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Poor relief was based on the Act for the Relief of the Poor of 1601 which obliged parishes to take care of the aged and needy in their area. Parish overseers were empowered to collect a local income tax known as the poor-rate which would be put towards the relief of the poor. This evolved into the rating system, where the amount of poor-rate charged was based on the value of a person's property. Early workhouses were constructed and managed by the parish. However, this process was expensive and various schemes were devised where groups of parishes could act together and pool their resources. As early as 1647 towns were setting up 'Corporations' of parishes. An Act of 1782, promoted by Thomas Gilbert, allowed adjacent parishes to combine into Unions and provide workhouses. These were known as 'Gilbert's Unions' and were managed by a board of Guardians.

Under the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, the Poor Law Commission was given the power to unite parishes in England and Wales into Poor Law Unions. Each Union was to be administered by a local Board of Guardians. Relief was to be provided through the provision of a workhouse. An amendment to the 1834 Act allowed already existing 'Gilbert's Unions' or Corporations of parishes to remain in existence, although they were encouraged to convert themselves into Poor Law Unions. Although there was some reorganisation of union boundaries, particularly in London, the majority of Unions created under the 1834 Act remained in operation until 1930. In March 1930 a new Local Government Bill abolished the Poor Law Unions and the Board of Guardians. Responsibility for their institutions passed to Public Assistance Committees managed by the county councils - in the metropolis either the London County Council or the Middlesex County Council.

The Kensington Poor Law Union was formed in 1837 and constituted the parishes of Chelsea, Fulham, Hammersmith, Kensington and Paddington. In 1841 the parish of Chelsea separated, followed in 1845 by the parishes of Fulham, Paddington and Hammersmith. A parish workhouse existed in Kensington from 1726. This workhouse was used by the Union until 1846, when a new workhouse was constructed on Marloes Road. A branch workhouse was also constructed at Mary Place, Notting Hill.

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.

Poor relief was based on the Act for the Relief of the Poor of 1601 which obliged parishes to take care of the aged and needy in their area. Parish overseers were empowered to collect a local income tax known as the poor-rate which would be put towards the relief of the poor. This evolved into the rating system, where the amount of poor-rate charged was based on the value of a person's property. Early workhouses were constructed and managed by the parish. However, this process was expensive and various schemes were devised where groups of parishes could act together and pool their resources. As early as 1647 towns were setting up 'Corporations' of parishes. An Act of 1782, promoted by Thomas Gilbert, allowed adjacent parishes to combine into Unions and provide workhouses. These were known as 'Gilbert's Unions' and were managed by a board of Guardians.

Under the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, the Poor Law Commission was given the power to unite parishes in England and Wales into Poor Law Unions. Each Union was to be administered by a local Board of Guardians. Relief was to be provided through the provision of a workhouse. An amendment to the 1834 Act allowed already existing 'Gilbert's Unions' or Corporations of parishes to remain in existence, although they were encouraged to convert themselves into Poor Law Unions. Although there was some reorganisation of union boundaries, particularly in London, the majority of Unions created under the 1834 Act remained in operation until 1930. In March 1930 a new Local Government Bill abolished the Poor Law Unions and the Board of Guardians. Responsibility for their institutions passed to Public Assistance Committees managed by the county councils - in the metropolis either the London County Council or the Middlesex County Council.

The Lambeth Poor Law Parish was formed in 1835, comprising just one parish, that of Saint Mary. Lambeth Parish had an existing workhouse on Princes Road (now Black Prince Road) which they continued to use. A new workhouse was constructed in 1871 on Renfrew Road. This workhouse briefly held the seven year old Charlie Chaplin along with his mother and elder brother. The workhouse later became Lambeth Hospital. The Union also managed an industrial school at Elder Road in Norwood.

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.

In 1889 the Architect to the Metropolitan Board of Works was transferred to the newly formed London County Council, as the responsibilities of the MBW were being transferred to the LCC. This was later confirmed by the London Building Act 1894, in which the London County Council was given power to appoint a "superintending architect of metropolitan buildings" to oversee the enforcement of regulations outlined in the Act. Actual enforcement would be done by the District Surveyors, who had to make a monthly return to the Council reporting on any new buildings and any infringement of the Act.

The role of the Architect soon developed as the range of structures constructed under order of the Council grew. By 1909 there were 13 Committees dealing with construction works, and 35 sub-committees. The work included the construction of housing (under the Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890), including slum clearance; construction of buildings in connection with the introduction of electricity; construction of educational buildings, from nursery schools to colleges; construction of hospitals and institutions; construction of fire brigade stations; street and road improvements; maintenance and construction of bridges; public parks; Weights and Measures Stations and Gas Meter Testing Stations. The Architect was responsible for overseeing the design and construction of all these buildings.

