Showing 15887 results

A large house was built in Whitton in 1607, standing west of Hounslow Road, opposite the present church. It was rebuilt in 1724-25 for its owner, the Earl of Ilay, later that Duke of Argyll. In 1726 Ilay recieved permission to inclose more heath around the house, and laid out a park with a lake and a Gothic tower. The house was known as Whitton Place. A later owner sold Whitton Place to Sir William Chambers and constructed another house, Whitton Park, further north. Both houses are now demolished.

From: 'Twickenham: Introduction', 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. 139-147 (available online).

The hundred of Gore comprised the parishes of Edgware, Hendon, Kingsbury, Little Stanmore, Great Stanmore, Harrow and Pinner.

The following companies are represented in this collection:

A1 Bus Company;
Acme Pullman Services (Buses);
Alberta Omnibus;
Amersham And District Motor Bus And Haulage Company;
Associated Omnibus Company;
Atlas Omnibus Company;
C W Batten And Company Limited (Buses);
Bracklin And Vandy Limited (Buses);
Britannia Traction Company;
Brixton Motor Omnibus Company;
Bucks Expresses (Buses);
Cambrian Coaching And Goods Transport Limited;
Cambrian Landray Coaching Limited;
Celtic Omnibus Company;
Central Omnibus Company;
Chesham And District Bus Company;
Cosgrove Omnibus Company;
Criterion Omnibus Company;
Dangerfield Limited (Buses);
Direct Omnibus Company;
District Omnibus Company;
Dominion Omnibus Company;
East Ham Omnibus Company;
Empress Omnibus Company;
Fleet Omnibus Company;
Florence Omnibus Company;
Gearless Motor Omnibus Company;
Grafton Omnibus Company;
Grangewood Omnibus Company;
Green Line Coaches Limited;
Haywood And Nowell Limited (Buses);
Horseshoe Traction Company;
Invicta Traction Company (Buses);
Jockey Omnibus Company;
Lea Valley Omnibus Company;
Legion Omnibus Company;
London Road Car Company;
Lonsdale Omnibus Company;
Loveland Omnibus Company;
Mcmahon Omnibus Company;
Marathon Omnibus Company;
Mason Omnibus Company;
Metropolitan Steam Omnibus Company;
New Central Omnibus Company;
Northern Omnibus Company;
Nulli Secundus Omnibus Company;
Olympic Traction Company;
Omnibus Proprietors Limited;
Overground Limited (Buses);
Edward Paul Limited (Buses);
Pc Omnibus Company;
Priest Brothers Limited;
Primrose Omnibus Company;
Ra Motor Services;
Charles Randall Limited (Buses);
Reburn's Motor Services;
Shamrock Traction Company;
Skylark Motor Coach Company;
Silver Star Omnibus Company;
Superbus Limited;
T And W Omnibus Company;
Tottenham Hotspur Omnibus Company;
Tower Carriers Limited;
Unique Omnibus Company;
Victoria Road Car Company;
Vivid Omnibus Company;
W And P Omnibus Company;
Watford Omnibus Company;
Wellington Omnibus Company;
Western Omnibus Company;
White Star Omnibus Company;
London And South Coast Transport Limited;
National Omnibus And Transport Company.

These deeds and settlements were passed to the Society of Genealogists, who in turn deposited them with the archive. There is no unifying factor to the deeds (e.g. that they relate to property owned by one estate or family), they were simply collected for their antiquarian interest and their relevance to Middlesex local history.

William G. Venn was a butcher based in Beckenham, Kent.

William James Bonser lived in Newgate Street, City of London.

Jonathan Crane lived at 3 Tulse Hill Terrace, Lambeth and died in 1860.

The central themes of the collection are the views of Judge N W Rogers, a virulent anti-semite, who believed in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and that the financial world was controlled by international Jewry. He sent one of his pamphlets and two others of a similar nature to Hugo Valentin in Sweden, with a letter in which he reasserts his antisemitic arguments. Evidently, they had already corresponded although it is not clear why. In addition there is correspondence between the Jewish Central Information Office and Valentin. Whilst little is known about Rogers, save for the fact that he had published a number of antisemitic tracts, the following information on Valentin was taken from Encyclopoedia Judaica.

