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North Thames Gas Board (1949-1973): one of 12 Area Boards formed when the gas industry was nationalised in 1949, following the passing of the 1948 Gas Bill. Supplied area of 1,059 square miles stretching from Bracknell, Marlow and High Wycombe to the south east coast of Essex. When formed it was made up of a merger of 12 statutory gas undertakings: Ascot and District Gas and Electricity Company, Chertsey Gas Consumers Company; Commercial Gas Company; (Chartered) Gas Light and Coke Company; Hornsey Gas Company; Lea Bridge District Gas Company; North Middlesex Gas Company; Romford Gas Company; Slough Gas and Coke Company; Southend Corporation (Shoeburyness); Uxbridge Gas Consumers Company and Windsor Royal Gas Light Company. The North Thames Gas Board was dissolved in 1973 when it became a region of the British Gas Corporation. Note - Consumers Gas Companies were set up in consequence of dissatisfaction with the existing supplier.

Gas Light and Coke Company (1812-1949): founded in 1812, this was the first company to supply gas to London. The Company absorbed 27 smaller companies and several undertakings during its period of operation, including the Aldgate Gas Light and Coke Company (1819), the Brentford Gas Company (1926), the City of London Gas Light and Coke Company (1870), the Equitable Gas Light Company (1871), the Great Central Gas Consumer's Company (1870), Imperial Gas Light and Coke Company (1876), the Independent Gas Light and Coke Company (1876), the London Gas Light Company (1883), Pinner Gas Company (1930), Richmond Gas Company (1925), Southend-on-Sea and District Gas Company (1932), Victoria Docks Gas Company (1871) and Western Gas Light Company (1873). In May 1949, after the passing of the Gas Bill 1948, the Company handed over its assets to the North Thames Gas Board.

Brentford Gas Company (1821-1926): founded in 1821 at the instigation of Sir Felix Booth, the company had works at Brentford and retorts at Southall and covered a wide area including Hammersmith, Kensington, Southall, Twickenham and Richmond. Merged with the Gas Light and Coke Company in 1926.

Harrow and Stanmore Gas Company (1872-1924): Harrow Gas Works founded in 1855 by John Chapman and rebuilt in 1872 as the Harrow Gas Light and Coke Company Limited and became a statutory company as the Harrow District Gas Company in 1873. In 1894 it became the Harrow and Stanmore Gas Company. Merged with the Brentford Gas Company in 1924. Both merged with the Gas Light and Coke Company in 1926.

Hornsey Gas Company (1857-1949): formed in 1857, became statutory in 1866, controlled by the South East Gas Corporation from 1939 and merged with the North Thames Gas Board in 1949.

North Middlesex Gas Company (1862-1949): founded in 1862 with works at Mill Hill.

Pinner Gas Company (1868-1930): founded between 1868 and 1872, merged with Gas Light and Coke Company in 1926.

Staines, Egham and District Gas Company (1833-1915): founded 1833, merged with Brentford Gas Company in 1915.

Sunbury Gas Consumers Company (1861-1915): merged with Brentford Gas Company in 1915.

Uxbridge and Hillingdon Gas Consumers Company (1854-1949): formed in 1854 in competition with the Uxbridge Gas Company; became statutory in 1861; after 1918 expanded rapidly and purchased surrounding companies including the Beaconsfield Gas Company, Great Marlow Gas Company and Maidenhead Gas Company. Known as the Uxbridge, Wycombe and District Gas Company from 1921; the Uxbridge, Maidenhead, Wycombe and District Gas Company from 1925 and the South East Gas Corporation from 1936. It merged with the North Thames Gas Board in 1949.

A lease is a grant of property to a tenant for a specified period, usually a term of years, by the lessor to the lessee. Types of lease include life lease: lease for the life of the tenant; three-life lease: lease until the deaths have occurred of three named people (with an upper limit of 99 years); 'perpetual' lease: intended to continue indefinitely, granted for a very long period, e.g. 1,000 years; building lease: lease, generally for 99 years, including an agreement for the tenant to build a house.

