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The Algernon Road Congregational Church, Loampit Vale, Lewisham, was founded in 1887. It seated 150 and was part of the London Congregational Union Riverside District. In 1972 it joined the United Reformed Church on the merger of the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches.

Watling Congregational Church was opened in Eversfield Gardens, on the edge of the Watling estate, in 1938. It was dependent on Union Congregational Church in Mill Hill, until in 1942 it acquired its own minister. The church was a plain brick hall, used also for social activities in 1970. In 1972 it joined the United Reformed Church on the merger of the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches. In 2001 it merged with Union Congregational Church, Mill Hill and St James United Reform Church, Edgware to form Trinity United Reform Church. All three churches worshipped as one from Eversfield Gardens from May 2005.

Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 39-43.

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 The building has now been replaced by a block of flats.

West Ealing Congregational Church was founded in 1900, with services held at number 70 the Avenue from 1901 until a hall was constructed in Argyle Road in 1903. After the First World War the hall was adapted into a permanent church and another hall and classrooms were added. The church was closed between 1973 and 1976.

The Broadway Congregational Church was founded in 1662. It was first known as the White Horse Yard Meeting House and then the George Yard Chapel. The White Horse and the George were inns; the Congregationalists met in their courtyards. The church was built in 1724 on Brook Green Road, which is now called Shepherd's Bush Road.

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.

The Regent Square Presbyterian Church was originally established by a fund set up by the Highland Society of London in 1808 to provide for Gaelic-language worship in London. Its first premises were in what is now Hatton Yard in Hatton Garden and it moved to its current site at the corner of Regent Square and Tavistock Place in 1827. The Church was affiliated to the Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland before joining the Presbyterian Church of England. The church was badly damaged by bombing in World War Two and was remodelled in 1965.

In 1972 when the Presbyterian and Congregationalist churches merged, the Regent Square Presbyterian Church became the Regent Square United Reformed Church. It has subsequently changed its name to the Lumen United Reformed Church. For more historical information see http://www.lumenurc.org.uk/Lumenhistory.htm (last accessed February 2009).

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.

The Presbyterian Church of England formed a congregation at Golders Green, probably in 1910. Premises on the corner of Helenslea Avenue and Finchley Road were opened for worship in 1911 and, as Saint Ninian's church, registered for marriages in 1912. The church, a redbrick building in the Perpendicular style, was designed by T. Phillips Figgis. The foundation stone of a church hall, which replaced a wooden hut, was laid in 1925.

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. 39-43.

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.

The New Cross Congregational Church was founded in 1894.

HMS Exmouth was loaned to the Metropolitan Asylums Board by the Admiralty for use as a training ship for poor boys in 1876. The cadets were often from families that had been placed in workhouses, having fallen on hard times.

The Exmouth replaced the previous training ship at Grays, HMS Goliath. This was destroyed by fire in 1875, killing 19 cadets. Exmouth's first commander, Staff Commander Bouchier, survived the blaze.

The first Exmouth, built in 1840, saw more than 30 years service in the Navy. She had accommodation for 750 boys and staff, who were usually former members of the Royal Navy. The ship was run along naval lines with regular inspections. But by 1903, Exmouth was felt to be too old for service and she was replaced by a new, purpose-built vessel.

This ship remained in service until the outbreak of war in 1939. The boys were moved inland, while the Exmouth was taken over by the Admiralty for use as a depot ship.

Source: http://www.portcities.org.uk.

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.

The Streatham Hill Union Chapel was built in 1829 on Brixton Hill; this was a union of Anglican and dissenting congregations under the Reverend J. Hunt. The union was an uneasy one and in 1837 the Anglicans decamped to found Christ Church, Roupell Park; while in 1840 the Baptists established the new Salem Chapel in New Park Road, leaving the Chapel to the Congregationalists.

In 1850 the Reverend Hunt was persuaded to leave, and under the new ministry of Reverend John Hall the Streatham Hill Congregational Church emerged. In 1871 the old chapel was demolished and replaced by the present church; the school and hall were built in 1878. In 1972 the church became a congregation of the United Reformed Church with the name Brixton Hill United Reformed Church.

Ensham School was built in 1905 as a mixed central school. By the 1950s it was a girls secondary school. In 1986 it merged with Furzedown Secondary School to make Graveney School.

The Paddington Chapel was a Congregational Chapel built in 1813. The building of the church was funded by businessman Thomas Wilson, who supported the building of several churches across the United Kingdom. The church was situated in Saint Marylebone. In 1815 a Sunday School was opened. The Sunday School began to include Writing Classes which developed into a full time Day School, which was open between 1828 and 1874. An attempt was made in 1919 to change the name of the church to "Saint Marylebone Congregational Church" to clear up misunderstandings that it was situated in Paddington, but the decision was made to retain the old name. In 1941 the church was hit by an incendiary bomb but it sustained little damage. The church was closed in the late 1970s and the building was demolished in 1981.

In 1880 the church opened the Earl Street Mission in Lission Grove. By 1907 the Mission was so successful that another hall was purchased in Carlisle Street, although this had to be demolished in 1920. The Mission ran various evangelical and social welfare activities including a Sunday School, Mother's Meetings, Burial Club, Men's Meeting, club for the unemployed and Youth Centre. The Hall was destroyed in an air raid in 1940 and subsequently closed in 1953.

Plumstead Congregational Church was originally built as an iron and wood church in 1899 on freehold land at Viewland Road, Plumstead.

Saint Aidan's Presbyterian Church, West Ealing, replaced the Elthorne Park Presbyterian Church, Hanwell, in 1922. The building was at the corner of Leybourne Avenue and Saint Aidan's Road. From 1972 it was called Saint Aidan's United Reformed Church following the merger of the Presbyterian and Congregational churches.

East Ham Presbyterian Church, later Trinity Presbyterian Church, East Avenue, Manor Park, originated in the 1890s, when Alexander Thompson, a Scotsman who had previously worshipped at Plashet Park Congregational church, began to hold Presbyterian meetings at his house in Victoria Avenue. With help from the Presbytery of London North a site was bought in East Avenue, and in 1900 an iron church, given by Dr. J. A. Voelker, was erected there. There were early disagreements between the local congregation, which favoured a conventional organization, and the Presbytery, which advocated mission work of the 'central hall' type. These were settled by a compromise; in 1902 Thomas G. Murray became the first minister, in 1903 a permanent church was built, and in 1905 halls were added. By 1909 the membership was 424, and during the brilliant ministry of I. Gwessin Jenkins (1910-1928) it rose to 600. Under Jenkins's successor there was a sharp decline, but the church revived after the coming in 1935 of W. Harding Jones. In 1941 the church was joined by the congregation of Trinity Presbyterian church, Maryland Point (West Ham), from which it took over the name Trinity. From 1941 to 1945 it also accommodated the members of Wakefield Street Congregational church, whose own building had been bombed.

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

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, Victoria Avenue, 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.

Highgate Presbyterian Church, at the corner of Hornsey Lane and Cromwell Avenue, was opened in 1887. In 1967 the Church merged with the Highgate Congregational Church on Pond Square to form the Highgate United Reformed Church. Until 1982, worship was mainly based in the Cromwell Avenue church. This building was then converted to an apartment block within its gothic shell and with the sale proceeds and other funding the major refurbishment of Pond Square Chapel was undertaken. Pond Square Chapel re-opened in 1984 for worship.

Source: http://www.highgateurc.co.uk/

The Vine Congregational church, formerly known as Ilford High Road church, was founded in 1892 by the Metropolitan District Committee of the London Congregational Union. Services were held in the Thompson Rooms and later in a house in Oakfield Road. Edward T. Egg, a veteran minister, became temporary leader at Ilford, and in 1894 opened an iron church in High Road. In 1895 a large hall was opened, with A. G. Spears as minister. He was succeeded in 1897 by Charles H. Vine, who remained until his death in 1930.