Hugo Maurice Valentin, 1888-1963, was a historian and Zionist leader. Born in Sweden, Valentin first served as a teacher of history at a high school in Falun, but in 1930 was appointed lecturer and in 1948 professor at the University of Uppsala. Topics: European/ Prussian history and history of Jews in Sweden. In 1925 he became a Zionist, and from then on dedicated himself passionately to spreading Zionism to Swedish Jews. He became president and later honorary president of the Zionist Federation. He died suddenly preparing an argument against an anti-Zionist in a Stockholm radio station.

These documents have been placed together for convenience under one fonds due to their small size (most are only one document or volume) and their lack of provenance. They do not form a united collection from one source. They relate to a variety of institutions, such as the Houses of Parliament, Commissioners of Excise, Armed Forces, War Office, Royal London Militia, Tower of London, Commissioners of the Treasury, Exchequer, Privy Council, Comptroller of the Revels; and historical events, such as the abdication of James II and the accession to the throne of William of Orange.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is the trade body for insurance companies in the UK. It was formed in 1985 on the merger of the British Insurance Association, the Life Offices' Association, the Fire Offices Committee and the Accident Offices Association. The Association has around 400 companies in membership. The work of the ABI includes policy formulation, research and statistics, and public relations representing the insurance industry. It also organises conferences and seminars and publishes reports. The ABI is based at 51 Gresham Street in the City of London.

From: http://www.abi.org.uk/About_The_ABI/role.aspx

Commercial Union Assurance Company Limited was based at 24-26 Cornhill (in 1901). Established in 1861, it transacted fire, life and marine insurance.

Commercial Union acquired the following companies (with the date of acquisition in brackets):-
Accident Insurance Company Ltd (1906);
Edinburgh Assurance Co Ltd (1918);
Guardian Plate Glass Insurance Company (1953);
Hand-in-Hand Fire and Life Insurance Society (1905);
Imperial Live Stock and General Insurance Company Ltd (1912);
Liverpool Victoria Insurance Corporation Ltd (1913);
North British and Mercantile Insurance Company Ltd (1959);
Northern Assurance Company Ltd (1968);
Ocean Accident and Guarantee Corporation Ltd (1910);
Palatine Insurance Company Ltd (1900);
Union Assurance Society (1907);
World Auxiliary Insurance Corporation Ltd (1971).

The Grain and Feed Trade Association (GAFTA) was founded in 1971 when the London Corn Trade Association merged with the London Cattle Food Trade Association. GAFTA is a trade association for those working in the international grain trade. It defines standards, acts as a regulatory body and handles problems for its members.

For historical information about the predecessor bodies whose records comprise this collection, please see the sub-fonds entry for each organisation (listed in the 'arrangement' section).

The Guardian Fire and Life Assurance Company was established in 1821 and renamed as Guardian Assurance in 1902. It was founded by a group of private bankers for UK and overseas fire and life insurance and expanded into employers' liability from 1897.

Royal Exchange Assurance was established by royal charter in 1720. Its business comprised marine, fire and life insurance, and general accident insurance in Britain and overseas.

In 1968 Royal Exchange Assurance combined with the Guardian Assurance Company Limited to form Guardian Royal Exchange Assurance. The company had offices at the Royal Exchange from 1720 until ca. 1999 when Guardian Royal Exchange Assurance was taken over by AXA.

In 1293 Edmund, Earl of Lancaster and brother of King Edward I, constructed the Savoy Palace on land formerly belonging to the Count of Savoy. The palace was rebuilt at great expense by Henry, 1st Duke of Lancaster, between 1345 and 1370; after which it was said to be the finest house in England. In 1381 the palace was attacked during the Peasant's Revolt; the rioters started a bonfire of the Duke's possessions and mistakenly threw a box of gunpowder onto the flames, thus destroying much of the Great Hall.