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

The early history of the Brewery begins in 1699 when Thomas Mawson of Chiswick, brewer, was admitted to two cottages, a granary, orchard garden, and curtilage abutting on the road leading to Bedford House, Chiswick, on a conditional surrender by Thomas Warren which was made absolute in 1704, when the property was described as a messuage and brewhouse. Remaining in the Mawson family the Brewery passed to Matthias Mawson, Bishop of Ely and benefactor of Ely Cathedral and Kings College Cambridge. On his death in 1770 his estates were inherited by his niece Amy, wife of Charles Purvis of Darsham, Suffolk. The Brewery, with other properties in Chiswick, was sold by her son Charles in 1791, and bought by John Thompson of Chiswick, brewer, passing, on his death in 1808, to his sons Douglas and Henry. By this date the brewery was known as the Griffin Brewery. They became partners in 1822, but neither the partnership nor the Brewery prospered, and when their partnership was dissolved in 1829 financial difficulties were acute.

In 1829 John Fuller and Philip Western Wood, invested in third shares in the Brewery with Douglas Thompson, one of the previous owners. Wood died in 1832, and Thompson was finally bought out by Fuller in 1842. The partnership of Fuller, Smith, and Turner at the Griffin Brewery dates from 10 November 1846 when John Bird Fuller (son of John Fuller), then owner of the Brewery, entered into a partnership with Henry Smith and John Turner of Romford, brewers.

Fuller, Smith and Turner Ltd was registered as a limited liability company in August 1929 and in 1987 owned 135 public houses and 55 off licences.

Harrow Manor belonged to the archbishops of Canterbury from the early middle ages until 1545 when Henry VIII forced Cranmer to sell the manor to him. Henry sold the estate to Sir Edward North. The North family sold the manor to the Pitt family, whence it came to Alice Pitt and her husbands, Edward Palmer and then Sir James Rushout. The Rushouts acquired the barony of Northwick in 1797. Harrow stayed in the family until the death of the 3rd Baron, Sir George Rushout-Bowles, in 1887. His widow left the estate to her grandson Captain E. G. Spencer-Churchill. He sold the land in the 1920s.

Harrow Manor described both the manorial rights over the whole area and the chief demesne farm in the centre of the parish. This farm was known as Sudbury Manor or Sudbury Court. The ownership of Sudbury Manor followed that of Harrow, hence the name Harrow alias Sudbury.

From: 'Harrow, including Pinner : 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. 203-211 (available online).

The Manor of Harrow Rectory alias Harrow-on-the-Hill originated in land owned by priest Werhardt in the 9th century. From 1094-1845 Harrow Rectory was a peculiar of the archbishopric of Canterbury within the deanery of Croydon. The rector had sole manorial jurisdiction over Harrow-on-the-Hill and Roxborough, and collected tithes from a large area. This was a prized position which attracted ambitious and important men, and the rectory house was accordingly fine and spacious. In 1546 the rectory was impropriated to Christ Church, Oxford, but in 1547 the college alienated the rectory, the advowson of the vicarage, and (from 1550) the tithes to Sir Edward North, lord of Harrow alias Sudbury Manor. The grant was made in fee farm in perpetuity, North paying the College an annual fee. North sublet the rectory and tithes while retaining the manorial rights, and enjoyed the rights and profits of the rectory. In 1630 the rectory was conveyed to George Pitt and thereafter descended with Sudbury Court Manor until 1807, when the rectory house and 121 acres of land north of it were sold to James Edwards; the remaining land becoming part of Harrow Park.

From: 'Harrow, including Pinner : Harrow church', 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. 249-255 (available online).

This firm of Russia merchants, known from 1810 as Stratton, Gibson and Fuller, had premises at 3 Russia Court, Leadenhall Street, (to 1801) and 9 Great St Helens (from 1802).

The firm was principally concerned with the import and sale of linen and other commodities from St Petersburg, Russia, to London. They also acted as London brokers to some provincial merchants, which involved them in coastal trade, and arranged insurance against fire, loss at sea and capture.

The roots of the firm can be traced in trade directories back at least to 1754, to the partnership of Stratton and Rodbard, linen drapers and merchants of Aldgate Within (to ca. 1758), Leadenhall Street (from ca. 1760) and 3 Russia Court, Leadenhall Street (from ca. 1768). The firm was subsequently styled as Stratton and Pieschall (1782-90), Stratton, Gibson and Schonberg (1792-97), Stratton and Gibson (1798-1810) and Stratton, Gibson and Fuller (1810-ca.1822). The firm ceases to appear in trade directories after 1822.

