Friern Hospital, New Southgate (formerly Colney Hatch Asylum) was normally used as a mental hospital, but on the outbreak of the Second World War 900 beds were set aside for the treatment of civilian war casualties. The City of London Maternity Hospital occupied part of the hospital after its own premises in Finsbury were severely damaged by bombing in September 1940 until the end of March 1941 when these beds were required for air-raid casualties.
The German Evangelical Church in Islington was established in 1862 in a chapel in Fowler Road off Halton Street, Islington. Street directories suggest that it was closed by 1917.
The London County Council Sports Club was set up by a joint committee of the committees of the Association and Rugby Football Clubs, the Hockey Club, and the Netball Club on 18 June 1923. It was intended to admit other sports or games clubs formed among the professional and clerical staff of the London County Council which adhered to the Sports Club's objectives.
Hounslow Chapel was built about 1874 as a Methodist church. Its use as a church ceased about 1939 and during the Second World War it was used as a British Restaurant. In 1948 the building was bought by the United Synagogues.
John Wesley visited Staines in 1771 and preached in a house which had just been fitted up for the purpose. He recorded an enthusiastic reception and according to the Anglican authorities the number of Methodists increased between 1778 and 1810. There does not seem to have been a proper chapel before about 1845, but the Wesleyan minister from Windsor registered a dwelling-house in Staines for religious worship in 1825. By 1865, and probably twenty years before, the Wesleyan chapel stood on the site of the present Salvation Army fortress in the Kingston Road. This chapel was replaced in 1890 by the present building in the Gothic style on the other side of the road. It is built in red brick with stone dressings and has a south-west spire. In 1957 the church had about 160 members.
From: 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. 30-31.
The Wandsworth Circuit had orginally been part of the Hammersmith Circuit. In 1889 the Wandsworth Circuit was divided into several Circuits, one of which was the new Tooting Circuit formed of Upper Tooting, Lower Tooting, Wimbeldon and Merton Churches. This was renamed the London Mission (Tooting) Circuit at the end of 1923.
Emmanuel Mission Hall, Garratt Lane was founded in 1885 and its work was largely superseded by Tooting Central Hall built in 1910.
Balham Hill Methodist Church was in operation from 1898 to around 1920. The Wesleyan Church at Mitcham was built in 1908, the Southfields Methodist Society was founded in 1905 and this Society later built Southfields Central Hall.
Colliers Wood Methodist Mission was built in 1934.
The Primitive Methodists operated several Chapels in the area which later joined the London Mission (Tooting) Circuit following the Unification of the Methodist Church in 1932. The registers of baptisms for Lynwood Road, Upper Tooting include baptisms performed in other Primitive Methodist Chapels. The Church at Balham Hill (Oldridge Road) was formerly at 1 Balham Grove.
The London Electricity Consultative Council (LECC) was established in 1947 under the Electricity Act 1947 which nationalised all the electricity companies. It was one of many area consultative councils established in Britain to answer complaints from consumers concerning electricity supply. All Area Electricity Consultative Councils (AECCs) were sponsored by the Department of Trade.
The LECC dealt with complaints concerning the London Electricity Board (LEB). In 1976 their work expanded to include complaints about purchases made from LEB shops (in 1988 this accounted for 13% of complaints made), From 1947 to 1986, District Committees dealt with local issues and reported to the LECC. The District Committees were replaced by local complaints panels in 1986.
The LECC acted as a consumer watchdog body, it was involved in negotiations with the LEB on policy, tariffs and complaints and it published annual reports. Its headquarters were at Newspaper House, Great New Street, London EC4. In March 1990 the Electricity Act 1989 came into force, privatising the electricity industry, and the LECC was abolished.
After March 1990 a new regulating body was formed, the Office of Electricity Regulation (OFFER), based in Birmingham with localised branch offices.
Fulham Baptist Church is situated on Dawes Road, Fulham.
Theophilus Charles Noble was born in London in 1840. He was an author and antiquarian, publishing works including The Lord Mayor of London: a sketch of the origin, history and antiquity of the office (1860); Memorials of Temple Bar (1870); A Ramble round the Crystal Palace (1875); A collection of papers relating to the management and mismanagement of the Public Record Office, London (1875); Biographical Notices of T Wood DD, sometime Bishop of Lichfield (1882); The Spanish Armada and the Public Records (1888) and A Brief History of the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers (1889). In 1869 he received two special votes of thanks from the Irish Society after his publication of letters helped to defeat a Bill before the House of Commons which aimed to remove some of the Irish estates from the City of London companies. Noble died in 1890. His manuscripts were auctioned: see Catalogue of the library and collections (printed and manuscript) of T.C. Noble... consisting mostly of works on topography, chiefly of London... sold by auction... (London: Puttick and Simpson, 1890). This is possibly when the Guildhall Library acquired the papers.
