A cholera outbreak in the United Kingdom in 1848 claimed approximately 52,000 lives. In 1849 the disease returned, killing 14,137 in London, 5,308 in Liverpool, 1,834 in Hull, and an estimated 33,000 nationwide.
Edmund Dunch (1602-1678) was the son of Sir William Dunch of Little Wittenham, Berkshire. He was a cousin of Oliver Cromwell through his mother Mary, and supported the Parliamentarian side in the English Civil War. The document in this collection was issued when Dunch refused to pay ship money to Charles I. He was tried but not punished.
Denis Noel Pritt, 1887-1972, was educated at Winchester, London University, Germany, Switzerland and Spain. He obtained an LLB from London University and was called to the Bar, Middle Temple, in 1909, he retired from practice in 1960. He was a Labour MP for Hammersmith North from 1935-1950, despite being expelled from the Labour Party in 1940. He was also Professor of Law at the University of Ghana, 1965-1966, chairman of the Howard League for Penal Reform and chairman of the Bentham Committee for Poor Litigants. In addition his interest in peace led him to become president of the British Peace Committee and a member of the World Peace Council. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1954.
Pritchard and Burton, tobacco manufacturers, was founded by Edward Pritchard, tobacconist of Snow Hill, King Street, London. Originally from Wales, Pritchard was previously a partner of Pritchard and Lloyd, 'Snuff Manufacturers and 'Segar' Merchants', founded in 1825, before his partner died and he began trading alone. In 1846, he took Alfred Burton (c.1842-1917) on as his clerk. In 1853 Burton married Pritchard's niece and was then made a partner in the new firm of Pritchard and Burton in 1857. On Pritchard's death in 1869, Burton was left sole proprietor.
The company was most famous for its celebrated Boar's Head Shag blend, made from East Indian raw leaf tobacco which proved very popular with London's working classes. In 1878, Burton's eldest son Edward came into the business, followed, in 1881 by his second son Frank. Alfred Burton's decision not to join the new Imperial Tobacco Company and refusal to invest in the cigarette, believing it to be just a passing fad, possibly hampered the success of the company. However the firm remained prosperous into the early 20th century, providing pipe tobacco within the London area. The company began to advertise extensively from the 1930s mostly on the London Underground network. By the 1940s, the firm was performing poorly, and was taken over by George Dobie and Son Limited of Paisley, Scotland. Within one year, the firm was wound up, and Pritchard and Burton was sold to Godfrey Phillips Limited of London. In 1968 the Acton factory was closed and within a few months, the Phillips group was taken over by the American firm of Phillip Morris Inc. who in 1971 moved Pritchard and Burton to Silvertown in London's Docklands. Family member Lovick Burton continued as the managing director of the Pritchard and Burton division of Phillip Morris Inc. until the early 1980s.
Head Offices: Snow Hill, City of London (until 1870); due to the construction of the Metropolitan Railway, the firm was forced to move to a purpose built warehouse at 1 Farringdon Road (1870-1930s); moved to a new factory in Victoria Road, Acton, Middlesex (1930s-1968); upon closure the production of the Boars Head brand continued in Commercial Street, East London; Silvertown (1971-1980s).
Charles Pritchard was born in Shropshire and brought up in London. He entered St John's College, Cambridge, in 1826, graduating BA in 1830 and MA in 1833. He was briefly (1833-1834) headmaster of Stockwell Grammar School before becoming head of the new Clapham Grammar School (1834-1862). After living on the Isle of Wight for several years, he became Savilian professor of astronomy at the University of Oxford in 1870, where he pioneered the use of stellar photography. Pritchard was a Fellow of the Royal Society, a member of several other learned societies, and received several honours from both Oxford and Cambridge universities. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1834 and lectured widely on both religious and scientific subjects.
The Priory Medical Society was founded in 1890, the first Chairman was Dr Thomas Morton. It was a local medical society with 15 members, all medical practitioners working in the Hampstead area, some members held consultant posts at Hampstead General Hospital and the Children's Hospital, Hampstead. The Society met fortnightly between October and April at members' homes. Each member was required to present a paper, or cases or pathological specimens in each session. The Society's activities were suspended in October 1939, it is not known if it was reformed after the war.
