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The concept of the Court of Common Council grew from the ancient custom of the Folkmoot, when the assent of the citizens to important acts was obtained. This custom was continued by the Mayor who consulted the Commons several times during the 13th century. From 1376 the assembly began to meet regularly and was referred to as the Common Council. It was decided that the Council should be made up of persons elected from each Ward. By 1384 a permanent Common Council chosen by the citizens was established for all time. The Council assumed legislative functions and adopted financial powers, confirmed by Charters of 1377 and 1383. The Council has often used these powers to amend the civic constitution, regulate the election of Lord Mayor and other officials, and amend the functions of the City courts. The Council was judged so successful in the conduct of its duties that it was the only Corporation unreformed by Parliament following the Municipal Corporations Commission report of 1837, while the Corporation Inquiry Commission of 1854 suggested only minor reforms. The work of the Council is conducted by a number of committees, while the whole Council has the right to approve policy, confirm major decisions and sanction expenditure. The committees handle many aspects of the running of the City including land and estates, finance and valuation, open spaces, street improvement and town planning, public health, police, Port of London, civil defence, airports, libraries, markets, education, and law. The Town Clerk has held responsibility for recording the minutes of the Council and its committees since 1274.

Billingsgate Market is the oldest of the markets owned by the Corporation of London. Originally fish was sold from stalls and sheds around the dock at Billingsgate. In 1850 a market building was constructed on Lower Thames Street but it proved to be inadequate and was demolished in 1873 to make way for the building which still stands today. Designed by Sir Horace Jones (who also designed Leadenhall and Smithfield markets), Billingsgate opened in 1876. The building is now a landmark Grade 2 listed structure. The Fish Supply Committee was formed to consider issues relating to the import and sale of fish in London.

The concept of the Court of Common Council grew from the ancient custom of the Folkmoot, when the assent of the citizens to important acts was obtained. This custom was continued by the Mayor who consulted the Commons several times during the 13th century. From 1376 the assembly began to meet regularly and was referred to as the Common Council. It was decided that the Council should be made up of persons elected from each Ward. By 1384 a permanent Common Council chosen by the citizens was established for all time. The Council assumed legislative functions and adopted financial powers, confirmed by Charters of 1377 and 1383. The Council has often used these powers to amend the civic constitution, regulate the election of Lord Mayor and other officials, and amend the functions of the City courts. The Council was judged so successful in the conduct of its duties that it was the only Corporation unreformed by Parliament following the Municipal Corporations Commission report of 1837, while the Corporation Inquiry Commission of 1854 suggested only minor reforms. The work of the Council is conducted by a number of committees, while the whole Council has the right to approve policy, confirm major decisions and sanction expenditure. The committees handle many aspects of the running of the City including land and estates, finance and valuation, open spaces, street improvement and town planning, public health, police, Port of London, civil defence, airports, libraries, markets, education, and law. The Town Clerk has held responsibility for recording the minutes of the Council and its committees since 1274.

The Improvements Committee was entrusted with the execution of various Acts of Parliament for the improvement of streets and public buildings, such as the Holborn Valley Improvement Act, 1864; the London Prison and Moorfields Improvement Act, 1812 the London (City) Improvement Act, 1847 (Cannon Street); the improvement of the entrance to the City at Temple Bar, 1793; making a new street between Holborn Circus and Clerkenwell Green and improvements to the Fleet Valley and Central Terminus.

Joseph Corbetta and his brother Charles, jewellers, appear in the London 1851 census, at which time they were aged 43 and 40 respectively.

The manor of Shepperton was granted to Westminster Abbey by Edward the Confessor between 1051 and 1066. The Abbey later granted the manor to an undertenant but retained the overlordship until the Dissolution. In 1741 the manor was sold to the trustees of Penelope Stratford, who was then a minor. Penelope married Richard Geast, who later took the name of Dugdale. After his death she sold Shepperton in 1811 to Thomas Scott (d. 1816). The manor afterwards passed to his nephew James Scott (d. 1855). In 1856 it was purchased by W. S. Lindsay, a ship-owner and member of Parliament who wrote a history of merchant shipping as well as one of Shepperton, and was largely responsible for the construction of the Thames Valley Railway (d. 1878). He was succeeded by his grandson, W. H. Lindsay (d. 1949). In 1954 W. H. Lindsay's widow transferred the estate to her husband's nephew, Mr. P. A. R. Lindsay, who was the owner in 1958.

The manorial demesne contained 100 or more acres of arable in the 14th century and a good deal of meadow and pasture. There is no reliable information about its extent thereafter before 1843, when the estate belonging to the lord of the manor amounted to some 380 acres. This included the Manor Farm in Chertsey Road with which the bulk of the property was leased. By 1867 the estate comprised about 600 acres, but some of this has since been sold.

From: 'Shepperton: The hundred of Spelthorne (continued)', 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. 1-12 (available online).

Admission: a person with title to a piece of copyhold land was admitted at a Manorial Court and this admission was taken as proof of their title to the land.

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

Richard Ellis and Son, chartered surveyors, estate agents and auctioneers, were based in Fenchurch Street and West Ferry Road.

North of Enfield Wash the 33-acre Putney Lodge estate was conveyed by James Bennett to the British Land Company in 1867. Mandeville, Totteridge, and Putney roads had been laid out by 1867, when 296 building plots were for sale, and 6-roomed houses were offered in 1869, when the proximity of the Royal Small Arms factory was stressed. Plots were still available in 1893 but the estate was almost completely built up by 1897.

From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 218-224 (available online).

The Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice deals with business law, trust law, probate law, and land law in relation to issues of equity; while the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice (or King's Bench Division when the monarch is male) has two roles. It hears a wide range of contract law and personal injury and general negligence cases, but also has special responsibility as a supervisory court.