Plumstead Methodist Central Hall opened in 1905 on Plumstead High Street.
The London Methodist Districts Women's Luncheon Club met to share lunch and listen to guest speakers.
Trinity Church Methodist New Connexion was situated at Perry Vale, Forest Hill, 1865-1920. Forest Hill Methodist Church is now on Normanton Street.
The Staines parish vestry managed a fire engine from the 18th century. The Local Board was formed in 1872 and became an Urban District Council in 1894. The Local Board took over local administration responsibilities, including management of a local fire service, from the parish vestry.
Northwold Primary School on Northwold Road, Hackney, was opened in 1902 as Northwold Road School. At first it was a mixed boarding school for for 366 seniors, 306 juniors and 306 infants. The school was reorganised in 1923 to provide space for 440 boys, 440 girls and 480 infants. Separate secondary and primary schools were established by 1949, when both were renamed Northwold School. The secondary school closed by 1955, but the primary school still occupies the same building.
From: 'Hackney: Education', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 10: Hackney (1995), pp. 148-165 (available online).
In 1878 the Primitive Methodists registered a chapel in Western Road, Southall.
The Wesleyan Methodists opened a chapel in South Road in 1885. In 1916 the King's Hall was erected on the same site, forming the headquarters of Wesleyan Methodism in the area and provided a place for their social and religious meetings.
The Uxbridge and Southall Circuit served Methodist churches in South West London. It was reorganised in 2006 and the churches redistributed, for example, to the Ealing Trinity Circuit and the Amersham Circuit.
A national system of marriage registration introduced in 1837 by the Registration of Births and Marriages Act. Local registration was managed by the Poor Law Boards of Guardians until 1929, after this date it was managed by local government. The General Registry Office was in overall charge of the collection and collation of the data.
Sir Cyril Jackson (1863-1924) was a well known educationalist. After studying at Oxford he decided to commit himself to social work among the poor of the East End of London and began educational work. He was a member of the London School Board 1891 to 1896 and ran a boys' club at Northey Street School (later Cyril Jackson School) which aimed to reform Limehouse street boys. Between 1896 and 1903 he was Inspector General of Schools in Western Australia and made successful reforms to their educational system. On returning to England he became Inspector of Elementary Schools for the Board of Education.
Between 1907 and 1913 Jackson was an elected member of the London County Council Limehouse division and was leader of the Municipal Reform Party, a local party allied to the Parliamentary Conservative Party. This party had been formed in 1906 in order to overturn Progressive and Labour control of much of London municipal government. It incorporated the Moderate Party, who had formed previous opposition to the Progressives on the county council.
The first elections for which the Municipal Reform Party stood were those to Metropolitan Borough councils, on 1 November 1906. The campaign was very successful, with Municipal Reformers winning control of twenty-two of twenty-eight councils. Following this success, the Party published a manifesto for the 1907 London County Council election. Policies included: tight controls on financial expenditure, proper auditing of municipal accounts, creation of a traffic board to coordinate transport in the capital, support of electricity provision by private enterprise and an education policy favouring denominational schools. The manifesto proved a success and the party took power from the Progressives. They remained in power until 1934 when the Labour Party gained control of the Council. Between 1934 and 1946 the Municipal Reform Party formed the opposition on the council. From 1946 onwards Conservative candidates replaced the Municipal Reform Party.
Cannon Lane Methodist Church is situated in Pinner. It was opened in 1956. It is part of the Harrow and Hillingdon Circuit.
Eastcote Methodist Church began as meetings in private houses, begun in around 1825. In 1848 the first Methodist chapel was built opposite the present chapel in Pamela Gardens. This served the Eastcote congregation until a new chapel in Pamela Gardens, the building of which had been delayed by the Second World War, was substantially completed. The chapel was occupied in 1950 and building work finished in 1962.
A Wesleyan Methodist church was opened in 1929 to serve the new Kenton estate, near Harrow, and was replaced by another church and a hall on the same site, Woodgrange Avenue, in 1937.
Ruislip Common Chapel was built in 1854 and taken over for use by a Methodist congregation in 1882.
Ruislip Manor Methodist Church was built in 1937 on Torrington Road.
South Harrow Methodist Church is situated on the corner of Walton Avenue and Carlyon Avenue.
Harrow Methodist Church, Welldon Crescent, was opened in 1904. The church has now closed and the building has been converted into the Welldon Community Centre.