Watney Combe Reid and Company Ltd was formed in 1898 when a merger was negotiated between Watney and Co Ltd of the Stag Brewery, Pimlico; Combe and Co Ltd of the Wood Yard Brewery, Long Acre and Reid's Brewery Co Ltd, of the Griffin Brewery, Clerkenwell. Following the merger the company was the largest brewing concern in the United Kingdom, and was based at Watney's Stag Brewery in Pimlico. The Stag Brewhouse and Brewery, Pimlico, was founded in 1636 by John Greene and his son Sir William Greene. In 1837 James Watney, a miller, bought a quarter share in the Stag Brewery, alongside John Elliot. From 1849 the firm was known as Elliot, Watney and Co. John Elliot withdrew from the business in 1850, remaining a partner in name only until 1858 when he retired. The firm became known as James Watney and Co. In 1885 Watney and Co Ltd was registered as a limited liability company. Combe and Co Ltd was founded in 1722 by John Shackley in a former timber yard off Long Acre, London. In 1739 the business was acquired by William Gyfford who enlarged the premises, trading as Gyfford and Co. In 1787 the brewery was purchased by Harvey Christian Combe, a malt factor, but it was not until 1839 that the firm began to trade as Combe and Co. The Wood Yard Brewery closed in 1905 but the Combe family continued to take a major role in the management of Watney, Combe, Reid and Co Ltd. In 1757 Richard Meux and Mungo Murray acquired the Jackson's Brewery in Mercer Street. When this was damaged in a major fire they constructed new premises at Liquorpond Street (now Clerkenwell Road). In 1793 Andrew Reid joined the business which became known as Meux, Reid and Co. In 1816 the Meux family left the business which changed its name to Reid and Co. The company was registered in 1888 as Reid's Brewery Co Ltd. On the merger with Watney and Combe it ceased to brew. In 1956 Watney, Combe, Reid and Co Ltd decided that the Stag Brewery offered no further scope for expansion. Mann, Crossman and Paulin Ltd of Whitechapel was acquired to provide a new London brewery, and the company name was changed to Watney Mann Ltd.
Prior Burners were based at 2 Brandon Road, York Road, St Pancras, London. They were manufacturers of furnaces and boilers.
The Associated Coal and Wharf Company Ltd were involved in the transport, handling, preparation and delivery of domestic coals in the South of England. They were based at 4 St Dunstans Alley, EC3 and later 4 Fenchurch Avenue, EC3.
Joachim Prinz was born in Burchartsdorf, Germany, in 1902, and ordained by the Breslau Jewish Theological Seminary in 1925. In 1926 he became rabbi of the Berlin Jewish community. His adherence to the Zionist movement brought him into conflict with the leaders of the Berlin Jewish community. Prinz continually attacked Nazism from his pulpit, even after Hitler came to power, and was arrested several times by the Gestapo. In 1937 he held his last meeting with his congregation before emigrating to the US. The meeting was spied on by Adolf Eichmann, who reported to the Gestapo that Prinz's plan to emigrate proved that an international Jewish conspiracy had New York as a headquarters. Prinz was subsequently arrested by the Gestapo and expelled from Germany. In 1939 he was appointed rabbi at Temple B'nai Abraham, Newark, New Jersey.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
Born, 1707; education: St Andrews; St Leonard's College, 1722; Edinburgh University, 1727; studied medicine in Leiden, graduating MD, 1730; completed his medical studies in Paris; medical practice in Edinburgh; joint Professor of Pneumatics (metaphysics) and Moral Philosophy in Edinburgh University; Physician to the Earl of Stair; Physician to the Army in Flanders, 1742; Physician-General to the Duke of Cumberland, 1744-1748; resigned his professorship in Edinburgh, 1744; settled in London and continued in medical practice, 1748; Physician-in-Ordinary to the Duke of Cumberland, 1749; Council member of the Royal Society, 1753; LRCP, 1758; FRCP, 1763; speciali gratia, Physician to the Queen, 1761; President of the Royal Society, 1772-1778; baronet, 1766; gazetted Physician-in-Ordinary to the king, 1774; died, 1782.
Publications:
Observations on the Nature and Cure of Hospital and Jayl Fevers (1750)
Observations on the Diseases of the Army (1752)
The following details have been extracted from the Medical Directory: 1902 MRCP LRCP (St Barts) 1904 MB 1905 MD (London) (Qualified for Gold Medal) Posts held: Resident Medical Officer, Royal Hospital for Diseases of the Chest House Physician, St Bartholomews Hospital Assistant Physician, South Eastern Hospital for Children, Sydenham Assistant County Medical Officer, Kent County Council Medical Referee, Ministry of Labour and National Service He appears to have been in general practice in Sydenham/Anerley. He retired in c 1968 and disappears from the Medical Directory in 1974.
