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West Hampstead Congregational church was situated at 527A Finchley Road. It originated in services held in the library of Hackney College in 1894. A building of red brick with terracotta and moulded brick dressings to match the adjacent college, on a central plan and seating 1,125, was designed by Spalding & Cross in 1894. The church also included a school hall and library. Attendance in 1903 was 162 in the morning and 210 in the evening. The church was closed in 1940 and sold to Shomrei Hadath syngagogue in 1946.

Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9: Hampstead, Paddington (1989), pp. 153-158.

Arundel Square Congregational Church had its origins in a temporary chapel in York Place (later Saint Clement Street), Barnsbury, which was founded in 1861. The Arundel Square church and schoolrooms opened in 1863 at the corner of Westbourne Road and Bride Street. Galleries were added in 1865, by 1884 the church seated 1,000 people. The Church ran a preaching station at the Great Northern Railway station on Sundays from 1884. Attendance in 1903 was 170 in the morning and 232 in the evening. The church closed in 1931. The building was used by free Baptists in 1931-1935, before sale to Saint Giles Christian mission.

Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 101-115.

Offord Road Congregational Chapel was founded in 1855 by a group from a neighbouring chapel in Twyford Street. The chapel was built in 1856. Evan Lewis was the minister 1868-1869. The chapel seated 800 in 1884. Attendance in 1903 was 130 in the morning and 138 in the evening. The chapel closed in 1918 and the building was used as a warehouse.

Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 101-115.

Tolmer's Square Congregational Church, Camden, was founded in 1834. It opened a mission church on Drummond Street in 1879. In 1903 the combined membership of the two churches was 206, with 321 Sunday School scholars. The church closed in 1919.

Burdett Road Congregational Church, Stepney, was founded in 1866. It closed in 1940.

Saint George's in the East Congregational Church, Cannon Street Road, Stepney was founded in 1785. It was part of the East London Congregational Mission.

The Stepney Meeting House was founded in 1644. The congregation met at various locations including private houses. They were initially met with hostility, for example, in 1682 troops destroyed the fittings of the Meeting House. However, after the Toleration Act of 1689 the dissenters were able to establish a permament church. This was at New Road and later on Stepney Way.

When the Congregational Church and the Presbyterian Church decided to amalgamate to form the new United Reformed Church in 1972, the John Knox Presbyterian Church merged with Stepney Meeting House. For a short while both buildings continued to be used for worship, but in 1976 the Stepney Meeting House building on the corner with Copley Street was sold to the John Cass Foundation for use as a school chapel. The Stepney Meeting House United Reformed Church now meets in a modern building on Stepney Way.

From 1693 to 1783 the Presbyterians had a chapel on a leasehold site off Ferry Lane, Old Brentford. In 1783 they built a new chapel on a freehold site in Brentford Butts (Boston Road). The attendance dwindling greatly, the Trustees of the Presbyterian Church in 1840 invited the Church and Congregation of Albany Congregational Chapel to enter into it [nowhere is there any statement of the precise legal nature of this entering]. Although the Church and Congregation of Albany Chapel, having moved to Boston Road, wished to sell their former chapel, the Trustees were unwilling. Attempts were made to create another Church at the Albany Chapel, which succeeded in January 1854. By 1875, however, this Church was becoming very weak, and in October 1875 it resolved to amalgamate with Boston Road.

The Mitcham Congregational Church was founded in 1818. In 1903 it belonged to the Surrey Congregational Union Eastern District and had 30 members. This had risen to 50 in 1957; however, the Church is not listed in the 1971 Congregational Year Book and it is possible that it had closed or merged with another chapel by this date.

Dulwich Grove Congregational Church was founded in 1879. It belonged to the London Congregational Union South East District. In 1972, when the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches merged, it became Dulwich Grove United Reformed Church.

Maze Hill Congregational Church, Greenwich, was founded in 1786. In 1903 it came under the Kent Association and County Missionary Society Metropolitan District and had 100 members. By 1957 membership had fallen to 15 and the church was sharing a minister with Rothbury Hall Church. By 1971 Maze Hill had united with the local Methodist Church.

The Beckenham Congregational Church was founded in 1878. It was situated on Crescent Road. In 1903 it was part of the Kent Association and County Missionary Society Metropolitan District, and had 206 members. In 1972, when the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches merged, it became Beckenham United Reformed Church.