During the Second World War the District Surveyors were made responsible for all rescue and demolition work on damaged and unsafe buildings, while the Architect's Department manned the control centres and depots of the Rescue Service, assumed responsibility for the provision of air raid shelters for the Council's staff, and ran the War Debris Service to deal with the work of clearing debris resulting from war damage. Training for the Rescue Service was provided at training schools organised and staffed by the department. When the heavy raids started in September 1940 the Rescue Service went into full operation. It was clear that the specialist knowledge of its members enabled them to foresee the behaviour of damaged buildings and to estimate the risks of rescue. By May 1941 the Service has rescued 10,000 live casualties, at the cost of the lives of 34 rescue officers. After 1941 the Service was renamed the Heavy Rescue Service and was brought into line with other civil defence services. Mobile parties of men with cranes and heavy plant were posted at civil defence centres. When flying bomb attacks began the Heavy Rescue Service rescued 7,175 people alive and recovered 2,329 bodies. 64 personnel were injured and 3 killed.

The London County Council delegated administrative matters to its committees, both standing committees and a number of special committees appointed for specific purposes. The committees met frequently, either weekly or fortnightly, while the Council met weekly. Committee reports requiring decision by the Council were dealt with weekly, and each committee reported to the Council every 6 months. In addition the Council also had representatives on many bodies such as industrial councils, school governing bodies and charitable foundations. For the purpose of carrying out the services of the Council, the staff is organised into departments, each of which is under the responsibility of a chief officer.

The Clerk of the Council was the chief administrative officer of the Council, acting as the clerk of the Council itself as well as the various committees. Additional important duties of the Clerk's Department included the maintenance of the library for members of the Council at City Hall, the preparation of general publications and the responsibility for general work including records.

Committees concerned with housing were:

Housing of the Working Classes Committee (1889-1891)

Public Health and Housing Committee (1891-1896)

Housing of the Working Classes Committee (1896-1920)

Housing Committee (1920-1934)

Housing and Public Health Committee (1934-1947)

Housing Committee (1947-1965).

The County of London Plan, published in 1943, designated various sites were as 'areas of comprehensive redevelopment', such as Poplar, Stepney, Bermondsey, Elephant and Castle and Knightsbridge Green. In these areas the Council wanted to achieve better living conditions by regrouping commerce and industry close to railways, canals and docks and providing schools, local shopping, entertainment, open spaces and other social services while maintaining a traditional sense of community. In other areas traffic problems would be addressed with new roads.

The Comptroller of the London County Council was responsible for the finances and accounts of the Council, and offered financial advice to the Committees.

The Comptrollers were:

1889: A Gunn (transferred from the Metropolitan Board of Works)

1893: Sir Harry Haward

1920: HW Stovold

1933: FG Bowers

1937: AR Wood

1949: G Miles

1956: F Holland

1964: WL Abernethy

The London County Council was required, as a local education authority, to make provision for nursery schools and nursery classes. In 1939 the Council maintained 5 nursery schools and gave assistance to 18 others maintained by voluntary organisations. By 1963 there were 25 LCC nurseries and 5 voluntary nurseries. The first nursery class in an infants' school was opened in 1936, by 1963 there were 183 nursery classes in infant and primary schools.

Fluctuations in the number of primary school age children in London have caused the Council administrative difficulties over time. In 1946 the number was 205,337, in 1954 283,064 and in 1963 227,849. The LCC development plan for new schools tried to take into account where schools would be needed. The size of classes was a subject of continual concern. An acute shortage of teachers made it difficult to reduce class sizes and in 1963 10.5 percent of classes were oversized according to Ministry of Education guidelines. The Council developed an education programme which expanded on the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic to include developing social activity and the desire for creative achievement. In 1963 the Council approved the provision of a new experimental primary school which would admit pupils from 3 years to 9 years of age, in order to experiment with reducing the anxiety of transition and transfer between three phases of education - nursery, infant and primary.

The Education Act, 1944, introduced secondary education for all children from the age of 11. A scheme became necessary for the transfer of pupils from primary to secondary schools. For the previous 40 years the Council had awarded scholarships tenable at secondary schools. From 1945 every child had to be considered individually for transfer to a secondary school appropriate to his ability and aptitude. The scheme adopted was based on three factors - parental choice, reports from primary school heads, and an examination known as the common entrance test. To assist heads in making their reports a standard record card was introduced in 1949 for recording each pupil's progress, ability and interests. In 1955 a new scheme for transfer was adopted. A test, now known as the Junior Leaving Examination, continued to be used, but more importance was placed on the advice given to parents by the head teacher. Each parent was asked to express an order of choice for 2 schools. Local advisory committees exercised supervision over the scheme and handled appeals from parents. The Junior Leaving Examination was abolished in 1964, replaced by a primary school profile for each pupil recording interests, abilities, attainments and characteristics.

The Council decided that comprehensive schools were the best means of providing secondary education for all, as they were open to children without need for an examination, offered a wide range of studies and promoted social unity among adolescents of all degrees of ability. The London School Plan provided for 64 comprehensive schools, although it was not possible to construct so many new buildings and many schools were opened in adapted older buildings. By 1964 there were 69 comprehensive schools in London. To supplement its secondary school provision the Council continued to reserve a number of places at independent and direct-grant grammar schools, and from 1946 onwards gave assistance towards boarding school educations.

For many years the Council directed its efforts towards the development and provision of a broad and liberal curriculum. A variety of courses to suit individual abilities, aptitudes and interests was introduced. Most schools offered at least one foreign language, some made a special feature of arts and crafts, music, or offering classes to prepare for technical education. Organised games were an essential part of the curriculum, leading the Council to purchase large tracts of land to provide playing fields. Activities outside school were also important, including school trips to places of interest and longer visits outside of London. Centres for rural studies were formed in Surrey, containing full classroom facilities. Cultural trips were also undertaken to the theatre, concert hall or museum.