In 1505 Henry VII ordered the palace to be rebuilt and used as a hospital for the poor. The hospital held 100 beds and included three chapels, a large precinct and outbuildings. It was dedicated to Saint John the Baptist and a statue of him was positioned over the Stand gate. In 1570 complaints were made that Thomas Thurland, Master of the Hospital, used hospital money to maintain his relatives, rarely went to church, had sexual relations with hospital staff, and owed the hospital £2,500. The hospital never recovered from this mismanagement.

Houses in the hospital precinct were fashionable addresses for noblemen and highly ranked clergy. However, by the later 17th century these houses were occupied by businessmen, while the hospital was used for wounded servicemen, and barracks and a military prison were constructed. Some of the chapels and halls were converted for use by non-conformist religious groups such as French Protestants, Lutherans, Quakers and Calvinists.

The hospital was formally dissolved in 1702. In 1772, with most of the buildings in ruins, a dispute over ownership of the land was settled: the Crown took possession of the central part of the precinct, while the Duchy of Lancaster took the outer part and the Savoy chapel. The site was cleared in 1816-20 for the Waterloo Bridge approach road, Savoy Street and Lancaster Place. In 1864-70 Victoria Embankment and Gardens were made. The only remaining part of the hospital is the Savoy Chapel. The site is now occupied by the Savoy Hotel, the Savoy Theatre, Victoria Embankment and Gardens, and part of Somerset House.

Information from The London Encyclopaedia, eds. Weinreb and Hibbert (LMA Library Reference 67.2 WEI).

The documents in this collection all relate to associations but have not been assigned separate fonds due to their size or because the originator cannot be identified.

These items had been collected by the antiquary George Scott (1720-1780), and passed to his heirs. George Scott, a honorary doctor of law and a great collector of antiquities and manuscripts, was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1748. He died in 1780, a widower, without children and a virtual recluse at Woolston Hall to which he had retired after his wife's death, and his estate passed to his cousin, although much of his collection was sold in 1782. These items clearly remained with the family. The 1891 sale was probably made by his cousin's heir, Louisa Watlington (d.1892), who had married Robert Peel Ethelstan. She inherited not only Moor Hall, but also Scott's Woolston Hall. Her son Capt Robert W Ethelstan sold Moor Hall itself in 1898.

These 1473 photographs of London views, buildings, and sights appear to have been taken in sets relating to specific subjects during the period 1948-1981, as part of a deliberate project. Most of the photographs give descriptions on the reverse.

These papers relating to properties were collected for their general or antiquarian interest, rather than having a united provenance (that is, being produced by the same institution or business).

John Dence, a civil engineer, lived at 28 Mark Lane, in the City of London. Some of the records relate to a court case between Dence and Edward Clark, an architect and surveyor.

These papers relating to properties were collected for their general or antiquarian interest rather than having a united provenance (that is, being produced by the same institution or business).

No biographical detail has been found for George Pepper.

Vauxhall Bridge was begun in 1811 to a design by Rennie, but two years later the Vauxhall Bridge Company decided to adopt James Walker's cast iron design as it was cheaper. The bridge was opened in 1816 and was at first called Regent's Bridge. It was the first iron bridge over the Thames. In 1895 to 1906 a new bridge was constructed designed by Sir Alexander Binnie.

The site of no.1 St Martin le Grand was purchased by Nomura International Plc from the General Post Office in 1986. It had been the main General Post Office building for the City of London. The site was previously owned by Christ's Hospital, which sold it in various lots to the General Post Office in the 19th century (the main site was sold in the late 1880s). The site included the Queen's Hotel (formerly known as the Bull and Mouth Inn), the former Angel Inn, and houses in Bull and Mouth Street and Magpie Court.

William Morris and Son, stock and share brokers, were situated at 80 Old Broad Street, 1875-1881; 121 Bishopsgate Street within, 1883-91; 80 Lombard Street, 1893-1895; at other addresses to 1924, and at 10 and 12 Copthall Avenue, 1924-1948.

Whiteheads and Coles were stock and share brokers of 39 Throgmorton Street.