The Leysian Mission was founded in 1886 as a large Wesleyan Methodist settlement and mission by past and present scholars of the Leys School, Cambridge. The work started in Whitecross Street, moved to 12 Errol Street in 1890, and then moved in 1904 to the new headquarters building in City Road, Finsbury. This striking building of terracotta bricks and red granite, costing £124,000, was designed by Messrs Bradshaw and Gass. The Queen Victoria Hall seated 2,000 persons and the building itself accommodated 125 rooms and four roof gardens for settlement purposes, with commercial premises at street frontage level.
At the opening of the building by the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1904, Lord Strathcona described the object of the mission as two-fold "to bring religious and ameliorative influences to bear upon the lives of toilers in one of the most crowded districts in London" and "to give to those who have enjoyed the privilege of a public school education the opportunity of coming into direct and sympathetic contact with the social problems that appeal for their solution to the Christian Church and to all good citizens at large".
The Circuit included Haggerston Methodist Mission, Brownlow Street and Shoreditch Methodist Mission, Nichols Square, Hackney Road. The Leysian Mission closed in 1989 and the congregation united with Wesley's Chapel, City Road to form Wesley's Chapel and Leysian Centre.
Under the provisions of the Lunacy Act of 1890 the London County Council was charged with the duty of providing and maintaining mental hospitals for rate-aided patients, and could also provide services for private paying patients. In 1937 the Council was maintaining 21 institutions with total accommodation of 33,823 beds. These institutions were often situated outside London and included:
Banstead Hospital, Sutton, Surrey
Bexley Hospital, Bexley, Kent
Cane Hill Hospital, Coulsdon, Surrey
Claybury Hospital, Woodford Bridge, Essex
Friern Hospital, New Southgate
Horton Hospital, Epsom, Surrey
Long Grove Hospital, Epsom, Surrey
Saint Bernard's Hospital, Southall
Saint Ebba's Hospital, Epsom, Surrey
West Park Hospital, Epsom, Surrey
The Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill
Brunswick House, Mistley, Kent
Darenth Park, Dartford, Kent
Farmfield, Horley, Surrey
The Fountain Hospital, Tooting Grove
The Manor, Epsom, Surrey
South Side Home, Streatham Common
Caterham Hospital, Caterham, Surrey
Leavesden Hospital, Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire
Tooting Bec Hospital, Tooting Bec Road.
St Aidan's Presbyterian Church, Ealing, was built in 1922 to replace Elthorne Park Presbyterian Church, Hanwell, which had formed in 1906. The church was situated at the corner of Leybourne Avenue and St Aidan's Road and had 200 seats. Following the formation of the United Reformed Church in 1972 by the union of the Presbyterian Church of England and the Congregational Church of England and Wales, St Aidan's became part of the United Reformed Church. The church closed in about 1991.
Hugh Price Hughes a Wesleyan Minister in London founded the West London Mission in 1887 as part of the Forward Movement in Methodism which stressed that faith had to be expressed in social and political as well as personal life. The Inaugural meeting of the then West Central Mission was on 21st October 1887 with the Sermon at St. James' Hall, Piccadilly preached by C.H. Spurgeon. The West London Mission remained at St. James' Hall which was a popular Concert Hall, until 1905 when it was demolished to form the Piccadilly Hotel. The Mission moved to Exeter Hall, another concert hall, in the Strand.
In 1906 the Methodist Conference gave the Mission its own building, the Wesleyan Chapel at Great Queen Street. The building was later condemned by the LCC and the Mission were temporarily housed in the Lyceum Theatre, while on Great Queen Street at the old site a new place of worship, Kingsway Hall, was under construction. Kingsway Hall opened in 1912 and enjoyed nearly 70 years of occupation until it was sold in the eighties after the amalgamation of the Kingsway Circuit and Hinde Street; the Mission returned to the West End to Thayer Street/Hinde Street.
In the early days, much of the day to day work went on in smaller chapels and halls in the middle of slum areas where social needs were great. These buildings such as Craven Hall at Fouberts Place were used for a wide variety of activities not just devotional but social, education and welfare. However, this use of smaller halls was dropped after the First World War in favour of the new Kingsway Hall premises.