The privileges of the Freedom of the City of London were sought for centuries by those who wished to exercise a retail trade or handicraft within the City. Among the privileges were immunity from toll at markets and fairs throughout London, freedom from impressment into the armed forces and the right to vote at ward and parliamentary elections.

These papers relating to the local history of Middlesex and Westminster were collected for their general or antiquarian interest and relevance to the subject, rather than having a united provenance (that is, being produced by the same institution or business).

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

William fitz Other, the Domesday tenant, was constable of Windsor castle and his descendants took the name of Windsor. They held Stanwell of Windsor castle for over four centuries, together with lands principally in Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. In 1485 Thomas Windsor left a widow, Elizabeth, who held Stanwell with her second husband Sir Robert Lytton. Thomas's son Andrew was summoned to parliament as Lord Windsor from 1529. Henry VIII compelled him in 1542 to surrender Stanwell in exchange for monastic lands in Gloucestershire and elsewhere. Sir Philip Hobby was made chief steward of the manor in 1545. Sir Thomas Paston was granted a 50-year lease during Edward VI's reign, and Edward Fitzgarret in 1588 secured a lease to run for 30 years from the end of Paston's term. In fact Fitzgarret was in possession when he died before 1590. His estate was much embarrassed and after litigation Stanwell passed to his son Garret subject to certain rent-charges to his daughter.

In 1603 the freehold was granted to Sir Thomas Knyvett, who became Lord Knyvett in 1607. Knyvett and his wife both died in 1622, leaving their property to be shared between John Cary, the grandson of one of Knyvett's sisters, and Elizabeth Leigh, the granddaughter of another. Elizabeth married Sir Humphrey Tracy, and she and Cary held Stanwell jointly until her death. In 1678 the Knyvett estates were divided between Cary and Sir Francis Leigh, who was apparently Elizabeth's heir. Cary retained Stanwell, which he left to his great-niece Elizabeth Willoughby on condition that she married Lord Guildford; otherwise it was to pass to Lord Falkland. After Elizabeth's marriage to James Bertie she held the manor under a chancery decree until her death in 1715.

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

Source: 'Stanwell: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 36-41 (available online).

The Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, designed by Christopher Wren, opened on 26 March 1674. In 1747 the theatre and a patent renewal were purchased by renowned actor David Garrick and partner James Lacy. Garrick served as manager and lead actor of the theatre until roughly 1766, and continued on in the management role for another ten years after.

Garrick commissioned Robert Adam and his brother James to renovate the theatre's interior, which they did in 1775. Their additions included an ornate ceiling and a stucco facade facing Bridges Street.

Garrick left the stage in 1776 and sold his shares in the theatre to the Irish playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

Source: http://www.theatre-royal.com

For a detailed history of the growth and development of Enfield and South Mimms, please see the Victoria County History for Middlesex ("A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham", 1976; available online).

A bond was a deed, by which person A binds himself, his heirs, executors, or assigns to pay a certain sum of money to person B, or his heirs.

A quitclaim is a deed renouncing any possible right to a property.

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, became seised of the land.

A Final Concord (or Fine) was a fictitious legal case in which the person transferring the land (the deforciant) was deprived of the land which was given to the purchaser of the land (the querent).

Source: British Records Association Guidelines 3: How to interpret deeds (available online).

The documents relate to Radnor Road, Pinner; Mason's Avenue, Wealdstone; Welldon Crescent, Harrow and Northolt Road, Harrow.

The Mann family were market gardeners and most of the records relate to the land they cultivated.

Until 1874 it was almost impossible for women to train as doctors in Britain. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was actually the first woman to qualify in Medicine, but as soon as she had done so, in 1865, the loophole which allowed her to do so was closed, preventing others from following in her footsteps.

In 1874 a group of women, led by Sophia Jex-Blake, who had been expelled from Edinburgh University after beginning their medical training, set up the first female medical school, the London School of Medicine for Women (LSMW), in a small house in Henrietta Street, (renamed Handel Street in 1888), and male doctors sympathetic to their cause agreed to teach them. The School could not at this stage offer clinical instruction, but three years later they persuaded the Royal Free Hospital to open their wards to the female students. The Royal Free thus became a teaching hospital, the first to open its doors to women and, until 1947, the only all female medical school. The arrangement between school and hospital worked so well that in 1898 the School officially became the London (Royal Free Hospital) School of Medicine for Women. The school building was rebuilt and enlarged in 1898, the main entrance was moved to the Hunter Street side of the building, and the address changed to reflect this. The School was further enlarged in 1914, when the number of women wishing to study medicine made it necessary to practically double the number of laboratories and lecture rooms. At this time the school had over 300 students, making it the largest of the women's university colleges in Britain. In just 40 years the number of women on the medical register had increased from two to 1000, 600 of whom were graduates of the School.

A long tradition of overseas co-operation began when the first Indian student arrived in 1890. In following years a large number of the LSMW students went abroad to help train women who came from cultures where women could not be seen by male doctors, encouraged by Queen Victoria, who felt very strongly that all her subjects in the Empire should have access to proper medical treatment.

All medical schools became co-educational in 1947, when the first two men entered LSMW and necessitated a change of name, to the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine. A major extension to the School was built in 1950, but conditions nevertheless remained cramped, although the School continued to be pre-eminent in medical research, known particularly for its medical unit, renal unit and haemophilia centre. When the Royal Free Hospital moved to Hampstead in 1974 the new Medical School building was planned on the same site, the last department finally moving from Hunter Street in 1983. After World War Two the School was threatened by successive government reports either with closure or with a merger with another school on three occasions (in 1946, 1968 and 1980) and each time had rejected the proposals. In 1998 however, the School finally merged with University College London to form a new school, the Royal Free and University College Medical School.