Standard Chartered Bank was formed in 1969 when the Standard Bank Limited merged with the Chartered Bank. This merger created the Standard Chartered Banking Group Limited; the group consisted of the Standard Bank and the Chartered Bank along with their principal subsidiaries and associated companies.

Immediately following the merger both banks continued to operate separately with each maintaining their own board of directors and a third board being created for the Standard Chartered Banking Group Limited. It was not until 1973 that the General Management of both banks were amalgamated and 1974 when the three boards of directors were all run by the same people. On 1 October 1975 the name of the company was changed to Standard Chartered Bank Limited. In 1983 all banking operations of both Standard Bank and Chartered Bank were brought together into one company, titled, Standard Chartered Bank. In 1985 the parent company was again renamed to Standard Chartered PLC.

Following the 1969 merger the bank retained City of London headquarter premises at 10 Clements Lane (former headquarters of Standard Bank Limited) and at 38 Bishopsgate (former headquarters of Chartered Bank). In 1990 new premises were opened in Aldermanbury Square for all London staff and in 20--, the headquarters were moved to 1 Basinghall Avenue, where the bank remains situated (as at 2014)

CHARTERED BANK OF INDIA AUSTRALIA AND CHINA

The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, known from 1956 as The Chartered Bank, was established by Royal Charter in 1853. It was an overseas exchange bank, based in and controlled from the City of London. It was established to take advantage of the end of the East India Company's monopoly in 1853.

STANDARD BANK OF SOUTH AFRICA

The Standard Bank of British South Africa Limited, known as the Standard Bank of South Africa Limted from 1881, was incorporated on the 18 October 1862 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Initially operating within British controlled areas, the bank gradually expanded its network to include branches across South, East and Central Africa responding to the economic development and growth of the regions.

Both the Chartered and the Standard Banks acquired shares in and merged with many other banks.

Geographical ranges these covered are as follows:

African Banking Corporation: British South Africa, Nigeria and New York

Bank of British West Africa: Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Cameroon and Canary Islands

Bank of Nigeria: Nigeria and Ivory Coast

Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China: India, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Siam [Thailand], Burma [Myanmar], Singapore, Malacca, Penang and the Malay States, the Philippines, Japan, Java, Sumatra, Ceylon [Sri Lanka], North Borneo, Brunei, Sarawak, Pakistan and East Pakistan. There were also branches in New York (United States of America) and Hamburg (Germany). Despite its name, the bank never operated in Australia

Eastern Bank Limited: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia, Yemen, Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain, Lebanon, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Oman

P & O Banking Corporation Limited: India, Sri Lanka, China and Singapore

E D Sassoon Banking Company Limited: London, India and China, Gulf ports, Iraq and Japan

Standard Bank of South Africa: Cape Province, Natal, Orange Free State, Transvaal [South Africa]. After amalgamations; Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Cameroon, Canary Islands and Ivory Coast

Wallace Brothers and Company (Holdings) Limited: India, Burmah [Myanmar], Thailand, Java [Indonesia], Malaysia and East Africa

Norman Mello Fergusson lived at Park House, Westmount Road, Eltham.

In The Story of Royal Eltham by RRC Gregory (1909) Barn House is described as belonging to the local doctor, James Jeken. Former residents included the Ravenhill family, the Teggarts, and Thomas Lewis who helped found the Eltham Friendly Society. The clock at Barn House acted as the public clock for the neighbourhood.

See http://gregory.elthamhistory.org.uk/bookpages/i001.htm for more information [accessed Jul 2011].

The property was owned by William Holland, who died in 1874 leaving it to Louisa Froud. Louisa left the house to her daughter Jessie Blount in 1922. In 1938 the house was purchased by the London County Council for demolition in a road widening scheme.

The manor of Paris Garden covered almost the same territory as the parish of Christ Church, Southwark, a little less than 100 acres. The whole area is below high-water level and was prone to flooding. Consequently it was not built-up until after 1809 when new sewers were constructed. The land belonged to the Knights Templars from around 1113. After that order was supressed the manor was granted to the Knights Hospitallers, who leased it out. The first use of the name "Parish Garden" (later Paris Garden) to describe the estate was made in 1420.