Since its beginning the West London Mission has been involved with social work. One of its first services offered was a Crèche. There were also job registries and men's social department catering for the unemployed, dispensaries and free surgeries, a poor man's lawyer service, a Home of Peace for the Dying, a home for homeless girls - The Winchester House, and a clothing store. In the 1920s and 1930s the social work of the West London Mission expanded. They set up hostels for abandoned mothers and for girls in London without jobs and in 1923 a Mission Maternity Hospital was established. The Social work continued and now includes St. Luke's and St. Mary's Hostels for men and women, Emerson Bainbridge House for young offenders and the Katherine Price Hughes house set up in 1937 and which now provides accommodation for men and women on probation and bail.
Another aspect of the work of the Mission was Open Air Ministry. There were open air services on the streets every evening and in Hyde Park on Sundays which included the Mission brass band. One of the most well known open air preachers was the Reverend Lord Donald Soper whose outdoor work began in 1927 at Tower Hill and in 1942 at Speakers' Corner.
The Mission now has its home at 19 Thayer Street.
Holly Park Methodist Church, Crouch Hill, was founded in 1875, although a permament hall was not built until 1882. The Weston Park Mission was begun by the Holly Park Church although it was later taken over by the Middle Lane Church. The Holly Park Methodist Church Hall is now used by the Holly Park Montessori School.
Previously known as Coare and Swaine, then as Coare, Swaine and Minnitt. By 1815 the firm was known as Swaine, Minnet and Company. The distillery was based at 8 Holborn Bridge, City of London. Upon the death of Mrs Mary Minnitt of Bruce Grove, Tottenham, a trust was established know as Minnitt's Trust.
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.
Hendon Poor Law Union was founded in May 1835. It was formed from parishes in Edgware, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Hendon, Kingsbury, Pinner, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore and Willesden. Harrow Weald, Wealdstone and Wembley parishes were added in 1894. Willesden separated in 1896.
In 1838 the Hendon Union workhouse was built at Burnt Oak on the north side of the Edgware Road. In 1930 it was taken over by Middlesex County Council and became Redhill Public Assistance Institution, and later Redhill Hospital, which was renamed Edgware General Hospital. Hendon Union Schools were erected near the workhouse in 1859 and later became part of the hospital.
Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.
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.
Staines Poor Law Union was formed in June 1836. It had 13 constituent parishes, all situated in what was then Middlesex: Ashford, East Bedfont with Hatton, Cranford, Feltham, Hanworth, Harlington, Harmondsworth, Laleham, Littleton, Staines, Stanwell, Shepperton, Sunbury. In 1831 the population of the Union was 12,644. The Union constructed a new workhouse on the London Road in Ashford in 1840-1841.
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. A new Infant Life Protection Act was passed in 1897 which included the power for the inspectors of the local authority forcibly to remove a fostered child to a place of safety if it were endangered. A further measure to the same end was the Notification of Births Act 1907, a permissive act , made compulsory in 1915, whereby all births had not only to be registered but also notified to the local medical officer of health. Under the Children Act 1908, the legislation was extended to cover those fostering one child for reward. 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.
Bridge House Estates was established by Royal Charter in 1282 with responsibility for the maintenance of London Bridge, and subsequently built Blackfriars Bridge and Tower Bridge and bought Southwark Bridge and the pedestrian-only Millennium Bridge. Bridge House Estates are run by a committee of the City of London Corporation.
Bridge House was the administrative headquarters of the old London Bridge, situated near St Olave's Church. It was formed of properties bequeathed by Peter de Colechurch, the warden of the bridge from 1163, and Henry Fitz Ailwyn, the first Mayor of London in 1189.
The Bridge House Committee was originally part of the City Lands Committee, founded in 1592, but separated in 1818.
Bridge House Estates was originally funded by tolls on London Bridge as well as rents and leases of the buildings along the bridge. It soon acquired extensive property which made it financially self-sufficient. These funds are used to maintain the City bridges, while surplus monies are used to make charitable grants under the City Bridge Trust, established in 1995.
The City Lands Committee is the oldest standing committee of the Corporation of London. The City Lands formed an extensive estate and provided a major source of income for the City government. A Charter of 1444 formally granted to the City the ownership of the streets, ways, common soil and enclosures of the common soil. Finally the City Lands also included property purchased by the City or administered by the City in trust such as the Philpot, Carpenter and Reynwell estates.
Until the reign of Elizabeth I the City Lands were administered under the authority of the Court of Aldermen, although from the early-16th century the day to day leasing of the City Lands property was carried out by the Chamberlain until on 2 May 1559 the Court of Aldermen voted to resume this function. Thenceforth decisions over leasing were made by a body of senior aldermen called the Surveyors, assisted by the Chamberlain. The Surveyors ceased to meet after 23 December 1590. The successor body, the City Lands and Bridge House Committee, only met for the first time in May 1592. The most striking difference between the new committee and the Surveyors who had preceded it was that the committee included for the first time permanent membership of six Common Councilmen as well as four Alderman.