Under Vine's leadership High Road became one of the strongest churches in Essex. Soon after his arrival the hall was enlarged, and in 1901 a new church was opened, with seats for 1,400. In 1910 an adjoining site was purchased and additional buildings erected. One of Vine's most important enterprises was the Men's Meeting, founded in 1901 and rising to a membership of 2,000. This organization undertook social work of many kinds. As early as 1904 it had a labour exchange for its members, and it also ran a sick benefit society, a holiday savings club, a hospital savings group, a horticultural society, a benevolent fund, and clubs for swimming and tennis.

From the first Vine was active in fostering new churches in the Ilford area. After his death the High Road church incorporated his name in its title, being known as the Vine Memorial church and later as the Vine church. During his ministry church membership rose from 110 in 1897 to a peak of 979 in 1927. During and after the Second World War membership declined.

In 1960 the High Road part of the site, including the church of 1901, was sold for redevelopment. A new, smaller church in a simple mid-20th-century style was built in 1961, facing Richmond Road, and the church hall, facing Grosvenor Road, was renovated.

The church is now part of the Vine United Reformed Church on Riches Road.

From: A History of the County of Essex: Volume 5 (1966), pp. 249-266.

Trinity Presbyterian Church, Norwich, Norfolk, was founded in 1867. The church was first situated on Theatre Street, but was badly damaged during the Second World War. It was rebuilt in 1956 on Unthank Road. The church belonged to the Presbytery of London North. In 1972 the Presbyterian and Congregational churches merged to form the United Reformed Church. Trinity United Reformed Church is still situated on Unthank Road.

Downs Park Road Church in Lower Clapton was registered by the Presbyterian Church of England in 1872. It was situated at the corner of Cricketfield Road. Attendance in 1886 was 111 in the morning and 60 in the evening. By 1903 attendance was 114 in the morning and 143 in the morning. The church was closed but reopened as Lower Clapton Congregational church in 1936, and was later used by the New Testament Church of God.

Dalston Presbyterian Church was built on Shrubland Road in 1858, and registered by the Presbyterian Church of England in 1863. The building was acquired by the Evangelical and Reformed Church in 1970.

Source: 'Hackney: Protestant Nonconformity', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 10: Hackney (1995), pp. 130-144.

Park Presbyterian Church, Grosvenor Road, Highbury, was built after the Scotch congregation at Myddelton Hall, Upper Street, increased. It was one of three United Presbyterian churches in London founded with the aid of John Henderson of Renfrewshire. Later the church was part of the Presbyterian Church of England which was formed in 1876. As the district had no poor, the church supported City missions in Hoxton. The church closed in around 1950.

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

Upper Street Presbyterian Church was situated at 107 Upper Street, Islington. It is possibly the same 'Scotch' congregation which worshipped at Myddelton Hall, Upper Street. Park Presbyterian Church, Grosvenor Road, Highbury was built after the Myddelton Hall congregation became too large. A note on the Upper Street Church registers states that the church moved to Dalston in 1853. It is possible this is the same Dalston Presbyterian Church which was built on Shrubland Road in 1858, and registered by the Presbyterian Church of England in 1863.

Presbyterian meetings first took place in Chatham in 1672. Saint Andrew's Presbyterian Church was founded in 1854 on Star Hill. It moved to premises on New Road Avenue in 1862. In 1904 a new church was constructed. The church is now Saint Andrew's United Reformed Church, following the merger of the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches in 1972.

Saint Paul's Presbyterian Church was founded in 1900. The church was built in 1902 on Shaw's Corner, Redhill. In 1972 when the Presbyterian and Congregational churches merged Saint Paul's became a United Reformed Church.

Saint Andrew's Presbyterian Church was founded in 1894. The church was built in 1896, situated on Battersea Rise, Clapham. In 1976 the Presbyterian and Congregational churches merged and the church was renamed Saint Andrew's United Reformed Church.

Richmond Presbyterian Church was founded in 1876 as a preaching station. The church was built in 1885, situated on Little Green, Richmond. In 1972, when the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches merged, it became Richmond Green United Reformed Church, now situated on Quadrant Road.

Saint John's Presbyterian Church was founded in 1870. The church was built in 1884 on Devonshire Road, Forest Hill. It came under the Presbytery of London South. Following the merger of the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches in 1972 it became Saint John's United Reformed Church and is still situated on Devonshire Road.

Saint Paul's Presbyterian Church, Croydon, was founded in 1900. The church hall was constructed in 1901 and the church building completed in 1905 on Croham Road, South Croydon. When the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches merged in 1972 the church became Saint Paul's United Reformed Church.

A Presbyterian Mission Church was established on Johnson Road, West Croydon, by Saint Paul's Presbyterian Church and Saint George's Presbyterian Church. It was formally recognised as a mission by the Presbytery of London South in March 1912 and was placed under the oversight of Saint Paul's. The Mission was initally known as the "Presbyterian Church of England Johnson Road Mission" but by the 1940s was being referred to as "Saint Paul's Presbyterian Mission Church, Johnson Road". When the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches merged in 1972 the Mission became Saint George's United Reformed Church. It subsequently appears to have closed or merged with another church.

Saint George's Presbyterian Church, Croydon, began as a temporary iron church situated on Oakfield Road. By 1865 a permanent church had been constructed. However, membership numbers dropped and the church was closed by 1940. It was used as a food store by the Oxo company during the war and was subsequently converted into a Masonic Lodge.

Warrior Square Presbyterian Church first held services in a hired assembly hall in January 1880. In 1882 a permanent minister was found and by 1883 a church and Sunday School had been constructed on Warrior Square, Saint Leonards on Sea. In 1923 it was decided to change the name of the church to Saint Columba's Presbyterian Church.

The first Presbyterian worship in Maidstone took place in 1672. The Christ's Church Presbyterian Church was situated on Brewer Street and flourished between 1873 and 1881. It is possible that it subsequently closed because in 1947 a meeting was held of people interested in founding a Presbyterian congregation in Maidstone which is described as lacking a church of this denomination. Meetings were held in classrooms at Elms School, London Road and the congregation was placed under the session of Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church, Chatham, as a preaching station. A Sunday School and other societies were founded. Attempts were made to purchase land on which to construct a church, however, it was decided that the congregation was too small to support a full time preacher and in 1951 the meetings were ended.

Boscombe Congregational Church, Bournemouth, Dorset, was founded in 1887. It was part of the Western District of the Hampshire Congregational Union.

The firm was established in 1822 when William Henry Ashurst set up practice as a solicitor at 2 Sambrook Court, Basinghall Street, London. In 1823, he went into partnership with William Henry Green under the name 'Green and Ashurst'. The partnership lasted until 1829, when Ashurst moved to 84 Newgate Street to practise alone. In 1835, Ernest Barnevelt Elliott Gainsford became a partner and the new partnership 'Ashurst and Gainsford' set up office at 137 Cheapside. However, the partnership only lasted five years, and Ashurst once again practised alone, significantly spending a year as solicitor to the Mercantile Committee helping Rowland Hill succeed in reforming the postal system. In 1843, Ashurst decided to make his son William Henry Ashurst Junior a partner under the style 'Ashurst and Son'. The firm moved to 6 Old Jewry in 1854 and remained there until 1890.

Although William Henry Ashurst devoted much time to his legal practice, he was also very involved in the politics of the day. Notably, he campaigned for the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832, abolition of church rates and number of other causes. He was a member of the Common Council of the City of London, Chairman of the Committee of City Lands and served one year as Under Sheriff. He died in 1855.