The term 'public control', as used in the Council's organisation, embraced various services of a regulative character, mostly exercised by some form of licensing control. Largely unobtrusive in their operation, and producing no spectacular effects, they were all carried out in the public interest and, in some respects, for the protection of the public or certain sections of it.

Their administration was conditioned by trends in the legislative provisions under which they were operated, by shifts and changes in social usages, and by the development of the Council's policies towards the matters to which they related.

The Council obtained powers in 1905 for registering agencies for domestic servants and agenices for theatrical performers. Since then the Council's powers were extended and applied to every kind of employment agency and related to fees and charges, the character of the applicant, and the conduct of the agency. With changing social conditions there was a change in the pattern of employment agency business, for example, the number of domestic staff agencies declined. By 1963 there were about 1,200 employment agencies in London. About 400 were theatrical, variety, concert, television, or film actor agencies; about 250 were clerical or secretarial agencies, and there were about 40 nurses agencies. About 200 applications were made each year for licences to start new employment agencies. Most of the applicants had no previous experience and few of the new businesses remained open for more than a year or two.

This company was registered in 1921 as P.B. Estate Limited. It was purchased by Harrisons and Crosfield Limited (CLC/B/112) in December 1925, to develop, produce and sell improved rubber planting material. It was an important experimental rubber estate. The company owned estates in Selangor and Negri Sembilan, Malaya. In 1962 it was acquired by Golden Hope Rubber Estate Limited (CLC/B/112-054), and in 1969 it went into voluntary liquidation.

Harrisons and Crosfield (Holdings) Limited was registered in 1959 as an investment holding company. It was originally going to be called Harrisons and Crosfield (OTC) Limited. It held the entire share capital of Harrisons and Crosfield (Borneo) Limited (1960-) (CLC/B/112-066), Harrisons and Crosfield (Hong Kong) Limited (1961/2-70) (CLC/B/112-070), Technical Advisory and Service Company Limited (1963/4-70) (CLC/B/112-154) and British Chrome and Chemicals Limited (1973/4-) (CLC/B/112-027). See CLC/B/112/MS37543/1 for draft memorandum and articles of association 1958-1959.

In 1917 Harrisons and Crosfield Limited (CLC/B/112) purchased Barker and Company, a trading house in Singapore, and Kimmel and Company of England and Singapore. They were combined to form a private company called Barker and Company Limited, in which was also incorporated Harrisons and Crosfield Limited's interests in Singapore and Penang. In 1922 Harrisons and Crosfield Limited merged its branches in Kuala Lumpur, Klang and Port Swettenham, with Barker and Company to form Harrisons, Barker and Company. The name was changed to Harrisons and Crosfield (Malaya) Limited in 1946. It had a head office in Kuala Lumpur and branches in Singapore, Penang, Telok Anson, Port Swettenham, Taiping and Kuching.

In 1959 two new companies were formed: Harrisons and Crosfield (Singapore) Limited and Harrisons and Crosfield (Federation of Malaya) Limited. In 1964 Harrisons and Crosfield (Federation of Malaya) Limited changed its name to Harrisons and Crosfield (Malaysia) Limited, which was then changed to Harrisons and Crosfield (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd in ca.1966. In 1990 Harrisons and Crosfield (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and Harrisons and Crosfield (Singapore) Limited were sold as part of Harrisons and Crosfield Limited's general trading division.

For historical notes on the Company see CLC/B/112/MS37392. For lists of agencies held see CLC/B/112/MS37054. For staff lists see CLC/B/112/MS37340-1.

Harrisons and Crosfield Latex Limited was registered in 1947 in Malaysia with factories in Johore and Selangor for the manufacture of centrifugal or creamy latex. A number of Harrisons and Crosfield Limited and Bright and Galbraith subsidiary companies subscribed to the company. By around 1967 the name had changed to Harrisons and Crosfield Latex Sdn Bhd. In 1983 it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Harrisons Malaysian Estates Limited (CLC/B/112-079).

The term 'public control', as used in the Council's organisation, embraced various services of a regulative character, mostly exercised by some form of licensing control. Largely unobtrusive in their operation, and producing no spectacular effects, they were all carried out in the public interest and, in some respects, for the protection of the public or certain sections of it.

Their administration was conditioned by trends in the legislative provisions under which they were operated, by shifts and changes in social usages, and by the development of the Council's policies towards the matters to which they related.

The purpose of the Shops Acts, replaced by the Shops Act in 1950, was not only to protect shop assistants but also, by regularising closing hours, to protect shopkeepers against each other. It was the Council's task to make the Acts known to shopkeepers, and to secure the observance of the provisions relating to closing hours, Sunday trading, shop assistants' meal times and holidays, and the hours of employment of young persons.