The City Lands and Bridge House Estates Committee is still responsible for the management of the lands and buildings under the City of London's aegis.
Leadenhall Market is situated between Fenchurch Street, Gracechurch Street and Leadenhall Street. The land formed the Manor of Leadenhall, which belonged to Sir Hugh Neville who permitted a small fair or market to be held on the grounds in 1309. The market grew and became known for poulterers, and by 1397, cheesemongers. In 1408 Lord Mayor Richard Whittington acquired the leasehold title of the Manor of Leadenhall and in 1411 the freehold was given to the City of London. The market continued to be used for the sale of fish, meat, poultry and corn.
In 1463 a beam for the weighing of wool was fixed at the market. In 1488 it was assigned the sole right to sell leather and in 1622 the sole right to sell cutlery. However, the market expanded too rapidly and in 1871 the City of London sought parliamentary powers to abandon the hide and meat markets, and to erect a market for poultry alone. These powers were granted in 1879 and the present building was erected in 1881, designed by Sir Horace Jones (who also designed Billingsgate and Smithfield markets). Leadenhall market also sold fish, mostly supplied from nearby Billingsgate. The Billingsgate and Leadenhall markets were therefore controlled by the same superintendent who reported back to the Market Committee of the City of London.
The Court of Husting was the oldest civic court in the City of London. Its business was divisible into Pleas of Land and Common Pleas. In the Court of Husting for Pleas of Land were pleaded writs of Right Patent (writs to recover possession of land and the property in them). In the Court of Husting for Common Pleas various writs could be pleaded, including among others recovery of a widow's dower of lands, recovery of lands and rents and recovery of distress wrongfully taken. Deeds and wills were also enrolled at this Court, and no foreigner could be admitted into the freedom of the City of London except at the Court of Husting.
The Court sat on Mondays, alternating between Pleas of Land and Common Pleas. The presiding judges were the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, or six Aldermen if the Mayor was unavailable. A junior attorney took the job of Clerk of the Enrolments whose duty it was to enrol deeds and wills.
The business of the Court gradually declined and by the 1880s it hardly sat, being used mainly for the purpose of considering and registering gifts made to the City.
The office of Sheriff predates the Norman Conquest and refers to a high officer and representative of royal authority in a shire, who was responsible for the administration of the law. London had two sheriffs who were elected in September of each year. Each Sheriff held a court at his compter. These courts were later transferred to the Guildhall and then united with the City of London Court in 1867, finally being amalgamated with the Mayor's Court in 1921. The Sheriffs' Courts handled cases of debt and personal actions arising within the City.
A compter was a city prison for debtors and other civil prisoners.
London had two sheriffs who were elected in September of each year. Each Sheriff formerly held a court at his Compter, but in 1867 these were transferred to Guildhall and united into the City of London Court. The Mayor's and City of London Court is the result of the amalgamation of the Mayor's Court and the City of London Court in 1921. Under the Courts Act, 1971 it was designated a county court after which time its records were no longer deposited in the CLRO. The City of London Court acquired admiralty jurisdiction under the powers of the County Courts Admiralty Jurisdiction Act of 1868 .
The office of Sheriff predates the Norman Conquest and refers to a high officer and representative of royal authority in a shire, who was responsible for the administration of the law. London had two sheriffs who were elected in September of each year. In the City of London each Sheriff was responsible for a Compter, a city prison for debtors and other civil prisoners.
The Southwark Compter was also known as the Borough Compter.
Whitecross Street Prison was a debtors' prison built in Whitecross Street, Islington, between 1813-1815, to ease the population of Newgate Prison. It held 400 prisoners. In 1870 all prisoners were transferred to the new Holloway Prison.
Southwark was granted to the citizens of London by a charter of Edward III in 1327, following a petition from the citizens because felons and thieves escaped the City into Southwark where they could not be followed. A further charter issued by Edward VI in 1550 aimed to ensure that Southwark was completely absorbed into the City by making the citizens lords of the three manors there - the Guildable Manor, the King's Manor and the Great Liberty.
On 1 July 1880 Sir Henry William Peek, MP for Mid Surrey and importer of spices, tea and other groceries conveyed East Burnham Common, Burnham Beeches and other waste lands of the Manor of Allerds to the Corporation.
The Finsbury and Halliwell Estates were leased by the Corporation of London from the Prebendary (a canon of a cathedral or collegiate church who obtained income from a prebend or estate) of St Paul's Cathedral between 1514 and 1867, at which date the Corporation was unable to renew the lease. In 1665 part of the land was set aside to create Bunhill Fields burial ground.