In 1536 the Hospitallers surrendered the land to Henry VIII. It was held by the Crown until 1578 when it was granted to Henry Cary, Lord Hunsdon. Two years later he demised the demesne lands to one owner and the copyhold lands to another; thenceforward they have separate histories. The copyholder's lease was converted into a fee simple in 1881, but the manorial rights were not abolished until 1936. The manor was bought by William Angell in 1655, and was sold by him to George Baron. The Baron family held the manor until 1827, when Elizabeth Ann Baron married John Lethbridge, it then passed into the Lethbridge family, who still held it in the 1950s.

For a more detailed history see 'Paris Garden Manor', Survey of London: volume 22: Bankside (the parishes of St. Saviour and Christchurch Southwark) (1950), pp. 94-100 (available online).

Wakenaam is an island at the mouth of the Essequibo River of Guyana, South America.

Parties named in the conveyance are: 1. John Turnbull, John Forbes, Broad St., City, merchants and co-partners; 2. Thomas Hussey, late of Demerary, now Manchester St, Manchester Sq., St. Marylebone, esq; 3. John McArthur, York Pl., Portman Sq., St. Marylebone, esq; 4. John McKirdy, F. Schovers, Demerary, esqs; 5. Tully Higgins, J. H. Horkel, Island of Wakenaam, esqs.

Henry Vane was born about 1705. He was Member of Parliament for Launceston 1726-1727, St. Mawes 1727-1741, Ripon 1741-1747 and for County Durham 1747-1753. Vane was Vice Treasurer and Paymaster General from 1742-1744, a Lord of the Treasury 1749-1755 and Lord Lieutenant of County Durham 1753-1758. He succeeded his father in the Peerage as 3rd Baron Barnard on 27 April 1753. He was created Viscount Barnard of Barnards Castle and Earl of Darlington 3 April 1754. Vane died on 6 March 1758.

Born, 1869; educated, Farnborough School, 1879-1882 and Sandhurst, 1882-1889; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1893-1901; Scots Guards, 1899; served in Somaliland and Abyssinia, 1894; Foreign Office, Uganda, 1894-1895; took part in Ungoro, Nile and Nandi expeditions where he undertook surveying; awarded the Murchison Grant, 1897; served in West Africa, 1896-1897; Egypt, 1897-1899; Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, South Africa, [1900]-1901; died, 1901.

Publications: Campaigning on the Upper Nile and Niger (1898)

Born 1914; educated at Aysgarth School, Winchester College and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst; commissioned into Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, Aug 1934; served in France, 1939-1940; participated in Operation DYNAMO, the evacuation of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) from Dunkirk, May-June 1940; attended Staff College, Camberley, 1941; served as Brigade Maj with 126 Infantry Bde and 11 Armoured (Tank) Bde, UK, 1941-1943; Lt Col, 1943; 10 Armoured Div, Middle East, 1943-1944; 12 Royal Tank Regt, Italy, 1944-1945; 1 Div, Palestine, 1945-1946; School of Land/Air Operations, Old Sarum, 1947; War Office, 1948; Staff College, Camberley, 1949-1950; served with 11 Armoured Div in Germany, 1950-1953; Military Assistant to Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 1953-1956; Officer commanding 4/7 Royal Dragoon Guards, 1956-1957; retired 1957; worked for WH Smith, 1957-1977; Managing Director of WH Smith, 1968; died 2002.

Phs. van Ommeren N.V., Rotterdam, was founded in 1839 by Philippus van Ommeren, primarily to act as shipbroker and agent to the then Rotterdam/London Line. Other agencies followed. The firm expanded into other trades and developed a variety of services. Gradually related companies were established in other cities and the London company began operations in January 1914. The outbreak of the First World War caused the cancellation of the early contracts, but in 1915 the company was appointed general agent in the United Kingdom for the Holland-America Line. During the Second World War the Netherlands Shipping and Trading Committee took control of the Dutch merchant ships on behalf of the government in exile and these were placed on time charter to the British government. With the end of the war, the company resumed its Dutch connections and agencies; they also became agents for other companies in many parts of the world.