New Court, one of the earliest nonconformist chapels in London, dates from 1662 when under the Act of Uniformity Doctor Thomas Manton was ejected from the church of Saint Paul's, Covent Garden. He established himself as a nonconformist minister in a chapel built for him in Bridges Street in the same parish. The church remained there until 1682 when as a result of the Five Mile Act it was forced to close due to the imprisonment of its minister, Richard Baxter. James II's Declaration of Indulgence in 1687 enabled another nonconformist minister, Daniel Burgess, to re-open the chapel and after nine years the congregation moved to more substantial premises in Russell Court, Drury Lane, to a building between an old burial ground and the theatre.

On the expiry of the lease in 1705 another move was necessary and a new building was erected in New Court, Carey Street. The congregation remained there for over a hundred and fifty years and as a result the chapel thereafter was known as New Court Chapel.

While at Carey Street the chapel was attacked by a mob supporting Doctor Sachaverell, a high church fanatic who had preached a libellous sermon against dissenters, and this caused it to close for a short time. It was also during this period that New Court was specified as being a Congregational chapel for the first time. Until then the differences between the Presbyterians and Congregationalists had not been well defined. Thomas Bradbury, a minister who had come to New Court from a nearby nonconformist church at Fetter Lane, stipulated that the chapel should be run on the Congregational model.

The extension of the Law Courts in 1866 forced the congregation to move again and a new church was built at Tollington Park. Mission premises at Lennox Road were acquired in the 1880s. The Tollington Park premises were sold to the Roman Catholic church in 1959 (it is now Saint Mellitus Roman Catholic Church). The congregation moved to new premises on Regina Road in 1961 where it remained until its closure in 1976.

The London Congregational Union, part of the Congregational Union of England and Wales, was founded in 1873. It was divided into 10 districts:

1 - Central London

2 - West London

3 - North West London

4 - North London

5 - North East London

6 - East London

7 - Metropolitan Essex

8 - Metropolitan Kent

9 - Metropolitan Surrey (East)

10 - Metropolitan Surrey (West).

Methodism was established in the Highgate and Hornsey region in the early nineteenth century. It expanded alongside housing in the area and more Methodist churches were constructed. Churches in the area belonged to the Islington Circuit until 1873, when the Highgate Circuit was established.

Cleveland Hall was situated on Cleveland Street, Marylebone. It was a foundation of the West London Mission and was dedicated to helping young women who were in poverty.

The Craven Chapel and Hall were situated on Foubert's Place in the West End of London, near Regent Street. The chapel was constructed in 1822 by the Congregational Church, however, their membership had declined so much that by 1894 they sold the leases of the chapel and hall to the West London Mission of the Methodist Church. The hall was used for a wide variety of activities not just devotional but social, educational and welfare. By 1907 the leases had expired and the buildings were subsequently sold and used for commercial purposes.

The Seymour Place Methodist Church, Bryanstone Square, Marylebone, was originally part of the Primitive Methodist Connexion and belonged to their London Ninth Circuit. It subsequently joined the Wesleyan Methodist West London Mission, possibly after 1932 when the Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists merged. It is now used as the West London Day Centre for homeless people which is run from the Mission headquarters at Thayer Street.

The Warwick Gardens Methodist Chapel was built in 1863 to designs by Lockwood and Mawson and demolished in about 1927. It represented a movement by local Wesleyans to broaden their scope and, in William Pepperell's words, 'plant chapels in more respectable localities, such as that of Warwick-gardens'.

The initiative came from the Bayswater Circuit of the Methodist Conference, to which the chapel was formally attached. It appears that there was a competition for the building, probably in mid 1862. The foundation stone for Lockwood and Mawson's chapel was laid in May 1863. The prominent site, at the south corner of Pembroke Gardens and Warwick Crescent (now Gardens), was taken from Lord Kensington on a long lease. The exterior, Geometric in style, was of red brick with black bands and Bath stone dressings, and had aisles, a high roof, and a slim tower and spire in the south-west position. Inside was a timber arcade and the usual array of galleries, while in a semi-basement were schoolrooms 'and a residence for the chapel-keeper'.