The Manor of Isleworth Syon was in the hands of Walter de St. Valery in 1086, having been granted to him by William the Conqueror as a reward for his support during the conquest of England. The family retained possession of the manor until 1227 when it escheated to the crown. In 1229 a full grant of the manor was made by Henry III to his brother, Richard, Earl of Cornwall, whose son Edward inherited it in 1272. In 1301, Edward's widow Margaret was assigned the manor by Edward I as part of her dower, but it reverted to the crown on her death in 1312. The manor was eventually granted for life by Edward III to his wife Queen Philippa in 1330. The reversion was included in a grant of lands to Edward, Duke of Cornwall, in 1337. In 1390 Queen Anne the wife of Richard II was given a life interest in the manor. Henry V held the manor, as Prince of Wales, but when king, separated the manor from the duchy of Cornwall by Act of Parliament in 1421 in order to bestow it upon his newly founded convent of Syon. It remained as part of the convent's possessions until the dissolution in 1539 when it fell into the hands of the Crown and was added to the Honour of Hampton Court. In 1604 James I granted the manor to Henry, Earl of Northumberland, in whose family it remained.
The Royal Contract Estates were leased by King James I to trustees for Prince Charles, who, when King, caused them to be assigned to trustees for the City in satisfaction of loans made by the City. The estates were situated in many counties including Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Carmarthenshire, Caernarvonshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Cumberland, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, County Durham, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Merioneth, Middlesex, Monmouthshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Pembrokeshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, Warwickshire, Westmorland, Wiltshire, Worcestershire and Yorkshire. Nearly all the estates were sold to pay off the King's creditors, except the Conduit Mead Estate in the Bond Street area of London.
The City Imperial Volunteers originated in conversations between the Lord Mayor and Lord Garnet Wolseley, a senior Army officer, as to the possibility of raising a force of volunteers for the war in South Africa. Having received authorisation from the War Office and having been assured of financial support by the masters of the City Livery Companies, bankers and merchants, a fund for that purpose was opened by a donation of £25,000 voted by the Common Council on 20 December 1899.
On 1 January 1900 the first volunteers were sworn in at Guildhall by the Lord Mayor, five aldermen and the sheriffs. On 12 January volunteers received the Freedom of the City of London and the following day the first detachment embarked on the troopship BRITON at Southampton. The C.I.V.s served in South Africa until October 1900. On 29 October they landed in England and marched through the City of London to be welcomed by the Corporation. On 31 October 1900 the Force was disbanded.
On 31 October 1900 the unexpended money in the C.I.V. fund was transferred to a new fund for the granting of compassionate allowances or pensions 'for the succouring supporting assisting maintaining or advancing in life Freemen of the City of London who were Members of the City of London Imperial Volunteers their families and dependants'. The trustees of this fund were the Lord Mayor and the Recorder ex officio, and the Chief Commoner (at the formation of the fund) for life. The fund exhausted its capital in 1971. At this time there remained four widows who were beneficiaries. The fund was continued by donations given by the Corporation with the proviso that when the last of the beneficiaries died, the fund would cease to exist. In November 1978 the last surviving recipient died and the fund was declared defunct.
A C.I.V. Old Comrades Association was formed in 1902, its last reunion appears to have been held in 1964.
By the mid 19th century churchyards within the City were becoming overcrowded, unsanitary and unfit to be used for further burials. Under the terms of the Metropolitan Burials Act of 1852, the Commissioners of Sewers were appointed the Burial Board for parishes in the City and its liberties. On the advice of the Chief Medical Officer, the Board ruled that interments should cease within the City. To answer the problem of burials for the City of London, the Corporation purchased 90 acres of farm land at Little Ilford in 1854. The farm was demolished and a large fishpond drained (this now forms the site of the Catacomb Valley). The cemetery was designed by Colonel William Haywood as Engineer and Surveyor to the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London and landscaped by Robert Davidson. The first burial at the City of London Cemetery took place in June 1856, however, the ground was not consecrated until November 1857.
A crematorium was opened in October 1904 and the first cremation took place in March 1905. It was the second crematorium in London and was designed by D J Ross, Engineer to Commissioners of Sewers and later City Engineer, 1894-1905. A new crematorium was built in 1971. In 1937 a garden of rest was constructed followed by a series of memorial gardens. There were also plans to build a railway siding and special station linked to Eastern Counties Railway but these came to nothing. The cemetery contains reinterments from demolished City churches.