During the Second World War the Wellcome Foundation laboratories at Frant, East Sussex, were engaged in work for the Ministry of Supply, producing scrub typhus vaccine for the armed forces. The project was given the wartime codename of 'Tyburn' after Tyburn Farm, the farm at the Wellcome Veterinary Research Station there. The project was organised by the bacteriologist Marinus van den Ende (1912-1957), serving with the RAMC: his obituary in the Lancet states that "his greatest achievement in England was the organisation of the laboratory at Frant for the large-scale production of scrub typhus vaccine, exacting and dangerous work which he carried out with great speed and precision"

In 1947 the London and Provincial Wine Company Limited of Aylesbury changed their name to Valentine Charles Limited and moved their registered offices to Bilbao House, New Broad Street, EC2. Two of the original shareholders were Charles Henry Jarvis and Valentine Harry Jarvis. The company owned several wine shops in south England. Company number: 292900.

J William Valantines of Doncaster. Unknown.

Henry Cline: born, London, 1750; educated, Merchant Taylors' School; apprenticed to Mr Thomas Smith, surgeon to St Thomas's Hospital, 1767; diploma from Surgeons' Hall, 1774; Lecturer on anatomy, St Thomas's Hospital, 1781-1811; Surgeon, St Thomas's Hospital, 1784-1811; examiner at the College of Surgeons, 1810; master of the College of Surgeons, 1815, president, 1823; delivered the Hunterian oration, 1816, 1824; died, 1827. Publications: On the Form of Animals (Bulmer and Co, London, 1805).

Wilfrid Bernard Vaillant was born at Meadowleigh, Weybridge, on 23 September 1864, son of Major Albert Vaillant. He was educated at Clewer Hill School from 1874-78, and then Radley College from 1878-83, where he won several sports prizes. He entered Christ Church College, Oxford, in 1883 and graduated BA in 1890 and MA in 1891.

Between 1885-90 he worked at the recently established Oxford House, Bethnal Green, East London. Oxford House was built to be a home to graduates, tutors and those intending to enter the church so that they might learn at first hand the problems of the city poor, through social, educational and religious work with them.

Vaillant attended Ely Theological College between 1890 and 1891. He was ordained Deacon on 20 September 1891 in Ely Cathedral, and Priest in St Paul's Cathedral on 18 February 1894. He became Curate at the Christ Church Oxford Mission, St Frideswide's, East London.

Born 1852; published Les Surprises du Coeur in 1881; wrote an article in 1894: "The End of Books", which predicted that books would eventually become overtaken by other media. He founded the magazine The Book.

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

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

Fostering - that is the arrangement whereby one person pays another for the care of a child - has always existed in one form or another. It had its abuses, the grossest of which was baby farming, the scandal of which necessitated legislation in the form of the Infant Life Protection Act 1872 which made it compulsory for persons taking for hire two or more infants less than a year old to register with the local authorities, who were the Councils in the care of the boroughs and the Justices in the case of counties. Child life protection as a whole was transferred to the Poor Law authorities, whose duties comprised the receiving of notice where a person undertook for reward the nursing and maintenance of an infant under the age of 7; the appointment of visitors to inspect such children; the limitation of the number in a dwelling; the removal of such infants improperly kept; and the receiving of fines imposed from offences.

Uxbridge Poor Law Union was founded in June 1836, comprised of the following parishes: Cowley, West Drayton, Harefield, Hayes, Hillingdon, Ickenham, Northolt, Norwood, Ruislip and Uxbridge. Yiewsley parish was added in 1896. The Union bought the existing Hillingdon parish workhouse site, together with a further four acres of land, and constructed a new workhouse on the site.

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.

An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.

Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.

In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.

Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.

The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.

In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.

The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.

Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.

Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.

The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.