His son, who was also politically active, retired from the firm in 1864 to become a Solicitor to the General Post Office, Saint Martin's Le Grand, London. John Morris, who had worked for Ashurst and Son for many years, became a partner and the firm changed its title to 'Ashurst and Morris'. Morris was very interested in company business, especially railways. He was involved with numerous projects including those concerning the Grand Truck Railway Company of Canada, Inner Circle Line of the Metropolitan Railway and the Forth Bridge. He was also responsible for the erection of offices at 17 Throgmorton Avenue which the firm relocated to in 1890. John Morris died in 1905.

In the 1860s, the firm's title was altered to 'Ashurst Morris and Company' when partnerships were forged with Thomas Norton Harvey between 1865 and 1877 and George Davis from 1869 to 1874. Frank Crisp became a partner in 1871 and in 1877 the firm adopted the title 'Ashurst Morris Crisp and Company'. Crisp had worked for the firm for a number of years and had a particular interest in company law. As a result, he became involved with the formation of a number of companies, including Explosive Trade Limited and General Motor Cab Company, and acted for many railway companies abroad, particularly in South America. Crisp was awarded a knighthood in 1907 for his work in connection to the Companies (Consolidation) Act 1906 and was created a Baronet in 1913. He died in 1919.

Other notable partners in the firm included William Morris Junior, Thomas Outen, Roland Thomas Outen, Edward Hora and Michael Richards.

In 2003, to keep in line with competitors, Ashurst Morris Crisp was rebranded as 'Ashurst LLP'. A merger with Blake Dawson in 2012 saw the firm become the 25th largest in the world with 24 offices in 14 countries.

Offices: 2 Sambrook Court, Basinghall Street (1822 - 1829); 84 Newgate Street ( 1829 - 1835); 137 Cheapside ( 1835 - 1854); 6 Old Jewry (1854 - 1890); 17 Throgmorton Street (1890 - 1982?); Broadgate House, 7 Eldon Street (1980s); Broadwalk House, 5 Appold Street (1990s - ); all City of London.

Associated British Foods Pension Trustees Limited is the corporate trustee of the pension schemes of Associated British Foods plc (ABF), a global food, ingredients and retail company. Associated British Foods Pensions Trustees Limited is a subsidiary of ABF, and is based at the Weston Centre, Grosvenor Street, London.

ABF was founded by Garfield Weston in 1935 as Food Investments Limited: the company was renamed Allied Bakeries Limited shortly afterwards. Allied Bakeries first established a pension scheme in 1941 and another Weston family company, George Weston Holdings Limited, established a second scheme in 1948. In 1952 the Allied Bakeries Limited Pension Scheme, along with the pension scheme of a subsidiary company, A.H. Palmer Limited, was amalgamated with the George Weston Holdings Limited Scheme. The amalgamated scheme was known as the Allied Bakeries Limited Pension Scheme.

Followed the renaming of Allied Bakeries Limited as Associated British Foods Limited in 1960, the Allied Bakeries Limited Pension Scheme was also renamed, becoming the Associated British Foods Pension Scheme in 1963. The scheme underwent another name change in 1978, becoming the Associated British Foods Pension and Life Assurance Scheme, but this was reversed in 1984 and the scheme continues to operate today as the Associated British Foods Pension Scheme.

Initially the scheme was overseen by individual trustees, but in 1980 they were replaced by a corporate trustee, Associated British Foods Pension Trustees Limited. Prior to this date the company had operated as G W H Properties Limited, holding property investments on behalf of the pension scheme's trustees.

ABF operated a Group Pensions Department which was responsible for the administration of its pension schemes. This department was led by a Secretary or, later, by a Group Pension Manager. These have included P Glover, Alan Herbert and Derek Yarrow. They also employed pensions consulting firms, notably Metropolitan Pensions Association Limited.

In addition to the main ABF Pension Scheme, ABF operated separate pension schemes for senior management (the ABF Senior Executive Pension Scheme and the Allied Bakeries Senior Management Pension Schemes) and a life assurance scheme (the Weston Life Assurance scheme). They also operated a pension scheme to allow their staff to opt out of the state pension scheme, the Allied Bakeries 'Q' Pension Scheme. Since 1935 ABF has taken over a number of companies, resulting in the ABF Pensions Department taking on the administration of subsidiary company's pension schemes: this includes the British Sugar pension schemes.

Another element of ABF's staff benefit provision is the Weston Provident Fund. Established in 1981, the Fund's objective is to assist with the welfare of employees and former employees of the ABF Group and their dependants. . The charity is based in Russell Square, London.

Thames Rights Defence Association was founded by Francis Francis to defend the rights of anglers on the Thames. Throughout his life, Francis advocated the cause of fish culture, and suggested the formation of the National Fish-Culture Association. William A Crump was treasurer of the association.

Anthony Davey (1933-2010) began his career in the pensions industry in 1968 as Pension Manager for British Aircraft Corporation (which merged with a number of aviation companies to become British Aerospace in 1977). He moved onto work as Pensions Director at Thomas Tilling Limited (which was acquired by BTR plc in 1983) from 1977.

In 1983 Davey became Managing Director of Hadrian Trustees Limited, who acted as independent trustees for a number of pension schemes, including the Shipbuilding Industry Pension Scheme (SIPS). Hadrian Trustees Limited transferred the administration of SIPS to a subsidiary, Hadrian Solway Limited, in 1990.

Davey was the Managing Director of Hadrian Solway between 1990 and 1995, then served as Non-Executive Director between 1995 and 1997. Hadrian Solway was acquired by Hartshead in 1995, and the company was renamed Hartshead Solway. Hartshead Solway was subsequently acquired by Capita Financial Services Limited in 1998, the same year Davey retired as Hadrian Trustee's Managing Director.

Davey then became an associate of BESTrustees PLC, who took over Capita Financial Services' independent trustee appointments in 1999.

Davey was also a fellow of the Pensions Management Institute and served on the Pensions Panel of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators between 1991 and 1996.

Dennis Gilley was a partner at R Watson and Sons consulting actuaries, one of the largest actuarial firms in the UK, based in Reigate, Surrey. Gilley worked for R Watson and Sons from 1949 until his retirement in 1981, a period which saw the firm undergoing its fastest period of growth, fuelled by the expansion of occupational pension provision in the 1950s and 1960s. After his retirement, he chaired seminars and produced a booklet on pension fund trusteeship for Ringley Communications, a subsidiary of Watsons.

Gilley was also an active member of the Institute of Actuaries and International Association of Consulting Actuaries. He served as chair of both organisations, and was influential in the development of standards of professional conduct and scrutiny within the actuarial profession. He was also a founder member of the Pensions Management Institute and a Council member of the Occupational Pensions Advisory Service.

AGLOW is an association that campaigns for improved status, rights and services for older women, challenges ageism, sexism, homophobia, racism, and disableism, holds conferences and workshops on health, social care and education issues, uses drama based on members' experiences to raise awareness and promote good practice, and performs at conferences, festivals, workshops, forums, day centres, schools, and colleges.

Currently (to 2012) funded by Trust for London (formerly City Parochial Foundation) and the Co-operative Membership Community Fund, and supported by the London Health Commission, it has played a unique role in the Greater London area amongst older women and has links to a number of other older and concurrent groups.

AGLOW began its existence as the Older Women's Project (O.W.P), a London-based campaigning organisation, under the umbrella organisation Pensioners' Link (a London-wide charitable organisation formerly known as Task Force; with Centres in 12 London Boroughs at the time OWP was set-up).

The Older Women's Project was developed by Pensioner's Link staff in the early 1980's working in light of newly established anti-racist and equal opportunity policies and recognising that ageism, with an overlay of sexism was rendering many older women invisible by many of the agencies with the power to affect their lives.

