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Samuel Pepys was born in 1633 in London. His father was a tailor, but had good family connections including a landed uncle in Huntingdonshire and an aunt with an advantageous marriage. Pepys attended Saint Paul's School and Cambridge, after which he became the private secretary of his cousin Edward Mountagu (later the Earl of Sandwich). In 1659 he began his 30 years of service to the Navy when Mountagu was made general at sea. In 1660 Pepys was given a job at the Navy Board, and was part of the group sent to bring Charles II back to England to begin his reign. In the same year he began his diary, which has made him famous and which provides an insight into the life and customs of his day, as well as giving accounts of major events such as the plague and the Great Fire of London in 1666. Pepys ended the diary in 1669, concerned that his eyesight was failing. His career continued to be successful, and he became Secretary to the Admiralty Commission in 1672. He died in 1703 and was buried at Saint Olave, Hart Street.

Information from: C ] S Knighton, Pepys, Samuel (1633-1703), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21906, accessed 16 June 2011].

The brothers William (Bill) Pye (1870-1935), George R (Bob) Pye (1872-1945), and Ernest Pye (1876-1915), of Chadwell Heath, Essex, were renowned bell-ringers. Both William and Ernest Pye achieved over a thousand peals during their careers. As well as performing mainly in Essex and Middlesex, they travelled as far as Scotland and Ireland. William Pye was a celebrated conductor of bell-ringing and was the first ringer to conduct 1000 peals. The fourth brother, Alfred Pye (d 1939), was also a ringer, although not as well known as his brothers. The collection includes papers relating to William's son Ernest W (Ernie) Pye (d 1996) who also rang over 1000 peals.

William Russell was a broker, in partnership at various times. He was admitted to the Stock Exchange in 1872. His business was known as W Russell and Co for part of its existence, while his first business address was 75 Old Broad Street, E. C.

after several changes he settled at 17 Gracechurch Street, E. C. in 1894 and remained in business there until 1920.

In 1864 Isaac Salaman, ostrich feather manufacturer of 69 Lamb's Conduit Street, withdrew from his partnership with two of his sons Myer and Nathan Salaman. They continued the business at 45 (later 44-47) Monkwell Street and (from 1893) Falcon Square under the name of Isaac Salaman and Company.

The company also operated as ostrich feather manufacturers, sellers and importers in Cape Town, Paris and New York. In 1895 Myer Salaman sold the business to a new company, Isaac Salaman and Company Ltd, which was registered on 31 May 1895. This company existed until 1943.

Captain (later Colonel Sir) Buchanan Scott was born in 1850. A graduate of the Royal Military Academy, he joined the India service in 1871, specialising in railroads and transportation. By 1888 he had risen to the rank of Captain in the Royal Engineers. In this year, he was given two years' special leave of absence by the British Government of India to take up an appointment as general manager of the Mexican Land and Colonization Company Ltd, administering an area of land the size of Scotland. In 1890 he returned to work in India, becoming Senior Mint Master. He died in 1937.

The Mexican Land and Colonization Company was formed in 1889 to purchase the business of the International Company of Mexico, an American company founded in 1885 to develop the Baja California region. Both companies had premises at 48 Finsbury Circus.

Benjamin Slowman was a wine and spirit merchant, trading from 32 St Mary at Hill. A Citizen and member of the Company of Spectacle Makers, he was Common Councilman of the precinct of St Andrew Hubbard 1854-79, and from 1870 Deputy of Billingsgate Ward. He served as Master of the Spectacle Makers' Company in 1873.

Percival George Thompson (1866-1953) was born in Surrey and trained as an architect. He moved to Loughton in 1901 and became an enthusiastic local historian and naturalist, a member of the Essex Field Club, as well as serving as Chairman of Loughton Urban District Council, 1918-1920. Thompson's publications included The Story of the Parish Church of Loughton, Essex (1946) and contributions to nature journals. He was Curator of Queen Elizabeth's Lodge Museum, Chingford from 1917-1948. He died in 1953 and is buried in Loughton Cemetery.

Information from: http://www.essexfieldclub.org.uk/portal/p/Noteworthy+naturalist/s/17

The Reverend Charles John Todd was a Naval Chaplain, 1881-99, and Master of the Wax Chandlers' Company, 1888-91, 1916-18 and 1934-36.

The collection mostly relates to Zelophead Wyeth Vincent (1755-1840), Citizen and member of the Barber Surgeon's Company. His trade was a hotpresser of woollen stuffs.