S W Pring (?-1954) was a translator of Russian literature and writings on music.
The Principal is the chief academic and administrative officer of the College, responsible to the College Council. There have been eighteen Principals since the appointment of William Otter in 1831.
The hospital later known as The Princess Beatrice Hospital was founded in 1887 as a voluntary hospital called the Jubilee Hospital to commemorate the jubilee of Queen Victoria. It was situated at the corner of Finborough Road and Old Brompton Road, then known as Richmond Road. There were 14 beds, this being increased later to 18 by the addition of a children's ward of 4 beds. The name "Jubilee" was at some time before 1910 changed to Fulham and Kensington General Hospital and in 1921 to The Kensington, Fulham and Chelsea General Hospital. In 1928 the number of beds was increased to 19. Work commenced on a new and bigger hospital in January 1930, and the foundation stone was laid by Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice. The name of the hospital was changed in 1931 to the Princess Beatrice Hospital. The new outpatient hall opened in December 1931, and the in-patient department in January 1932. In 1933 the Ladies Association was formed, with Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, as President, and the Marchionesses of Carisbrooke and Linlithgow as Vice Presidents. When the Health Service was inaugurated in 1948 the hospital was for two years attached to St George's Hospital, and on 1 August 1950 was transferred to the No.4 (Chelsea) Group Hospital Management Committee. The hospital was closed in July 1971 in order to convert it to an Obstetric Unit. It had been decided in the late 1960's that owing to the development of St Stephen's Hospital, the acute services at the Princess Beatrice Hospital would be transferred to St Stephen's Hospital as soon as the re-development of that hospital enabled this to happen. The hospital re-opened in 1972. With the re-organisation of the Health Service in 1974 it became part of the Kensington Chelsea and Westminster Area Health Authority, South District. The hospital was finally closed at the end of March 1978.
The King's Fund was established in 1897 as the Prince of Wales Hospital Fund for London for the purpose of raising money for the Voluntary Hospitals within a seven mile radius from Charing Cross. A letter by the Prince of Wales was published in 'The Times' on 6 February 1897 inviting subscriptions in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the reign of Queen Victoria.
The first distribution of grants by the Fund took place in 1897/1898 and amounted to £57,000 however, it was the intention of the Prince and the founding members of the first General Council that the Fund woud become a permanent body with sufficient captial to produce an annual income for distribution. On 1 January 1902 the Fund was renamed King Edward's Hospital Fund for London and in 1907 the Fund was incorporated by an Act of Parliament.
As the amount available for distribution grew so did the remit of the Fund. The initial seven mile limit from Charing Cross was extended in 1924 to nine miles and in 1940 to the whole of the Metropolitan Region. The Fund also began to include Convescent Homes in its annual distributions.
Thanks to its financial success, the Fund soon began to have a considerable influence on the work and administration of the London voluntary hospitals and its activities soon diversified into inspecting hospitals and encouraging a more rational distribution of health services across the growing expanse of the city, for example they were instrumental in the move of King's College Hospital to Camberwell, South London. The King's Fund also began to undertake a number of pan-London roles, for example by opening and operating a service of emergency admissions to hospitals and encouraging combined fund raising appeals. The Fund as part of the conditions of its grants required hospitals to submit particulars of their accounts and this led to the introduction of a uniform system of hosptial accounts. They also began to be the representing body of the voluntary hospitals in debates about health and welfare policy.
At the end of the First World War many voluntary hospitals were in considerable difficulty owing to lack of resources. A Hospital Commission was set up for the country to administer a government grant, with King Edward's Fund acting as the coordinating body for the London area. As a result, the Fund overhauled its own constitution into five main committees, Finance, Distribution, Hospital Economy, Revenue and Management. Several special committees were established in the 1920s to investigate various matters, including pensions schemes for nurses and hospital staff, provision of ambulances, and for road casualties.