Small older women's groups were first formed in Brent and Lewisham to create opportunities for older women to meet and discuss their mutual concerns, and at Camden additional funding from the Camden Women's Committee was raised to organise an 'Older Women's Day' where the Chair of the GLC Women's' Committee gave the opening speech. The undoubted success of these initiatives encouraged Pensioner's Link staff to take forward the idea of a London-wide Older Women's Project with the aim to bring together older women of different cultures and backgrounds to discuss and campaign around issues affecting their lives.

A Working Group was formed with members representing a variety of different interests, ethnicities and backgrounds, and all in agreement the Older Women's Project should be planned and monitored by women themselves. With the Pensioner's Link Management Committee, a successful bid for funding from the GLC Women's Committee was made - securing initial funds for the administrative costs of Pensioner's Link's involvement with the Project, the Project costs and the salary of one worker. Much of this start-up work was led by Zelda Curtis (1923-2012), a feminist and campaigner also known as 'Zelda the Elder' who served as a co-opted member of the Women's' Committee of the GLC c 1984-1985, and from 1984 as a paid worker for the Pensioners Link Older Women's' Project. Pam Wright became the first salaried project worker when appointed in 1985.

The Project worked from the start with minority groups, produced a quarterly newsletter, reports and information packs, and held regular conferences, and festivals; the first London-wide festival (to coincide with International Women's Day and GLC celebrations in the localities) being the 'Older Women's festival on 16th -17th March 1985 at Grays Inn Resource Centre.

Other notable events include, 'An Afternoon with Ellen Kuzwayo (a prominent writer and activist for Black Rights in South Africa) on 23rd May 1985, an 'Irish Event' on 5th October 1985, the Older Women's Health Festival on 16th and 17th November 1985, and the 'Older Women Talking' day on 20 November 1986 - which was held largely to encourage the formation of other local older women's groups, and had direct links to the creation of the Waltham Forest Older Women's Group and Hackney Older Women's Group. Other associated notable local groups such as Newham Older Women formed later.

Inherently concerned with the dissemination of relevant information to older women (the OWP had a variety of exhibition material, books, reports and videos available on loan to older women, Pensioners Link local groups, and relevant women's groups nation-wide), the Older Women's Education group was formed to co-ordinate Study days for older women; the first, 'Older Women: Changing Perspectives', taking place on 21st May 1988. With Birkbeck College, the OWP also helped to found the Older Women's Education Group and was represented on the Educational Resources for Older People's Committee.

Although many OWP activities were organised with partners and/or with additional project-funding from other bodies, the main source of the Project's financial support came via Pensioner's Link until c. 1991 when disputes arose between the OWP and the Management Committee of Pensioner's Link in regard to the role and remit of the OWP Working Group and the management of the OWP generally. By 1992 these on-going issues were exacerbated by financial difficulties at Pensioner's Link, with the central office of Pensioner's Link losing its grant from the London Borough Grants Committee in 1993 (although other offices retained their and continued to work with pensioners).

Given these circumstances, the group decided to apply for funding separate from Pensioners' Link and approached the London Boroughs Grants Committee and the St. James' Trust. A Steering Committee guided the work of the OWP during this transition period toward becoming the Association of Greater London Older Women (AGLOW); working out a constitution, publicising their intentions, setting up systems for a membership organisation and re-negotiating a lease for the office.

Once funding was secured, AGLOW (Association of Greater London Older Women) launched with a 'Conference of Community Care' and an inaugural Management Committee meeting held at the London Women's Centre on September 9th 1993.

Campaign work continued through involvement in groups such as the Older Women's Education group and the Mental Health Core group, and in events such as the 'Regarding Older Women' Conference' in Belfast in 1993. With funded staff on board, 'Get-Togethers', work with Black and Ethnic communities and a Conference for Older Lesbians were organised, with a programme of other events, literature production, campaigns and networking continuing to bring older women together, in a supportive and encouraging atmosphere, to share their experiences, display their talents, learn new skills and enrich their lives.

Originally based in the Central Office of Pensioner's Link at 17 Balfe Street, London N1 AGLOW moved to its current premises in Manor Gardens Centre, London, N1 in 2001 - where many records, including photographs and records dating from the transition period between OWP and AGLOW, have been retained by AGLOW.

Sources of information: http://www.aglow-london.org.uk/ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/zelda-curtis-activist-who-championed-the-rights-of-the-elderly-6715353.html

Incisive Media Limited is a business media publisher, established in 1995 and based in London, with offices in Haymarket and Broadwick Street, Soho. It publishes a range of business publications and also offers conference, events and training services.

Incisive publish Professional Pensions, a weekly magazine for the occupational pensions industry with information relating to the institutional pensions market and UK pension fund management. Since 1998 Professional Pensions has also organised the UK Pension Awards, which recognises the UK's best pension funds, trustees and scheme professionals.

Source of information: http://www.professionalpensions.com and http://www.pensionschemeawards.com/

The Metropolitan Board of Works was constituted under the Metropolis Local Management Act of 1855 (18 and 19 Vic. cap 120). It was only indirectly representative of ratepayers since its members were chosen, three by the Mayor and the Corporation of the City of London and the remainder by the parishes and district boards specifically mentioned in the Act. The Board took responsibility for the main drainage of London from the Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers; it was given some supervisory and coordinating powers over the vestries and district boards, who were made responsible for local drainage and for paving and lighting of streets, and it was given power to make, widen or improve streets and roads and to regulate the naming of streets and numbering of houses. The Metropolitan Buildings Act (18 and 19 Vic. cap 122), passed on the same day as the Metropolis Local Management Act, gave the Board power to appoint and dismiss District Surveyors, to appoint a Superintending Architect of Metropolitan Buildings, and to modify the building regulations contained in the Act as might be necessary fron time to time.

During the life of the Board a whole series of Acts gradually extended its powers; notably the Metropolitan Gas Act, 1860, The Thames Embankment Acts, 1862, 1863 and 1868, The Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act, 1865, The Metropolitan Commons Act, 1866 (and subsequent amending Acts), and Acts relating to individual parks and open spaces, The Metropolitan Streets Act, 1867 (and susequent Street Improvement Acts), The Metropolis Toll Bridges Act, 1877 (and other Acts relating to bridges), The Artizans Dwellings Act, 1875 and The Public Entertainments Act, 1875.

Almost throughout its history members of the Board were discussing the possibility of the complete reorganisation of London Government, and from 1883 to 1885 a sub-committee of the Works and General Purposes Committee was meeting to consider municipal government. The several scandals that arose concerning irregularities in administration were symptomatic of the need for wider powers and more direct representation of the ratepayers. Under the Local Government Act 1888 the powers, duties and liabilities of the Board were transferred to the London County Council.

The name 'Middlesex' is first recorded in a charter of AD 704 in the Latin form of 'Middelseaxan'. In the Domesday survey of 1086 the county is divided into six Hundreds (Edmonton, Elthorne, Gore, Hounslow, Ossulstone and Spelthorne) which remained as administrative units until the 19th century. Government in the County was in the hands of the justices of the peace, whose administrative duties steadily increased from the 16th century. In the 19th century boards of guardians became responsible for the care of poor persons; highway boards and boards of health were created and the Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was set up in 1855 as the central administrative and coordinating body for the area which later became the Administrative County of London.