The School was originally administered by a Provisional Council, comprising 24 registered medical practitioners. In 1875 the Provisional Council handed over control to a Governing Body, consisting of its own members, and of a number of other influential friends and subscribers, with an Executive Council, who were responsible for the day-to-day administration. In 1898, with the formalisation of the link to the Hospital, the Governing Body and Executive Council were replaced by a Council, with four ex-officio members, including the Dean, and two representatives of the Hospital. The Council was advised by the larger School Committee, mainly comprising the teaching staff of the School. The School Committee was renamed the Education Committee in 1930. In later years several committees reported to the Council or School/Education Committee, of which the most important was the Finance Committee.

Charing Cross Hospital was founded by Dr. Benjamin Golding in 1818 and initially known as West London Infirmary (not to be confused with West London Hospital, see H79). For most of its history it was located near Charing Cross, just off The Strand in Agar Street and provided a service in central London until its move to a new building in Fulham in 1972. Its site in the heart of London's 'Theatre Land' led it to be known as the 'Actors' Hospital'.

The idea of moving Charing Cross Hospital from its Agar Street site was being considered as far back as 1936. In 1957 the Ministry of Health proposed building on the site of the Fulham Hospital and merging the Fulham (see H77), West London (see H79) and Charing Cross hospitals in one. The proposal was accepted in July 1958. Planning of the new complex started in 1959 and construction work began in 1968.

The first phase of the new hospital became operational in January 1973. Early in 1973 both the old Charing Cross Hospital and the Fulham Hospital closed down completely and patients were transferred to the new Charing Cross Hospital. West London Hospital remained open until the new hospital complex was finished, although it ceased to be a District General Hospital when Accident and Emergency services moved to the new Charing Cross Hospital.

The new Charing Cross Hospital was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 22nd May 1973. In 1974 the main building in the new hospital complex, the 18 storey tower block, had 650 beds and there were 10 operating theatres.

Charing Cross was one of the first hospitals to start formal training for nurses and the Nursing School was inaugurated in 1889. A new building for the School of Nursing on the Charing Cross Hospital site was opened by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent in September 1970. In 1974 the School of Nursing provided facilities for the training of up to 480 student and pupil nurses and other nursing staff on 'in-service' or post-certificate programmes.

In the NHS reorganisation of 1974 the hospital became part of the new South Hammersmith Health District. Since 2007 Charing Cross Hospital has formed part of the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

When the National Health Service was established in 1948, it was divided into three parts.

The personal health services, including ambulances, health visitors, community nursing and midwifery were run by local authorities. General medical services, including general practice, dental and ophthalmic services were the responsibility of the executive councils. Hospitals were placed under the control of regional hospital boards. Within each region hospitals were formed into groups and responsibility for more routine administration was delegated to the hospital group management committee. Teaching hospitals were excluded from this system. They had their own boards of governors who were directly responsible to the Minister of Health. Within each hospital region joint committees were established to facilitate consultation and cooperation between teaching hospitals and the board's hospitals.

In 1974 the regional hospital boards, hospital management committees and most boards of governors were abolished. They were replaced by regional health authorities and area health authorities, which were responsible for the three formerly separate parts of the NHS. In 1982 the area health authorities were in turn abolished. Their powers were transferred to district health authorities.

In 1947 the South East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board was formed, responsible for Kent, East Sussex and south east London. Similarly, the South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board was formed, responsible for Surrey, West Sussex and south west London. In 1974 they were renamed as South West Thames Regional Health Authority and South East Thames Regional Health Authority. In 1994 they were merged to form the South Thames Regional Health Authority.

The origins of the Justices of the Peace lie in the temporary appointments of 'conservators' or 'keepers' of the peace made at various times of unrest between the late twelfth century and the fourteenth century. In 1361 the 'Custodis Pacis' were merged with the Justices of Labourers, and given the title Justices of the Peace and a commission (see MJP). The Commission (of the Peace) gave them the power to try offences in their courts of Quarter Sessions, appointed them to conserve the peace within a stated area, and to enquire on the oaths of "good and lawfull men" into "all manner of poisonings, enchantments, forestallings, disturbances, abuses of weights and measures" and many other things, and to "chastise and punish" anyone who had offended against laws made in order to keep the peace.

The cases which the justices originally dealt with were offences which could not be dealt with by the manorial court (i.e. misdemeanours), but which were less serious than those which went to the Assize Judges (i.e. felonies). Misdemeanours included breaches of the peace - assault, rioting, defamation, minor theft, vagrancy, lewd and disorderly behaviour, and offences against the licensing laws. In 1388 a statute laid down that the court sessions should meet four times a year (hence the name 'Quarter Sessions'): Epiphany, Easter, Trinity (midsummer) and Michaelmas (autumn) - two or more justices (one at least from the quorum) were to decide exactly where and when.

The judicial process began even before the sessions opened with examinations being taken by the magistrates once the crime had been reported by the constable, the injured party or a common informant. The accused could then be bailed to keep the peace or to appear at the next sessions, be remanded in gaol before a trial, or acquitted. Once the sessions had opened there was still an examination by a Grand Jury as to whether there was a case to answer, before the trial proper could get underway.

During the sixteenth century the work of the Quarter Sessions and the justices was extended to include administrative functions for the counties. These were wide ranging and included maintenance of structures such as bridges, gaols and asylums; regulating weights, measures, prices and wages, and, probably one of their biggest tasks, enforcing the Poor Law. The dependence of the justices on officials like the sheriff, the constables, and the Clerk of the Peace to help them carry out their functions (both judicial and administrative) cannot be underestimated. As their workload grew, particularly during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, more help was needed and there was an increase in the number of officers appointed for specific tasks, and committees for specific purposes were set up.

The bulk of the administrative work was carried out on one specific day during the court's sitting known as the County Day. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was clear that the Quarter Session's structure was unable to cope with the administrative demands on it, and it lost a lot of functions to bodies set up specifically to deal with particular areas - the most important of these was the Poor Law, reformed in 1834. By the end of the century, when the Local Government Act of 1889 established county councils, the sessions had lost all their administrative functions. The judicial role of the Quarter Sessions continued until 1971, when with the Assize courts they were replaced by the Crown Courts.