John Whitwell, a general merchant, lived at 2 William Street, Blackfriars from 1819. Before that date he lived at 577 Kenterstein, Brussels for some time and continued to have links with English residents in Belgium thereafter. He may also have done accountancy work for some of his customers.

William Worsley was born circa 1435 in Eccles, Lancashire. He enjoyed the patronage of William Booth, bishop of Lichfield and later archbishop of York. Through him he was educated at Winchester College in 1442, going on to Oxford and Cambridge where he studied canon and civil law. He was ordained priest in 1460. In 1468 he was granted a doctorate in civil law, and was granted dispensation to hold canonries and prebends in London, Nottinghamshire and York.

In 1476 Worsley became archdeacon of Nottingham. In January 1479 he was elected dean of Saint Paul's Cathedral by the chapter in London. He was considered a good preacher. In 1494 he was arrested on charges of correspondence with the Yorkist pretender Perkin Warbeck. He was found guilty of high treason, but was saved from execution and paid a heavy fine to be pardoned. He died in August 1499 and was buried in Saint Paul's Cathedral.

Michael J. Bennett, 'Worsley, William (c 1435-1499)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29987, accessed 17 June 2011].

Saint Thomas' Hospital was founded in the early part of the 12th Century as the infirmary of the Augustinian Priory of St Mary Overy and was run by the 11 brothers and sisters of the monastery. It had 40 beds for the poor including the 'sick and the merely needy'. The exact date of foundation is uncertain but tradition says that the priory was founded about 1106 - by 1215 it was being described as 'ancient'. It is dedicated to Saint Thomas the Martyr, a name that cannot have been assumed until after the canonisation of Saint Thomas Becket in 1173, three years after his death. Following a disastrous fire in 1212, the priory and the hospital developed quite separately. The site opposite the priory in Long Southwark (later known as Borough High Street) was acquired by the hospital in 1215 and occupied until 1862. Its position is still indicated by St Thomas' Street and by Saint Thomas' Church, until recently used as the Chapter House of Southwark Cathedral. Little documentary evidence remains to tell of life in the hospital between 1215 and its suppression with other monasteries in 1540. Treatment was a medley of pseudo-science and old wives' remedies.

The early fifteenth century was marked by the opening of a new ward, the gift of Richard Whittington, Lord Mayor of London (1397, 1406 and 1419). 'The noble merchant, Richard Whittington, made a new chamber with 8 beds for young women that had done amiss, in trust of a good amendment. And he commanded that all the things that had been done in that chamber should be kept secret for he would not shame no young women in no wise, for it might be cause of their letting {i.e. hindering} of their marriage.'

Henry VIII dissolved the Hospital in 1540, despite pleas from the City to allow it to take over control. It was described as a 'bawdy' house possibly because the Master was accused of immorality, or because it treated many of Southwark's prostitutes and their clients for their venereal diseases. At this time there had been forty patients, but the hospital was to remain empty for eleven years until a petition to Edward VI led to it being refounded in 1552 and rededicated to Thomas the Apostle as Becket had been decanonised. The hospital grew in size and reputation. At the end of the 17th century the hospital and the adjoining Saint Thomas' Church were largely rebuilt by Thomas Cartwright (Master Mason to Christopher Wren at Saint Mary-le-Bow). In 1822 part of the herb garret above the church was converted into a purpose built operating theatre for female patients. This strange situation resulted from the fact that the female surgical ward abutted the garret. Previously operations had taken place on the ward.

The rebuilding of London Bridge between 1824 and 1831 led to alterations within the hospital. Borough High Street was realigned further to the west and on a higher level. This resulted in the demolition of two old wings of the hospital, built by Thomas Guy and Mr Frederick. These were replaced by new north and south wings built between 1840 and 1842; these wings stood on much higher ground than the rest of the hospital and it was therefore intended that the whole hospital should be modernised, starting with the rebuilding of the main entrance.

In 1859 Florence Nightingale became involved with Saint Thomas' setting up on this site her famous nursing school, the Nightingale Training School. This started with fifteen probationers and grew rapidly. Instruction during the course was mainly practical, with the Probationers working in the hospital wards under close supervision. Considerable emphasis was placed on high moral character. At the end of the year, if they were approved, they were entered on the Register of Certified Nurses, and employment was found for them.