The Local Government Act of 1888 transferred the bulk of Middlesex wealth and population into the new County of London. Those areas which became part of London included Hammersmith, Chelsea, Kensington, Paddington, Fulham, Saint Marylebone, Saint Pancras, Westminster, Islington, Hackney, Bow, Bromley, Poplar, Mile End, Bethnal Green and Shoreditch. Remaining in Middlesex were Twickenham, Sunbury-on-Thames, Staines, Feltham, Heston, Isleworth, Brentford, Chiswick, Yiewsley, West Drayton, Hayes, Harlington, Southall, Acton, Ealing, Uxbridge, Ruislip, Northwood, Harrow, Wembley, Willesden, Hendon, Finchley, Hornsey, Wood Green, Tottenham, Edmonton, Southgate, Friern Barnet, Enfield and Potters Bar. The ancient Middlesex Guildhall was situated in Westminster, which was now part of the County of London. Nevertheless, the Guildhall buildings in Westminster remained the headquarters of Middlesex County Council.

The newly formed Middlesex County Council (MCC) first met in February 1889, with Mr Ralph Littler in the Chair. The principal functions of the County Council in 1889 were:

• matters relating to the levying of rates for county purposes

• control of the accounts of the County and of the County Treasurer

• ownership of county halls, courts and premises used for the administration of justice

• licensing of premises for public performances of stage plays, music and dancing and licensing of race courses

• provision and maintenance of asylums for pauper lunatics

• provision and maintenance of reformatory and industrial schools

• maintenance of County bridges

• matters affecting the County Surveyor, County Treasurer and all other County officers paid from the county rate

• matters relating to coroners and their districts

• division of the County into polling districts for Parliamentary elections and the appointment of polling places

• execution of acts of Parliament relating to diseases of animals, protection of wild birds, supervision of weights and measures, explosives and gas meters

• maintenance of all roads

• purchase of land for County purposes and sale of surplus land

• appointing of medical officers of health and other such officers as necessary

• power to make byelaws.

Further powers were conferred on the Council by later Acts of Parliament, including:

• responsibility for education and the administration of primary, secondary and technical schools (Education Act 1902)

• supervision of midwives and maternity services (Midwives Act 1902, Local Government Act 1929)

• supervision of employment agencies and ice cream vendors (1906)

• child welfare (Children's Act 1908 and Children and Young Persons Act 1932)

• regulation of cinemas and the storage of celluloid (Cinematograph Act 1909)

• public health and housing responsibilities (1909 and 1930)

• care of the mentally deficient; care of those suffering from tuberculosis (1913)

• welfare of the blind (1920)

• library services (1922)

• administration of hospitals and institutions after the abolition of the Boards of Guardians (1929)

• registration of births, marriages and deaths (1929)

• provision of sports, recreation and physical training facilities (1937)

• civil defence responsibilities (Air Raid Precautions Act 1938 and Civil Defence Act 1939)

• town and county planning (1947)

• fire and ambulance services (1947)

The Council also lobbied Parliament for powers it felt it required through the passing of the Middlesex County Council Acts, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1938 and 1950. Powers conferred by these acts included bridge construction, authority over mains drainage, authority over parks and open spaces, further controls over highways and licensing of wrestling and boxing entertainments.

Middlesex prospered until its growth from an area of small towns and villages to almost total urbanisation, which gradually eliminated all visible boundaries between London and Middlesex. This resulted in the merging of the two counties into a Greater London area in 1965, run by the Greater London Council (GLC).

The Civil Defence Department existed from 1938-1946 and from 1948-1965. It reported to the Air Raids Precautions Committee (1938-1939) and the Civil Defence Committee (1948-1965).

The development of aircraft and related weaponry in the early twentieth century brought with it the threat of attacks on civilian populations and property at times of war. London in particular had suffered a degree of enemy action from the air during the First World War. In the 1930s the political situation in Europe compelled the government to implement legislation for the protection of the civilian population in the event of a war. In July 1935 the Home Office issued a circular on Air Raid Precautions (ARP) to all local authorities which encouraged them to create ARP machinery and to recruit and train the public in ARP duties. The decision to work through the local authorities was a significant one. In Middlesex some of the lower tier authorities developed high calibre plans (Hornsey for example) while others did very little work. This was a pattern reflected by the whole country. The county of Middlesex was considered by the Home Office to be an area of "especial danger" where civil defence was very important.

Under the 1937 Air Raid Precautions Act local authorities were obliged to draw up ARP schemes in order to protect civilians and their property from air attack. In Middlesex the Air Raid Precautions Committee consisting of County Councillors was formed in 1938. The Committee decided that the lower tier authorities had a major part to play in civil defence and urged them to appoint their own ARP officers and formulate proposals which could be co-ordinated by the County Council. A small Civil Defence Department was set up by the County Council to deal with this work under the leadership of a Civil Defence Officer. The Munich Agreement of September 1938 gave fresh impetus to the development of Civil Defence activities. A recruitment drive for part time volunteers was initiated together with the construction of air raid shelters and the establishment of rest centres. It was anticipated, given what had happened in the First World War, that poison gas would be used so gas masks were issued. First Aid Posts were set up and trenches built in open spaces. The Middlesex County Council area was incorporated into the London Civil Defence Region to form Group 6. The Civil Defence Act 1939 gave further responsibilities to the local authorities. On the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939 a civil defence organisation was in being, although not equipped or ready for active service.

Evacuation plans for children and mothers were first drawn up in the late 1930s. The prime movers in this were the London County Council and the government, as Middlesex County Council was not responsible for all education provision at that date. The boroughs of Action, Edmonton, Hornsey, Tottenham and Willesden were included in the plans, and later also Enfield, Ealing, Brentford and Chiswick. Evacuation took place from 1-4 September 1939 and by this date many people had already left London privately. As no enemy bombing started in 1939 many evacuees returned to the capital before the end of the year and did not leave again until the start of the Blitz in September 1940.

Bombing in Middlesex began on 12 July 1940 and the whole of the county was badly affected by the Blitz (September 1940 - May 1941). There was a lull in bombing between May 1941 and 1944 with only sporadic attacks. During this period a degree of reorganisation took place within the Civil Defence services. The stretcher party service was amalgamated with the rescue service, wardens were given First Aid training. Emergency feeding was established by the Home Office and its use pioneered in Middlesex with the Red Cross who equipped and staffed empty houses and then housed homeless people and those suffering from shock. In the summer of 1944 attacks from flying bombs and long range rockets began (V1s and V2s) and Middlesex suffered early on and badly from these. 16,000 casualties were recorded. Notable incidents included 29 September 1940 daylight attack (target presumed to be Northolt Airport), when 200 high explosive bombs were dropped on area around Ruislip Road, Ealing; 30 November 1940 133 high explosive bombs dropped in a night raid on Twickenham and 13 February 1941 housing estate bombed near the Welsh Harp, Hendon.

The Civil Defence (Suspension of Powers) Act, 1945, suspended some provisions of the Civil Defence Acts 1937 and 1939, notably the obligations the local authorities had to prepare air raid precaution schemes, build shelters, train civil defence volunteers and organise the blackout. Full time civil defence staff were no longer required. The Middlesex County Council Air Raid Precautions Officer's Department was dissolved and its remaining duties undertaken by the Clerk's Department and County Treasurer's Department. The Home Office continued to encourage the activities of local Civil Defence branches of volunteers. These branches were strong in the Middlesex local districts so the County Council appointed honorary liaison officers to work with the branches. This work continued until the passing of the Civil Defence Act 1947.

The Civil Defence organisation stood down after the Second World War ended in 1945. In December 1948 the Civil Defence Act 1947 came into force and the County Council again received civil defence responsibilities. The new Act had been passed as an attempt to offer a measure of protection to the civilian population in the event of another war and in particular to tackle the new atomic warfare. The functions of the County Council fell into two areas: the organisation of the Middlesex Division of the Civil Defence Corps and the preparation of plans for the operation of certain war-time services The Civil Defence Committee sat again and a small Civil Defence Department was established under the County Civil Defence Officer. The County Council was again made responsible for the five areas of Hertfordshire within the Metropolitan Police District.