Alongside the aforementioned functions of the Quarter Sessions, was its role as the place of registration and deposit for official non-sessions records, which needed to be certified and available for inspection.

Much of the routine judicial and administrative work during the period covered by the existing records was carried out by small groups of justices. This was done outside the main court sittings by the justices in their local areas - usually within a Hundred division. Special Sessions were held for purposes such as licensing alehouses (Brewster Sessions), or to organise the repair of the highways. More common were the meetings of one or two justices in what became known as petty sessions and which dealt with issues such as rating, granting of licences, the appointment of parish officers, and the examination of witnesses and suspects prior to the start of the next sessions. Increasingly here the justices also began to determine cases involving minor offences and exercise 'summary jurisdiction'.

The inconvenience of using their own homes for this work, and the need for the public to know where magistrates would be available led to the setting up of 'public offices'. The first one was in Bow Street, Westminster from about 1727. In 1828 all courts of Quarter Sessions were allowed to create within their county, divisions for petty sessions, thus formalising any earlier informal arrangements.

The County of London sessions met in Clerkenwell Green until 1919 when they moved to the former Surrey sessions house on Newington Causeway.

North Hackney Central School for Girls was established in Millfields Road in 1895.

The Building Research Board was founded in 1919 under the Government's Department for Scientific and Industrial Research, as one of a number of Research Boards set up after the First World War.

This commercial company developed high density housing blocks for artisans in Central London. It was founded by Sydney Waterlow in 1863 at the time of many philanthropic housing developments. Registered Office in 1925: 5 Grosvenor Crescent, London, SW1.

The company started with an initial capital of £50,000 and its shareholders included MP's, lawyers, builders and merchants. It built in blocks of 5-7 storeys providing self contained housing for artisans. By 1871 over 1,000 dwellings were occupied and the company profits grew above 5 per cent dividend paid. It worked from standard plans (prepared by a surveyor rather than an architect) and built many estates including Wapping, Cromwell buildings Southwark, Kings Cross Road, Old Street, Pancras Road, Greenwich, High Street Islington and Bethnal Green.

This collection also contains records of two subsidiary companies, Greencoat Properties Ltd and the Soho, Clerkenwell and General Industrial Dwellings Company Limited.

The National Council of Voluntary Organisations (formerly the National Council of Social Service) grew out of the beliefs that the best way to preserve voluntary services would be if the diverse agencies came together in an overall council to eliminate confusion and overlap; and that they should work together with the newly developing statutory services. The first step in setting up the National Council was the issue in March 1919 of a memorandum from the Local Government Board with a covering letter signed by Sir Aubrey Simmons, then secretary of the Board and first chairman of the council. The memorandum recommended the formation of local councils of social service and set out the aims of a future National Council of Social Service, together with the names of members and bodies giving their support.

In 1919 the councils objectives were:

• to promote the systematic organisation of voluntary social work, nationally and locally.
• to assist in the formation in each local government area representations of both voluntary effort and statutory administration.

• to provide information for voluntary social workers.

  Captain Lionel Ellis was the only paid officer in 1919, and Professor WGS Adams took over from Aubrey Simmons as Chairman for the next 30 years. By 1924 the NCSS was soundly established and on 14 May 1928 was awarded charitable status in the High Court. In this same year the NCSS moved to its first headquarters at 26 Bedford Square, London WC1. The work of the NCSS between the wars was beset by problems, most notably the economic welfare of the countryside, rural depopulation, housing and the increasing problem of unemployment. Its answer was to establish and support the rural movement by means of Community Councils, citizens advise bureaux, support to the elderly and disabled and to provide secretariat for branches of groups such as the National Playing Fields Association.

  1969 was the Golden Jubilee of the NCSS celebrated in Guildhall with a reception attended by HM the Queen, HRH the Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh and over 900 guests. The 50th year marked a new look and reorganisation for the NCSS by the review committee concluding that the NCSS 'should be seen as one living, vigorous entity and not a federation of varied and autonomous associated bodies'. One of the most important roles of the NCSS in the 1970s was that of an information and advice resource. Their role in the rural communities by the provision of advice on all matters and their efforts continued both nationally and internationally.

  On 1st April 1980 the NCSS became the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. An extraordinary general meeting called in July 1973 discussed the name change; since the implementation of the Social Services Act in 1970 confusion had arisen between voluntary and statutory bodies. Its new aims as set down in the 1980 Annual Report were:

• to extend the involvement of voluntary organisations in responding to social issues
• to be a resource centre for voluntary organisations

• to protect the interests and independence of voluntary organisation.

  One of its key roles was to make skills, guidance and advice available to all charities and voluntary organisations as well as developing new models of social support. NCVO increased its membership by 150 in 3 years with a striking number of new members providing aid for illness or disability and furthermore opened membership to leading organisations in relevant fields of activity. In the early 1980s these were 528 members, links with 159 councils for voluntary service and 38 rural community councils. It had 8 major departments and employed 152 staff.

  In the early 1990s the NCVO established a working party to make recommendations on developing and maintaining high standards of efficiency and effectiveness within the voluntary sector. The report "Effectiveness and the Voluntary Sector" set out an agenda for action by NCVO and the wider voluntary sector - with emphasis on effectiveness in management and services within voluntary bodies. The Corporate Affiliation Scheme was launched in 1989 attracting 20 leading companies and in 1992 NCVO played a large role in the Charities Act 1992 by making representations to improve the Bill and by guiding Charities through the new law.

  In June 1992 the NCVO moved from Bedford Square to Regent's Wharf, London W1 where they remain today, continuing its role as the "voice of the voluntary sector".