The question of an ambulance service for street accident cases was first debated by the Council in 1901 but it was not until 1905 that application was made to Parliament for powers to provide such a service. The Bill was rejected by a Committee of the House of Lords but a Metropolitan Ambulances Act was passed in 1909. This Act was permissive only and a long period of debate ensued as to whether the existing services provided by the Metropolitan Asylums Board, the Boards of Guardians and the Metropolitan Police were adequate. Finally, in March 1914, the Council decided to provide a street accident Ambulance Service which was placed under the command of the Chief Officer of the London Fire Brigade. The first station was opened in February 1915 and, by October of that year, the service was in operation in all parts of the County.

On 1 April 1930, when the Council took over the functions of the Metropolitan Asylums Board and the Boards of Guardians it also took over their ambulance services. A unified London Ambulance Service under the supervision of the Medical Officer of Health was then formed from the combination of these services with the Accident Section previously administered by the Chief Officer of the London Fire Brigade.

The School Health Service developed from 1905. All schoolchildren were inspected by a medical officer at least four times during their school life. Medical and dental treatment was given at school treatment centres managed either directly or by voluntary committees financed by the Council. In addition many special clinics for children were held at London hospitals.

Following the coming into force of Section 13(1)(b) of the Education (Administrative Provisions) Act 1907, the Council in 1909 circularised all suitable London hospitals, clinics and so on, asking for co-operation in the treatment of elementary school children for ringworm, defects of vision, teeth, ears, and so on. In areas where the existing provision was obviously insufficient the Council set up its own centres.

The Council inherited from the Metropolitan Board of Works the power under the Tramways Act, 1870 (which the Board had not in fact exercised) to construct tramways and lease them to operating companies and also to purchase at prescribed future dates the undertakings of the existing tramway companies (of which there were fourteen in 1889). Until the passing of the London County Tramways Act, 1896, the Council's powers did not extend to operating a tramway undertaking itself. The London Street Tramways Company's undertaking was the first to be purchased and released on a short-term basis in 1892 and the arbitration proceedings which ensued set the pattern for subsequent purchases.

When the undertaking of another of the companies, the London Tramways Company, which operated wholly South of the Thames, was purchased with effect from 1 January 1899, the Council decided to operate the system itself, appointing a General Manager of Tramways as the head of a new Department for this purpose and the direct management of other systems followed, as they were purchased or leases expired. Electrification powers were conferred by the London County Tramways (Electrical Power) Act 1900 and the first section of electrified line (running between Westminster Bridge and Tooting) was opened by the Prince of Wales of 15 May 1903. Electrification was completed by 1912, the large generating station at Greenwich being opened in two stages in 1906 and 1910.

The attempt of the Council to continue to operate the horse omnibus service between the south side of Westminster Bridge and Charing Cross which had been maintained by the London Tramways Company was frustrated by litigation and it was not until 1906 after much controversy that Parliament sanctioned the carrying of tramways over Westminster and other Thames bridges and along the Victoria Embankment. The Kingsway subway, designed to link the northern and southern systems was opened between Holborn and Aldwych in 1906 and extended to the Victoria Embankment in 1908.

The question of the financing of the undertaking and the form of accounts was the subject of considerable controversy at the 1907 L.C.C. elections which resulted in a change of party in the majority in the Council Chamber.

Under the London Passenger Transport Act 1933, the Council's tramway undertaking, the undertakings of the omnibus companies and the underground railways were transferred to the newly-created London Passenger Transport Board with effect from 1 July 1933.

The London County Council's housing work was administered by the Housing and Public Health Committee. The Valuer, with the Valuation Department, was responsible for the acquisition of property and maintenance and management of the Council's dwellings.

Charles Goad began his career in 1869 by working as a surveyor for Canadian Railway Companies. He saw the potential of drawing up plans of towns and villages that showed the construction of buildings in order to assist fire insurance companies. On returning to England he began publishing a similar series and also began similar series for parts of Europe, South Africa, the Middle East and the West Indies. His first London plan seems to have been published in 1885 and the last revisions were made in 1970 when the company ceased to produce fire insurance plans.

In 1948 the poor law, after an existence of almost 350 years, was abolished. Those among the poor whose financial needs were not met by national insurance were given material help by the National Assistance Board. Local authorities were delegated some responsibilities by the Board, for example the provision of reception centres for the temporary accommodation of vagrants and persons without a settled way of life. In addition the National Assistance Act, 1948, required local authorities to make residential provision for the blind, disabled, elderly and infirm. However, under the Act these services were not to be provided free as a kind of official charity. Persons receiving help were to pay according to their means, even if their means were no more than a retirement pension. The Council's responsibilities in all this related therefore to the provision of establishments of various kinds. At the end of the Second World War there were public assistance institutions (formerly the old workhouses), casual wards (where tramps were put up for the night), three lodging houses, and, left over from wartime activities, the rest centres and rest homes. The Welfare Department was responsible for the organisation and management of the various residential homes, temporary homes and institutions for the assistance of the poor.

The National Assistance Act, 1948, required local authorities to provide 'residential accommodation for persons who by reason of age, infirmity or any other circumstances are in need of care and attention which is not otherwise available to them'. The Council's policy was to provide establishments smaller in size and with a less spartan atmosphere than the old poor law institutions. However, the severe shortage of accommodation after the Second World War made this difficult and certain larger institutions were adapted for use, such as Luxborough Lodge, whichheld 1,200 residents. These larger homes were gradually phased out of use.