The County Council was responsible for the enrolment and training of volunteers to make up the Middlesex Defence Corps. The Civil Defence Committee decided at a very early stage that the lower tier authorities should play a large role in civil defence and be responsible for enrolling and training volunteers under the County Council's supervision. It was felt that a better response would be received from the general public if volunteers were organised locally. The local authorities were arranged into three sub-groups - Group A: Barnet, Cheshunt, East Barnet, Edmonton, Enfield, Finchley, Friern Barnet, Hornsey, Potters Bar, Southgate, Tottenham, Wood Green; Group B: Bushey, Elstree, Harrow, Hendon, Rusilip-Northwood, Uxbridge, Wembley, Willesden and Group C: Acton, Brentford and Chiswick, Ealing, Feltham, Hayes and Harlington, Heston and Isleworth, Southall, Staines, Sunbury-on-Thames, Twickenham, Yiewsley and West Drayton. The Corps was divided by the Civil Defence Act into five sections: headquarters; warden; ambulance and casualty collecting; rescue; welfare. Recruitment began in November 1949 and by the end of the year 8,579 members had been enrolled. The County Council retained the responsibility for ensuring that the instructors were trained. Qualifications could be obtained at Home Office Technical Training Schools.

Volunteers received basic training and then proceeded to work within the section of the Corps in which they had enrolled. The County Council provided courses for instructors to use for the headquarters, warden and ambulance sections and guided the local authorities in selecting the instructors for the welfare section. To ensure that volunteers were properly trained the County Council encouraged the districts to establish civil defence training centres and authorised expenditure with this in mind. Likewise the purchase of equipment was encouraged. By the end of 1952 25 districts had incendiary bomb huts; 24 districts had gas chambers and 13 districts had gas compounds. The Civil Defence Corps was often called in to assist other emergency services, for example in transport accidents and searches for missing children.

The County Civil Defence Officer was the chief officer of the department. Under him were four assistant Civil Defence Officers, an Assistant Rescue Officer, six full time instructors with clerical and manual support staff. There were personnel within other County Council departments who were charges within the planning of the emergency services and were so involved in civil defence work. There was a sub-divisional Civil Defence Officer in each local authority for whose salary expenses the local authority was reimbursed by the County Council.

In 1962 central government initiated an overhaul of the running of Civil Defence Corps. The aim of this reorganisation was to enhance the status of the Corps, to improve efficiency, and to develop a nucleus of highly trained volunteers. These changes took effect from 1 October 1962 and the most significant effect was to improve the standards of training. The civil defence functions of the County Council passed to the new London Boroughs and the county councils of Hertfordshire and Surrey.

The Children's Department of the Middlesex County Council was set up under the Children Act 1948 which embodied the findings of the Curtis Report of 1945-1946. The Act took effect on 5 July 1948; the first meeting of the newly formed Children's Committee took place on the next day, taking over from the Interim Children's Committee, formed of the members of the thereafter defunct Children's Care Sub-Committee of the Education Committee. The first Children's Officer, Mr Ainscow, had in fact been appointed in anticipation, with effect from 1 May 1948. The duties of the Department had previously been distributed across several County Council departments (the Public Assistance, Public Health and Education Departments), as well as bodies (education authorities outside the MCC and the County Maternity and Child Welfare authorities) not part of the County Council at all.

The activities of the Children's Department may be summarised as follows:
i) Care and welfare: this comprised of the provision of care for a) children under the age of 17 if they had no parents or guardians; if they were abandoned or lost; of if their parents were unable to provide for their proper upbringing, provided that such care was in the child's best interests: and b) children committed by a court to the care of the County Council under a Fit Person order. This involved inter alia the running of homes and nurseries, the maintenance of the boarding out system for foster homes, and in some cases the assumption of full parental rights until the child should attain majority. The Department also undertook the care of children as delegated by the Welfare Department when dealing with problem or evicted families.

ii) Child Life Protection: this was a long standing local authority responsibility. After the passing of the Children Act 1948 its effect was to render it an offence for any person other than the parent, legal guardian or a relative to undertake for reward (whether or not for profit) the care of a child below school leaving age (15 in 1948) without notifying the County Council as a welfare authority. The Children's Department publicised the legal obligations upon such persons, supervised placements, inspected and regulated foster homes and so on. After the Adoption Act 1950, a similar duty to notify the Council rested upon anyone placing a child in another's care (with the same exceptions as above).

iii) Approved schools and remand homes: a child could be committed by the courts into the care of the Council either by a Fit Person Order, the effect of which was to put the child into the care of the Children's Department or by an Approved School Order, which placed the child under the care of managers at an Approved School. It should be noted that placements were made under the aegis of the Home Office nationwide, and that although the Council, through sub-committees of the Children's Committees, ran two approved schools, by no means all Middlesex children would be allocated places there. The Committee also ran two remand homes. The Children's Department were involved in briefing judges on cases: sometimes in bringing themselves in order to gain the powers by which to afford children under threat the care and protection they needed; and as the executive arm of the County Council on receipt of Fit Person Orders. Staff were also responsible for the supervision and after-care of "licensed" Middlesex children.

iv) Under the Adoption Act 1926, the County Council had since 1943 to oversee the compulsory registration of adoption societies in the county (not an onerous duty: two were registered in of which only one, the Homeless Children's Aid and Adoption Society, continued for any length of time). Compulsory notification to the County Council of all adoptions in the county was not introduced until the Adoption Act 1950. Also, from that point of view the Council had to supervise every prospective third party adoption in its area, whether or not involved in any other capacity. After the 1958 Act the Council had the power to place children for adoption even if those children were not in its care. Its powers of supervision were widened to include all adoptions in the county.

Health areas of the County of Middlesex, also used as administrative areas by the MCC Children's Department: Area 1 Enfield and Edmonton; Area 2 Southgate, Potters Bar, Wood Green and Friern Barnet; Area 3 Hornsey and Tottenham; Area 4 Finchley and Hendon; Area 5 Harrow; Area 6 Wembley and Willesden; Area 7 Ealing and Acton; Area 8 Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, Hayes and Harlington, Yiewsley and West Drayton; Area 9 Heston and Isleworth, Southall and Area 10 Feltham, Staines, Twickenham, Sunbury.

Adoption:

Until the Adoption Act 1926 legal adoption did not exist in English law. The 1926 Act gave no specific powers to local authorities, but the County Council was frequently, in its capacity as a local education authority, asked to act as a Guardian Ad Litem (that is to protect the child's rights before the law). When so requested, the County Council delegated this function to the officers of the Education Department. Other local education authorities could be approached instead in cases within their areas, or the Court's own probation officer might be appointed.

The Adoption of Children Regulation Act 1939 was designed to rectify some of the abuses of the 1926 Act and specifically, required adoption services to be approved and registered with local authorities. There were in fact only three such services in Middlesex in 1943 when the Act was finally implemented and only one, the Homeless Children's Aid and Adoption Society, remained in operation for any length of time thereafter. Also from 1943 certain duties of supervision of private adoptions were placed upon the welfare authorities, of which the MCC was one.

The duties of the Education Department relating to adoptions passed to the newly created Children's Department in 1948. In the next year was passed the Adoption of Children Act 1949, which was immediately consolidated with the previous legislation as the Adoption Act 1950. This Act made significant changes to adoption procedures: that which most particularly affected the County Council was the requirement that no adoption order could be made unless at least three months notice of intention to adopt had been given to the welfare authority, i.e. the County Council. Therefore from 1950 the County Council was notified of every intended adoption within the County, regardless of who the guardian ad litem was. Further, on receipt of a notice of an intended third party adoption (that is to say an adoption placement made by a third party, not a registered adoption society or local authority; adoptions by parents of their own children - very commonly done by women with illegitimate children and subsequently married) an officer of the Children's Department would commence supervision of the child or children either until the granting of the Court Order, or, if the supervision revealed the prospective adopters as unsuitable, until the end of the statutory period. The Adoption Act 1958 extended the powers of supervision to all adoptions and from this date the County Council had, in theory, some record of every adoption that took place in the County. The Act also enabled local authorities to act as adoption agencies in their own right.