In 1939 J R Thonger was asked to arrange a concert in aid of the Uxbridge and District Supply Depot of the British Red Cross. He approached choirmasters and organists of local churches, and gathered support from six of the churches. Although there was not a large audience for this concert, the singers were all very enthusiastic and met again the following January to prepare for an Easter concert. The first general meeting of the Uxbridge and District United Choirs was held in April 1940 and from that point concerts were held frequently, always in aid of charity.

In 1946 the society's name was changed to the Uxbridge and District Choral Society and again in 1978 to the Uxbridge Choral Society.

The Strategic Bombing Survey was established in the US War Department as a civilian activity, 3 Nov 1944, pursuant to Presidential directive, 9 Sep 1944. During its existence it studied the effects of Allied aerial attacks on Germany and German-occupied Europe (European Survey) and on Japan (Pacific Survey), to establish a basis for evaluating the importance and potential of air power as an instrument of military strategy and for planning the future development of the armed forces. It was abolished in 8 Oct 1947, with discontinuance of operations.

The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the approximate US counterpart of the British Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, and Special Operations Executive (SOE), with which it co-operated throughout World War Two and its immediate aftermath. The OSS was created by Presidential Military Order on 13 Jun 1942 and it functioned as the principal US intelligence organisation in all operational theatres during the war. Its primary function was to obtain information about enemy nations and to sabotage their war potential and morale. The OSS was terminated by Executive Order 9620 on 20 Sep 1945, its functions later assumed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and, more principally, the US State Department. One of the US State Department's primary functions immediately following World War Two was to provide the US President and the US Joint Chiefs of Staff with intelligence relating to the civil structure of foreign states and the impact of communism on post-colonial countries. In the Far East, the State Department provided the US Executive Branch with key intelligence concerning the economic and civil stability of nations weakened by Japanese occupation during World War Two and subsequently engaged in civil economic, political, and social crises. This enabled US policy planners to formulate long-term strategic goals in the Far East. During the war, the US State Department relied on OSS intelligence to prepare summary research reports concerning the social structure, strategic interests, resources, government, and economic stability of countries in the Far East. After the war, US embassies, State Department field offices, and US foreign service personnel provided the White House with the majority of strategic intelligence relating to the civil structure of nations in the Far East.

Through its embassies, missions, consulates, and foreign service personnel, the US State Department was entrusted by the US Government to gather and disseminate information about the political, economic, and social stability of nations. From 1950 to 1957, the US State Department relayed telegrams and reports about Korea back to the United States Executive Branch for action. Following World War Two, US State Department missions in Southeast Asia had forewarned the US Presidency of political instability with the removal of Japanese occupation forces. In 1950, foreign service personnel began to send urgent messages regarding the movement of scattered communist guerrilla forces southward. During the Korean War, 1950 to 1953, the US State Department maintained a steady flow of messages to President Harry S Truman concerning civil, political, and military actions in Korea and, following the armistice in 1953, continued to inform the Executive Branch of Korean economic and social stability programmes.

The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War Two. It was the wartime intelligence agency and was the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency.

The National Security Act of 1947 and the Reorganization Plan of 1949 defined the composition and function of the National Security Council (NSC). Chaired by the President of the United States, the NSC consists of statutory members (the Vice President and the Secretaries of State and Defense), statutory advisers (the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency), the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and professional staff members who are on temporary assignment from the armed forces, the Central Intelligence Agency, elsewhere in the government, or who have been recruited from universities and think tanks. The statutory function of the NSC is to advise the President with respect to the integration of domestic, foreign, and military policies relating to national security. Since 1947 the NSC has evolved as a key foreign policy making arm of the president. Minutes of the Meetings of the National Security Council: First Supplement contains three separate types of materials: minutes of meetings, document associated with such meetings, and summaries and discussions held during the meetings. This collection relates to a period during the administrations of Presidents Harry S Truman and Dwight David Eisenhower (1947-1956), during which the National Security Council (NSC) met on a regular weekly basis. The NSC met more frequently during times of foreign crisis, less frequently when the president was travelling or pre- occupied with domestic issues. During the administrations of Harry S Truman and Dwight David Eisenhower, the NSC produced a series of formal policy papers whose purpose it was to analyse current and potential national security issues and make policy recommendations to deal with those issues. These policy papers were prepared by the NSC staff and occasionally by members of the NSC in response to requests by the NSC to study specific issues. When completed, these policy papers (NSCPP) were distributed to the NSC for study and comment. If the NSC decided to alter a policy paper, a revised draft would be produced. Once approved, the paper became the official (and usually secret) policy of the United States government. In contrast to Truman and Eisenhower, Presidents John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson held few NSC meetings, relying less on the formally structured NSC and more on ad hoc committees to discuss national security policy.