In addition to old people's homes, the Council provided mother and baby homes for assisting unmarried expectant and nursing mothers. With the postwar rise in unmarried mothers, the Council found it necessary to provide one home for mothers and babies where girls could stay for several weeks before and after confinement, an ante-natal unit and two mother-and-baby units, as well as a working mothers hostel.

Casual wards provided temporary board and lodging for vagrants. After the war they were replaced by reception centres. The Camberwell Reception Centre had accommodation for nearly 700 men. They were provided with food, a bed and washing facilities, and they were expected to help with domestic duties before leaving. Welfare officers of the Council and the National Assistance Board helped them to rehabilitate themselves and to find employment.

In 1948 the poor law, after an existence of almost 350 years, was abolished. Those among the poor whose financial needs were not met by national insurance were given material help by the National Assistance Board. Local authorities were delegated some responsibilities by the Board, for example the provision of reception centres for the temporary accommodation of vagrants and persons without a settled way of life. In addition the National Assistance Act, 1948, required local authorities to make residential provision for the blind, disabled, elderly and infirm. However, under the Act these services were not to be provided free as a kind of official charity. Persons receiving help were to pay according to their means, even if their means were no more than a retirement pension. The Council's responsibilities in all this related therefore to the provision of establishments of various kinds. At the end of the Second World War there were public assistance institutions (formerly the old workhouses), casual wards (where tramps were put up for the night), three lodging houses, and, left over from wartime activities, the rest centres and rest homes. The Welfare Department was responsible for the organisation and management of the various residential homes, temporary homes and institutions for the assistance of the poor.

Rest centres were established during the Second World War to accommodate people made homeless by enemy bombing action until permanent accommodation could be found for them. After the war many families were in desperate need of shelter but accommodation was scarce. By March 1947 twelve rest centres were in operation to shelter families, including converted furniture stores, offices and staff quarters. By 1949 demand was such that it became necessary to restrict entry to mothers with children under sixteen; fathers, older children and childless couples were left to fend for themselves. In 1952 a night receiving unit was opened for families arriving in London at night from out of county who had made no arrangements for accommodation. In the morning they were urged to make other arrangements. In August 1953 the rest centres were discontinued. During their eight years of postwar operation they had taken in 5,700 families comprising 26,000 persons. The centres were replaced by half-way houses or short stay accommodation.

Wesleyan Methodists built a church at King Street, Camden Town, in 1824. In 1860 the King Street premises were sold to a Primitive Methodist congregation, and a new church was constructed at Camden Street. Following the union of Methodist churches in 1932 the congregations were united. The King Street church was renamed Plender Street Church and became the main church, while the Camden Street church became a mission hall and youth centre and were later demolished.

The Camden Street Wesleyan Methodist Church belonged to the Second London Circuit/Great Queen Street Circuit until around 1866, when it transferred to the Kentish Town Circuit. It then transferred to the London Central Mission Circuit in around 1887.

The King Street, Camden Town Primitive Methodist Church belonged to the Ninth London Circuit until around 1885, when it transferred to the Camden Town Circuit.

After the Methodist Church Union in 1932 both churches joined the Camden Town Circuit, though in practice this small circuit appears to have been administered as part of London Central Mission Circuit and was officially absorbed into the London Central Mission Circuit in 1956.

King's Cross Methodist Mission, Charlotte Street was also known as Charlotte Street Methodist Church. It was built by the Wesleyan Methodist Association in 1841. Charlotte Street was re-named Carnegie Street in 1938. The Church was destroyed by a land mine in 1941 but the congregation continued to meet at Liberal Hall, 314 Caledonian Road. The church was transferred from the Hackney Circuit to the Tottenham Circuit, then to the Caledonian Road Circuit and finally the London Central Mission Circuit in 1956. The Church was dissolved in 1960 and the members transferred to King's Cross Central Mission.

The Maidstone Street Methodist Church, Haggerston, was first used by Wesleyan Reformers in 1852. In 1896 the congregation moved to the Harbour Light Church on Goldsmith's Row, Haggerston. The Church joined the London Central Mission Circuit in 1940 but was forced to close after sustaining bomb damage in 1944. It reopened in 1946, and transferred to the London Mission (Hackney and Clapton) Circuit in 1960.

Herne Hill Methodist Church, Railton Road was in the Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth in south London. It was not part of the London Central Mission Circuit. During the period covered by the records in this deposit it was part of the Brixton Circuit of the United Methodist Church.

In 1879, the Presbytery purchased and occupied church buildings (now called Saint Margaret) located in Putney Park Land, which had formed the private chapel of the Granard Estate. Putney United Reformed Church was therefore initially known as the Granard Presbyterian Church. This remained the place of worship until 1897 when the church moved to buildings on the corner of Briar Walk and Upper Richmond Road.

In 1941 a bomb destroyed all the halls and a third of the church. Rebuilding of the church and new halls was completed in 1957. In 1946 the church amalgamated with Wandsworth Presbyterian Church and became known as Putney and Wandsworth Presbyterian Church. In 1968 the spire was removed and the tower was capped off. At the same time, the manse which had stood next to the church was sold and replaced by a house in Fairdale Gardens.

In 1972 the church became known as Putney United Reformed Church following the union of the Congregational and Presbyterian denominations. The last service to be held took place in February 1996.

