Probate (also called proving a will) is the process of establishing the validity of a will, which was recorded in the grant of probate.
If a person died intestate (without a valid will) their money, goods and possessions passed to their next of kin through an administration (or letters of administration) which had the same form in law as a will.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
A brewery is known to have existed in Isleworth in the early years of the 18th century but it was not until 1800 that the Farnells, a prominent local family, purchased it at a cost of £1,145. From this date, William Farnell developed and enlarged the existing business considerably and on his death in 1820 bequeathed it to two of his sons, John and Charles. These two entered into a formal partnership in 1824. Over the next thirty years they acquired, by lease or purchase, control of a large number of licensed houses while at the same time enlarging the Brewery, building malthouses and erecting cottages for their workmen. As wealthy and respected members of the local community they contributed large sums of money to charity, and helped in the building of Saint John's church, Isleworth. In 1854, William Farnell Watson, a relation by marriage, entered into partnership with the two Farnell brothers, and in 1865, the business became known as "Farnell and Watson's". In 1866, William, the son of W. Farnell Watson, to whom the business had been bequeathed in his father's will, converted it into the Isleworth Brewery Company Limited.
Sich and Company, taken over by the Isleworth Brewery Company in 1920, was likewise a small family concern. The earliest mention of a Sich connected with brewing was in a conveyance of 1790 when John Sich purchased the Lamb Brewery at Chiswick from a group of persons including members of the well-known Thrale family. In 1809 John Sich the Elder, John Sich the Younger and Henry Sich entered into a formal partnership as common brewers, a partnership which was dissolved and renewed between John Sich the Younger and Henry Sich in 1819. As a slight diversification of their business interests they agreed to act together as coal merchants, side by side with brewing. Throughout the remainder of the 19th century the business was carried on by a varying combination of members of the Sich family. They pursued a similar policy to the Isleworth Brewery Company and acquired a large number of licensed houses in the vicinity of the brewery.
Four years after the amalgamation of these two family businesses, the enlarged company was taken over by Messrs. Watney, Combe, Reid and Company.
The Civil Defence Department existed from 1938-1946 and from 1948-1965. It reported to the Air Raids Precautions Committee (1938-1939) and the Civil Defence Committee (1948-1965).
The Civil Defence (Suspension of Powers) Act, 1945, suspended some provisions of the Civil Defence Acts 1937 and 1939, notably the obligations the local authorities had to prepare air raid precaution schemes, build shelters, train civil defence volunteers and organise the blackout. Full time civil defence staff were no longer required. The Home Office continued to encourage the activities of local Civil Defence branches of volunteers. These branches were strong in the Middlesex local districts so the County Council appointed honorary liaison officers to work with the branches. This work continued until the passing of the Civil Defence Act 1947.
The Civil Defence organisation stood down after the Second World War ended in 1945. In December 1948 the Civil Defence Act 1947 came into force and the County Council again received civil defence responsibilities. The new Act had been passed as an attempt to offer a measure of protection to the civilian population in the event of another war and in particular to tackle the new atomic warfare. The functions of the County Council fell into two areas: the organisation of the Middlesex Division of the Civil Defence Corps and the preparation of plans for the operation of certain war-time services The Civil Defence Committee sat again and a small Civil Defence Department was established under the County Civil Defence Officer. The County Council was again made responsible for the five areas of Hertfordshire within the Metropolitan Police District.
The County Council was responsible for the enrolment and training of volunteers to make up the Middlesex Defence Corps. The Civil Defence Committee decided at a very early stage that the lower tier authorities should play a large role in civil defence and be responsible for enrolling and training volunteers under the County Council's supervision. It was felt that a better response would be received from the general public if volunteers were organised locally. The local authorities were arranged into three sub-groups -
Group A: Barnet, Cheshunt, East Barnet, Edmonton, Enfield, Finchley, Friern Barnet, Hornsey, Potters Bar, Southgate, Tottenham, Wood Green;
Group B: Bushey, Elstree, Harrow, Hendon, Rusilip-Northwood, Uxbridge, Wembley, Willesden and
Group C: Acton, Brentford and Chiswick, Ealing, Feltham, Hayes and Harlington, Heston and Isleworth, Southall, Staines, Sunbury-on-Thames, Twickenham, Yiewsley and West Drayton. The Corps was divided by the Civil Defence Act into five sections; headquarters; warden; ambulance and casualty collecting; rescue; welfare. Recruitment began in November 1949 and by the end of the year 8,579 members had been enrolled. The County Council retained the responsibility for ensuring that the instructors were trained. Qualifications could be obtained at Home Office Technical Training Schools.