The Metropolitan Association (founded 1841, incorporated by Royal Charter 1845) was the first organisation to build 'social' housing on a large scale. It was part of the philanthropic movement which reserved the right to profit for the investor (commonly known as Five Per Cent Philanthropy). Its pioneering block dwellings in Old Pancras Road, London were completed in 1848 and acted as a model for future developments in other big cities. Indeed the Association had branches in Liverpool, Newcastle, Torquay, Bristol, Wolverhampton, Sunderland, Brighton, Dudley, Ramsgate and Southampton.

There are several solicitors firms called 'Warrens' listed in the London Post Office Directories.

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 London Schools Football Association is a voluntary body with no paid officials. It was founded in October 1892 at a meeting of officials from football associations from Tower Hamlets, Greenwich, Finsbury, West Ham, Marylebone and South London. The first president was Lord Kinnaird (1892-1920).

A school existed as part of the Western Synagogue from 1820 and at that time the aim of the school was "that male children of the Jewish persuasion (whose parents are unable to afford them educated) be instructed in Hebrew and English reading, writing and arithmetic; that the principle of religion be carefully inculcated and every exertion used to render them good and useful members of society".

The School was funded by voluntary contributions and classes were held at the teachers homes. The children were admitted from age 5 to 12 and discharged at 13. In addition to instruction, the boys received gifts of clothing and on barmitzvah an entire new outfit was provided.

By 1837 the school committee had decided to rent premises in Stanhope Street but by 1843 this was too small and a new school was opened in Greek Street. The equivalent girls school opened in 1846 at Richmond Buildings, Dean Street and shortly after moved to Greek Street. Its aims were '... the diffusion of religion and knowledge of moral and social principles among the young and ignorant.'

In 1853 the 2 schools were amalgamated and named the Westminster Jews Free School. It remained at Greet Street until 1882 when it became obvious the school was no longer big enough. A new school was built in Hanway Place and consecrated in July 1883 and could now accommodate 500 children. By 1911 the school numbers had decreased dramatically and on 31 December 1945 the school officially closed down.

The College was founded in 1893 by the National Society in the disused Brew House of the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace. Here, training was provided for teachers of Cookery and Laundry. Housewifery was added to the curriculum in the first decade of the twentieth century after the College had acquired additional premises in Charles Street, Southwark.

In 1902, under the will of the late Mr Richard Berridge, a large sum of money became available for technical education and in 1904 the Board of Education approved a scheme submitted by the National Society for building a new college. Land was acquired in Hampstead, a Governing Body set up and in 1908 the specially planned building, Berridge House, was completed.

After the move to Hampstead, the curriculum was expanded to include technical courses, and later on, a three year course leading to the Teacher's Certificate of the University of London Institute of Education was offered.

As the College continued to expand, the following premises were also used to provide teaching rooms and accommodation: 54 Fortune Green Road (from October 1913), 52 Fortune Green Road (from September 1915), 13 Parsifal Road (from June 1927), 15 Parsifal Road (from 1929), 6 Parsifal Road (from October 1929) and "the annex", a former church hall, in Fortune Green Road (from September 1930). In 1932 the Field Lane School and its land adjoining the College was bought and adapted. This formed the 'West Wing' which was later re-named Maughan House. In 1937 Holland House was built in the grounds of Maughan House.

During World War One Berridge House was occupied by the WRAF and used as a school for instruction. It re-opened in September 1919. In World War Two the college buildings were requisitioned, and the staff and students moved to Bournemouth. Princes Hotel, Bournemouth, became the college headquarters, Pokesdown Technical Institute at Boscombe provided facilities for teaching cookery, and science and laundry lessons were held in Bournemouth Municipal College. Further accommodation for teaching and residence was found in the hotels in the City.

In March 1945 the National Society requested the Council of the Church Training Colleges to accept Berridge House into its federation. Sixteen years later it was decided that Berridge House should be amalgamated with another church training college, and in 1964 it joined St. Katherine's College, Tottenham, to form the College of All Saints, White Hart Lane, Tottenham. Berridge House continued in use for Home Economics until September 1965.

Founded in August 1837, the Club was formed to meet the needs of the many army officers wanting to join a Service Club, most of which were already full. The Duke of Wellington said he would become neither a patron nor a Member unless membership was also offered to officers of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. Hence, the "Army and Navy Club" came into being.

The Club acquired its nickname from Captain William (Billy) Higginson Duff. He described the Club as a 'Rag and Famish affair' which was intended as a great insult, since the 'Rag and Famish' was a squalid gaming house 'for broken down gamblers who played for coppers'. The Members were amused rather than insulted by this and formed a 'Rag and Famish' dining club. The name was gradually adopted as the Club's nickname, eventually being reduced to 'The Rag'.

The Club has actively collected and commissioned works of art which decorate the clubhouse (See House Committee Minutes LMA/4179/01/05/01). Their collection even includes a mounted penguin which is a survivor from the first Scott Antarctic Expedition.

From http://www.armynavyclub.co.uk/the-club/club-history/index.html

The Club also assembled an impressive library for its members. The Library Committee records (LMA/4179/01/06) provide an insight into the interests of the membership.

The membership of the club appears to have expected a high level of hospitality. A separate committee was instituted to oversee the Club's wine (LMA/4179/01/07) and the food on offer at the Club was frequently discussed by the General Committee (LMA/4179/01/02).

From 1962 women were granted Associate Membership of the Club (see LMA/4179/02/01/002).

The first club house opened its doors in 1838. Originally the Club leased 18 Saint James Square, which had formerly been occupied by the Oxford and Cambridge Club. Premises then moved to 15 Saint James Square, Lichfield House, in 1843 but the search for more permanent premises began. During 1846-7 six freehold properties in Saint James Square were purchased on the corner with Pall Mall. In January 1846 the Club initiated a competition to design their new club house. After a false start, Alfred Smith and C O Parnell won the competition. Building began in 1848 and doors opened in 1851. Major renovations took place in 1878-9 and 1924-7. New buildings to the rear of the club house were leased in 1919 to accommodate demand for bedrooms.