This company appears to have traded chiefly as American merchants. It had premises at the following addresses: Tokenhouse Yard, Lothbury (1842-52); Old Jewry (1853-66); and Cullum Street (1867-9).

According to the articles, John Bates had done business 'for several years' with Thomas Young as his clerk. Nothing more is known about John Bates. Thomas Young obtained his broker's bond on 27 January 1761, where he is described as citizen and clothworker, of Serjeants' Inn and Garraway's Coffee House.

The firm of Bruce de Ponthieu and Company, merchants and East India agents, of 71 Old Broad Street, became Bruce de Ponthieu Bazett and Company (1805-12); Bruce Bazett and Company (1813-16); Bazett Farquhar Crawford and Company (1816-28); and Bazett Colvin Crawford and Company (1829-33).

Brash Brothers first appear in a commercial directory in 1892, as a partnership, at 9 and 11 Fenchurch Avenue and 13 St Mary Axe. By 1918, they were at 38 Mincing Lane. From 1923 they were at 23 Rood Lane, and 1935-69 at 13 Rood Lane. They also had various warehouses in the London suburbs at various dates. Brash Brothers appear to have become a limited company, Brash Brothers (Tea) Limited, circa 1940. In 1996 the firm was taken over and no corporate records are known to survive.

Richard Carpender (c 1725-78) was an undertaker, with premises in Fleet Market (in 1827, an Elizabeth Carpender, possibly Richard's daughter in law or granddaughter, lived at 66 Fleet Market). In 1746 he married Elizabeth Drake, and they had 8 children.The eldest son, John, took over the business on Richard's death in 1778 (in 1791 he is described as of 31 Fleet Street). Richard's will was proved in the PCC on 6 October 1778 (PROB 11/1046).

The company had premises in Queen Victoria Street (1874-81), last appearing in London directories in 1881. The meeting to which these papers relate was concerned with the winding-up of the company.

In 1871 the Emma Silver Mine in Utah, USA, was involved in a scandal when two business promoters encouraged investment in the mine despite knowing it to be depleted. They targeted British investors, selling the mine for 5 million dollars. The fraud was exposed in 1876 and the investors began legal proceedings against the promoters. For a report of the winding-up of the company see The Times newspaper for November 20, 1880, page 6.

Benjamin Gray was a watchmaker and clockmaker, of Pall Mall (in 1727).

This company was established in 1901 at Threadneedle House, 28-31, subsequently 34 Bishopsgate and it carried on investment business only. In 1921 it moved to Winchester House, Old Broad Street and by 1931 it was at 80 Bishopsgate where the company remained until 1938 which was the date of its last entry in trade directories.

The firm is listed in directories from 1879 only, as follows: 1879: merchants, of 2 Cowper's Court; 1880-5: commission merchants, of 8 Finch Lane; 1886-1907: underwriters, 8 Finch Lane; 1908-16: underwriters, at various addresses. It is not found after 1916.

Hurrell and Mayo were solicitors of 165 Queen Victoria Street.

William Hurt was a merchant of Bishopsgate and official of the East India Company, while his nephew Thomas Rogers was a factor for the Company. Although Hurt and Rogers were both employed by the East India Company, and Rogers' letters contain much about the Company's business, they appear to be private correspondence.

John Hubbard and Company were Russia merchants of 19 Birchin Lane and from circa 1865 to circa 1900 of 4 St Helen's Place.

The company is first listed in the London trade directories in 1886, with premises at the Coal Exchange in London, and is described as 'coal factors and coal merchants'. It appears to have succeeded Phillips and Lamont which also traded from the Coal Exchange, as coal factors from 1857, and as coal factors and merchants after 1877.

Lamont and Warne traded on the Coal Exchange from 1886 to 1941 and on Arundel Street in Westminster from 1942 to 1963, moving in 1964 to their current (1993) premises on Kennington Road, London.

A magazine entitled Lightning was established in 1891, based initially at Faraday House, Charing Cross Road. At the end of 1891 it moved to 117 Bishopsgate Street. By 1900 it was based at 18 Bream's Buildings. From January 1902 it was titled the Electrical Times, the name it continues under to date (2011). It described itself as the newspaper for 'engineers and technical management'.

Lister, Beck and Company were wine merchants of 5 Tokenhouse Yard.

