 1853, and in 1858 Benjamin Gerrish Gray resigned his partnership in favour of his brother Ambrose Gosling Wentworth Gray. The firm was then known as Charles William and Wentworth Gray until it disappeared c 1910. On Charles William Gray's death in 1880, he was succeeded in partnership by his son Lewis Gray. The firm traded successively from Upper Stamford Street; Great Surrey Street, Cornhill; Lime Street and Great St Helen's.

Robert Beach was a member of the Gay Liberation Front which held its first meeting on 13 October 1970 at the London School of Economics. It was the beginning of a three year period of great activity, with demonstrations, debates, street theatre, and the establishment of a new gay press. Although GLF began in London, local groups rapidly grew up.

Michael Edward Hicks Beach was born in London in 1837. He was educated at Eton and at Christ Church, Oxford. He succeeded his father as 9th baronet in 1854. Sir Michael entered parliament as Conservative MP for East Gloucestershire (1864-1885) and subsequently served as MP for Bristol West (1885-1904). He held several cabinet posts, including Chancellor of the Exchequer (1885-1886, 1895-1904). Hicks Beach was made a viscount in 1906 and Earl St Aldwyn in 1915, the year before his death.

The manor of Enfield is first recorded as held by Ansgar the staller in 1066. In 1086 it was owned by Geoffrey de Mandeville and stayed in his family until 1419 when it became the property of King Henry V. Subsequently it was assigned to various female members of the Royal family, including Margaret of Anjou; and was leased out until the lease was acquired by the Duke of Chandos in 1742.

John Pardoe, by deed of 1757, left his great tithes on some 230 acres in Hendon to ten poor widows aged 40 or over on Stanmore. A rent-charge payable in lieu of great tithes was gradually redeemed for stock between 1909 and 1943.

Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton, Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham, 1976, (available online).

In 1086 Stanwell Manor was held by William fitz Other and in the time of King Edward it had belonged to Azor. The estate recorded in Domesday Book probably comprises most of the ancient parish except the manor of West Bedfont, which was already separate. In 1796 there were 539 acres copyhold of the manor, nearly all lying east of Stanwellmoor. By 1844 the lord of the manor owned Hammonds farm, Merricks farm (later known as Southern farm), and Park farm (later Stanhope farm), as well as about 84 acres around his house and a few other small areas. The manorial rights, house, and lands were separated in 1933.

William fitz Other, the Domesday tenant, was constable of Windsor castle and his descendants took the name of Windsor. They held Stanwell of Windsor castle for over four centuries, together with lands principally in Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. In 1485 Thomas Windsor left a widow, Elizabeth, who held Stanwell with her second husband Sir Robert Lytton. Thomas's son Andrew was summoned to parliament as Lord Windsor from 1529. The story of his loss of Stanwell has often been told: in spite of Windsor's previous favours from the Crown, Henry VIII compelled him in 1542 to surrender Stanwell in exchange for monastic lands in Gloucestershire and elsewhere. Sir Philip Hobby was made chief steward of the manor in 1545. Sir Thomas Paston was granted a 50-year lease during Edward VI's reign, and Edward Fitzgarret in 1588 secured a lease to run for 30 years from the end of Paston's term. In fact Fitzgarret was in possession when he died before 1590. His estate was much embarrassed and after litigation Stanwell passed to his son Garret subject to certain rent-charges to his daughter. In 1603 the freehold was granted to Sir Thomas Knyvett, who became Lord Knyvett in 1607. Knyvett and his wife both died in 1622, leaving their property to be shared between John Cary, the grandson of one of Knyvett's sisters, and Elizabeth Leigh, the granddaughter of another. Elizabeth married Sir Humphrey Tracy, and she and Cary held Stanwell jointly until her death. In 1678 the Knyvett estates were divided between Cary and Sir Francis Leigh, who was apparently Elizabeth's heir. Cary retained Stanwell, which he left to his great-niece Elizabeth Willoughby on condition that she married Lord Guildford; otherwise it was to pass to Lord Falkland. After Elizabeth's marriage to James Bertie she held the manor under a chancery decree until her death in 1715.

It then passed to Lucius Cary, Viscount Falkland (d. 1730), who sold it in 1720 to John, Earl of Dunmore (d. 1752). His trustees sold it in 1754 to Sir John Gibbons. It descended in the Gibbons family with the baronetcy until 1933, when the manorial rights were sold to H. Scott Freeman, clerk of Staines urban district council, who still held them in 1956.

Source: 'Stanwell: 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. 36-41 (available online).