Volunteers received basic training and then proceeded to work within the section of the Corps in which they had enrolled. The County Council provided courses for instructors to use for the headquarters, warden and ambulance sections and guided the local authorities in selecting the instructors for the welfare section. To ensure that volunteers were properly trained the County Council encouraged the districts to establish civil defence training centres and authorised expenditure with this in mind. Likewise the purchase of equipment was encouraged. By the end of 1952 25 districts had incendiary bomb huts; 24 districts had gas chambers and 13 districts had gas compounds. The Civil Defence Corps was often called in to assist other emergency services, for example in transport accidents and searches for missing children.
The County Civil Defence Officer was the chief officer of the department. Under him were four assistant Civil Defence Officers, an Assistant Rescue Officer, six full time instructors with clerical and manual support staff. There were personnel within other County Council departments who were charges within the planning of the emergency services and were so involved in civil defence work. There was a sub-divisional Civil Defence Officer in each local authority for whose salary expenses the local authority was reimbursed by the County Council.
In 1962 central government initiated an overhaul of the running of Civil Defence Corps. The aim of this reorganisation was to enhance the status of the Corps, to improve efficiency, and to develop a nucleus of highly trained volunteers. These changes took effect from 1 October 1962 and the most significant effect was to improve the standards of training. The civil defence functions of the County Council passed to the new London Boroughs and the county councils of Hertfordshire and Surrey.
The extracts for the most part come from Liber Customarium, Liber Horn and Liber Albus. From a note in the middle of the book the extracts appear to deal with early references to architectural matters and the names of localities and streets. Translations are provided for some Latin and French extracts.
The name of the compiler and the purpose for which the extracts were made are not known.
The most illustrious member of the family was Sir Lancelot Shadwell (1771-1850), last vice-chancellor of England. The eldest son of Lancelot Shadwell, a barrister and "an eminent conveyancer", Sir Lancelot was appointed a King's counsel in 1821. After a short parliamentary career lasting from 1826 to 1827, he took up the vice-chancellorship in 1827, a position which he held until his death.
The personal and business papers in this collection mostly relate to Sir Lancelot's son, Alfred Hudson Shadwell, a solicitor, who died in 1884. He inherited estates at Greenford and Northolt in 1857 from his uncle Charles Shadwell who was also engaged in the practice of law.
{References: Dictionary of National Biography, Vol.XVII; V.C.H. Middlesex Vol. IV}.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
A bargain and sale was an early form of conveyance often used by executors to convey land. The bargainee, or person to whom the land was bargained and sold, took possession, often referred to as becoming 'seised' of the land.
A 'fine' was a fee, separate from the rent, paid by the tenant or vassal to the landlord on some alteration of the tenancy, or a sum of money paid for the granting of a lease or for admission to a copyhold tenement.
Common Recovery was a process by which land was transferred from one owner to another. It was a piece of legal fiction involving the party transferring the land, a notional tenant and the party acquiring the land; the tenant was ejected to effect the transfer. An exemplification was a formal copy of a court record issued with the court's seal.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
George Clement of Teddington was a surgeon.
Daniel Phillips lived at East Bedfont for many years before his death in 1892. Kelly's Directory of Middlesex lists him as a resident in 1855. He bequeathed his residuary estate to his trustees, one of whom was his niece Mary Elizabeth Phillips. Miss Phillips was a member of a Quaker family who acquired property in Tottenham in the early nineteenth century. With her sister, Mrs. Alexander Fox, Miss Phillips founded in 1867 the North-Eastern Hospital for Children, Hackney Road, Bethnal Green, later known as The Queen's Hospital for Children. After a long illness Miss Phillips died on 20 January 1922. Her will contained many bequests to charities, and her real estate became the property of her nephew, John Phillips Fox.
On 23rd December 1306 Edward I granted a market and fair to the prioress and nuns of Saint Helen's London. Both priory and market came into the hands of the Crown at the dissolution and King James VI and I ordered the extinguishment of the market and fair. However, for some years Jerome Hawley and then James Hawley carried on the market illegally on a parcel of ground in West Brentford, situated between a messuage belonging to James Hawley called the Three Pigeons and another messuage owned by William Payne and occupied by Richard Bodicot. Both men went to great expense to erect stalls and market buildings much to the benefit of inhabitants.
In 1929 the London County Council tramways, the Underground railways and the London General Omnibus Company proposed to coordinate their services. It was not until 1933, however, that the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) was established by law. During the Second World War the government assumed control of the LPTB, and remained in charge until 1947. In that year the Transport Act set up the British Transport Commission, which appointed executive bodies to deal with transport throughout the country. One of these took over the whole of road and rail transport in London, while the LPTB became the London Transport Executive in 1948.
Between 1970 and 1984 the Greater London Council (GLC) was responsible for the overall policy and finances of London Transport, while the London Tranport Executive was responsible for the day-to-day management and operation of services. On the abolition of the GLC in 1984, London Regional Transport was formed as a statutory corporation responsible to the government. It set up a number of wholly owned subsidiaries, including London Underground Limited and London Buses Limited. In 1990 London Regional Transport became known again as London Transport for all but legal purposes.