The establishment of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948 led to a reappraisal of the work of the King's Fund. Instead of giving maintenance grants to the now tax-funded health service, it concentrated its resources on developing good practice in the NHS and opened a number of new services to provide training, learning and sharing opportunities for NHS staff including the Division of Hospital Facilities (opened 1948, became The Hospital Centre), the College for Ward Sisters (opened 1949), the Catering Advisory Service (opened 1950), th Hospital Administrative Staff College and the School of Hospital Catering (opened 1951) and the Staff College for Matrons (1953). The Fund's colleges were amalgamated in 1968 to become the 'King's Fund College' and in 1997 a change and leadership centre was established. Leadership development is still continued under the Leadership and Development Team.
Post NHS the Fund also became the home of numerous development projects to improve the quality of health care and opened a specialist health services library in Camden Town. The range of projects ranged enormously from investigations into the use of disposal goods in hospital wards through to the investigation into the design of the hospital bed-stead in the 1960s. In the 1980s, the King's Fund established a unit to analyse health policy issues and a service offering organisational audit to health services. It was also in this era that the Fund widened the scope of its activities to look at social care and public health becoming an influential organisation in health policy, pioneering the development of patient choice in the NHS, of partnerships between health and social care, and of the arts in health. It also began working to tackle health inequalities in London working with the Greater London Authority and other health agencies as well as continuing its work analysing national health policy and developing new ways of working in the NHS and social care services.
In 2008 the Fund was granted a Royal Charter which in effect gave a new set of governance arrangements, which include a modern version of the original objectives. Allowing the Fund to remain an independent and expert body able to exercise influence and use ideas to change health care.
The Prince Steam Shipping Company Ltd was formed in 1883 with a nominal capitol of £250,000. Further steamships were ordered and the first of these commenced trading in 1884. By 1886 the company's fleet comprised twenty sailing ships and seventeen ocean-going steamships. A year later the sailing vessels were sold and Knott applied himself to the development of a fleet of steamships engaged in world-wide trade. Among the earliest services advertised were those between the UK and Tripoli, Malta, Tunis, Egypt, Cyprus, Palestine and Syria. By 1888 the company was firmly established on routes from Europe and New York to Brazil and the River Plate and in the years leading up to the First World War, it had a large share in the coffee trade between Brazil and the USA.
With the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal in 1894, a service was instituted between Manchester and Alexandria for the importation of Egyptian cotton. Manufactured goods and machinery were exported through Manchester.
In 1895 a new company was formed, the Prince Line (1895) Ltd. Three years later the date was dropped from the title and the Prince Line Ltd absorbed the entire range of Knott's shipping interests, principally the Prince Steam Shipping Company Ltd and the Prince Steam shipping Insurance Association, founded in 1887. As older ships were replaced by new and larger tonnage a regular line was built on the carriage of Italian emigrants to New York. However , in 1917 the Italian Government restricted this trade to national flag carriers and the Prince Line's part in it came to an end.
In the early years of the twentieth century a service from New York to South Africa, India and the Far East was inaugurated. Later, in 1917, twelve steamers and the interests of James Gardiner and Company, Glasgow, were acquired to become the subsidiary company Rio Cape Line. The combination of these undertakings led to the development of a round the world service.
During the First World War nineteen ships were lost to enemy action. Following the death of two of his sons at Ypres and the Somme and the capture of a third at Gallipoli, James Knott, the founder of the company, sold his interests to Furness, Withy and Company Ltd in August 1916. He was created a baronet the following year. In 1919 the Furness family relinquished their interests in Furness, Withy and Company Ltd. and as result the offices of the company were moved from Newcastle to London.
The fleet and services were rebuilt between the wars despite the economic depression of the decades. The company's first motor ship, built in 1924 as the TRAMORE, was taken over from the associated Johnston Line in 1925 and renamed BRAZILIAN PRINCE. In 1929 four fast passenger-cargo motor ships of 10, 920 tons gross, carrying 101 passengers, were completed and named NORTHERN PRINCE, SOUTHERN PRINCE, EASTERN PRINCE and WESTERN PRINCE. These were employed on the well established New York- South American routes.
At the outbreak of war in 1939 the Prince Line and Rio Cape Line fleets together comprised twenty vessels, maintaining the four regular services- the Mediterranean, USA- South Africa, New York - South America and the Far East round the world service. Losses during the war totalled fourteen.
While the fleet was again rebuilt in the years after 1945 and the citrus trade with Israel continued to flourish, the entire operations of the company gradually contracted as a result of foreign competition and later, containerisation. Only a reduced Mediterranean service survived, and this was combined with Furness, Withy's other Mediterranean interest, the Manchester Liners service, as a joint operation.