The Children's Department of the Middlesex County Council was set up under the Children Act 1948 which embodied the findings of the Curtis Report of 1945-1946. The Act took effect on 5 July 1948; the first meeting of the newly formed Children's Committee took place on the next day, taking over from the Interim Children's Committee, formed of the members of the thereafter defunct Children's Care Sub-Committee of the Education Committee. The first Children's Officer, Mr Ainscow, had in fact been appointed in anticipation, with effect from 1 May 1948. The duties of the Department had previously been distributed across several County Council departments (the Public Assistance, Public Health and Education Departments), as well as bodies (education authorities outside the MCC and the County Maternity and Child Welfare authorities) not part of the County Council at all.

The activities of the Children's Department may be summarised as follows:
i) Care and welfare: this comprised of the provision of care for a) children under the age of 17 if they had no parents or guardians; if they were abandoned or lost; of if their parents were unable to provide for their proper upbringing, provided that such care was in the child's best interests: and b) children committed by a court to the care of the County Council under a Fit Person order. This involved inter alia the running of homes and nurseries, the maintenance of the boarding out system for foster homes, and in some cases the assumption of full parental rights until the child should attain majority. The Department also undertook the care of children as delegated by the Welfare Department when dealing with problem or evicted families.

ii) Child Life Protection: this was a long standing local authority responsibility. After the passing of the Children Act 1948 its effect was to render it an offence for any person other than the parent, legal guardian or a relative to undertake for reward (whether or not for profit) the care of a child below school leaving age (15 in 1948) without notifying the County Council as a welfare authority. The Children's Department publicised the legal obligations upon such persons, supervised placements, inspected and regulated foster homes and so on. After the Adoption Act 1950, a similar duty to notify the Council rested upon anyone placing a child in another's care (with the same exceptions as above).

iii) Approved schools and remand homes: a child could be committed by the courts into the care of the Council either by a Fit Person Order, the effect of which was to put the child into the care of the Children's Department or by an Approved School Order, which placed the child under the care of managers at an Approved School. It should be noted that placements were made under the aegis of the Home Office nationwide, and that although the Council, through sub-committees of the Children's Committees, ran two approved schools, by no means all Middlesex children would be allocated places there. The Committee also ran two remand homes. The Children's Department were involved in briefing judges on cases: sometimes in bringing themselves in order to gain the powers by which to afford children under threat the care and protection they needed; and as the executive arm of the County Council on receipt of Fit Person Orders. Staff were also responsible for the supervision and after-care of "licensed" Middlesex children.

iv) Under the Adoption Act 1926, the County Council had since 1943 to oversee the compulsory registration of adoption societies in the county (not an onerous duty: two were registered in of which only one, the Homeless Children's Aid and Adoption Society, continued for any length of time). Compulsory notification to the County Council of all adoptions in the county was not introduced until the Adoption Act 1950. Also, from that point of view the Council had to supervise every prospective third party adoption in its area, whether or not involved in any other capacity. After the 1958 Act the Council had the power to place children for adoption even if those children were not in its care. Its powers of supervision were widened to include all adoptions in the county.

Health areas of the County of Middlesex, also used as administrative areas by the MCC Children's Department: Area 1 Enfield and Edmonton; Area 2 Southgate, Potters Bar, Wood Green and Friern Barnet; Area 3 Hornsey and Tottenham; Area 4 Finchley and Hendon; Area 5 Harrow; Area 6 Wembley and Willesden; Area 7 Ealing and Acton; Area 8 Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, Hayes and Harlington, Yiewsley and West Drayton; Area 9 Heston and Isleworth, Southall and Area 10 Feltham, Staines, Twickenham, Sunbury.

Approved schools and remand homes:

In the first half of the nineteenth century, child offenders were sent to gaols along with adults; no differentiation was made. In the late 1840s and 1850s however, largely as a result of the Ragged School movement, various philanthropic groups and individuals began to experiment with schools for the reformation of delinquent children: also advocated were industrial schools where the children of the poorest classes whose mode of life was such that there was the probability of their becoming offenders might be fed and gainfully occupied in the acquisition and exercise of some means of making an honest livelihood. The movement bore fruit in the form of the Reformatory Schools (Youthful Offenders) Act 1854 and the Industrial Schools and Reformatory Schools Act 1857 reinforced by two further statutes of 1866. Under these acts, county justices were obliged to commit young offenders to such institutions, and local authorities to maintain them there, as well as being empowered themselves to maintain or contribute to the maintenance of such institutions (most were run by philanthropic or religious bodies).

On the creation of the Middlesex County Council in 1889 it was allotted the justices' functions regarding the maintenance of juveniles in reformatory and industrial schools. These functions were made the responsibility of the Industrial and Reformatory Schools Committee (after 1908 the Reformatory Schools Committee) until 1933.

The 1908 Children Act in effect abolished the difference between industrial and reformatory schools, which had more or less ceased to exist in 1899, when the Reformatory Schools Amendment Act did away with the requirement that juveniles committed to a reformatory school should spend a preliminary period in prison. More importantly the 1908 Act set up juvenile courts as an integral part of the legal system and redefined the reasons for which children might be brought before the Courts to include a much wider range of welfare (as opposed to punitive) committals. For example children being non-offenders might be brought before the juvenile courts as needing protection, if found begging in the streets; wandering and having no proper guardian; destitute, with parent(s) in prison; in the care of drunken or criminal parents; the daughter of a father convicted of the carnal knowledge of any daughter under 16; frequenting the company of a reported thief or prostitute; living in a house frequented by prostitutes or living in circumstances likely to lead to the seduction or prostitution of the child. Such children would then be committed if necessary to an industrial or reformatory school and maintained by the County Council. Further, whereas juveniles awaiting trial had previously been kept in prisons, it was now incumbent upon the police authorities to provide separate places of detention.

In the case of Middlesex the police authority was the Standing Joint Committee, who provided the Place of Detention, Willesden, located at 49 Church Road, Willesden. It opened in 1911 for the accommodation of remanded boys and girls. In 1913 the London County Council agreed to place the girls and the establishment thereafter was for the boys only. It closed in January 1921, when the LCC agreed to accommodate remanded boys for Middlesex County Council.

Major reforms were brought about by the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 which remained in force with amendments for the rest of the Council's existence. This Act replaced places of detention by remand homes, and reformatory and industrial schools by approved schools (i.e. approved by the Home Office). Juvenile offenders were committed by the juvenile courts by an approved school order to the care of the managers of an approved school. The placements were ultimately under the aegis of the Home Office, and could in theory be made anywhere in the country. The County Council was responsible for children and young people in its area. It was also responsible for making good any shortage in approved school accommodation, at the direction of the Home Office. Middlesex children might thus be committed to an approved school anywhere in the country, including those maintained by the MCC; the approved schools maintained by the MCC might receive children from and maintained by any authority in England and Wales. These new duties were given to the Education Committee, and the Reformatory Schools Committee was wound up.

On the eve of the Act the MCC were using the LCC Remand Home at Ponton Road, Nine Elms. They paid for the upkeep of Middlesex juveniles but as far as running a reformatory themselves their only involvement was an eighth part in Northcotts (North London) School, Walthamstow, the other seven eighths being divided between the Boroughs of Edmonton, Haringey, Tottenham and Wood Green. After some gentle prompting from the Home Office, the MCC agreed in 1935 to take over Northcotts entirely and provide new accommodation for it, and to provide another boys' approved school and an approved school for senior girls. In 1936 therefore the Council decided to rent the premises of the School for Jewish Boys in Hayes as an approved school for boys. The initial lease was for 8 years, on the expiry of which in 1944 the Council bought the freehold. The establishment was known from 1937 as Saint Christopher's Approved School.