It was about this time that Parliament gave permission for the railway from Greenwich to be extended from London Bridge across the River Thames to Charing Cross. This extension was to pass within half a metre of the north surgical block of the Hospital and despite protests from the governors went ahead. The only solution for the Hospital was to move elsewhere. Florence Nightingale undertook a statistical survey that suggested that as the majority of the Hospital's patients came from outside the immediate area a move would have little significant effect. The Governors decided to sell the hospital and its site to the South-Eastern Railway Company and seek a new location. The Hospital closed in June 1862 and found temporary accommodation in the old Surrey Gardens Music Hall at Newington. A suitable permanent site was found at Stangate in Lambeth where work began in 1865. On 21 June 1871 Queen Victoria opened the new hospital. In the years immediately after the opening of the hospital the financial situation was such that it became necessary to admit private, paying patients in order to increase the hospital's revenue and meet its running costs.

The turn of the century saw a number of advancements in the running of the hospital including the introduction of electric lighting throughout the hospital in both theatres and wards. It was at this time that the first diagnostic work was done with x-rays and experiments were taking place in the use of x-rays in treating inoperable cancers. However this expansion in the work of the hospital's work put pressure on accommodation that was already over subscribed by 1891. The medical school was allotted money for building work to build a much needed extension. Other building projects were instituted but again the problems of financing the improvements meant there was a continuing shortage of beds and operating facilities.

During the First World War the hospital lost many members of staff to military service and as a result had to restrict the services offered to civilians. Two hundred beds were put aside for the treatment of sick and wounded men from the armed forces. On August 16th 1915 the military section of the hospital became the 5th London (City of London) General Hospital, the staff were given commissions and the nurses enrolled in the City of London Territorial Force Nursing Service. The 5th London General was closed on March 31st 1919, but the hospital continued to be overwhelmed with work in the aftermath of the war.

The inter-war years saw the reform of the scheme used for training nurses, this was undertaken by Miss Alicia Lloyd Still and was based upon the syllabus of the General Nursing Council. Miss Lloyd Still introduced an organised programme of lectures and had proper lecture rooms installed to replace the need to have classes in the nurses dining-room. This period also saw the donation of large sums of money to the hospital for specific purposes with the result that a number of laboratories were founded to expanded the research facilities available at the hospital and further accommodation was provided for the treatment of patients. However the finances of the hospital were as ever under-funded.

The Second World War saw the hospital involved in direct action. From 1940 the hospital buildings were heavily bombed and much damage and destruction occurred. The hospital was allotted to Sector VIII as the centre of a scheme to provide medical care for injured servicemen. Two hundred beds were again set aside for use by the military and 130 beds were retained for civilian use. Such staff as were not needed at the hospital were sent to work in outer areas, and a basement operating theatre was established. Once the bombing began conditions at the hospital became increasingly difficult and most of the staff and patients were evacuated to Hydestile near Godalming where the Australians were evacuating a temporary hospital. The first patients were admitted on April 17th 1941 and it remained in operation throughout the war and afterwards while rebuilding work was taking place in Lambeth, finally closing in 1963. Immediately the war was over work began on rebuilding the hospital, but a shortage of labour and supplies meant progress was slow. By 1947 there were again facilities to provide over 500 beds.

In 1948 the establishment of the National Health Service brought fundamental changes to the hospital. Saint Thomas' Hospital and the Babies' Hostel were the nucleus of a group that included the General Lying-In Hospital, the Royal Waterloo Hospital, the Grosvenor Hospital and the Roffey Park Rehabilitation Centre at Horsham, Surrey. Each of these constituent hospitals retained its name but was fully amalgamated with Saint Thomas' and the group as a whole was given the umbrella name of Saint Thomas' Hospital. Saint Thomas's Hospital was managed by the London Regional Hospital Board (Teaching), acting through a Hospital Management Committee. The nationalisation of the Health Service was greatly to Saint Thomas' financial advantage but lead to increasingly heavy demands for improved services.

Between 1950 and 1975 Saint Thomas' Hospital was virtually rebuilt. The bombing of the Second World war caused such extensive damage that it was shown to be necessary to start again from scratch. The hospital architect W. Fowler Howitt planned a modern hospital built along vertical rather than the traditional horizontal lines. This work was done over a period of time in order to enable the hospital to continue to serve the public throughout the work and to minimise disruption as far as possible.

In 1974 Saint Thomas's District Health Authority (Teaching) was formed under the Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham Area Health Authority (Teaching) which in 1982 became West Lambeth District Health Authority. The Special Trustees of Saint Thomas' Hospital came into existence on 1 April 1974 when as a consequence of National Health Service reorganisation, Saint Thomas' Hospital ceased to have its own Board of Governors, but became part of the Saint Thomas' Health District (Teaching) of Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham Area Health Authority. The Special Trustees took over responsibility for the hospital's endowment funds. In April 1993 in a further reorganisation of the National Health Service and the way hospitals were organised and grouped the Saint Thomas' Hospital group was amalgamated with the Guy's Hospital Group to create the Guy's and Saint Thomas' NHS Hospital Trust. Their mission statement outlines what the trustees see as the Hospital's current role in society: "To be London's leading University Hospital, providing a comprehensive local acute hospital service to people who live and work in London, providing a range of specialised hospital services and working in partnership with Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine, Dentistry & Biomedical Sciences to deliver high quality teaching and research."