The Commissioners of Sewers managed the cemetery from the date the site was purchased in 1854 until their abolition in 1898. After this it was directly managed by the Corporation. The Sanitary Committee, renamed the Public Health Committee, replaced the Public Committee in 1957 and is now the Port and City of London Health and Social Services Committee.
Greyfriars Franciscan monastery was situated in Farringdon near Newgate. It was suppressed during the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538 and given to the Lord Mayor and citizens of London in December 1547. It was decided to convert the monastery into an orphanage and school for poor children. By November 1552 the building was ready and 340 fatherless children were admitted (at this date a child was considered orphaned if the father had died, even if the mother was still alive). The school became known as the 'Blue Coat School' because the children were required to wear a uniform of blue gown, red belt and yellow stockings. In 1553 a Charter was signed to confirm the transformation of Greyfriars into Christ's Hospital (a hospital in the older sense of 'a charitable institution for the housing and maintenance of the needy; an asylum for the destitute, infirm, or aged' O.E.D.)
Branches of the school existed at Hertford from at least 1653, at Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, from 1666 to c.1690, and at Ware, Hertfordshire, from about the same period until 1760. From 1778 the Hertford premises were used as the girls' school and as a preparatory school for boys. The Royal Mathematical School, founded in 1673, was an integral part of Christ's Hospital, from which its pupils, all boys, were chosen at the age of 11 or 12. They were educated in mathematics and navigation, and were intended for service in the Royal Navy. Christ's Hospital moved from the City of London to Horsham in 1902, and at the same time the boys' preparatory school also moved from Hertford to Horsham. The girls' school remained at Hertford until 1985, when it also moved to Horsham.
St Thomas's Hospital originated in a small infirmary attached to the Augustinian Priory of St Mary the Virgin (St Mary Overie). The infirmary assumed the name of St Thomas the Martyr shortly after his canonization in 1173. The hospital was destroyed by fire in 1212 and was re-built at the south end of London Bridge. During the Reformation in 1540 the hospital, along with many other religious foundations, was dispossessed of its revenues and closed. Edward VI restored St Thomas's estates and revenues after the citizens of London petitioned for the hospital to be reinstated. The hospital re-opened with 120 beds and three Barber Surgeons, assisted by apprentices, were appointed. A royal charter of 1553 made the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of London perpetual Governors of the Hospital. The hospital underwent an extensive building programme between 1693 and 1709, and about 300 beds were provided.
In 1866 the extension of the railway from London Bridge to Charing Cross forced the Hospital to move to a temporary site at Newington until a permanent home was purchased in Lambeth, at the foot of Westminster Bridge. The land was bought from the Metropolitan Board of Works for £95,000. Queen Victoria opened the new building in 1871. Florence Nightingale, chose St Thomas's as the hospital in which to found her training school for nurses. During World War One the hospital has a military ward of 200 beds known as the 5th London (City of London) General Hospital.
St Thomas's Hospital was seriously disrupted by World War Two, when it was changed into a casualty clearance station, with sixteen wards closed and a limited out-patients' service. By March 1940 the anticipated aerial bombing had not taken place, and the out-patients' service resumed, 250 civilian beds reopened at Lambeth and the students of the medical school were recalled. However bombing raids in the Autumn severely damaged the hospital. Arrangements were made to move staff and patients to a hutted hospital at Hydestile, near Godalming. By 1943 St Thomas's Hospital comprised 184 beds at the London site, 334 in Hydesville and 50 maternity beds in Woking. By the end of the war four ward buildings, three operating theatres, most of the nurses' accommodation and a large section of the out-patients department had been destroyed by bombing.
In 1948 the hospital became part of the NHS. On 1 April 1974 St Thomas' Hospital became part of the St Thomas' Health District (Teaching) of Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham Area Health Authority. On further reorganisation in 1982 this became West Lambeth Health Authority.
Eagle Star was founded in 1904 by Edward Mortimer Mountain, a Lloyd's broker. It began as a marine business under the name British Dominions Marine Insurance Company. Its origins began in 1807 through its constituent companies. Within the first ten years, the company had expanded into general business, fire and motor insurance. In 1911 the name changed to British Dominions General. New departments were opened for accident and employers' liability in 1914. In 1916 the company further expanded into life business. In May 1917 the company became Eagle and British Dominions to reflect the acquisition of Eagle Insurance Company in December 1916. In December 1917, following the merger with the Star, the name changed to Eagle, Star and British Dominions. In 1937 the company name was shortened to Eagle Star.