From http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40563

The historic building was demolished in 1958. During the rebuilding, the club used 46 and 47 Pall Mall which were subsequently sold. The club house, in its present state, opened in 1963.

See LMA/4179/05 for the documents relating to the club real estate.

This catalogue is dedicated to the memory of Anthony Dixon, the Army and Navy Club's Honorary Archivist. He was instrumental in the transfer of this collection to LMA and provided invaluable assistance in the cataloguing of this collection as a volunteer. Unfortunately, he passed away before the catalogue could be completed.

The Ritz was built for the Blackpool Building and Vendor Company Ltd on the site of the Walsingham House and Bath Hotels in Piccadilly, to the specifications of Swiss Hotelier Cesar Ritz. The hotel opened on 24th May 1906.

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.

Muriel Smith began her career as an Assistant Warden and Youth Leader of a purpose-built community centre outside Reading. In 1942 she trained in social work at Liverpool University and attended Reading University part time where she completed a degree in Philosophy and Psychology.

From 1949 to 1969 Muriel Smith worked with the London Voluntary Service Council (LCSS) as the head of the Community Development Department and was involved in the administering of grants from the LCC and GLC. She was also involved with the Central Housing Advisory Committee and a member of the Parker Morris Subcommittee which produced the report Homes for Today and Tomorrow. Her work brought her in touch with some of the major charitable trusts, in particular the City Parochial Foundation and the Gulbenkian Foundation in which Muriel was a member of many committees leading to various Gulbenkian publications.

In 1969 Muriel Smith was seconded to the Home Office as a consultant to the Community Development Project which was "...an attempt to research into the better understanding and comprehensive tackling of social needs, especially in local communities within older urban areas, through closer co-ordination of central and local official and unofficial effort, informed and stimulated by citizen initiative and involvement.", and later to the Voluntary Service Unit.

Muriel Smith was involved with the setting up of the Association of London Housing Estates and the Kenilworth Group.

Even after her retirement in 1979 Muriel Smith continued to be active in social work. She was responsible for three long-term Manpower Service projects, one sponsored by Toynbee Hall, were she helped with the preparations for their centenary year and gave a years voluntary service at their social centre working with mainly Bengali and Somali mothers and babies. The other two projects were sponsored by members of the Bengali local community who elected her as their organising secretary, as well as being a member of the Tower Hamlets Association for Racial Equality, and the subcommittee on education.

J.W.Falkner and Sons Limited was a building company with its origins in the mid-nineteenth century, with William John Falkner (1804-1864) who had been apprenticed in 1823 to a carpenter and builder and traded in his own right as a carpenter and house agent. On his death the business was taken over by his son John William Falkner (1844-1909). It was John William who developed the firm including building premises at 24, Ossory Road, off the Old Kent Road, SE1, where the firm remained until the 1990's.

When John William retired in 1900, he handed over to his sons - chiefly Alfred Beech Falkner (d.1942), other sons set up several firms in the industry as builders or builders merchants. William Bernard Wood (1882-1944) worked in the firm as a surveyor and when Alfred Beech got into financial difficulties in 1928 was instrumental in establishing a new limited company - J.W.Falkner and Sons Limited.

Work in the 1920s and 1930s was executed for several of the leading architects of the day, including Lutyens, Curtis Green, Giles Gilbert Scott, Collcutt and Hamp, Claire Neuheim, and Wills and Kaula. A variety of houses around Beaconsfield and Le Touquet were built during this time.

Richard Alfred Wood (b.1915) entered the firm in 1934, becoming a director a few years later. On his father's death he obtained compassionate leave from the military service to arrange matters at the company and the firm continued in low-key for the remainder of the war. War-time jobs included work at the naval station at Lyness on Hoy in the Orkney Islands, a job for the Ministry of Aircraft Production at Colnbrook and a variety of bomb shelters and war damage work.

After the war the company worked for various architects such as Hatchard Smith and Bertram, Sergei Kadleigh, Fry and Drew, and Austin Vernon and Partners. They had a regular involvement with St Thomas Medical School and did work for both the LCC and GLC, and developed a speciality in the alteration and refurbishment of historic churches, contracts included work at All Souls, Langham Place; Holy Trinity, Southwark; and Saint Stephen's, Walbrook.

It was at this time that the company purchased Melhuish and Saunders Limited of Wells, Somerset, which was then run by Richard Alfred's brother William Stanley Wood. In 1962 Richard Alfred established another subsidiary - the Preservation Centre for Wood. Thus in 1963 the original company became a formal holding company - Falkner and Sons (Holdings) Limited, and a new subsidiary - J.W.Falkner and Sons Limited. In 1993 the latter company went into administrative receivership and was liquidated, the name was changed to Testlodge Limited in 1997 and wound up 1998. The assets of this company were sold by the receivers to Falkner-Wood Limited (in operation as of 2010). Falkner and Sons (Holdings) Limited became FH2 Limited in 2001 and was dissolved in 2008.

John A Neligan was a Police photographer, Greater London Council staff photographer, and local authority photographer including City of London Corporation where he worked for London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Library. He also worked for the government's Central Office of Information. In 2011 he was continuing his photographic work for the Port of London Authority and Thames Water.

The National Provincial Bank was founded in 1833. It established administrative offices in London and branches outside the city, allowing it to issue its own banknotes. By 1865 the bank had 122 branches throughout England and Wales.

In 1866 the bank established a new head office in Bishopsgate, and opened its first London branch (obliging it to give up its own banknotes). In 1918 the bank merged with the Union Bank of London and was renamed National Provincial and Union Bank of England Ltd, which was shortened to National Provincial Bank Ltd in 1924. It merged with National Westminster Bank in 1970, and is now part of the Royal Bank of Scotland group.

The administrative history of this photograph cannot be traced.

The Local Government Association (LGA) was formed on 1 April 1997 as a merger of the Association of County Councils (ACC), the Association of District Councils (ADC), and the Association of Metropolitan Authorities (AMA). Its aim was to represent the interests of principal local authorities in England and Wales.