James Beal was born in 1829. He was active in social and political reform from the 1850s and became a well-known figure in London radical and municipal reform circles. He frequently appears in The Times, mainly in his role as honorary secretary of the Metropolitan Municipal Association for promoting the better local government of the metropolis. He described himself as "the only man who can claim to be the author of the proposal to establish one representative municipality for all London" (The Times, 1 April 1889). In 1888 Beal was elected to the London County Council for Fulham. He was a prominent member of the Vestry of St James's Westminster.

Beal was also involved in other causes, including the reform of gas and water supply, emancipation and anti-slavery movements, women's education and rights, Jewish rights, industrial relations and reform of City livery companies. He died in 1891 aged 62.

For his obituary see The Times, Friday, Jun 12, 1891; pg. 9; Issue 33349; col F.

Thomas James Bean wrote a number of articles on the art connoisseur and writer, Richard Ford (1796-1858). Bean also amassed significant collections of Ford's letters and books, which were alluded to in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry on Ford of 2004. Among the papers on Ford given by Bean were those to the Richard Ford bi-centenary conference and the 1991 George Borrow Conference. Thomas Bean was also a farmer and in 2006 was a Liberal Democrat representative on Worcestershire County Council.

Wilfred Blackwell Beard: born Manchester, Jan 1891; educated at Ardwick Higher Grade School, Manchester and Manchester School of Technology; worked as apprentice and journeyman pattern maker in Manchester, Bradford and Newcastle; joined United Patternmakers' Association (UPA), 1912; full-time area official, United Patternmakers' Association, Lancashire and Cheshire, 1929-1941; General Secretary, UPA, 1912-1966; Member, Trades Union Congress (TUC) General Council, 1947-1967 (Chairman 1955-1956, Vice-Chairman, 1956-1957); Chairman, TUC Educational Committee and Educational Trust, 1950-1967; President, Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions, 1958-1959 . Died Dec 1967.

Mary Beare; born Ballymoney, Northern Ireland, 1897; educated at Queen's University Belfast, (BA 1924, with 1st Class Honours in French and German) and University of Bonn (PhD 1927); Fellow and Director of Studies in Modern Languages, Newnham College Cambridge, 1936-1947; Lecturer in German, University of Cambridge, 1939-1947; Head of Department and Reader in German, Westfield College London, 1947-1964; Vice-Principal of Westfield College, 1948-1951; Visiting Professor, University College, Toronto, 1959-1960
Publications: Die Theorie der Komödie von Gottsched bis Jean Paul, Bonn, Rhenania-Verlag, G.m.b.H., [1927]; The German popular play Atis, and the Venetian opera: a study of the conversion of operas into popular plays, 1675-1722, Cambridge, CUP, (1938); Hans Sachs: selections , Durham Modern Language Series, University of Durham, 1983; articles on Hans Sachs in the Modern Language Review, German Life and Letters, contributions to Chambers and Cassells Encycolopedias

Born in 1908; commissioned into RAF, 1929; served in various bomber squadrons, 1930-1933; attended specialist armament course, 1933; armament duties, 1934-1944; served in Iraq, 1937-1939; Bomber Command, RAF, 1939-1940 and 1944-1945; Air Ministry, 1940-1942; Flying Training Command, RAF, 1942-1944; Staff Officer in charge of administration, RAF Malaya, 1946; Joint Services Staff College, 1947; Deputy Director of Organisation (Projects), Air Ministry, 1947-1949; Commander, Central Gunnery School, 1949-1951; Senior Air Staff Officer, Rhodesian Air Training Group, 1951-1952; Air Officer Commanding, Rhodesian Air Training Group, 1953; Director of Organisation (Establishments), Air Ministry, 1954-1956; Air Officer in Charge of Administration, Technical Training Command, 1956-1961; retired, 1961; died 2005.

The Black Experience Archive Trust (BEAT) is a national project working in partnership with local groups. Each local project feeds into the central project.

The West Green BEAT project was launched in 2006. It was a collaboration between filmmakers Migrant Media, the Park View Academy in West Green, and the London Metropolitan Archives. Pupils from the Academy were trained in digital media skills by staff from Migrant Media Limited, and encouraged to explore their community history, particularly the contributions of black people. They then conducted filmed interviews with members of the community, discussing their experiences of coming to and living in Britain.

BEAT Projects have included:

'music BEAT': ran from October 2008 - October 2009 at Highgate Wood School in North London. Students on the project learned research, filmmaking and journalistic skills and produced a 20 minute film on the history of black music in the UK as well as a series of exhibition panels. They explored how the music produced related to the struggles on the street that the black community engaged with over four decades (see 'Sounds of the Streets' LMA/4536/02/002).

Taken from the website: http://web.me.com/musicbeat/Site/musicBEAT.html

'South West London College', to which F/BEA/35-40 refer, was at Southborough House (later No.17) Putney Hill.