The Metropolitan Railway Company was responsible for the construction of the world's first underground passenger railway. Work began on the line in 1860, running from Paddington to King's Cross and then on to Farringdon Street. The first trial journey was held in 1862, with the line opened to the public in January 1863. The railway proved popular and extensions were constructed, the first being to Hammersmith by 1864 and Moorgate by 1865. In 1905 an electric service was introduced. In 1933 the Metropolitan Railway was taken over by the London Passenger Transport Board.
The Hounslow and Metropolitan Railway Company was formed in 1880, operating a railway between the Metropolitan District Railway's Mill Hill Park Station (near Acton) and Hounslow. The line was later incorporated into the District Line, and in 1933 became part of the Piccadilly Line.
The Hammersmith and City Railway was constructed by the Great Western Railway, running between Hammersmith and Westbourne Park. It was soon connected to the Metropolitan Railway's underground line. In 1867 the Metropolitan Railway purchased a share in the Hammersmith and City Railway and took over operations. The railway was a branch of the Metropolitan Line until 1988, when the line was split into the Hammersmith and City Line, running services from Hammersmith to Whitechapel, and the Metropolitan Line, running from Amersham to Aldgate.
The Kingston and London Railway Company were established in 1881 with the authority to construct a line running between the Metropolitan District Railway Company's Fulham Station to Wimbledon. In 1882 the undertaking and liabilities of the Company were transferred to a joint committee of the London and South Western Railway and the Metropolitan District Railway. The branch is now part of the District Line.
The Compagnie General des Omnibus de Londres was an Anglo-French company founded in 1855 to operate horse drawn bus services in London. In 1859 the company changed its name to the London General Omnibus Company (LGOC), using the fleet name 'General'. Before the LGOC bus services in London consisted of hundreds of independently owned buses; which the company proceeded to buy out. By the end of their first year of operations the LGOC owned 600 of 810 buses operating in London.
Between 1902 and 1905 the company began to use motorized vehicles. Horse drawn bus services ended in 1911. In 1912 the Company was bought by the London Underground group, and with them became part of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933.
When the companies operating underground railways began to electrify them it was necessary for them to generate their own power as there was no National Grid. In 1897 the Metropolitan District Railway obtained permission to build a coal fuelled power station at Lots Road, at the junction of the Thames and Chelsea Creek. The station was completed by 1905. It provided most of the electricity needed by the London Underground and the tram networks, but was closed in 2002 when it became cheaper to purchase electricity than generate it.
London United Tramways Company Limited was formed in 1894 in order to buy up the assets of the West Metropolitan Tramways Company, which had gone into receivership. It was part of the Imperial Tramways Company. London United operated in south and west London. It ran London's first electric tram service in 1901, between Hammersmith, Kew Bridge, Shepherd's Bush and Acton. The company was bought by the London and Suburban Traction Company in 1912, which was part of London Electric Railways, known as the London Underground Group. London United passed to the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933.
The Metropolitan and District Electric Traction Company was formed in 1901 to electrify the Metropolitan District Railway (now the District Line). This included the construction of the Lots Road Power Station to supply electricity. The American investor who owned the Metropolitan District Railway, Charles Yerkes, favoured using DC power with third rail pick-up; while a joint committee of the Metropolitan Railway and the Metropolitan District Railway had favoured AC traction. A Board of Trade ruling led to the use of DC. The District Railway was electrified by 1905.
The Metropolitan Railway Company was responsible for the construction of the world's first underground passenger railway. Work began on the line in 1860, running from Paddington to King's Cross and then on to Farringdon Street. The first trial journey was held in 1862, with the line opened to the public in January 1863. The railway proved popular and extensions were constructed, the first being to Hammersmith by 1864 and Moorgate by 1865. This line formed the core both of the modern Circle Line (constructed as the Inner Circle) and the modern Metropolitan Line. In 1905 an electric service was introduced. In 1933 the Metropolitan Railway was taken over by the London Passenger Transport Board.
The Metropolitan Railway Company and the Great Central Railway Company worked together to operate a section of line running between Grendon Underwood and London Marylebone via Aylesbury, Harrow and Amersham.
According to the Brent Council website, the Metropolitan Tower Construction Company was founded by Sir Edward Watkin, Chairman of the Metropolitan Railway Company. He was impressed by the Eiffel Tower and wished to construct something similar on land he owned in Wembley Park. In 1880 a design was chosen for a 1,200 feet high steel tower incorporating restaurants, theatres, dancing rooms and exhibition space. Work was begun in 1893 but ran into problems both with the construction and finances. Work was stopped when the tower was 155 feet high. The incomplete structure was surrounded by pleasure gardens including sports facilities, tea rooms, bandstands and a lake. The park was served by the new Wembley Park station which had opened in 1894. In 1899 the Tower Construction Company went into liquidation. Subsequently, the structure was neglected and by 1902 it was declared unsafe and closed to the public. It was then demolished, with the scrap steel exported abroad. Wembley Stadium now stands on the site.