The company was constituted in 1852. The business of the company was to mine and market slate or any other minerals from Llantysilio, Denbigh, Wales.

One of the directors was Charles Bischoff, solicitor, of 19 Coleman Street.

Lupton was a watchmaker with premises at 3 Newman's Court, Cornhill. The book is believed to have been kept by Lupton when he was working for P. Hilton Barraud, chronometer maker, of 41, Cornhill.

This item probably belonged to James Myers of Yardley Hastings.

The Nassau Phosphate of Lime Company was based at 4 Lothbury.

Norris and Collet, were London merchants trading with Sweden. Henry Norris, a London merchant trading with Russia and Sweden, was their factor.

From 1872, Peter Bond Burgoyne and Company acted as wine importers and agents for Tintara, later Australian, Vineyards Association which had been established by a group of Australian wine producers in 1871. Burgoyne and Company had offices and cellars at 50 Old Broad Street.

In January 1886 the company, by then described in directories as "Australian merchants and vineyard proprietors", moved to 6 Dowgate Hill with cellars at the Dowgate Vaults, Cannon Street. It also had premises at 146 Pelham Street (Spitalfields) and in Adelaide and Melbourne.

The firm of Pawsons and Leafs Limited, ladies' clothing wholesale warehousemen of 9 St Paul's Churchyard, was formed in 1892 by the amalgamation of Pawson and Company Limited with Leaf and Company Limited.

William Leaf had opened the first wholesale silk warehouse in London in 1780. After its foundation, the firm was known successively as:
Leaf and Howgate;
Leaf and Severs;
Leaf, Son and Coles;
Leaf, Coles, Son and Company;
Leaf, Coles, Smith and Company;
Leaf, Smith, Leaf and Company, and
Leaf, Sons and Company. In 1888 the firm became a limited liability company known as Leaf and Company Limited. It traded from: 110 Fleet Street, 1780-early 19th century; Old Change, early 19th century-1892.

John F. Pawson commenced trading at 5 and 9 St Paul's Churchyard in 1832, dealing in the wholesale supply of textiles, clothing and piece goods. The business traded as: John F. Pawson, 1832-73; Pawson and Company Limited, 1873-92.

Pawsons and Leafs traded from 9 St Paul's Churchyard from 1892 until circa 1964. From circa 1965-8 the firm operated from premises at 32/43 Chart Street, London N1, but appears to have ceased trading some time after 1968.

Thomas Pengelly (d [1696]) was a merchant trading to the eastern Mediterranean. He is likely to be the same Thomas Pengelly, merchant, recorded as living at the following addresses: the Pestle and Mortar, Fenchurch Street, c 1664-1665; Bishopsgate, 1669-1670; and Moorfields, 1674.

On the evidence of handwriting, the merchant is possibly Johannes Radermacher (or Rotarius), an elder of the Dutch Church from 1571.

Sills, Ramsay and Gray were wharfingers and agents with premises at Hambro Wharf and Three Cranes Wharf. The firm had its origins in a business established by Jonathan Sills, who first appears in trade directories in 1771 described as a merchant of 9 Upper Thames Street.

By 1790 Jonathan Sills had taken two of his sons, Joseph (b 1766) and Jonathan junior (b 1771), into partnership, trading as Jonathan Sills and Sons, merchants and wharfingers of Hambro Wharf and 217 Upper Thames Street. Jonathan Sills senior died in 1800, but his sons continued the business.

In about 1812, Joseph and Jonathan Sills entered into partnership with Thomas Ramsay and Robert Gray, trading as Sills, Ramsay and Gray, wharfingers and agents of Hambro Wharf and Three Cranes Wharf. The firm was styled Sills, Ramsay and Gray, 1813-1818; variously as Sills, Ramsay and Sills or Sills, Ramsay and Company, 1819-1821; and Sills and Company, 1822-3. It disappears from the directories in 1824.

Joseph Smith of 'The Sugar Loaf', Cannon Street was a wholesale grocer to customers largely in London and the Home Counties.

This firm of merchants and tea and spice dealers, of 5 Monument Yard, Fish Street Hill, was originally a partnership between Miles Stringer and Thomas Richardson. The partnership ended in May 1828. Later in the same year a Mr Cooper took Richardson's place and the firm was renamed Stringer, Cooper and Company.

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.