The Savoy Precinct was the site of the Savoy Hospital. It was an extra-parochial place which became constituted as a civil parish in 1866. It is now in the City of Westminster, on the corner of Savoy Street and Victoria Embankment.

Waterloo Bridge, designed by Rennie, was built by a private company which obtained an act of Parliament for that purpose in 1809. Work began in 1811 and the original intention was to use the name 'Strand Bridge'. The project was renamed 'Waterloo Bridge' in 1816, a year before it opened in 1817.

In 1878 it was acquired by the Metropolitan Board of Works and the existing tolls were abandoned. Structural defects were soon discovered and repaired, but in the 1920's, the bridge was declared unsafe. The London County Council replaced it with a design by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott which was erected 1939-1944.

The Winchmore Hill Wesleyan Methodist Church is part of the Finsbury Circuit of the London North East Division. It originated in 1879 when Thomas Kelsey, a Congregationist and property developer moved to the area of Winchmore Hill (less than 10 miles from London) and built himself a house known as Highfield House. He had employed a missionary to hold meetings in the Congregational School Rooms in Hoppen Road for the benefit of the men employed in the construction and development of the Bowes Park and the Eaton Park Estates.

Thomas Kelsey offered the Finsbury Park Methodist Circuit a plot of land on the sole condition that a chapel was built there and regular services undertaken. This was subsequently agreed upon and on 30th November 1880, the stone laying took place.

The Chapel opened for worship in 1881 with services taken by the Reverend Charles Moore. The chapel was originally known as Eaton Park Wesleyan Chapel as it was situated some distance from both Winchmore Hill and Palmers Green.

By 1906 the area around the chapel was expanding rapidly giving support to the Methodist congregation. This development encouraged the Trustees to propose the building of a new chapel in front of the existing one. They began by establishing a new Trust in 1907 and a Building Fund to raise money. However, it was not until another 5 years in 1912 that the New church stone laying ceremony took place and on 28th September 1912 the church was officially opened and dedicated.

The Methodist Church in Britain is arranged into over 600 Circuits, which in turn are grouped into 32 Districts covering Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Each District is supervised by a District Synod. Circuits and missions in the London North East District include: London City Road, Tower Hamlets, Newham, Hackney, Stoke Newington, Finsbury park and Southgate, Tottenham, Enfield, Waltham Abbey and Hertford, [Epping] Forest, Barking and Ilford, West Essex, Bishop's Stortford, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Romford, Grays, Southend-on-sea, Leigh-on-sea, Basildon, Chelmsford, Colchester, Manningtree and Harwich, Clacton-on-Sea.

Hendon Urban District Council was formed in 1894. In 1932 the UDC became the Municipal Borough of Hendon. The municipal borough was abolished in 1965 and the area became part of the London Borough of Barnet. The responsibilities of both an urban district council and a municipal borough included safeguarding public health.

The Greater London Council (GLC) was established in 1963, replacing the London County Council (LCC) and various metropolitan boroughs. The LCC had been responsible for education, but the GLC was not. Therefore, the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was founded as the education authority for the 12 inner London boroughs. The 20 outer London boroughs were responsible for education in their area. The GLC was abolished in 1986 but the ILEA was not abolished until 1990.

Wesleyan Methodists first met in 1886 in a house in College Road, Kensal Rise. A tin chapel opened in 1887 in Hiley Road, replaced by a brick chapel in 1900 at the corner of Chamberlayne Wood Road and Ladysmith Road (later Wrentham Avenue), near Kensal Rise railway station. Attendance in 1903 was 330 for morning service and 568 for evening service. The Chapel was sold to the Roman Catholic Church in 1977, although the Methodists continued to meet in an adjacent hall. In 2006 the hall hosted a temporary advice and support centre following a tornado strike on Chamberlayne Road.

From: 'Willesden: Protestant nonconformity', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 242-246.

The George Street Congregational Church was situated on London Road, Croydon. When the Congregational Church merged with the Presbyterian Church in 1972 it became the East Croydon United Reformed Church, Addiscombe Grove.

In 1887 the Plaistow Congregational Church on Balaam Street built a mission hall in Southern Road. In 1943, the members of Balaam Street and Southern Road united with Greengate as Plaistow Congregational Church.

Plaistow Congregational Church, Balaam Street, originated in 1796 in a mission conducted by W. Newman, a Baptist minister from Bow. Regular meetings were held in private houses, and in the open air, until 1807, when a building was erected in North Street by a group of Independents and Baptists under Robert Marten, who was the leading layman until his death in 1839. A union church of the two denominations was constituted in 1812, with Henry Lacey (1812-1824) as minister. 'Marten and his religious crew' encountered local opposition and even violence in the early days, but their numbers grew. A day-school was opened (1844) and in 1860 a new church was built in Balaam Street. John Foster (1865-1869) was the church's only Baptist minister. In 1869 part of the congregation - probably the Baptists - apparently seceded with him to form a church in Upper Road, Plaistow, which soon disappeared. After this, Balaam Street seems to have had little or no Baptist connexions. Under Richard Partner (1888-1903) the membership increased rapidly as the area was built up, reaching 670 in 1902, by which time the church had been enlarged to accommodate 1,000. In 1887 a mission hall was built in Southern Road. After 1903 Balaam Street began to decline, though it remained fairly strong until 1939. During the Second World War the church was bombed, being finally abandoned in 1945 and later demolished. Meanwhile, in 1943, the members of Balaam Street and Southern Road united with Greengate as Plaistow Congregational church.