See "The history of the Wembley Park area" on Brent Council website, http://www.brent.gov.uk/regeneration.nsf/Wembley/LBB-149 (accessed Jan 2010).
The South Metropolitan Electric Tramways and Lighting Company Limited operated 52 tramcars and 13.08 miles of tramways in south London, Surrey and Kent. In 1912, along with London United Tramways and Metropolitan Electric Tramways, it was purchased by the London and Suburban Traction Company, a company owned jointly by British Electric Traction and the London Electric Railway Company (the London Underground Group). This Company became part of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933.
Humphrey de Bohun was the second Earl of Hereford and the first Earl of Essex. He succeeded his father Henry, first earl in 1220 and was created Earl of Essex after the death of his maternal uncle William de Mandeville in 1227. He was in addition Constable of England. Originally on the side of Simon de Montfort, by 1263 he had returned to the king's party. He died 14 September 1274.
Henry Frowic (Frowyke) was the son of Thomas Frowyke of Old Fold, South Mimms, a citizen of London and Lord Mayor in 1275.
The first assessments of 1692-3 were made under the terms of an "Act for granting to their Majesties an aid of four shillings in the pound for one year for carrying on a vigorous war against France" [4W and M c.1, 1692/3]. The Act specfied that real estate and personal property, that is buildings and moveable property as well as land, were to be taxed. It nominated, for each borough and county in England and Wales, the local commissioners who were to supervise the assessments and local collection.
The tax was voted annually, usually in the spring, until 1798 when it was transformed into a permanent tax, but was redeemable on a payment of a lump sum. It was levied on a number of different bases: as a pound rate between 1693 and 1696, as a four shillings assessment supplemented by a poll tax in 1697 and, from 1698-1798, on the system whereby each county or borough was given a fixed sum to collect. In 1949 redemption became compulsory on property changing hands and in 1963 all unredeemed land tax was abolished.
The assessors for each county are listed in the annual Acts of Parliament, until 1798. The sums collected for the counties of London, and Middlesex (and the City of Westminster) appear, until at least 1760, to have been passed to the Chamber of London and subsequently to the Exchequer.
Richard Wright, M.C., F.L.A. (1890-1976) was a pioneer of the county library movement. His early library training and experience were gained in public and reference libraries in Croydon, Sunderland, Coventry and Wiltshire. In 1922 he was appointed County Librarian of Middlesex with the task of inaugurating a county library service, following the adoption by the County Council of the Public Libraries Acts of 1919. The service was founded on a Carnegie Trust grant of £1,500 and a budget estimate of £600 and was intended to provide for rural areas without district council libraries. The initial library service comprised collections of books at schools and other centres, open to the public for a few hours weekly and staffed by volunteers, chiefly teachers. From 1930 full-time branch libraries, with professional staff, were opened, and these gradually replaced the part-time library centres. Richard Wright built up a service that was regarded as one of the most comprehensive and efficient in the country. His great enthusiasm and organising ability were evident in the development of the County Library through the medium of local library centres, whole-time branch libraries and students' library services.
Richard Wright served in the Royal Garrison Artillery in the First World War and gained the Military Cross. Throughout the war of 1939-45 he gave encouragement and support to members of his staff on active service and the letters he received are a testimonial to the high regard in which he was held (see Acc/1312/1-60). At the same time he was a member of the Book Recovery Committee which was instrumental in saving books and manuscripts from salvage. He took a prominent part in the scheme for organising a Regional Library System in S.E. England, and, among other professional activities, served on the Council of the Library Association. He retired in 1952 after thirty years service with Middlesex County Libraries.
Probate (also called proving a will) is the process of establishing the validity of a will, which was recorded in the grant of probate.
Prior to the 1870 Education Act, most elementary education was in the hands of religious societies and reflected the rivalry which existed between the established church and the non-conformists. In 1815 the two most important societies were the "National Society for promoting the education of the poor in the principles of the established church" (founded in 1811) and the "British and Foreign School Society" (founded in 1814). The former taught the liturgy and the catechism of the Church of England, the latter enforced bible reading, but excluded denominational teaching.
The earliest entry by the state into the field education was in 1833 when Parliament voted £20,000, "for the purposes of education", thus initiating the system of the annual grant voted by Parliament. The funds were to be confined to the erection of school buildings and to be administered through the National, and the British and Foreign School Societies. Preference was given to schools in large towns and the grant was available only in cases where voluntary contributions met half the cast of the new school.