Prince Brindley Limited was a subsidiary of R P Brindley and Company Limited of 37 Camp Road, Leeds. R P Brindley and Company were wine and spirit merchants and owned a large bottling plant near Leeds. It appears that the Victoria Wine Company purchased majority shares in Prince Brindley Limited in 1966, when the registered office of the latter changed to 1 Ballards Lane, Finchley, London, N3; the same address as the Victoria Wine Company.
Company number: 709591.
The Primitive Methodist Church did not formally constitute a Missionary Society, though its Missionary Reports used the term from 1843. Overseas work was directed by the General Missionary Committee of the Primitive Methodist Conference. The main Primitive Methodist fields were West Africa (Fernando Po and Nigeria) and Southern Africa (South Africa and Northern Rhodesia). These fields were transferred to the Methodist Missionary Society upon Methodist Union in 1932. Earlier work in the British colonies of North America and Australasia became autonomous by the end of the 19th century.
Primitive Methodism was the largest of the Wesleyan offshoots. Founded by Hugh Bourne (1772-1852) and William Clowes (1780-1851), both Wesleyan Local Preachers, the movement had no essential doctrinal arguments with the Wesleyan Methodism. Whereas the Wesleyans concentrated all power in the hands of the Ministers, the Primitive Methodists placed great emphasis on the role of lay people. Laymen were highly influential at connexional level and were occasionally elected President of the Conference. From 1872 the Vice-Presidency was open to ministers or laymen and after 1883 was almost always held by a layman. Women were permitted to be ministers. The Primitive Methodists represented a desire to be free to experiment in worship. They were sometimes known by the nickname 'Ranters', on account of their habit of singing in the streets.
The Primitive Methodist movement grew out of Camp Meetings, all day, open-air prayer and preaching meetings which had been introduced in to England from America. One of the first, and the most famous, of these was held on Mow Cop, on the border of Staffordshire and Cheshire, in May 1807. Camp Meetings spread throughout the Midlands and the North of England. The Wesleyan Conference of 1807 considered this style of meeting to be 'improper' and 'likely to be productive of considerable mischief'. Hugh Bourne was expelled from the Methodist Society in 1808, and William Clowes in 1810. Bourne issued a ticket of membership for the new denomination in 1811, and the following year the first preaching plan was printed. In February 1812 the movement took the name of the Society of the Primitive Methodists, which is thought to represent their desire to revive Wesley's original (primitive) doctrine and practices. The first Primitive Methodist Conference was held at Hull in 1820 and the Deed Poll giving the Connexion official status was signed at the 1829 Conference.
Initially, the Primitive Methodist Church was a Home and Colonial missionary organisation. By 1843 there were 53 Primitive Methodist stations in the British Isles. Each home circuit carried out its missionary operations separately until 1825, when the Conference appointed the General Missionary Committee to provide centralised guidance. This Committee collected and distributed funds for missions, through a Primitive Methodist Mission Fund, and it was responsible for the appointment and supervision of missionaries.
At the beginning of the 1840s the Primitive Methodist Connexion re-organised. With the retirement of Bourne and Clowes in 1843, new figures emerged, notably John Flesher and John Petty. There were changes in the administration of the Conference, and impetus for overseas missionary enterprise. In 1841 the Conference asked John Flesher to draw up a code of Regulations Affecting Foreign Missionaries. These regulations were adopted by the General Missionary Committee and were printed by the Conference in 1843. From the same year Annual Missionary Reports were issued under the name of the Primitive Methodist Missionary Society (PMMS).
The first overseas missions were to the British Colonies. In 1829 Primitive Methodist missionaries sailed to the United States, and they entered Canada the following year. Work began in Australia and New Zealand in 1844. Missions in North America and Australia were absorbed by Methodist Churches in those countries and by 1900, the overseas missionary work was focused on Africa. In January 1870 the first missionaries sailed for Africa and settled on the Island of Fernando Po (now Bioko, Equatorial Guinea), off the coast of West Africa. Nine months later a mission began in South Africa. From these 2 pioneer missions sprang two larger ones: Northern Rhodesia (now the Zambia) in 1893 and Nigeria, by far the largest mission, in 1894. PMMS Reports referred to the African work as 'Foreign Missions' (as opposed to the 'Colonial Missions' in British North America and Australasia).