Meanwhile the LCC had had to transfer their Ponton Road establishment to the Goldhawk Road, and had asked the MCC to find their own remand accommodation for boys, although the LCC still took MCC girls. The Council therefore decided as a temporary measure, to use the Manor House at Hayes (acquired in 1934) as a boys remand home. It began operations in November 1936 as the Manor House Remand Home and was renamed Saint Nicholas Remand Home in November 1938. It was decided in the same year that the establishment should be made permanent.

The question of the transfer of Northcotts was becoming urgent by reason of the inadequate accommodation in Walthamstow, but the Council were experiencing considerable difficulty in finding suitable premises. In 1938 Popes Farm in South Mimms was proposed but discarded in favour of Pishiobury Park, Sawbridgeworth, which was purchased in May 1939. Hardly had the work of adaptation begun however when the Saint Nicholas' premises at the Manor House, Hayes was severely damaged by a fire in July 1939. Pishiobury had therefore to be pressed into service as an emergency shelter for the remand home, and the date of the removal of Northcotts set back indefinitely: it was however agreed that the MCC should become responsible for the entire management of Northcotts as from 1 January 1940. Remand accommodation for girls was now becoming a problem. The number of remanded girls was increasing, and besides the limited LCC places available, the MCC had to use several privately run establishments and pay accordingly. No solution was found until April 1940 when agreement was reached with the Anglican Sisters of the Community of Saint Mary the Virgin that remand cases could be received at their premises at Saint Helena's, West Ealing. The MCC took the premises on a long lease in December 1941. The original date for the transfer of Northcotts to the MCC had been 1 January 1940. Because of the war, the transfer was put back to 1 April 1941, and duly took place on that date. As stated above Northcotts had in fact been moved to their new premises at Pishiobury earlier than planned and were already established there by the date of the transfer of management. From January 1942 the school was known as Pishiobury School.

The MCC had also agreed in 1935 to provide an approved school for senior girls. At length it was decided that the mansion of Denham Court might be suitable and approval for the conversion was given in the autumn of 1937. Work continued through 1939, up until the outbreak of war. In the first wave of evacuations in the autumn of 1939, Saint Nicholas' boys were transferred from Pishiobury to Denham Court, and Northcotts were moved from Walthamstow to Pishiobury; the girls approved school was temporarily shelved, although staff had already been appointed. In April 1940 the Home Office objected to the use of Denham Court for boys and required their removal. The original premises of Northcotts in Walthamstow were at first suggested but the onset of the Blitz put them out of consideration. Alternative accommodation was eventually found in 1941 at North Lodge, Enfield, formerly occupied by Kilvinton Hall School. Adaptation was authorised in July 1941, the new establishment to be known as Saint Nicholas Home, North Lodge, Enfield; it was in operation by January 1941.

Denham Court had become vacant in 1941 on the removal of Saint Nicholas' to Enfield, and the long delayed girls approved school commenced operations. Unfortunately it was not a success - mainly it appears because of the isolated location away from all urban amenities, and in January 1948 it was proposed that the school be discontinued, and the premises used instead as a hostel for children in care awaiting foster homes: this happened later in 1948.

On 5th July 1948 when the Children's Department came into being it took over two remand homes from the Education Department (Saint Helena's Ealing (girls); Saint Nicholas Enfield (boys)); and two approved schools (Saint Christopher's Hayes (junior boys) and Pishiobury, Sawbridgeworth (senior boys)). All these homes remained in use until the MCC was abolished in 1965.

The Children's Department of the Middlesex County Council was set up under the Children Act 1948 which embodied the findings of the Curtis Report of 1945-1946. The Act took effect on 5 July 1948; the first meeting of the newly formed Children's Committee took place on the next day, taking over from the Interim Children's Committee, formed of the members of the thereafter defunct Children's Care Sub-Committee of the Education Committee. The first Children's Officer, Mr Ainscow, had in fact been appointed in anticipation, with effect from 1 May 1948. The duties of the Department had previously been distributed across several County Council departments (the Public Assistance, Public Health and Education Departments), as well as bodies (education authorities outside the MCC and the County Maternity and Child Welfare authorities) not part of the County Council at all.

The activities of the Children's Department may be summarised as follows:
i) Care and welfare: this comprised of the provision of care for a) children under the age of 17 if they had no parents or guardians; if they were abandoned or lost; of if their parents were unable to provide for their proper upbringing, provided that such care was in the child's best interests: and b) children committed by a court to the care of the County Council under a Fit Person order. This involved inter alia the running of homes and nurseries, the maintenance of the boarding out system for foster homes, and in some cases the assumption of full parental rights until the child should attain majority. The Department also undertook the care of children as delegated by the Welfare Department when dealing with problem or evicted families.

ii) Child Life Protection: this was a long standing local authority responsibility. After the passing of the Children Act 1948 its effect was to render it an offence for any person other than the parent, legal guardian or a relative to undertake for reward (whether or not for profit) the care of a child below school leaving age (15 in 1948) without notifying the County Council as a welfare authority. The Children's Department publicised the legal obligations upon such persons, supervised placements, inspected and regulated foster homes and so on. After the Adoption Act 1950, a similar duty to notify the Council rested upon anyone placing a child in another's care (with the same exceptions as above).

iii) Approved schools and remand homes: a child could be committed by the courts into the care of the Council either by a Fit Person Order, the effect of which was to put the child into the care of the Children's Department or by an Approved School Order, which placed the child under the care of managers at an Approved School. It should be noted that placements were made under the aegis of the Home Office nationwide, and that although the Council, through sub-committees of the Children's Committees, ran two approved schools, by no means all Middlesex children would be allocated places there. The Committee also ran two remand homes. The Children's Department were involved in briefing judges on cases: sometimes in bringing themselves in order to gain the powers by which to afford children under threat the care and protection they needed; and as the executive arm of the County Council on receipt of Fit Person Orders. Staff were also responsible for the supervision and after-care of "licensed" Middlesex children.

iv) Under the Adoption Act 1926, the County Council had since 1943 to oversee the compulsory registration of adoption societies in the county (not an onerous duty: two were registered in of which only one, the Homeless Children's Aid and Adoption Society, continued for any length of time). Compulsory notification to the County Council of all adoptions in the county was not introduced until the Adoption Act 1950. Also, from that point of view the Council had to supervise every prospective third party adoption in its area, whether or not involved in any other capacity. After the 1958 Act the Council had the power to place children for adoption even if those children were not in its care. Its powers of supervision were widened to include all adoptions in the county.

Health areas of the County of Middlesex, also used as administrative areas by the MCC Children's Department: Area 1 Enfield and Edmonton; Area 2 Southgate, Potters Bar, Wood Green and Friern Barnet; Area 3 Hornsey and Tottenham; Area 4 Finchley and Hendon; Area 5 Harrow; Area 6 Wembley and Willesden; Area 7 Ealing and Acton; Area 8 Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, Hayes and Harlington, Yiewsley and West Drayton; Area 9 Heston and Isleworth, Southall and Area 10 Feltham, Staines, Twickenham, Sunbury.

Children's Homes:

Middlesex County Council adopted the policy of closing large institutional homes and opening small residential homes on ordinary streets. These homes were scattered throughout the County so that children in care could be distributed among different schools. The homes were mixed in order to approximate family life and to keep brothers and sisters together. There were over 40 small children's homes, three intermediate homes and a reception centre in Middlesex. There were also residential nurseries.