The funds granted by Parliament were administered by the Treasury between 1833 and 1839 and subsequently by the Committee of Council on Education until statutory provision for building grants cased in 1870. After the passing of the 1870 Education Act building grants were continued temporarily for those who applied before 31 December 1870.
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Probate (also called proving a will) is the process of establishing the validity of a will, which was recorded in the grant of probate.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
Robert Wood (1672-1738) was the son of Thomas Wood of Littleton and his wife Dorothy. Educated at Eton and Wadham College, Oxford, Robert was admitted Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, on 17 April 1695. He became a Doctor of Laws at Doctors' Commons. His first wife, Eleanor Smith, whom he married in 1702, died in 1717, and in 1720 he married Jane Heaton by whom he had four daughters.
Mrs Parnel Seaton was a widow at the time these papers were made, and lived for a time on the island of St Christopher, West Indies before returning to England. One of the letters concerns the winding up of her affairs in St Christopher, including the selling of her slaves.
John Samuel Tanqueray was a gentleman resident in Hendon. It seems that he was a local magistrate or Justice of the Peace.
The Mayfield Athletic Club was founded in 1925, and included both cricket and football sections. Events were held at the neighbouring Hazelwood sports ground, Edmonton. Tennis, netball and social sections were developed later. In 1954, the club boasted a membership of around two hundred drawn mainly from Edmonton, Enfield and Tottenham. In 1947 the club was self-supported enough to contemplate purchasing the freehold of the club house and grounds at Kenmare Gardens. However, in 1955, due to later mortgage difficulties, the premises were purchased by Edmonton Borough Council who granted the club a twenty-one year lease.
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
An assignment of term, or assignment to attend the inheritance, was an assignment of the remaining term of years in a mortgage to a trustee after the mortgage itself has been redeemed. An assignment of a lease is the transfer of the rights laid out in the lease to another party, usually for a consideration (a sum of money).
A covenant or deed of covenant was an agreement entered into by one of the parties to a deed to another. A covenant for production of title deeds was an agreement to produce deeds not being handed over to a purchaser, while a covenant to surrender was an agreement to surrender copyhold land.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
In the late 1820's Jonathan Thomas Sleap was practising as a solicitor from No. 2 Middle Temple Lane, London. Before this, in 1822, he was at Barnards Inn in the parish of Holborn. In 1828 he was described as being of Brentford, but by 1839 he was residing at Ealing, where he remained until his death in April 1864.
His house at Ealing Green was called The Gret, which may have been the property known, in 1892, as Rock House (see ACC/1396/30). Sleap purchased considerable property in Middlesex, Cumberland and Buckinghamshire. On his death the estate was shared out amongst three women as tenants for life. One of these was Sleap's natural daughter, Julia Peacey.
The Manor of Osterley in Heston was purchased by property developer Nicholas Barbon in 1683. Barbon conveyed the Manor to two co-mortgagees including the banker Sir Francis Child the elder (1642-1718). Child took possession of the Manor on Barbon's death in 1698, while his son Robert Child (d. 1721) bought out the co-mortgagee, so that the Child family owned the whole estate. The family expanded the estates by purchasing nearby Manors and commissioned Robert Adam to redesign the house.
The estates and Child's Bank were inherited by Sarah Anne (1764-1793), daughter and sole heir of Robert Child (d. 1782). Under the terms of Robert Child's will the estates passed to Sarah Anne's daughter Lady Sarah Sophia Fane (1785-1867), who was said to have an income of £60,000 a year. Lady Sarah married George Villiers, the fifth Earl of Jersey (1773-1859) who took the name Child-Villiers in 1812. Osterley Park stayed in the Jersey family until 1949 when it was sold to the National Trust.
In 1800 the Manor of Hayes was sold to the executors of Robert Child's will and was therefore added to Osterley and passed to Lady Sarah Sophia Fane and her husband the Earl of Jersey. They sold the Manor in 1829 to Robert Willis Blencowe.
The Manors of Norwood and Southall were united in 1547. In 1754 they were sold to Agatha Child who left them to her son Francis Child. They were united with the Manor of Hayes and followed the same descent-passing to the Jersey family and then sold to Robert Willis Blencowe.
For more information about Osterley Park and Manor see 'Heston and Isleworth: Osterley Park', and 'Heston and Isleworth: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 100-111 (available online).
See also 'Hayes: Manors and other estates' and 'Norwood, including Southall: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 26-29 and pp. 43-45.
Phillip Harman of John Street, Oxford Road, Uxbridge, was a coach maker who died in 1813. George Harman is noted as an architect involved in the construction of a local school.
The Old Brewery, High Street, Uxbridge, was established in the early eighteenth century by George Harman. It was run as "Harman and Company" by Stanislaus Ronayne Conron and Alice Fleetwood Webb until it was incorporated in 1924 as "Harman's Uxbridge Brewery Ltd".