The modern history of the Regiment begins in 1859 with the formation of the 23rd Middlesex (Inns of Court) Rifle Volunteer Corps; it became the 14th Middlesex in 1889. The Regiment was attached, in its later years, to the Rifle Brigade and also formed part of the 2nd London Volunteer Brigade and the "Grey Brigade". In 1888 a mounted infantry detachment was formed and became known as "B" (M.I.) Company. A contingent of 30 mounted infantry, 19 cyclists and 1 signaller joined the City Imperial Volunteers for service in South Africa during the Boer War. In 1908 the Territorial Force was formed and the Regiment became a Territorial unit, the 27th Battalion of the County of London Regiment (Inns of Court), but almost immediately it was changed into an officer training unit under the designation Inns of Court Officers Training Corps. The Regiment had an establishment of one squadron of cavalry (I.C.O.T.C. Squadron, formerly "B" (M.I.) Company) and three companies of infantry. In 1914 the Inns of Court Reserve Corps was formed consisting of former members of the Inns of Court Rifle Volunteers, and in 1917 the 1st Cadet Battalion, Inns of Court, was formed to train boys under military age.

In 1920 the Regiment was reformed with an establishment of one squadron of cavalry and two companies of infantry and in 1932 its designation was changed to the Inns of Court Regiment. The two infantry companies were converted to light tank cavalry squadrons in 1937 and two years later formed the Royal Armoured Corps Wing, Sandhurst. In 1939 the mounted squadron joined a cavalry training regiment in Edinburgh, but was disbanded in 1940. Between 1940 and 1943 the Regiment was the Armoured Car Unit of the 9th Armoured Division and from 1943 it was under the direct command of 1 Corps, the assault formation of 21 Army Group and later led the advance of 11th Armoured Division. On 1 April 1947 the Regiment was again reformed, as the Armoured Car Regiment of the 56th (London) Armoured Division, T.A., later to become the Reconnaissance Regiment of the 54th East Anglian Division. In 1956 the Northamptonshire Yeomanry was reduced to one squadron and amalgamated with the Inns of Court Regiment as "the Northamptonshire Yeomanry "D" Squadron, the Inns of Court Regiment"; and in 1961 a further amalgamation occurred when the Regiment and the City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders) united under the title "Inns of Court and City Yeomanry".

The "Rough Riders" had been formed in 1901 as the 1st County of London (Rough Riders) Imperial Yeomanry, but its name was changed to the City of London (Rough Riders) Imperial Yeomanry in 1902. Thereafter the Regiment's name changed to City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders), then City of London Yeomanry Battery, R.H.A. and 11th (City of London Yeomanry) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, R.A. before reverting to City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders) prior to amalgamation. In April 1967 the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve replaced the old Territorial Army. The Inns of Court and City Yeomanry was reduced to one squadron and formed part of the "London Yeomanry and Territorials"; the regimental band was retained based at Lincoln's Inn and attached to the newly formed Royal Yeomanry Regiment.. In 1968 the London Yeomanry and Territorials was disbanded, but a cadre of the Regiment, consisting of 3 officers and 5 other ranks, was retained in the Royal Armoured Corps thus ensuring the continuation of the Regiment's name in the Army List and the retention of headquarters and mess at Lincoln's Inn. The cadre, however, was disbanded in March 1975. In 1969 71 Signal Regiment (Volunteers) was formed from disbanded yeomanry regiments and on 1 April No. 68 (Inns of Court and City Yeomanry) Signal Squadron was formed with an establishment of 8 officers and 85 other ranks and as such the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry still existed in 1977.

The London Rifle Brigade was founded in 1859 and was the first City of London volunteer unit formed during that year. Its members were City clerks and City "men of good position" and the Brigade kept that social composition throughout its existence, although active service in both World Wars temporarily altered its character.

In 1908 the Brigade was converted to a Territorial unit and its original sixteen companies were whittled down to eight. From 1868 each company had been associated with one of the City's wards.

The London Rifle Brigade survived as an independent body until 1950 when the first of a series of amalgamations occurred.