Edward Mountain was knighted for his contribution to insurance in 1918, by which time the company had become the largest composite offices in the United Kingdom. Advertising was a key component in the success of the company, mainly through the work of A F Shepherd, Publicity Manager. All-In policy (1915) and Victory War Loan (1917) were launched with high-level publicity campaigns. Between the First and Second World Wars further schemes included free newspaper insurance, Pluvius weather underwriting business, and an department specialising in women's insurance needs. Expansion saw the development of a network of agencies and branches in United Kingdom and abroad, supported by local boards consisting of business and professional men from each region. After 1945 further extensions to the network were made alongside the establishment and acquisition of companies world-wide including specialist insurance companies such as Navigators and General, and Home and Overseas.
Sir Edward Mountain died in 1948 and business continued under the leadership of his son Sir Brian Mountain. Sir Brian's son Denis succeeded him as Chairman in 1974 until his retirement in 1985. Staff clubs included Eagle Dramatic and Operatic Society. This began with Norwood Club Dramatic and Musical Society in 1921 from staff at Eagle Star British Dominions and Cox's Bank. In 1927 the society was closed and EDOS was established. The last production was 1939.
Eagle Star's first head office was at 1 Threadneedle Street, City of London (1925). With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, administrative functions were evacuated to Cobham Park, Surrey, while other departments were housed in the Cobham area. After 1945, the head office at Threadneedle Street was rebuilt and re-opened in 1968. New administrative head office and computer centre was opened in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, as Eagle Star House. The name changed to Eagle Star Centre in 1994. The building became known as UK Life Tower in 1999 and was sold in 2003.
In 1984 Eagle Star became part of B.A.T Industries plc and saw diversification into financial services. In 1998 it became part of Zurich Financial Services Group.
The following companies were acquired by Eagle Star and are represented in collection:
Albion Fire and Life Assurance Company
Allied Traders Insurance Company
Army, Navy and General Assurance Association Limited
British Crown Assurance Corporation Limited
British Northwestern Fire Insurance Company
Cattle Traders' Insurance Company Limited
City of London Insurance Company Limited
City of London Life Assurance
Commonwealth Insurance Company Limited
Eagle Insurance Company
English and Scottish Law Life Assurance Association Limited
Fred Haigh and Company Limited
Home and Overseas Insurance Company Limited
Launderers Mutual Insurance Company Limited
Liverpool Reversionary Company Limited
London Mutual Life and Guarantee Society
National Mercantile Life Assurance Society
Navigators and General Insurance Company Limited
Palladium Life and Fire Assurance Society
Philatelic Insurances Limited
Premier Motor Policies Limited
Publishers and General Insurance Company Limited
Removers and General Insurance Company Limited
Sceptre Life Association Limited
Security National Insurance Company
Solicitors and General Assurance Society
Star Assurance Society Limited
Star Fire Insurance Company
Star Life Assurance Society Limited
Theatres Mutual Insurance Company Limited
Trent Insurance Company Limited
United Dominions Insurance Company Limited
Source of information: These details have been summarised from 'A short history' (xix-xxi) in Eagle Star, A Guide to its History and Archives (1997). The same publication also contains The Making of Eagle Star by Oliver M Westall (pp 1-16).
Albion Fire and Life Assurance Company was founded in 1805. It offered fire and life insurance, and annuities in the United Kingdom and North America with expansion into India, Australia, Germany, Denmark and Portugal. It was acquired by Eagle Insurance Company in 1858. Offices: 42 New Bridge Street.
British Crown Assurance Corporation Limited was founded in 1907 to handle all insurance types except life insurance. Their offices were situated at 131 Vincent Street and other addresses in Glasgow, Scotland and 110 Cannon Street, London. The company was acquired by Eagle, Star and British Dominions in 1918, but was reconstituted in 1919 to transact foreign fire and Canadian hail business, later marine.
Eagle Insurance Company was founded in 1807; it was acquired by British Dominions General in 1916. The company was founded 'for fire and life assurance and for granting annuities' at a meeting of merchants, bankers and traders at Cole's Coffee House, Ball Court, Cornhill. A key figure in the company until 1838 was Sir William Rawlins (1753-1838). Fire insurance was the main business of the company until it was sold to Protector Fire in 1826. Eagle saw a large number of amalgamations due to the work of Charles Jellicoe, actuary from Protector Life. The company had offices at Freeman's Court, Cornhill; Haymarket; Waterloo Place; 3 Crescent, New Bridge Street; 14 Ludgate Hill; 79 Pall Mall with City office at 41 Threadneedle Street. Local Councils were situated in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Manchester.
Fred Haigh and Company Limited was founded in 1922 and was acquired by Eagle Star in 1966.