From: A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 123-141.

Plashet Park Congregational Church, Chester Road, Forest Gate, was founded in 1884, in a room in Crescent Road. Meetings were subsequently held in the public hall, Green Street, from 1884 until 1887, when a two-storeyed building (later used for classrooms) was erected in Chester Road, during the temporary pastorate of E. T. Egg. An iron building was added in 1890, a permanent church in 1895, and an institute in 1914. In 1925 the iron hall was gutted by fire. Its site was sold to the borough council for a chest clinic, and in 1926 a new hall, fronting on Katherine Road, was opened. In 1941 the church was badly damaged by bombing. It was reconstructed and re-opened in 1952. For most of its history the church has had a settled minister. In its earlier years it was one of the stronger nonconformist churches in the district, and it was still flourishing in the 1920s, with a membership of over 300, and a Sunday school of 600. In 1972, when the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches merged, it became the Plashet Park United Reformed Church.

Source: A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 31-38.

The Fulham Congregational Church was constructed between 1904 and 1906, on the corner of Fulham Palace Road and Harbord Street. In 1973 it joined the United Reformed Church at the merger of the Congregational and Presbyterian churches and was renamed the Fulham United Reformed Church.

The Presbyterian Church in Poplar was first situated on Manor Street, off the East India Road, and was called the 'East India Road Presbyterian Church'. In 1865 the church moved to former Baptist premises on Plimsoll Street, taking the name 'East India Road Presbyterian Church, Plimsoll Street'. The building was bombed in 1940. In 1954 the congregation voted to change the name of the church to 'Saint Columba's Presbyterian Church'. In 1963 the church united with the Trinity Congregational Church, situated on the same street, with the name Poplar United Church. The Presbyterian church building was demolished.

The Bromley-By-Bow Congregational Church on Bruce Road was founded in 1866. In 1972 it became a United Reformed Church when the Congregationalist and Presbyterian Churches merged. The church is closed and the building is now a community arts centre.

A lecture hall at the western end of Church Street, Enfield, was built in 1902 and used for Presbyterian services until 1907, when the church of Saint Paul was opened. The church, a ragstone building in the 13th-century Gothic style, was designed by William Wallace and was originally intended to have a spire. It could seat circa 500 in 1973. In 1972 it joined the United Reformed church on the merger of the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches.

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. 250-253.

Saint George's Presbyterian Church, Palmers Green, was constructed in Fox Lane in 1913, although the congregation had been meeting since 1909. In 1972 it amalgamated with the Congregational Church in Fox Lane to become the United Reformed Church. The building has now been replaced by a block of flats.

The West Kensington Congregational Church was situated on Castletown Road. It was founded in 1885. In 1972, when the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches merged, the West Kensington church joined the newly formed United Reformed Church.

Saint John's Presbyterian Church was situated on Scarsdale Villas, Kensington. It was founded in 1862. In 1930 the Emperor's Gate Presbyterian Church (which was formed when the South Kensington and Belgrave Presyterian Churches merged in 1922) merged with Saint John's.

In 1891 the Presbyterian Church of England acquired land at the corner of Ballards Lane and Redbourne Avenue, where a hall was opened in 1893 and registered in 1894. The church was registered in 1895. Called Saint Margaret's from 1932, the church joined with Church End Congregational Church in 1969 to form Union Church, Finchley Central; after the formation of the United Reformed church in 1972, it was known as Saint Margaret's United Reformed Church. The old Presbyterian church hall was still used by the united congregation in 1976 but was demolished in 1977.

From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate (1980), pp. 87-91.

Providence Congregational Church was formed in Uxbridge about 1777. Meetings were held in the 'George' until 1795 when the first meeting-house was built near the Lynch Green, in the garden of J. A. Glover, a wealthy merchant who largely financed the project. The land around the building was consecrated as a burial ground. The meeting-house was renovated about 1890 and again in 1902. By 1926 the congregation had increased to 319 members. After 1933, however, membership declined rapidly.

A mission organized by Providence Church was established in a community room in Peachey Lane, Cowley, in 1955 to serve the new council estate at Cowley Peachey. The adult work, however, was not a success, and no evening services were held after 1960. A Sunday school continued to meet in the community room until 1963 when all work in the building ceased. The children of Cowley nonconformists subsequently attended Sunday school in Uxbridge.

From the late 1950s discussion centred on plans for the amalgamation of the two Congregational churches in Uxbridge. They were finally united in 1962 as Uxbridge Congregational Church, which thenceforth worshipped in the former Old Meeting premises. In 1963 services were still occasionally held in Providence Church but soon afterwards the building became derelict and was demolished in 1969. It had a tall two-storied cement-rendered front with round-headed windows, pilasters, and a central pediment flanked by scrolls above the parapet.

From: 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. 91-95.

According to the Congregational Church Year Book 1971-1972, the Middleton Road Congregational Church, Dalston was founded in 1662.