The Royal London Militia were based at Finsbury Barracks, City Road.

An association for foreign accident business was approved by a meeting of members of the Accident Offices Association interested in accident business abroad, held on 3 May 1937, and at the Annual General Meeting of the association on 14 June 1937. The new association, the Accident Offices Association (Overseas), took over the Foreign Motor Committee of the Accident Offices Association which had been formed in 1920. The Accident Offices Association continued to provide the new association with executive and secretarial services as well as a place to meet.

The Coal Pool was established circa 1907 for sharing and adjusting colliery claims. It was known as the Colliery Pool from 1935 when it seems to have been taken over by the Accident Offices Association.

The Fire Offices' Committee was established in 1868 by the major fire insurance companies, and was the result of many years of informal co-operation on fire insurance matters. This co-operation began as early as 1790 when the three dominant companies, the Sun and Phoenix Fire Offices, and Royal Exchange Assurance, agreed minimum rates for the insurance of riverside wharves and warehouses. Conferences between the three companies were revived in 1825 and a continuous stream of information about all classes of risks passed between them. This sharing of expertise and underwriting experience, which standardized and improved fire insurance services, culminated in the formation of a fire insurance tariff. The first attempt to establish a tariff can be traced to 1826 when the risk experience of Liverpool warehouses proved too burdensome and 22 offices agreed to a common tariff of minimum premiums. Similarly, the managers of the Edinburgh fire offices, who had begun regular meetings in 1829, agreed minimum rates for cotton mills, flax mills, and distilleries with the leading offices of London, Manchester and Leeds. By 1831, 15 London offices had joined the Scottish companies in a tariff on Manchester drying stoves and a similar tariff operated for Glasgow and Paisley warehouses after 1833. Regular meetings of the London fire offices were instituted by 1842 and tariffs were agreed for cotton mills (1842) and Liverpool warehouses (1843).

From 1853, the co-operating fire insurance companies were known as the "Tariff Offices", and their committees published specifications and tariffs for warehouses at Liverpool, and for corn, flax, woollen and cotton mills. In 1860, the tariff offices formed three area committees: the Southern, Northern and Scottish District Committees. The Scottish Offices, based in Edinburgh, had been meeting since at least 1829. There was a Manchester Committee in addition to the Northern District Committee also based in Manchester. The Manchester Committee had been formed in 1844 and the Northern Offices Committee in 1858. General meetings of all offices concerned in the tariffs were held twice yearly in London. The first general meeting was held on 20 November 1860. Moves towards a more formal association of tariff offices were first made in May 1867 when attempts were made to scotch a rumour that the regulation of tariff rates was not being universally observed. At this time there is also mention of a Committee of Associated Fire Offices. The name Fire Offices' Committee first appears in May 1868 when concern was expressed that there was no statement of principles or rules of practice on which the co-operation of the tariff offices was based. It was proposed that rules should be adopted and these were drafted as rules of the Fire Insurance Tariff Association. They were finally approved in May 1869 as rules of the Fire Offices' Committee. The original membership comprised 19 London companies, 17 country, nine Scottish, three Irish and two foreign.

The pre-eminence of the London offices and increasing dominance of the Southern District Committee and its close relationship with the Fire Offices' Committee (they had the same Chairman and Secretary) is reflected in the fate of the district committees.In 1883, the Southern and Northern Districts were combined to form the Southern and Northern District. In 1887 the division of the United Kingdom into two districts (Southern and Northern, and Scottish) was abolished. In 1868, particular tariffs were allocated to the different district committees. Increasingly Standing sub-committees were established to deal with particular tariffs. These were abolished in 1890 and four Standing Tariff Committees were set up. Three ofthe committees met in London, the fourth in Edinburgh. The Standing Tariff Committees were in abeyance by the end of 1893. From this date, most business seems to have been dealt with in frequently held general meetings, with specific matters referred to sub-committees.

Originally, the officers of the Fire Offices' Committee, the Chairman and Secretary who carried out much of the day to day business, had come from the member fire offices. By 1893, the workload had increased so much that the Committee decided to employ as an assistant secretary someone not directly involved in the insurance business. Its first assistant secretary was appointed in August 1893. Much of the business of the Fire Offices' Committee had always been carried out in general meetings. However, in December 1898 a Grand Committee, made up of all members of the Fire Offices' Committee transacting direct fire insurance business in the United Kingdom, was set up. It met once a month and conducted most of the business formerly carried out in general meetings, although these continued. In July 1904, the Grand Committee was abolished and a General Purposes Committee established in its place. In November 1904, the General Purposes Committee was also abolished and general meetings held in place of the committee meetings.