The finished chapel, opened on 10 December 1863, contained some 1,100 sittings. But Pepperell reported in 1871 that an average congregation amounted to some 200 only, and 'a number of these are from a distance, and properly belonging to other Methodist congregations'. The Reverend C. Maurice Davies, visiting a few years later, offered a livelier impression. 'There was generally a shiny look about the chapel, as though everything, including the congregation, had been newly varnished. The seats were low, the galleries retiring, and everything in the most correct ecclesiastical taste. The position of the pulpit was strange to me; and the addition of a table covered with red baize surmounted by a small white marble font with a chamber towel ready for use, did not diminish the peculiarity. . . . The pulpit had succeeded in attaining the "Eastward position", but the table at its base did very well for a quasi-altar, and was flanked, north and south, by two semi-ecclesiastical hall chairs of oak. The font was locomotive, and might be supposed to occupy its abnormal position under protest.'

Pepperell's forebodings may have been accurate, for the chapel never attained much prosperity or influence. In about 1925 it was closed, its site sold to the Prudential Assurance Company, and shortly afterwards houses were built upon the site.

From: 'Churches and chapels: Non-Anglican denominations', Survey of London: volume 42: Kensington Square to Earl's Court (1986), pp. 386-394.

A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan. 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.

The London Mission East Circuit is part of the London North East District of the Methodist Church.

Chequer Alley (now Chequer Street) runs between Bunhill Row and Whitecross Street in Islington, near City Road. In the 1840s it was a socially deprived area, home to around 15,000 people living in poverty. In 1841 a Methodist, Miss Macarthy, from the nearby City Road Church began to visit the Alley and hand out Methodist tracts. Interest in her work increased to the point where she was able to begin Sunday preaching in a small hired room. These services eventually expanded to include a Sunday School, Day School, and classes for adults wishing to join the church.

Weymouth Terrace British School, Hackney Road, was in the First London Methodist Circuit circa 1864. British Schools were run using the "Lancasterian Monitorial System of Education", which was developed by Quaker John Lancaster in 1798. The system allowed huge numbers of pupils to be educated under one school-master by using able pupils as monitors assisting the others and was intended to provide a basic education for poor children. The "Society for Promoting the Lancasterian System for the Education of the Poor" was founded in 1808 and had the support of many non-conformists. The Society changed its name to the "British and Foreign Schools Society" in 1814 and founded many 'British Schools' which were often attached to non-conformist churches.

The Hackney Road Methodist Chapel was located in Hoxton, Hackney.

The Shoreditch Methodist Mission was part of the Hoxton Circuit. It later became part of the Leysian Mission Circuit, run from City Road, along with Haggerston Methodist Mission, Brownlow Street and Nichols Square, Hackney Road.

A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.

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.

The Queen Victoria Seamen's Rest (QVSR) started life as the Wesleyan Seamen's Mission of the Methodist Church in 1843. The aim was to minister to the spiritual needs and promote the social and morale welfare of seafarers and their families in the vicinity of the Port of London.

Over time a need arose for a meeting place of some kind in the new sailor town that had sprung up at Poplar. Right opposite the 'seamen's entrance' of the local Board of Trade Office on the East India Dock Road in Jeremiah Street stood a small public house called The Magnet. In 1887, the license of The Magnet was withdrawn, providing the Mission an opportunity to rent the public house and it was transformed into a Seamen's Rest.

Gradually the sphere of the Mission 's operation extended from London Bridge to Tilbury and embraced the river, docks and wharfs, as well as the on-shore haunts of sailors and hospitals, so that by the end of the century it was evident that the old 'Magnet' premises were inadequate. The freehold of No 1 Jeremiah Street and its adjoining properties was purchased in 1899; the whole site was cleared and a new Seamen's Home and Institute built. The foundation stone was laid on the 17th December 1901 by the Lord Mayor of London, and King Edward VII gave his royal consent for the new Seamen's Rest to bear his mother's name, "Queen Victoria ".

The Seamen's Hospital Society 'Dreadnought' rented a portion of the building to use as a sailor's dispensary clinic providing free medical treatment on the premises. In addition free banking was available and a lawyer held an advice surgery once a week. The Association with Seamen's Homes Beyond the Seas had been inaugurated and men from the Mission were introduced to similar institutions in foreign ports. As the work of the mission prospered a resolution was made to extend the building by another storey to increase the number of beds from 25 to 60.