As overseas missionary work developed, a number of missionary departments arose within the Primitive Methodist Church. In 1897, a Woman's Missionary Federation was organised as an auxiliary to the General Missionary Committee. By 1908 the Women's Missionary Federation had been established, with District auxiliaries attached to it. A Laymen's Missionary League was established in 1910, for the 'education of the Primitive Methodist laity to an adequate sense of the great missionary opportunities at home and abroad'. The League was modelled on existing lay organisations in the United States and Canada. Around this time, the Young People's Missionary Department was also founded. This aimed at bringing awareness of missions to thousands of young scholars.
The General Missionary Committee continued until 1932. When the Methodist Union took place, the overseas missionary work of the Primitive Methodists merged with that of the Wesleyan and United Methodists under the Methodist Missionary Society (MMS). Nigeria was the most significant ex-Primitive Methodist field to be added to the MMS.
Born in Birstall, Yorkshire, the eldest of six children. From 1742 adopted by his father's eldest sister, Sarah, wife of John Keighley. At Batley Grammar School from 1745, where learnt Latin and Greek; subsequently pupil of John Kirkby (1677-1754) congregational minister who had taught him Hebrew. Health initially not good enough to be a minister, so taught himself French German and Italian, and sought instruction in algebra and mathematics from George Haggerston (d. 1792) When health improved went to a dissenting academy, the Daventry Academy, where he was the first theological student under Caleb Ashworth, although Samuel Clarke (1727-1769) had more influence. His first post was as presbyterian minister at Needham Market, Suffolk, where his preaching was uncontroversial, though he did not hide his Arianism. In 1758 he became minister at Nantwich, Cheshire, where he established a flourishing school, and formed friendships with Edward Harwood and Joseh Brereton, vicar of Acton. In 1761 he became tutor at Warrington Academy, followed in 1762 by becoming ordained and marrying Mary, daughter of Isaac Wilkinson of Plas Grono, ironmaster at Bersham. The marriage led him to found a 'widows fund' for protestant dissenters of Lancashire and Cheshire in 1764, which became a valuable benefit society. Priestley spent a part of every year in London, where he met Benjamin Franklin. He was happy at Warrington, but it was not well paid, and his wife's health failed, so he took a post at Mill Hill Chapel, Leeds in 1767, where his ecclesiastical views underwent a change, and his printed tracts aroused criticism. In 1770 he founded the Leeds circulating library, and in 1771 received the offer of the post of astronomer on Captain Cook's second expedition by Sir Joseph Banks which he was unable to take up. Instead, in 1772 he took up the post of librarian or 'literary companion' with William Fitzmaurice-Pettty, second earl of Sherburne, afterwards first marquis of Lansdowne, at Calne. The books he catalogued are now the Lansdowne MSS in the British Museum, and he was given an extra £40 a year for his scientific experiments. He made his major discovery of 'dephlogisticated air' on 1 August 1774, just before accompanying his patron on a continental tour. His winters were spent in London, where he frequented the Whig Club at the London coffee-house of which Franklin and Canton were members. In 1780 he and Shelbourne parted amicably, and he moved to Birmingham to be nearer his brother-in-law John Wilkinson, who provided him with a house. His income was augmented by gifts from a wealthy widow, Elizabeth Rayner, and by annual subscriptions from his friends, such as Josiah Wedgwood the potter, and Samuel Parker a London optician, who also supplied him with every instrument he needed in glass. He became engaged for pastoral Sunday duty at the New Meeting in Birminghan in 1780. He dined once a month with the 'Lunar Society', meeting Matthew Boulton, James Keir, James Watt, William Withering the botanist and Erasmus Darwin. Politically he was never a member of a political party, but supported the reforming measures of the ablition of the slave trade and the repeal of the test and corporation acts. Popular feeling was against him after he vindicated the principles of the French revolution. In 1791 the Constitutional Society of Birmingham held a meeting, to which Priesltley did not go, but which led to riots; finding the guests had left the Dudley Hotel, the mob attacked the residences of the organisers, including Priestley's house at Fairhill. therafter he took up residence in London, becoming minister at the Gravel Pit Chapel in Hackney, where his friends more than made up his financial losses. However, he considered emigration to America for the sake of his children, a move supported by his wife, and in 1793 his three sons emigrated, followed in 1794 by Priestley and his wife.He settled in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, and after the death of his wife in 1796 went to live with his eldest son. He was never naturalized as an American citizen. He considered returning to Europe, especially France where he had property, but developing a fever while visiting Philadelphia in 1801 enfeebled him, and he died in Northumberland in 1804, and was buried in the Quakers burial ground there with William Chrisite giving a funeral address.