The Fire Offices' Committee consolidated existing rating agreements and continued to supervise the rating of fire risks insured by the tariff offices for over a century. The tariff permanently altered the conduct of fire business from the mid-19th century. These alterations were reflected in the increased range of information about insurable risks published in the Committee's circulars and discussed at its meetings. The tariff companies ratings of new products and processes influenced traders and manufacturers in their choice of buildings and plant. Also under the tariff system, with the sharing of underwriting information between the competing offices, the size of the British insurance market grew rapidly. Co-operation assisted British fire offices in their development of overseas markets where they had problems with competition from local companies, legislation by foreign governments and the novelty or complexity of overseas risks. Offices conducting business overseas had been meeting since at least 1859. By 1869, 29 foreign fire insurance tariffs were in operation, and the participating companies formed the Fire Offices' Committee (Foreign) for supervising rates (see CLC/B/017-12 for records). Further foreign committees were established in the 20th century.

The Fire Offices' Committee was associated with a number of other organisations which shared its staff and premises:

• The London Wharf and Warehouse Committee was established in 1861, as the Warehouse Improvement and Wharf Committee, by offices involved in fire insurance (later the Fire Offices' Committee); it was renamed in 1872. It surveyed and rated wharfs, warehouses and goods covered by the London Mercantile and Insurance Tariffs. (Its records were deposited in Guildhall Library in 1974 and 1975 and have been listed separately as CLC/B/017-26).

• The Consequential Loss Committee was established by the Fire Offices' Committee in 1909 to rate the premiums to be applied to insurances against consequential loss by fire and to administer the Consequential Loss Tariff (see CLC/B/017-08).

• The Printers and Theatres Rating Committee (Southern Committee) was set up under the auspices of the London Salvage Corps. In 1962, it was taken over by the Fire Offices' Committee. See CLC/B/017-29.

  Further committees to do with foreign business were established under the auspices of the Fire Offices' Committee (Foreign): the London Continental Fire Insurance Committee in 1920 (CLC/B/017-21); the London Australasian Insurance Committee in 1925 (CLC/B/017-20); the London West Africa Insurance Committee in 1958 (CLC/B/017-25); the London South African Insurance Committee in 1966 (CLC/B/017-24); and the Fire Offices' Committee of Ireland in 1975 (CLC/B/017-13).

  Some joint committees were formed during the Second World War: Trading with the Enemy Joint Insurance Committee (CLC/B/017-31); the Associated Fire Insurers (Government Commodities) Management Committee; and the Insurance Companies (War Settlement) Committee (CLC/B/017-17).

  The Fire Offices' Committee was wound up in 1985 and its activities transferred to the Association of British Insurers, apart from its technical services which were transferred to the Loss Prevention Council. The Fire Offices' Committee was located at 63 Threadneedle Street to 1875, at 11 Queen Street from 1875 to 1885, at 11 Queen Street and 63 Watling Street from 1885 to 1907, at 63 and 66 Watling Street from 1907 to 1958, at 107 Cheapside from 1958 to 1962 and at Aldermary House, Queen Street from 1962 until 1985.

The Life Offices' Association was founded in 1889 by representatives of the major life assurance offices. It acted as a forum for consultation and combined action in response to problems arising from the expansion of life assurance business, geographically and in the new types of risk being rated. The Association was concerned in particular with the effects of insurance and tax legislation.

The Association had offices as follows: 1890: 19-20 Cornhill; 1891: 9-10 King Street; 1892-6: 25 Abchurch Lane; 1897-1906: 5 Lombard Street; 1907-10: 18 Bishopsgate Street Within; 1911-13: 28 Bishopsgate; 1914-29: 6 Broad Street Place; 1929-34: 15 Queen Street; 1935-54: 20 Aldermanbury; 1955-62: 33 King Street; 1962 onwards: Aldermary House, 10-15 Queen Street.

The Association ceased to exist in 1985 when its functions were taken over by the Association of British Insurers.

The first formal meeting of the London West Africa Insurance Committee was held on 26 September 1958. Its aims were to protect and promote the interests of companies transacting direct insurance business in Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. It was set up under the auspices of the Fire Offices Committee (Foreign) (see CLC/B/017-12) and its chairman and secretary were also the chairman and secretary of the parent organisation. It was managed and administered by the Fire Offices' Committee (see CLC/B/017-11).