In order to function effectively, QVSR needed a separate hall for public worship and meetings. The Emery Hall was opened on December 5th 1907 by the Patron, HRH Princess Louise. In the First World War, 20,000 unarmed Merchant Seamen lost their lives and the Mission began an appeal to raise funds for a War Memorial Wing with room for another 100 beds. On 20th October 1932 , Prince George (later Duke of Kent) performed the opening ceremony. The extension comprised three stories of private cubicles, 66 in all, a lounge and the New Agar Hall. Each cubicle was plainly furnished with an iron bedstead, dressing table, wooden chair, rug and electric light.

On June 21st 1944 a V1 Flying-bomb fell in Jeremiah Street and the whole of the staff quarters were destroyed. Mercifully, there was no loss of life. Disaster struck again on August 3rd when another bomb displaced the temporary repairs and added further damage, but restoration was done by the seamen lodgers and it was a source of pride that the Rest never closed.

With the war over, plans for the centenary extension of another 60 bedrooms and other sundry communal rooms resumed. The new development was in two parts, one each end of the building. The North Block included an officers' lounge and billiard room together with a chapel, library and 35 bedrooms for officers. The South Block provided not only a common room and rest rooms, two cafes and new bedrooms for ratings, but also a spacious entrance hall with an imposing entrance onto the main road. This necessitated a change of postal address from Jeremiah Street to 121-131 East India Dock Road.

Over the next thirty years, the "Queen Vic" had to adjust itself in line with the re-development of the East End Dockland area and the modernisation of the shipping industry. In order to maintain financial efficiency, space was made to allow a number of retired seamen a more permanent home at QVSR whilst also providing a home for men who had nowhere else to turn. In recent times there has been an increased use of the London River, from Barking Creek to Silvertown, which has re-kindled the need to provide a service that supports the welfare of active seafarers using the Port of London .

Source: http://www.qvsr.org.uk/history.htm.

Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) was founded in February 1852. It was the first specialist children's hospital, and it has grown to an internationally famous centre of excellence in child healthcare. Much has changed in medicine over that time but GOSH is committed to delivering the best and most up to date treatment now and in the future.

The hospital treats 100,000 patients a year; both at its central London site and through clinics scattered across the country. It offers the largest range of children's medical specialists under one roof, so children with some of the rarest and most complex problems can be treated. In addition to its medical care, GOSH researches childhood illness, and plays a major role in training children's doctors and nurses.

At the time GOSH was founded, children's life expectancy was pitifully low. There was widespread poverty, malnutrition and disease. Medicine was also extremely primitive, with no antibiotics, no antiseptics and no real understanding of infection. But modern medicine was beginning to emerge, with mass vaccination and the start of the public health movement, and anaesthetics began to make surgery more practical.

Founder Dr Charles West had a vision, that children were not just little copies of adults, they needed their own sort of doctors and nurses. His book "How to nurse sick children" predates Florence Nightingale's nursing manual. The hospital's motto is "The Child first and always" and GOSH has always strived to put the patient at the centre of its care. Children's hospitals are now very different from Victorian days - bright, open and cheerful, with unlimited visiting by families.

Since 1948, GOSH has been part of the NHS and proud to offer children its specialist care for free. It is part of a network of specialist children's services across the country. The pace of medical development has speeded up, even fifty years ago antibiotics and heart surgery were radical new treatments - now we correct congenital heart abnormalities within days of birth, and plan gene therapy to correct inborn diseases.

Balham Methodist Church was situated on Holly Grove, Balham High Road, Balham. It is possibly now the Upper Tooting Methodist Church.

On July 28 1944 at 9.41am Lewisham street market was hit by a V1 flying bomb that demolished 20 shops, damaged 30 more, killed 51 people and injured 313.

On the morning of Saturday 25 November 1944 at 12.25 pm a V2 rocket landed on Woolworth's store in New Cross Road at Deptford. At the time of impact the store was crowded with schoolchildren and housewives, and the casualties were therefore very high: 160 killed, 77 seriously and 122 slightly injured. In all, Deptford was to suffer nine V2s, far less than other localities, but five of these caused "major incidents" resulting in a death toll of 297 with a further 328 seriously injured; more than other London borough.