Wembley Stadium was constructed in 1922-23 as an athletics and entertainments centre for the British Empire Exhibition in 1924. It was designed by Sir John Simpson and Maxwell Ayrton and had a seating capacity of 120,000. The 14th Olympic Games were held there in 1948. The stadium was subsequently used for international football and hockey matches, greyhound racing, speedway racing, music concerts, the Football Association (FA) Cup final and Rugby League finals. It was rebuilt in 2007.

Paul Robeson was born on 9th April 1898 in Princeton to the Rev William Drew and Maria Louisa Robeson. His father was a former slave who had escaped to freedom at age 15 and earned a theological degree at Lincoln University. He worked as pastor of Princeton's Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church for twenty years until the authorities forced him to resign believing him to be a 'misfit' who fosters 'a general unrest and dissatisfaction on the part of others'. At age 55 William Drew had to support his family by driving coaches and hauling ashes. Further tragedy was to beset the Robeson family in 1904 when Maria Robeson was burned to death when her clothes caught fire over an open coal stove.

In 1907 the family moved to Westfield, where Paul's father built a small church and ministered a small congregation for the next 3 years before the family moved again to Somerville. Here the family finally settled. William Drew became pastor of St Thomas A.M.E Zion Church and Paul attended Somerville High School where his talent for academic study, music, oratory and athletics became apparent.

In 1915 Paul Robeson won a 4 year scholarship to Rutgers, and despite much physical intimidation he became one of the best football players of his generation. In May 1918 the Reverend Robeson died.

Paul Robeson graduated from Rutgers in 1919 and was accepted to Columbia University Law School where he financed his studies by tutoring in Latin and playing pro-football. In 1920 he met Eslanda 'Essie' Goode, the first black analytical chemist at Columbia Medical Centre whom he married in 1921.

His acting debut came in 1922 as Jim in Taboo at the Sam Harris Theatre, and after some hesitation he agreed to star in a British production of the play renamed Voodoo, where he met Lawrence Brown, a black American musician who was to become a life-long friend. In 1923 Paul Robeson was hired as the only African-American at the law firm of Stotesbury and Miner in New York but shortly after resigned his law career when a white secretary refused to take dictation from him.

Over the next ten years Paul Robeson's acting career made him an internationally known star. His films included Eugene O'Neill's All Gods Chillun' Got Wings, The Emperor Jones, Sanders of the River, Jericho and Song of Freedom, as well as stage productions of Show Boat, Porgy and most famously Othello in which Robeson was only the second black actor to portray Othello. By 1932 Robeson's marriage and his health were beginning to fail, but at the same time Robeson's interest in political and ethnic concerns were coming to the fore. In 1934 he made a whistlestop tour of the Soviet Union and considered resettling his family there in a country where he felt all races were treated equally. This tour however helped to fuel the hostility felt toward Robeson's outspoken opinions.

In 1937 at London's Albert Hall Robeson brought the Hall to a standstill by changing the lyrics of Ol' Man River from "I'm tired of livin' and scared of dyin'" to "I must keep fightin' until I'm dyin'"

Throughout the Second World War Robeson continued to fight for leftist and anti-fascist causes, inspite of being hounded by the House Committee on Un-American Activities as a communist and being placed under surveillance by the FBI.

In March 1947 Robeson announced that he would stop doing professional concerts for two years and devote himself to the fight against racial prejudice. In 1950 he was asked to give up his passport after denouncing the Korean War. Paul Robeson refused. In answer to his refusal the State department told him he could keep his passport if he swore he was not a communist, again he refused, filing a suit against the State demanding the return of his passport. It was not to be returned until 1958.

The last ten years of Robeson's life were beset with illness both himself suffering from exhaustion to chronic depression and Essie who had terminal cancer but kept it from Paul until her death in 1965 two days before her seventieth birthday. In 1974 the FBI concluded that 'no further investigation [of Robeson] is warranted'. In 1976 aged 77 Paul Robeson died in Philadelphia on January 23. Five thousand mourners attended his funeral, where they listened to recorded spirituals sung by Robeson.

Buildings featured include the:
Ritzy Cinema, Brixton;
The Palace, Denmark Hill;
Empire Music Hall, Camberwell;
Peckham Crown Theatre;
Hippodrome, Peckham;
Bingo Club, Peckham;
Empire, New Cross Road;
Broadway Theatre, Deptford;
Wellington Street, Woolwich;
Grand Theatre, Woolwich;
Hippodrome and Brownhill Road, Catford;
The Oxford, Oxford Street;
Palladium, London;
The Empire, Leicester Square;
The Alhambra, Leicester Square;
Daly's Theatre;
The Hippodrome, London;
Theatre Royal, Haymarket;
His Majesty's Theatre;
Lyric Theatre;
The Globe Theatre;
Cambridge Cross and Palace Theatre;
Wyndhams Theatre;
Garrick Theatre;
The Coliseum;
Duke of York's Theatre;
The Opera House, Covent Garden;
Drury Lane Theatre;
Vaudeville Theatre;
Adelphi Theatre;
Gaiety Theatre;
Waldorf Theatre, Kingsway;
The Old Vic;
St. James Theatre;
Imperial Theatre;
Euston Music Hall;
Camden Theatre, Camden;
Deacons Music Hall;
Sadler's Wells;
Collin's Music Hall, Islington;
Marlborough Theatre, Holloway;
Empire, Holloway Road;
Hackney Empire, Mare Street;
Finsbury Park Empire;
Alexandra Theatre;
The Palace, Stoke Newington Road;
Hippodrome, Golders Green;
Tottenham Palace;
Walthamstow Palace;
Hippodrome, Poplar;
Hippodrome, Harlesden;
Palace, East Ham;
Walham Green, The Broadway;
Coronet Theatre, Notting Hill Gate;
Grand Theatre, Fulham;
Shepherd's Bush Empire;
Kings Theatre, Hammersmith;
Chiswick Empire;
Ealing Hippodrome;
Grand Music Hall, Clapham Junction;
Hippodrome, Balham;
Duchess Theatre, Balham;
Wimbledon Theatre;
Prince of Wales Theatre, Richmond-upon-Thames;
Grand Theatre, Croydon;
Prince of Wales Theatre, Kennington;
Borough Theatre, Stratford; and
Grand Opera House, Croydon.