Francis Nicholls White and Company acted as proprietor of a debt collection business known as the British Mercantile Agency which had been established in 1855. In 1924, when Francis Nicholls White and Company moved from 13/14 Old Jewry Chambers, the British Mercantile Agency moved to 90 Queen Street, London. In 1966 it relocated to Sidcup House, Station Road, Sidcup. Subsequently the agency was acquired by Woods Management Services. They sold it to Legal and Trade who dropped the name of British Mercantile Agency, since when it has ceased to exist.

Parkin S Booth and Company, an insolvency practice, was founded by Parkin S Booth in Liverpool in 1907. The founder also acted as proprietor of the Palatine Trade Protection Office. The firm opened an office in London, at Kimberley House, Holborn Viaduct, in 1949. In 1967 it amalgamated with the insolvency practice Francis Nicholls White and Company to form Booth White and Company (now Booth White). The Liverpool office, at 5 Rumford Place, Chapel Street, Liverpool, continues to practise under the name Parkin S Booth and Company.

The Bordeaux Agents Association was based at 4 Lloyd's Avenue (in 1949). It was a group of wine sellers and importers.

The London Joint Stock Banks Committee was probably formed in 1853. In 1900 it transferred its functions to the Committee of London Clearing Bankers (see CLC/B/029-04).

Butterworth and Company (Publishers) of 7 Fleet street 1818-99, 12 Bell Yard 1899-1912, 4-6 Bell Yard 1912-53, 88 Kingsway 1955-94, Borough Green, Kent 1973-95, and Halbury House, 35 Chancery Lane 1994-.

The business was founded in 1818 by Henry Butterworth who sold both his own publications and many other law books. On the death of Joshua Whitehead Butterworth (Henry's son) in 1895, the firm was bought by Shaw and Sons, law printers and publishers. The new business was known as Butterworth and Co and owned by Charles Bond, soon succeeded by his son Stanley Shaw Bond. The company has been known colloquially (in the twentieth century at least) as Butterworths.

Limited companies were set up from 1910 onwards to trade in the empire and dominions but the principal UK firm was not set up as a limited company until 1927 when Stanley Shaw Bond changed the name of Butterworth and Co. (Canada) to Butterworth & Company (Publishers) and increased the authorised capital to +250,000. Butterworths remained a group of separate companies with Bond as the sole shareholder of each company until his death in 1943. The company structure was then rationalised with the smaller companies becoming subsidiaries of Butterworth and Company (Publishers). In 1947 Butterworths became a public company and in 1967 it was bought by IPC.

In 1947 two companies were formed: Butterworths Scientific Publications and Research and Development Limited. The first was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Butterworth and Company (Publishers) and was to publish on commission for the second company, the shares in which were held equally by Butterworths and Hambros Bank. Research and Development would receive the profits, if any.

This company was first known as Fuel Publications and was presumably the vehicle for publishing the journal Fuel. The name was changed in 1950/1 to Butterworths Technical Books.

In 1895 Charles and Richard Bond (known as Shaw and Sons) bought Butterworth and Company. In the next three years they divided up their business so that Charles Bond took over the law publishing side of Shaw and Sons as well as Butterworths. Charles Bond retained personal possession of some titles published by Butterworths on a commission basis and bequeathed them to his son Stanley.

Chemindex Limited was acquired by Butterworth and Company (Publishers) Limited in the 1950s and continued to publish its titles but under the Butterworth imprint.

The firm was founded by Henry Shaw in 1750. In 1895 when it bought Butterworths it was owned by two brothers Charles and Richard Bond who were described in the sale agreement as "carrying on the business of printers and publishers at 7, 8 and 9 Fetter Lane under the style of Shaw and Sons." Charles and Richard divided up their business between 1895-1901 so that Charles ran Butterworths and took over Shaw and Sons' law publishing.

A large number of Grahams companies, registered in Glasgow, were trading individually in Glasgow and elsewhere, including Portugal and India, as early as the late 18th century. Grahams Trading Company Limited, however, was incorporated on 29 July 1924, as general merchants and manufacturers all over the world, with a registered office at 7 St Helen's Place, EC3. It was an amalgamation of several of the older Grahams companies and the newly acquired "Portuguese companies". The latter, Abelheira Paper Mills Limited, Boa Vista Spinning and Weaving Company Limited and Braco de Prata Printing Company Limited, had all begun in the late 19th century and were registered in Glasgow but traded in Portugal through William Graham and Company, William and John Graham and Company, and William Graham Junior and Company, who acted as their agents and held title to the real estate in Portugal. Boa Vista Spinning and Weaving Company Limited was founded in 1888.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Assam Frontier Tea Company Limited were based on Leadenhall Street and other City addresses. They amalgamated in 1977 with Budla Beta Tea Company Limited. They were taken over in 1982 by the Caparo Group Limited.