Source: Imperial War Museum (http://london.iwm.org.uk/upload/package/4/dday/pdfs/VWeaponsCampaign.pdf)

During the First World War the wives of serving personnel received a financial allowance from public or army funds in their husbands' absence.

The Wandsworth Common Conservators were incorporated by the Wandsworth Common Act, 1871 (34 and 35 Vic).

They were responsible for the management of the Common until 1887 when, by the Metropolitan Board of Works (Various Powers) Act (50 and 51 Vic.cap.CVI), "all the rights property powers functions," and so on of the Conservators were transferred to the MBW.

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.

1837-1845: Between 1837 and 1845 Paddington was part of the Kensington Poor Law Union. It separated in 1845 to form the Paddington Poor Law Parish. In 1901 a portion of the detached part of Chelsea known as Queen's Park transferred to Paddington Parish. In 1845 work began on a new workhouse for Paddington, situated on Harrow Road beside the Grand Union Canal.

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.

Poplar Poor Law Union was constituted in 1836, consisting of the parishes of Bromley, Bow and Poplar. Poplar High Street Workhouse had been built in 1735. The Union took over management of this institution and began expansion and improvement works, with a complete rebuilding taking place in the 1850s. From 1871 onwards the workhouse accepted only able-bodied men, who were put to hard labour. Men from other Unions were accepted if spare space was available, while the aged and infirm from Poplar were sent to the Stepney Union workhouse and those in need of hospital care sent to the joint Poplar and Stepney Sick Asylum. The workhouse was forced to open for all classes on inmate in 1882 due to increased demand. In 1913 the workhouse was renamed Poplar Institution.

The Poplar Union purchased the Forest Gate School from the Forest Gate School District when the latter body was dissolved in 1897. The Union used the school both for training and as an overflow workhouse. The Union also managed a farm in Dunton, Essex, which housed unemployed men and their families. The men were employed in farm labour, thought to be more productive than the usual workhouse activities of oakum picking or stone breaking. In 1906 the Union constructed a cottage homes training school in Hutton, Essex. Cottage schools were small, family-home style houses laid out like a village, which were considered better for children than a large institution.

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.

Stepney Poor Law Union was formed in December 1836, consisting of the parishes of Limehouse, Mile End Old Town, Ratcliffe, Shadwell and Wapping. In 1857, Mile End Old Town left the Union to become a separate Poor Law 'Hamlet' and set up its own workhouse.

The Stepney Union was known as the Parish of Limehouse for a short period from 1921 to 1925. In 1925, the Hamlet of Mile End Old Town, the Parish of St George In The East, and the Whitechapel Union were added to the Stepney Union which was then renamed the Parish of Stepney Union in 1927.

Institutions managed by the various Unions, and finally by the Parish of Stepney Union, included Mile End Old Town Workhouse, Wapping Workhouse, Limehouse Workhouse, Ratcliffe Workhouse and Casual Wards, Saint Leonard's Street Workhouse, and the Stifford Children's Homes.

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.

Early Commissioners of Sewers were solely concerned with land drainage and the prevention of flooding, not with the removal of sewage in the modern sense. In 1531 an Act of Sewers was passed which set out in great detail the duties and powers of Commissioners and governed their work until the 19th century. Gradually a permanent pattern emerged in the London area of seven commissions, five north and two south of the Thames, with, after the Great Fire, a separate commission for the City of London. The London commissioners had more extensive powers than those in other parts of the country; they had control over all watercourses and ditches within two miles of the City of London as well as newly constructed drains and sewers. After 1800 the London commissioners also obtained powers to control the formation of new sewers and house drains.

Although as early as May 1598 a commission of sewers was issued "for her Mats. Mills called Chrashe Milles in the parishes of St. Botulphes without Algate London and St Marge Matfellon alias Whitechapple in the Countie of Middx" (The National Archives: Ind. 4208 Crown Office Docquet Book) no continuing commission for the Tower Hamlets area (as distinct from the Poplar area) seems to have been established until 1686 (The National Archives: Ind. 4215 Crown Office Docquet Book). The jurisdiction of the Commission covered parts of East London including Spitalfields, Mile End, Shadwell, Smithfield, Whitechapel, Wapping, Limehouse, Stepney, Poplar, Blackwall, Tower Hill, Bethnal Green, Bow, Bromley, Stratford, Hackney, Ratcliff and Clapton.