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
The seat of Richard Berridge was Ballynahinch Castle, County Galway, Ireland, which became the residence of his son, Richard, who was a justice of the peace for the county and, in 1894, High Sheriff.
Richard Berridge the elder lived for over twenty years in Bloomsbury, first at 36 Bloomsbury Square, then, from about 1856 to 1877, at 18 Great Russell Street. Prior to this he had resided in Rochester, Kent, and he acquired property in that county as well as in Middlesex. A return of landowners in 1873 describes his holdings in Middlesex as over 300 acres with a gross estimated rental of £577, and a smaller amount in Kent, 79 acres worth £184.15s. He also had mining interests and property in other counties. Berridge entered into partnership with Sir Henry Meux of the Horse Shoe Brewery, Tottenham Court Road. He retired in July 1878 on the establishment of the new firm of Meux and Company. In the late 1870's Berridge left Bloomsbury for an address in Putney, Surrey, and, after a few years, went to live in Bridgewater, Somerset. He died on 20 September 1887 leaving five daughters and one son, Richard, born in 1870.
The estate was administered by trustees until Richard Berridge the younger came of age. In his will, Berridge bequeathed a charity legacy of £200,000 to be applied for the advancement and propagation of education in economic and sanitary sciences in Great Britain. The legacy was administered by his trustees, who donated large sums to the Worshipful Company of Plumbers and the British Institute of Preventive Medicine, and smaller amounts to other institutions and societies, such as the Sanitary Inspectors' Association and Queen Victoria's Jubilee Institute for Nurses.
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
A covenant or deed of covenant was an agreement entered into by one of the parties to a deed to another. A covenant for production of title deeds was an agreement to produce deeds not being handed over to a purchaser, while a covenant to surrender was an agreement to surrender copyhold land.
Abstract of title is a summary of prior ownership of a property, drawn up by solicitors. Such an abstract may go back several hundred years or just a few months, and was usually drawn up just prior to a sale.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
A deed is any document affecting title, that is, proof of ownership, of the land in question. The land may or may not have buildings upon it. Common types of deed include conveyances, mortgages, bonds, grants of easements, wills and administrations.
Conveyances are transfers of land from one party to another, usually for money. Early forms of conveyance include feoffments, surrenders and admissions at manor courts (if the property was copyhold), final concords, common recoveries, bargains and sales and leases and releases.
Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).
An assignment of term, or assignment to attend the inheritance, was an assignment of the remaining term of years in a mortgage to a trustee after the mortgage itself has been redeemed. An assignment of a lease is the transfer of the rights laid out in the lease to another party, usually for a consideration (a sum of money).
A covenant or deed of covenant was an agreement entered into by one of the parties to a deed to another. A covenant for production of title deeds was an agreement to produce deeds not being handed over to a purchaser, while a covenant to surrender was an agreement to surrender copyhold land.
From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".
Probate (also called proving a will) is the process of establishing the validity of a will, which was recorded in the grant of probate.
If a person died intestate (without a valid will) their money, goods and possessions passed to their next of kin through an administration (or letters of administration) which had the same form in law as a will.
William Harrison Ainsworth (1805-1882), novelist, was born on 4 February 1805 at 21 King Street, Manchester, the elder of two sons of Thomas Ainsworth (1778-1824), a solicitor, and his wife, Ann (1778-1842), daughter of the Revd Ralph Harrison (1748-1810), a nonconformist minister and tutor of languages and literature at the Manchester Academy. His parents both belonged to old Lancashire families, on his mother's side including prosperous merchants and members of the peerage; and his paternal grandfather was the noted mathematician Jeremiah Ainsworth.
The firm of Howards and Sons, noted as manufacturers of pharmaceutical chemicals, especially quinine and aspirin had its origin in the partnership entered into by Luke Howard and William Allen in 1798 (ACC/1037/1). Many printed works give the date as 1797 and it may be that the two men began working together after the dissolution of Allen's partnership with Samuel Mildred but before the formal deed of partnership was signed. Allen and Howard had their pharmacy at Plough Court, Lombard Street, City of London, under the management of Allen, and a laboratory at Plaistow, directed by Luke Howard, with the assistance of Joseph Jewell. The laboratory moved from Plaistow to Stratford around 1805, and on the dissolution of the partnership in 1807 (ACC/1037/2) Luke Howard and Joseph Jewell continued their manufacturing activity there. After a series of name changes reflecting the changes of partners (for which see ACC/1037/801/20/1) the style of Howards & Sons was adopted in 1856 (see ACC/1037/17) and used continuously from then on. The firm became a limited company in 1903. It was purchased by Laporte in March 1961.