The College of Preceptors was based at 42 Queen Square, Bloomsbury. It was founded in 1846 for the training of teachers.

David Beatty entered the navy in 1884 as a cadet on board the BRITANNIA. Two years later he was posted as a midshipman to the ALEXANDRA, flagship of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, after which he served in the CRUISER and TAMAR. As an acting Sub-Lieutenant, he underwent training between 1890 and 1892 at Portsmouth and at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. Promoted Lieutenant in 1892, he spent most of the next four years in the RUBY corvette, and battleships CAMPERDOWN and TRAFALGAR. Between 1896 and 1898, in the efforts to retain the Sudan under Egyptian control, he distinguished himself in operations involving a flotilla of gunboats on the Nile; in addition in 1898 he commanded a rocket battery on shore. For these services he was promoted Commander in November 1898 (see BTY/1/2 and BTY/24/1-6).

The following year, Beatty went as commander in the BARFLEUR to China, then in the throes of the Boxer rebellion. Again he distinguished himself in reinforcing the garrison at Tientsin and in leading sorties against the besieging rebels (see BTY/1/3). Although only 29, in November 1900 he was promoted captain. Between 1902 and 1910, Beatty commanded the cruisers JUNO, ARROGANT, DIANA and SUFFOLK and the battleship QUEEN. Memoranda survive relating to his command of the JUNO (BTY/2/1). In 1910 Beatty was promoted Rear-Admiral, the youngest flag-officer for over a hundred years, at 39. In 1911 he was offered a Flag post in the Atlantic Fleet, which he refused (see BTY/2/2), and after Winston Churchill became First Lord of the Admiralty in October 1911, he chose Beatty for his naval secretary (see BTY/2/3). To test Beatty's aptitude for sea command, Churchill gave him commane of a cruiser squadron during the manoeuvres of 1912 (see BTY/22/1). In 1913 Churchill gave Beatty command of the battlecruiser squadron based at Scapa Flow, with his flag in the LION (see BTY/2/4). Beatty took a leading part in the naval operations of the Grand Fleet throughout the First World War Admiral Sir John Jellicoe became first Sea Lord and Beatty as Commander-in-Chief and Jellicoe's subordinate, the correspondence with Jellicoe is a key source for the history of naval operations for the whole war (see BTY/13/21-23).

Other important correspondence is that between Beatty and Sir Rosslyn Wemyss (1864-1933) (see BTY/13/39, 40). In 1901 Beatty married Ethel (1874-1932), daughter of Marshall Field of Chicago and former wife of the american, Arthur Tree. They had two sons, David (1905-1981) and Peter (b 1910). Their correspondence (BTY/17 and 18) is an important source for the war as well as for pre- and post-war periods, extending from 1900 to 1927. In 1919 Beatty succeeded Wemyss as first sea lord at the Admiralty, a post he held until 1927. Beatty's correspondence with W H Long (1854-1924), then First Lord, covers the terms of his appointment and his first three years at the Admiralty (BTY/13/28). Dominating his first three years at the Admiralty was the controversy over what actually happened at the battle of Jutland, and the succession of efforts to produce a version of events for public comsumption. Particularly important are the memoranda relating to the production by Captain J E T Harper (1874-1949) of the 'Official Record' of the battles and the decision not to publish it (BTY/9/2 and 3). In 1927 Beatty was elevated to the peerage and took his place in the House of Lords. He died in 1939 and was buried in St Paul's Cathedral.

Sir (Alfred) Chester Beatty was an American mining engineer, who founded Selection Trust Ltd in 1913. This remained a small company until after World War One, when Beatty embarked on the development, finance and administration of mining businesses throughout the world, notably in Siberia, the west coast of Africa, Serbia and Northern Rhodesia. Beatty built an expert team of geologists and mining engineers whom he sent abroad with specific instructions on the areas to explore: he never travelled to these places himself. Though many of these mining enterprises were later nationalised, Selection Trust had by then acquired valuable interests in other mines around the world. Beatty retired in 1950, and handed over control of Selection Trust to his son, Alfred Chester Beatty, who retired in 1968, the same year as his father's death. Beatty Senior was also well known for his philanthropic interests in cancer research, and his fascination with collecting oriental manuscripts and impresionist art. The Selection Trust Ltd was taken over by BP, and was known as, successively, BP Minerals International Ltd and BP Minerals Development Ltd. It was acquired from BP by the Rio Tinto Zinc Corporation Plc in 1989.

Charles Beauclerk (1670-1726) was the illegitimate son of Charles II and Nell Gwyn. His father made him Duke of St Albans in 1684. He married Lady Diana de Vere, daughter and sole heir of Aubrey de Vere, the last earl of Oxford. They had 8 sons, including James Beauclerk, bishop of Hereford, and Aubrey Beauclerk, naval officer.