Frederick Sittner came to Great Britain in the mid 1930s and became engaged in trying to persuade the US Food and Drug Administration to allow the marketing by his father of a rejuvenation potion. [His father was a pharmacist. It is thought that none of Sittner's family survived the war.] Frederick also taught German and studied English. He was swept up in the first wave of internments in 1939. The addressee, May Priestley, had become deeply involved in the activities of a local committee for the relief of refugees, during the course of which a close friendship had emerged between her and Frederick. The death of Frederick on the Arandora Star, mentioned in the last letter from Mrs Vina Schwab, profoundly affected Mrs Priestley.
Prideaux and Sons, solicitors of Goldsmiths' Hall, Foster Lane, appear to have traded under the following names: to 1852 Lane and Prideaux; 1853-71 Walter Prideaux; 1872-80 Walter Prideaux and Son; 1881-6 Walter Prideaux and Sons; and 1887-1946 as Prideaux and Sons. In 1947 the firm became Kennedy, Ponsonby and Prideaux of 52 Bishopsgate.
Born, 1846; educated at Eton; admitted solicitor, 1870; Assistant Clerk, 1871-1882, and Clerk, 1882-1918, Goldsmith's Company; Knighted, 1891; Governor, Imperial College, representing the City and Guild's of London Institute, 1908-1919; died, 1928.
Publication: Memorials of the Goldsmiths' Company. Being gleanings from their records between the years 1335 and 1815 2 vol (Printed for private circulation, [London, 1896]).
John Pridden, minor canon of St Paul's and of Westminster, was curate of St Bride Fleet Street from 1783 to 1803, and rector of St George Botolph Lane with St Botolph Billingsgate from 1813 to 1825.
Following the outbreak of World War One in 1914, male English civilians living in Germany were interned at Ruhleben, a former race track situated between Berlin and Spandau. Within the prisoner of war camp an English 'colony' was created, including a school, dramatic and musical societies, library, sports leagues, shops, and an internal mail service.
No information on Matthew Prichard could be found at the time of compilation.
Born in Swansea, 1909; educated at Swansea Grammar School and at the University of Wales, Swansea, 1927-1932; Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 1932-1935, where he contributed to pioneering work on the science of spectroscopy, and the absorption spectra of polyatomic molecules in the vacuum ultraviolet; attached to Physical Chemistry Laboratory, molecular structure group, at the University of Cambridge, 1935-1943, where his team worked to measure ionisation potentials of molecules and produced high resolution spectra. Employed at Cambridge and the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, from 1939, and Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), Billingham, 1943-1946, on applying spectroscopy to the war effort, in particular by determining the composition of alloys used in enemy aircraft and developing industrial uses for spectroscopy. Price was a Research Associate at the University of Chicago, 1946-1947, before being appointed to King's College London in 1948, where he was at first attached to the Medical Research Council Biophysics Unit and studied the structure of biological fibres including collagen and hydrogen bonding within DNA base pairs, in collaboration with Rosalind Franklin, and was active at this time in designing important new infrared spectroscopic apparatus. Price was appointed Reader of Physics at King's in 1949, was elected to the Royal Society in 1959, appointed Wheatstone Professor of Physics at King's College in 1962 and made Head of Department. During the 1960s, he played a leading role in developing the new science of photoelectron spectroscopy to examine the energies of molecular orbitals, and studying, in particular, the spectra of benzene, before retiring in 1976. He died in 1993.
Born in Swansea, 1909; educated at Swansea Grammar School and at the University of Wales, Swansea, 1927-1932; Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 1932-1935, where he contributed to pioneering work on the science of spectroscopy, and the absorption spectra of polyatomic molecules in the vacuum ultraviolet; attached to Physical Chemistry Laboratory, molecular structure group, at the University of Cambridge, 1935-1943, where his team worked to measure ionisation potentials of molecules and produced high resolution spectra. Employed at Cambridge and the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, from 1939, and Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), Billingham, 1943-1946, on applying spectroscopy to the war effort, in particular by determining the composition of alloys used in enemy aircraft and developing industrial uses for spectroscopy. Price was a Research Associate at the University of Chicago, 1946-1947, before being appointed to King's College London in 1948, where he was at first attached to the Medical Research Council Biophysics Unit and studied the structure of biological fibres including collagen and hydrogen bonding within DNA base pairs, in collaboration with Rosalind Franklin, and was active at this time in designing important new infrared spectroscopic apparatus. Price was appointed Reader of Physics at King's in 1949, was elected to the Royal Society in 1959, appointed Wheatstone Professor of Physics at King's College in 1962 and made Head of Department. During the 1960s, he played a leading role in developing the new science of photoelectron spectroscopy to examine the energies of molecular orbitals, and studying, in particular, the spectra of benzene, before retiring in 1976. He died in 1993.