Stratford remained the company's headquarters until 1898, when land was purchased in Ilford and new premises were gradually constructed. The first transfer there was of the work done at Hopkin and Williams' works in Wandsworth and other processes followed as buildings were erected until the final move to Ilford was made in 1923. The firm of Hopkin and Williams, manufacturers of fine laboratory and photographic chemicals had been purchased in May 1888 (for which see ACC/1037/92). They had offices and warehouses in Cross Street, Hatton Garden, and a manufactory in Wandsworth. In 1906 Howards set up the British Camphor Corporation for the synthesis of camphor from turpentine by Behal's process and the factory was built at Ilford (ACC/1037/743-753). Changes in world prices for raw materials and other factors led to the company going into liquidation in 1909. In the meantime Edmund White, general manager of Hopkin and Williams, had been working on the development of thorium and in 1914 a separate company, Thorium Ltd., was established to process the raw materials (ACC/1037/730-731). In 1915 Hopkin and Williams (Travancore) Ltd. was set up to mine monazite sand at a site in Travancore to secure supplies of the raw material to Thorium Ltd. (ACC/1037/732-735). A later successful development overseas was the purchase of the Sadarehe planatation in Java which was intended to secure supplies of cinchona bark for the production of quinine. Another company, James Anthony and Co. Ltd. (ACC/1037/790) was set up to run it, which it did until the planation was seized by the Japanese in 1943. War-time and post-war conditions made it impossible to revive production. In contrast the purchase of the Agatash plantation in British Guiana to grow limes for citric acid (ACC/1037/739-740) was a short-lived and unsuccessful venture.
The company had a long history of uninterrupted production and its products developed and changed over the years in large measure as the result of experimental work done by members of the Howard family and by their employees. It began by producing fine chemicals, many for the pharmaceutical industry, and by the 1830's Howard and Jewell's work on quinine was beginning to expand. For most of the remainder of the nineteenth century quinine production was the greatest profitable enterprise of the company (for which see ACC/1037/316-364 and especially B.F. Howard's treatise "Howards 1847-1947"). After the First World War it became clear, despite the success of Howards' Aspirin, that the company no longer led the market in chemicals for pharmacy, and a research laboratory was set up in 1919 to explore new fields. This resulted in the development of Howards' solvents and technical chemicals which became the mainstay of the company.
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 City Imperial Volunteers (as they are usually known) or C.I.V. were raised by the Lord Mayor in December 1899 to fight in the Boer War in South Africa. Donations were received from City Livery Companies, bankers and City and West End firms.
Recruits, who were aged between 20 and 30, enlisted for one year. They were all granted the Freedom of the City of London and embarked for South Africa on 13, 20 and 29 January 1900 with another draft in July 1900. They returned home in October 1900 and were disbanded.
The Home Guard was first raised in May, 1940, on a semi-civilian basis in close association with the Police force, and was originally known as the Local Defence Volunteers. It was organized in companies, grouped in zones, corresponding to Police districts. The aim of the Guard was to delay an enemy invasion force, providing the Government and the regular army with time to establish a professional defence and repel the enemy invasion.
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.
In 1799 the first general Income Tax Act was passed, as a war tax. It was repealed after the Peace Of Amiens in 1802, although it was rapidly re-instated in 1803/4 as a "Property Tax". This tax in turn lapsed in 1816, until its re-introduction in 1842. The tax was initially levied at the rate of 2 shillings in the pound on all income in excess of £200 per annum.
The Squadron was founded in 1941 to train boys aged 16 to 18, working or studying in the City, as potential recruits to the Royal Air Force. The Lord Mayor was president of the committee which oversaw the recruitment and organisation of the Squadron.
Established in 1929 as the Lloyd's Clerks' Superannuation Fund, Lloyd's Superannuation Fund, the corporate trustee of which is LSF Pensions Management Limited, was set up for the members, or underwriters at Lloyd's who wished to establish under irrevocable trusts in connection with their said business a fund for the purpose of providing pensions for male Clerks employed in the business on retirement.
The first meeting of the Provisional Committee of Management which established Lloyd's Clerks Superannuation Fund, was held in the Committee Room at Lloyd's of London, Lime Street, City of London on 15th May 1929. The first trustees of the Fund were selected by the Committee of Lloyd's, and the Fund officially commenced on 1st October 1929, with the aim of admitting new members to the Fund on a quarterly basis. R Watsons and Sons were appointed as the first actuaries to the Fund, with Messrs Gerard van de Linde and Sons the Fund's first auditors.
Although only at first open to male Clerks, the Trust Deed and Rules were amended to admit female Clerks from 1st December 1969, in advance of government changes to the rules of private pension schemes in 1972.
The Fund continues to provide pensions services to Lloyd's underwriters, and to work closely with its members as part of the Lloyd's group.
This company was established by Charles Chubb (1772-1846) of Portsea, Hampshire following the grant of a patent to his brother Jeremiah Chubb for a detector lock. In 1827 Charles Chubb moved and opened a shop at 57 St Paul's Churchyard, City of London.