Dooars Tea Company began trading in 1885 as the operator of 4 estates in the Western Dooars, Bengal. It had offices at 36 Wood Street, 1885-91; 60 Gracechurch Street, 1891-1912, 2A Eastcheap, 1912-68 and 13 Rood Lane, 1968-71. In 1982 the company was acquired by the Caparo Group Limited.

Bow Road Wesleyan Methodist Church was founded by the Reverend Alexander McAulay, who began preaching from his home in 1861. The Chapel was constructed by 1865. Various evangelical and social welfare activities took place at the Church, including the Queen Mary Day Nursery, medical clinics and a youth centre.

In 1868 the Stratford circuit was founded and a large new church built on The Grove by 1871, with a schoolroom added in 1873. The Grove was the leading Wesleyan church in the area for many years.

The Stratford Conference Hall was built as a non-denominational space but in 1934 it joined the Methodists as part of the London Mission (West Ham). The Grove buildings were bombed in 1940 (and demolished in 1953) and by 1941 the congregation had joined that of the Conference Hall, making it the predominant Methodist church in the locality.

Driffield Road Primitive Methodist Church was built in 1878 and closed around 1951.

The Bow Circuit was the first Home Mission circuit in Methodism, and the newly formed Metropolitan Wesleyan chapel Building Fund purchased land in Bow Road for future development. Alexander McAulay was appointed superintendent of the newly created Bow Circuit in 1861. In September 1900 Bow and Poplar Circuits were united to become the Poplar and Bow branch of the London Mission (the successor of the Metropolitan Wesleyan Chapel Building Fund which had helped to establish Bow in 1863). In 1961 Poplar and Bow Mission was divided into two separate circuits of Poplar and Bow.

Hayes Methodist Church began in Station Road, in 1907. It was registered at that address in 1927. In 1930 the registered name was changed to Queen's Hall Methodist Church, Station Road. In 1973 Queen's Hall closed and work began on a new church, which opened in September 1977, and was renamed Hayes Methodist Church. Barnhill Church was built in 1960 as a 'daughter' church of Hayes Methodist Church, intended to serve a new housing estate. The two churches retain close links with each other. Hayes and Harlington Club for the Blind met in Queen's Hall and their records have been deposited with those of the Church.

The Mostyn Road Methodist Church, Lambeth, was constructed in 1868, designed by architect John Tarring.

Hampton Isolation Hospital was constructed between 1906 and 1908. It was originally to have 8 beds but was soon expanded to 10 beds and by 1929 it had 14 beds. It took infectious cases other than fever and smallpox. It was administered by Hampton Urban District Council, and was situated on Uxbridge Road, Hampton Hill. It appears to have closed in 1932 and the site was sold in 1937.

A Methodist Tabernacle is said to have existed in Morgan's Lane, Hayes End since 1874. It would seem that the church was registered in 1906 as the Hayes Tabernacle, Wood End Green. This registration was closed in 1927 and the church registered under the name of Morgan's Lane Church, Hayes End. In 1934 it moved to a new building in Uxbridge Road and was renamed Hayes End Methodist Church.

Goodwyn Avenue Wesleyan Methodist Church, a brick building in the Perpendicular style, was opened in Mill Hill in 1930. After the Second World War a hall was added at the rear. The Church is now closed.

It would appear that from 1859 Wesleyans were meeting for worship at a coffee house and dining rooms in Whittington Terrace, Upper Holloway. The society acquired its own premises when in 1864 a site was purchased in St John's Road and an iron building erected upon it. This was the site later occupied by the Archway Central Hall. In 1873 a far more substantial chapel was opened on the adjacent site - on the junction of five roads opposite the Archway Tavern, since Victorian times one of the busiest traffic centres in North London. Up to that point still part of the Islington (Liverpool Road) Circuit, Archway Road Chapel became the head of the newly formed Highgate Circuit (1873), which reached out to the new suburbs rapidly growing up on the Northern Heights.

Archway was one of no less than 85 Wesleyan chapels built in 1872. In 1932 it was decided to replace the crumbling, out of date building with a large Central Hall, to be set back from the busy and noisy Great North Road. It was to be the first central hall scheme initiated after Methodist Union and the last Central Hall built in London.

Source: http://www.londonmethodist.org.uk/index.html

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

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

The building which was formerly the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Chapel in Falmouth Road, Southwark, now houses the Nigerian church, the Church of the Holy Cross and Star.

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

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