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.

Wandsworth and Clapham Union was constituted in 1836 and consisted of the parishes of Wandsworth, Putney, Clapham, Battersea, Streatham and Tooting Graveney. In 1904 these parishes were amalgamated into one parish to be known as the Parish of Wandsworth Borough. The title of the Union was altered to Wandsworth Union. The Wandsworth Union was the largest in London, supporting a population of more than 350,000.

Saint John's Hill Workhouse (also known as the Wandsworth and Clapham Union Workhouse) was constructed in 1838. In 1886 a new, larger workhouse was constructed in Swaffield Road. This allowed the older workhouse to become a dedicated infirmary or hospital, known as Saint John's Hill Infirmary.

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 Westminster Boards of Guardians were formed of several smaller Unions in the Westminster area which merged:

Saint George's Hanover Square Poor Law Union:

1789: Care and management of the poor vested in a body of Governors and Directors elected by the vestry of St George Hanover Square

1867: Superseded by a Board of Guardians for the parish

1870: Became part of Saint George's Union

Saint Margaret and Saint John Poor Law Union:

1851: Governors and Directors of the poor appointed for parishes of St Margaret and St John the Evangelist

1867: superseded by Board of Guardians for the united parishes

1870: became part of Saint George's Union

1875: Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter added to Saint George's Union

City of Westminster Poor Law Union:

1913: Saint George's Union amalgamated with the Strand and Westminster Unions to form the City of Westminster Union

Strand Poor Law Union:

1836: Union formed of the parishes of the Liberty of the Rolls, Saint Clement Danes, Saint Mary le Strand, Saint Paul Covent Garden and the Precinct of the Savoy

1837: Parish of Saint Anne added

1868: Parish of Saint Anne removed to form part of the Westminster Union, and the parish of Saint Martin in the Fields added

1913: Strand Union amalgamated with Westminster Union and Saint George's Union

Westminster Poor Law Union

1727: poor of parish of Saint James in the care of the Vestry Parochial Committee

1762: Governors and Directors of the Poor appointed

1868: amalgamated with parish of St Anne to form Westminster Union. NB Vestry of St James continued to elect Governors and Directors until 1889 when they were abolished

1913: Westminster Union amalagamated with Strand and St George's Union to form City of Westminster Poor Law Union

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.

The 1834 Poor Law Act led to improvements in the arrangements made for the education of pauper children. Poor Law Unions, and parishes regulated by local acts, were persuaded to establish schools and to appoint schoolmasters. The policy of separating the children from their parents (who were generally considered to be a bad influence on their children) and sending them, if possible, to the country was continued and in 1866 several Middlesex metropolitan authorities were sending children to schools outside London. The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1844 made possible a further development in this field which was of significance for the metropolitan area. Unions and parishes were empowered to unite and to form a School District which then set up a large separate school for the education of all the indoor pauper children of the constituents of the district. These were usually industrial schools where both boys and girls were taught the basics of a useful trade which, it was hoped, would provide them with better prospects in future.

The West London School District was founded in 1868 and comprised the Fulham, Hammersmith and Paddington Poor Law Unions. The Saint George Hanover Square Union joined briefly between 1868 and 1870; while the City of Westminster Union joined in 1913. The District built a school at Ashford, near Staines. The school housed 800 children.

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.

Born 7 March 1947; lifelong Labour activist; openly gay member of the Labour party at a young age; moved to Manchester in 1970s to attend the Polytechnic; during this time became local Councillor in Altrincham, Greater Manchester. Later moved to Islington, where he was elected Councillor in 1982; represented Highview, Gillespie and Highbury wards. As Councillor fought for development of better housing and local education services; represented Islington on Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) from 1983, serving as Chair of the Equal Opportunities Committee; Mayor of Islington 1986-1987. Leader in gay community; founder and Chairman of the Islington Lesbian and Gay Committee; fought against injustice and discrimination toward gay men and lesbians; during 1980s worked as equal opportunities advisor for Education Department of Haringey Council. Member of London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, Gay Man Fighting Aids, National Aids Helpline, Food Chain, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (from 1960), Labour Movement Campaign for Palestine and National Anti-Racist Movement in Education (NAME); founder member of Gay Labour Group (later renamed the Labour Campaign for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Provided training for men on business and motivation; died 21 October 1996.