Actors featured include:
Sir Henry Irving;
Harry Tate;
Kitty Colyer;
Mr and Mrs Kendal;
Eugene Stratton;
Hetty King;
Marie Lloyd;
Alec Burley;
Little Tich;
George Robey;
Fanny Fields;
Fred Terry;
Julia Neilson;
Gertie Gitana;
Elsie Craven;
Beerholm Tree;
Sir Charles Wyndham;
Arthur Bouchier;
Maud Allen;
Fred Emney;
Harry Fragson;
Harry Randall;
Walter Passmore;
Camille Clifford;
Cyril Maude;
Gladys Cooper;
Seymour Hicks;
Ellaline Terriss;
George Alexander;
Lewis Waller;
Henry J. Wood;
Ellen Terry; and
Mrs Patrick Campbell.

The Herst Leather Corporation Ltd was founded by Norbert Herst. The 1935 Post Office Directory lists Norbert Herst as a leather merchant based at 13 Market Street, SE1. By 1950 the listing has changed to N Herst Leather Corporation Ltd of 51 Weston Street, Southwark, SE1 and 3 and 4 Leather Market, SE1. Leading Leathers Ltd and Avondale Tannery were both incorporated by the Herst Leather Corporation in the 1950's.

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

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

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

The Architecture Foundation was founded in 1991 to promote contemporary architecture through exhibitions, competitions and design initiatives.

The Unione Ticinese was originally founded as a mutual aid society by Ticinesi immigrants mainly form the Alpine valleys of Blenio and Leventina in Switzerland's Italian speaking area of Ticino.

In June 1939 the Ladies section was formed, and in 1954 these two sections merged, creating the basis of today's continuing society.

The Unione Ticinese's aims and objectives are:

• To foster among members of the society and particularly among its younger ones, the spirit of Ticinese character and strengthen the bonds of friendship and fellowship.
• To promote and encourage social cultural and educational activities of a general nature which embrace common values and traditions of the Ticino and of its neighbouring regions.
• To encourage the development of youth activities and to enable new arrivals from Italian speaking Switzerland to integrate easily into the English way of life.
• To maintain close ties with the 'Pro-Ticino' movement, with the 'Organisation of the Swiss Abroad' in Bern and with other Swiss and European organisations whose overall aims are in the interest to the membership of the society.
• To celebrate each year and in an appropriate manner, the anniversary of the foundation of the organisation.
• To assist members in case of grave need.

No historical information could be found for the Cowley Recreational Institution. It appears to have been a youth centre in Cowley, Hillingdon.

The Belmont Shul was officially formed on 16th February 1966. This was a result of a meeting of local community members held at the house of David Shine in 1965 which identified a need for a Synagogue/meeting place in that area. It was formally accepted into the United Synagogue as a member in the same year in which it was founded.

By the time land was purchased for the site of the Shul in 1977 membership had already grown to 365 members despite not having a communal building to meet and practice in. It was not until 1981 that this purpose-built site was completed and their first service was held at Vernon Drive, Wemborough Road, Stanmore. The first part-time minister was Reverend Elkan Levy who resigned in 1973 and was replaced by Reverend David Freedman. Rabbi Shafer became the new minister in 1989, succeeded by Rabbi Geoffrey Hyman in 1992 and most recently Rabbi Daniel Roselaar.

Apart from carrying out religious functions (the first Barmitzvah was in 1970 and the first Bat Chayil ceremony was in 1975), Belmont Synagogue developed many community groups and activities including a kindergarten, a choir, a youth club, a scouts and brownie group, a social and cultural group and societies such as the Belmont Israel Society which promotes the State of Israel and carries out fundraising work for causes in that country.

The Synagogue was, and is still, run by a Board of Management and Council of Management which accepted female members for the first time in 1987 and 1988 respectively. In 1990 the Shul celebrated its 25th Anniversary by commissioning a new Sefer Toarah which was dedicated by the Chief Rabbi, Dr Jonathan Sacks. In 1994 membership had reached 508 male and 173 female members and the Synagogue continues to thrive in 2001 with a membership of 724.

Michael Ward (b 1949) was active in different areas of the Greater London Council during his career. In 1976-1977 he was an additional member of the Housing Development Committee. In 1981 he became the Chair of the Industry and Employment Committee and from 1982 he was Chairman of the Enterprise Board Selection Panel. From 1982 he was also the Vice-Chairman of the London Community Builders Sub-Committee and the Supplies and Contract Services Sub-Committee. He was elected as a Member of the Greater London Council for Haringey, Wood Green on 7 May 1981 and served until the GLC's abolition in 1986. Outside of his responsibilities with the GLC he also worked for an advice centre for the homeless in London. He is currently the Chief Executive of the London Development Agency.

The Clapham Labour Party was formed in 1918, three years after the formation of the London Labour Party. Prior to that date it had been a branch of the Independant Labour Party.

These papers were originally those of John Rose Battley F.R.S.A., J.P., member of the Clapham Labour Party and President in 1939. He was also a member of the London County Council. In 1936-37 he was nominated for the London Labour Party Executive Committee Local Trade's Councils and Labour Parties section and he was the first Labour Parliamentary Candidate for the Clapham Labour Party in 1940. Battley owned Battley Brother Printers business in Queenstown, established in 1923. This company undertook the majority of the printing work for the Clapham Labour Party during Battley's involvement with it and still exists today.