From 1918 to 1941, the US military attaché, US Military Intelligence Division (MID), Japan, produced reports relating to Japanese military, political, social, and economic development. During this period the Japanese Empire consisted of the home islands, the former Kingdom of Korea, which was annexed in 1908, portions of Siberia, the former German Pacific island possessions seized by Japan following World War One, the dependent Kingdom of Manchukuo (Manchuria), and the occupied territories of northern China seized after 1931. The major function of the MID was the collection of military information about foreign nations. Military attachés and observers assigned to foreign countries were the principal means by which the MID collected such information. The main duties of the military attaché were to observe and report on the training, organisation, equipment, doctrine, and operations of foreign armed forces. Although the US first dispatched military attaches to foreign countries in 1889, it did not accredit an attaché to Japan until the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1894. Two years later a second military attaché was sent out, but the Spanish-American War cut short his tenure. A permanent military attaché was finally assigned in 1901 when the US and Japan were co-operating closely in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in China. For the subsequent forty years, until the Japanese attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, a US military attaché was assigned to Japan. During the period 1918-1941, the military attaché's office in Tokyo usually had two assistants and a number of 'language officers'. The latter were assigned specifically to learn Japanese whilst attached to Japanese Imperial Army regiments as observers. While the military attaché advised the US Ambassador to Japan on military matters, acted as a liaison between US Army and the Japanese Imperial Army Headquarters, and gathered and disseminated intelligence, the 'language officers' translated training and technical manuals and reported on conditions in Japanese military units.

Terrorism: Special Studies, 1975-1991 is a collection of studies commissioned by the US government concerning international terrorism, 1975-1991. The US government contracted American universities, colleges, corporations, non-partisan policy centres, and individuals to provide data and analyses relating to terrorist threats to US foreign policy. University Publications of America then compiled the existing texts, which were available in US armed forces reports, US defence policy journals, non-partisan policy journals, academic journals, and academic symposia and conference proceedings, 1974-1991.

In Apr 1968 political and military representatives from the United States, South Vietnam and North Vietnam began negotiations in Paris, France, to end the Vietnam War. Two months later, the talks were stalled over the inclusion of representatives from the Vietnamese National Liberation Front (Viet Cong), considered by the US an illegitimate political entity. In 1969, US Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (later US Secretary of State), Dr Henry Alfred Kissinger, once again began conversations with North Vietnamese officials. Backed by intensive US bombing of North Vietnam, and particularly its capital city Hanoi, Kissinger eventually persuaded North Vietnamese officials to negotiate the terms of a cease-fire. Throughout the lengthy negotiations, representatives from all sides sought what they considered an precipitous escape from the war. Finally, in 1972 Deputy Assistant to the President, Gen Alexander Meigs Haig Jr, met with South Vietnamese president Nguyen Van Thieu to discuss the final terms of 'Vietnamization', the process by which the American military presence in South Vietnam would be replaced with troops from the Republic of Vietnam. Also, the Viet Cong military adviser, Le Duc Tho, completed talks with Kissinger relating to the terms of a general cease-fire. On 27 Jan 1973, five years after the commencement of negotiations, a permanent cease-fire was signed between representatives from North Vietnam, the Viet Cong, South Vietnam, and the United States. Transcripts and Files of the Paris Peace Talks on Vietnam, 1968-1973 are the official transcripts of the Paris Peace Talks between political and military officials from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Viet Cong and the United States, 31 Mar 1968-26 Feb 1973.