In 1830 manufacturing of locks began in Wolverhampton, first in Temple Street, then St James's Square in 1835 and then Old Mill Lane, Horsely Fields in 1841. The production of safes followed an award of a patent to Charles Chubb in 1835. The firm's safe manufactory was established at 27 Cow Cross Street, London by 1846. This later moved to Glengall Road, Old Kent Road in 1867. Glengall Road also saw the production of locks with the return of works from Wolverhampton to London in 1882.
The Wolverhampton lock works were re-established and returned to Horsely Fields in 1889. New lock works were opened in Railway Street and Chubb Street in 1899 with auxiliary safe works built in Railway Street in 1900. Wolverhampton became the manufacturing hub of the company when the London safe works were transferred to a new safe works on Wednesfield Road in 1909, which also absorbed the Railway Street works. Lock works were also moved to new factory in Wednesfield Road in 1938.
Branches opened in Manchester in 1838 and Liverpool in 1839. Showrooms opened at 68 St James's Street in 1874.
John Chubb (1815-1872) joined his father in partnership in 1841 and continued the business following his father's death in 1846. Following John Chubb's death, the firm continued under the direction of his executors and sons John Charles Chubb (1846-1899) and George Hayter Chubb, later Lord Hayter (1848-1946). G H Chubb became chairman in 1882 with the incorporation of the company as Chubb and Son's Lock and Safe Company Limited. Lord Hayter retired in 1940 and was succeeded by his nephew Harry Emory Chubb (1880-1960).
Major overseas trading began in the late 19th century, with South Africa in 1890. Chubb and Maxwell Limited was incorporated in 1895 to manage South African work. Business in Australia was managed by Chubb's Australian Company Limited which was established in 1897 in Sydney. This company managed a safe, strong room and bronze work factory which was built in 1921. Chubb-France SA was formed in 1922 and Chubb India Limited in 1926. Abroad manufacturing of security equipment began in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1950 and Toronto, Canada in 1954. The 20th century saw acquisition of key firms including Josiah Parkes (manufacturers of 'Union' locks), Hobbs Hart of London and other companies.
Company name changes 1818-2000:
Charles Chubb, Jeremiah Chubb, patent detector lock, 1818-1846;
Chubb and Son, 1846-1882 (Charles Chubb and his son John Chubb);
Chubb and Son's Lock and Safe Company Limited, 1882-1958;
Chubb and Son Limited, 1958-1982;
Chubb and Son plc, 1982-1984;
Racal-Chubb Limited (with constituent companies Chubb Safe Equipment Company Limited and Chubb Locks Limited), 1984-1986. Chubb taken over by Racal Electronics and came under Racal Group;
Racal-Chubb Products Limited 1986-1992;
Chubb Security plc, 1992 separating from Racal;
Acquired by Williams Holdings, 1997;
Demerged as Chubb plc, 2000.
London Head offices: 57 St Paul's Churchyard (1827-1877); 128 Queen Victoria Street (1877-1941); St James's Street (1941-1946); 40-42 Oxford Street (1946-1955); 175-176 Tottenham Court Road (1955-1960); 14-22 Tottenham Court Road (from 1960); Manor House, Feltham, Middlesex; moved to Wednesfield Road, Wolverhampton in 1985.
In 1766 Lewis Agassiz was granted naturalization by a private act of Parliament (7 George III c.4). In 1769 he went into partnership with Joseph Lieutand and their business first appears in the trade directories in 1771 under the name of Lewis Agassiz and Company. Agassiz was a Swiss merchant, dealing in cotton, silk, sugar, cocoa, coffee, tobacco, cochineal and other tropical goods. He had trading connections not only throughout Europe (France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland), but also in Russia, North and South America and the East and West Indies. There is a large component of private and family papers kept with the business records.
Samuel Grellet joined the company sometime before 1772 and the name was changed to Agassiz, Grellet and Company. On Grellet's death in 1776, Francis Anthony Rougemont joined the partnership under the name of Agassiz, Rougemont and Company. Lewis Agassiz left the company in 1784 to retire to Margate in Kent. He had two sons, Arthur David Lewis Agassiz (who took over the family business) and James John Charles Agassiz. In 1792 the name was changed to Agassiz and Wilson when Thomas Wilson joined the business. From 1802, the company was listed as Wilson, Agassiz and Company. Around 1818 the company split. Thomas Wilson and Richard Blanshard traded from 4 Jefferies Square, St Mary Axe under the name Wilson and Blanshard, while Agassiz, Son and Company moved to 15 New Broad Street. After 1825 the Agassiz firm no longer appears in the trade directories.
The company was based at 92 Little St Helen's (1771-92), 36 Fenchurch Street (1793-1812), 4 Jefferies Square, St Mary Axe (1813-19), 15 New Broad Street (1820-4) and 6 Finsbury Square (1825).