Haggerston Congregational Church was situated in Pownall Road.

The Oxendon Presbyterian Church was founded in 1737 in Great Street. It moved to Oxendon Chapel, on Oxendon Street, Haymarket, in 1808. In 1878 it moved to Haverstock Hill, at the junction of Prince of Wales Road and Maitland Park, Belsize Park, taking the name Oxendon Presbyterian Church to commemorate its previous location. It was damaged during the Second World War and was not reopened until 1957.

The archiepiscopal manor and ancient parish of Harrow covered an area 6½ miles long and 4½ miles wide in the eastern half of Gore hundred. The parish, called Harrow in the account that follows to distinguish it from the hamlet of Harrow-on-the-Hill or Harrow Town, stretched south from the Hertfordshire border to the River Brent. It was bounded by Elthorne hundred on the west and by Great Stanmore and Kingsbury parishes on the east. Parts of the parish, notably Pinner and Harrow-on-the-Hill, attracted wealthy residents as early as the 17th century. Harrow School, founded in 1572, contributed to the growth of Harrow-on-the-Hill from the end of the 18th century. Railways were followed in the late 19th century by housing estates and factories. After the British Empire Exhibition of 1924-5, for which Wembley Stadium was built, the site was developed and building spread over the south-east of the parish.

In the 19th century the total area was 13,809 acres, divided between Harrow (10,027 acres) and Pinner (3,782 acres). In 1931, when part of Northolt parish was added, the whole area, then administered by four district councils, consisted of 13,909 acres. In 1961 this area, divided into wards totalling 13,983 acres, formed part of the municipal boroughs of Harrow (12,555 acres) and Wembley (6,294 acres). In 1965 Harrow became the London Borough of Harrow, and Wembley became part of the London Borough of Brent.

From: 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. 169-172.

Watney, Combe, Reid and Co Ltd was formed in 1898 when a merger was negotiated between Watney and Co Ltd of the Stag Brewery, Pimlico; Combe and Co Ltd of the Wood Yard Brewery, Long Acre and Reid's Brewery Co Ltd, of the Griffin Brewery, Clerkenwell. Following the merger the company was the largest brewing concern in the United Kingdom, and was based at Watney's Stag Brewery in Pimlico.

The Stag Brewhouse and Brewery, Pimlico, was founded in 1636 by John Greene and his son Sir William Greene. In 1837 James Watney, a miller, bought a quarter share in the Stag Brewery, alongside John Elliot. From 1849 the firm was known as Elliot, Watney and Co. John Elliot withdrew from the business in 1850, remaining a partner in name only until 1858 when he retired. The firm became known as James Watney and Co. In 1885 Watney and Co Ltd was registered as a limited liability company.

Combe and Co Ltd was founded in 1722 by John Shackley in a former timber yard off Long Acre, London. In 1739 the business was acquired by William Gyfford who enlarged the premises, trading as Gyfford and Co. In 1787 the brewery was purchased by Harvey Christian Combe, a malt factor, but it was not until 1839 that the firm began to trade as Combe and Co. The Wood Yard Brewery closed in 1905 but the Combe family continued to take a major role in the management of Watney, Combe, Reid and Co Ltd.

In 1757 Richard Meux and Mungo Murray acquired the Jackson's Brewery in Mercer Street. When this was damaged in a major fire they constructed new premises at Liquorpond Street (now Clerkenwell Road). In 1793 Andrew Reid joined the business which became known as Meux, Reid and Co. In 1816 the Meux family left the business which changed its name to Reid and Co. The company was registered in 1888 as Reid's Brewery Co Ltd. On the merger with Watney and Combe it ceased to brew.

In 1956 Watney, Combe, Reid and Co Ltd decided that the Stag Brewery offered no further scope for expansion. Mann, Crossman and Paulin Ltd of Whitechapel was acquired to provide a new London brewery, and the company name was changed to Watney Mann Ltd.

Athelney Primary School is situated on Athelney Street, Catford.

When local juvenile advisory committees were appointed by the Board of Trade in 1910 to advise school leavers on the choice of employment, the London County Council invited the care committee workers to co-operate. These juvenile advisory committees were succeeded in 1917 by similar bodies appointed by the Minister of Labour, and they in turn were superseded in 1949 by youth employment committees whom the London County Council appointed, having decided, under the Employment and Training Act 1948, to operate the youth employment service.

This service provided individual guidance to potential leavers, assistance in placing them in employment, and gave them advice or help after starting out in work. The need for co-operation between the youth service, the youth employment service, and the colleges was fully recognised. Co-operation between youth officers, employers, parents and teachers had beneficial results.

Willoughby Road Wesleyan Methodist church opened as a Sunday school chapel in 1885, on land acquired in 1882 near the corner of Hampden Road. Classrooms were built in 1889 and a church, perhaps replacing an iron one, was opened on the corner site to the east in 1893. A lecture hall and more classrooms were added to the north in 1903. The congregation, which belonged to the Finsbury Park circuit, was joined by many from Mattison Road in 1963. After a fire in 1973 Willoughby Road church was replaced by a yellow-brick structure which, with the adjoining schoolroom in Hampden Road, seated 300.

From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate (1980), pp. 183-189.