The Hall-Carpenter Archives were constituted as a registered charity in 1982.

The London Blues was a club for gay men founded in 1978. It met in several different venues in London throughout its history, including The Green Man, Heaven, the Laurel Tree and Central Station. The club was for gay men with an interest in uniforms and western/denim clothes (in practice it was mainly for those with military, naval, airforce, police and other uniform interests - whether as wearers or admirers). It had close links to the network of leather clubs in the UK and Europe (see items 22 and 23). For a history of the club and more information about its ethos and activities, see items 2 and 3. The London Blues was most active in the 1980s and early 1990s but went into decline towards the end of the 90s and was finally dissolved early in 2002.

No further information available at present.

No information available at present. Publications: State of the queer nation: a critique of gay and lesbian politics in 1990s Britain (Cassell, London, 1995).

The Inflation Accounting Steering Group was a Committee of the Accounting Standards Committee, the governing bodies of which were the Institutes of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, of Scotland and in Ireland, the Association of Certified Accountants, the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants, and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. The IASG developed a major document on inflation accounting (ED 18).

The Institute forContemporary British History was founded in 1986 by Professor Peter Hennessy and Dr Anthony Seldon out of a concern that the recent past was being neglected as a field of historical study in British schools and universities. The ICBH encourages research in British history, creates networks of collaboration for scholars and allows for the development of oral archives and resources, mainly through a system of organising seminars, annual conferences and witness seminars (oral history discussions which bring together key witnesses to past events). It runs the Centre for Scholarship for visiting scholars from the UK and abroad. The ICBH also publishes the Survey of current affairs, the Modern history review, and the electronic Journal of international history. The ICBH joined the Institute for Historical Research, University of London, in 1999.

User-Led Innovation in Local Government was a research project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and led by Professor Paul Joyce. Its aims and objectives were as follows: 1. To describe and analyse how the-public-as-service-users' ideas are captured by management; 2. To describe and analyse the different ways in which service users' ideas are picked up by management; 3. To develop case studies which describe how user-led innovation occurs in various organisational and policy contexts and 4. To assist the work of the local authorities in improving the quality of their services through user-led innovation.

No further information available at present.

Born in the Soviet Union, but moved to Latvia at the age of 14; active in Jewish and socialist circles in Latvia, Berlin and Poland; settled in London during the 1930s; Head of Jewish Agency's Research Department, 1939-1948; editor, Zionist Review, 1941-1948; instrumental in the affiliation of Poale Zion to the British Zionist Federation, 1942; following World War Two, Levenberg was a strong supporter of the creation of a Jewish state; Member, Middle East Committee of the Labour Party; Member, Socialist International; Treasurer, British Overseas Fellowship; Member, Jewish Board of Deputies, 1943-; writer on Jewish history and politics. Publications: The enigma of Soviet Jewry (Glenvil Group, Hull, 1991); The Board and Zion (Rare Times, Hull, 1985).

Born 1889; educated Rugby School and Corpus Christi College, Oxford University; joined civil service and was employed at the Inland Revenue, 1913; Contracts Department, War Office, 1914-1917; Ministry of Food, 1917-1919; Economic and Financial Section, League of Nations Secretariat, 1919-1921; Assistant Secretary, Empire Marketing Board, 1926-1933; Secretary, Market Supply Committee, 1933-1936; Assistant Director, Food (Defence Plans) Department, 1936-1939; Principal Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Food, 1939-1942; Economic Adviser to Minister of State, Middle East, 1942-1944; United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, Economic and Financial Adviser for the Balkans, 1945; CB, 1945; Financial Aid Officer, United Nations, 1946-1947; Under Secretary, Ministry of Food, 1947-1953; CMG, 1952; President, Agricultural Economics Society, 1956; Consultant, Political and Economic Planning, 1958-1964; died 1968. Publications: Agriculture and Food in Poland (UNRRA European Regional Office, London, 1946); Experiments in State Control at the War Office and the Ministry of Food (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1924); Food and Inflation in the Middle East, 1940-45 (Stanford University Press, Stanford, [1956]); Fresh Eggs and Free Markets (Society of Objectors to Compulsory Egg Marketing, London, 1956); Stabilisation. An economic policy for producers & consumers (G. Allen & Unwin, London, 1923).