The documents in this collection appear to relate to the property of their 3rd son, Vere Beauclerk (1699-1781). Vere had a successful career in the Navy, rising to the rank of admiral. He was also a Member of Parliament for New Windsor and then for Plymouth. He was married to Mary Chambers, the daughter of Thomas Chambers of Haworth. Mary was said to have inherited £45,000. Vere was created Baron Vere of Hanworth in 1750. He lived in St James's Square, Westminster.

Information from: W. A. B. Douglas, 'Beauclerk, Vere, Baron Vere of Hanworth (1699-1781)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 and William Hunt, 'Beauclerk, Charles, first duke of St Albans (1670-1726)', rev. Jonathan Spain, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008.

The Beaumont family of Pinner were wheelwrights, makers of wheels and wheeled vehicles. In the 1860s and 1870s G Beaumont owned the business which was based on the High Street, Pinner

Born 1910; educated at Oundle and New College, Oxford; worked as a solicitor with his father's firm, Greaves, Atter and Beaumont, 1934-1939; joined Yorkshire Flying Club, 1935; Pilot Officer, Auxiliary Air Force, 1936; service with 609 (West Riding) (Bomber) Sqn, No 6 (Auxiliary) Group, Yeadon, Yorkshire, 1936-1938; Flying Officer, Auxiliary Air Force, 1937; conversion of 609 Sqn to fighter aircraft, Dec 1938; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; served at RAF Drem, Haddingtonshire, and RAF Kinloss, Elginshire, Scotland, 1939-1940; Flight Lt, 1940; RAF Northolt, Middlesex, and RAF Warmwell, Dorset, and RAF Middle Wallop, Hampshire, 1940; served over Dunkirk beaches, France, May-Jun 1940; provided RAF fighter escort for Prime Minister Rt Hon Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, on visits to Briare and Tours, France, Jun 1940; acting Commanding Officer 609 Sqn, Battle of Britain, 1940; Instructor, No 7 Operational Training Unit, Hawarden, Flintshire, 1940-1941; Sqn Ldr, 1941; Chief Instructor, Operational Training Unit, Turnhouse, Edinburgh, 1941; Sqn Ldr (Organisation), Headquarters, No 9 Group, Fighter Command, Preston, Lancashire, 1941-1942; Wg Cdr, 1942; commanded RAF Andreas, Isle of Man, 1942-1943; commanded RAF Woodvale, Lancashire, 1943; commanded RAF Zeals, Wiltshire, 1943; Gp Capt and Deputy Air Officer, Administration, No 84 Group, 2 Tactical Air Force, 1943-1945; served in North West Europe, 1944-1945; awarded OBE, 1945; demobilised, 1945; Clerk to the Governors of Charities, Wakefield, Yorkshire; Clerk to the Commissioners of Tax; Secretary of the Wakefield Chamber of Commerce; Deputy Coroner for Wakefield and Chairman of the Wakefield Hospital Management Group; Deputy Lieutenant, West Riding of Yorkshire, 1967; High Sheriff, West Yorkshire, 1979; died 1997.

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).

From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".

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).

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.

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. 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.

From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".

Beaumont Animals' Hospital

The Beaumont Animals' Hospital of the Royal Veterinary College (RVC)was opened in 1933 in Camden as a small animal practice for undergraduate teaching. Building work had started the previous year in 1932. £25,000 came from the will of a wealthy Yorkshire lady - Mrs Sarah Martin Grove-Grady, the daughter of J Beaumont of Huddersfield and the rest of the money (£225,000) was raised, much of it in copper coins given by local people. The hospital was kept open during the Second World War when the rest of the College was evacuated. The small animal referral and equine work moved to the RVC Potters Bar site in 1958. The Beaumont remained in Camden as the RVC's general practice.

The Beaumont Philosophical Institution was founded in Beaumont Square, Mile End Road, Stepney in 1840 by John Thomas Barber Beaumont, "for the mental and moral improvement of the inhabitants of the said Square, and the surrounding neighbourhood...." In 1882 a new scheme for the Beaumont Trust was drawn up by the Charity Commissioners. The trustees spent the next years raising money to build the People's Palace, Mile End Road, Stepney, the main hall of which was opened by Queen Victoria, 14 May 1887. From the provision of elementary education in the original scheme of 1892, developed the East London Technical College which became a school of London University in 1907. In 1909 the administration of the People's Palace and of East London College was put under two separate committees. A new scheme of administration drawn up by the Charity Commissioners in 1933 separated entirely the People's Palace from the college, which in 1934 received a royal charter and was renamed Queen Mary College.