Born, 1885; visited Russia representing the family timber firm, 1908; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1909-1973; scientific expedition to central Siberia as a botanist and geologist, 1910-1914; Russian correspondent for the Manchester Guardian during the First World War; travelled in and wrote on Russia, Germany, Turkey and Persia; entered Parliament, 1929 and served in the House of Commons for almost 30 years; Honorary Fellow of the RGS, 1972; died, 1973.
Millie Browne (fl.1881-1918) (later Millie Braine Price) was born on Christmas Day, 25 Dec 1881, in London. She was the daughter of the baritone Walter Browne and his wife. Mrs Browne left her husband around 1884 and moved to York where her daughter grew up and went to Castlegate College. In 1895 her mother inherited a sum of money and was able to both divorce her husband and send her daughter to the Priory Street School, here the younger Browne became a pupil-teacher. A Quaker, from around this time, she became involved with the Labour movement and attended a number of meetings before being awarded a Queen's Scholarship. Failing to enter Stockwell College, she attended Swansea Training College until 1902. Thereafter she became a teacher at a number of schools in Leeds before moving back to York in 1904 where she also taught at the Seacroft School for a time. It was during a visit to London in 1907 that she heard speeches given by members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in Hyde Park and quickly became a member of the organisation. In Aug 1907 she was posted to Bristol to work on a suffrage campaign there with Annie Kenney and work in the suffrage shop in the town. She was offered a position as a WSPU organiser that she rejected before returning to her mother's home in Letchworth where she also campaigned. The following Aug 1908 she returned to Bristol to continue her activities. She took part in a series of parades in London and was arrested in one particular raid on the Houses of Parliament. She went on to be posted to Derbyshire during a by-election and to Llandudno and Southport as a helper before her activities tailed off as she became both concerned about the increasing violence of the methods used by the group and more interested in the work of the Labour Party. She went on to marry Charles Price, the son of the famous jeweller, and continued to attend local meetings of the WSPU until the outbreak of the First World War. Since she and her husband had become Quakers, she spent the war teaching while he became a conscientious objector and was posted to a hospital unit in Belgium. The fate of both after the war is unknown.
Langford Price, born 1862; educated at Oxford Universty; Lecturer for the Toynbee Trust in Newcastle and Cornwall; Lecturer (1908) and Reader (1921) in Economic History, Oxford University; Fellow, 1887-1950, and member of Council, of Royal Statistical Society; Hon. Secretary of Economic Society from beginning in 1890; Secretary, Economic Science and Statistics Section, British Association; Member of International Statistical Institute.
Publications: A Short Historyof Political Economy in England, 15 editions, 1891-1937; Money and its Relation to Prices, 3 editions, 1896-1929.
Harry Price was born in January 1881 and educated in London and Shropshire. Between 1896 and 1898, Price founded the Carlton Dramatic Society and wrote small plays, and showed early interest in the unusual by experimenting with space-telegraphy between Telegraph Hill, Hatcham and Brockley. He also became interested in numismatics at an early age and was involved with archaeological excavations in Greenwich Park, London and Shropshire between 1902 and 1904 and in Pulborough, Sussex in 1909, culminating with his appointment as honorary curator of numismatics at Ripon Museum in 1904. He married Constance Mary Knight in August 1908.
Price's first major success in psychical research came in 1922 when he exposed the fraudulence of 'spirit' photographs taken by William Hope. During the same year, Price investigated his first séance with Willi Schneider at the home of Baron von Schrenck-Notzing in Munich and published The Revelations of a Spirit Medium. In 1923, the National Laboratory of Psychical Research was established in Bloomsbury and Price had his first sittings with mediums Stella C, Jean Guzik and Anna Pilch. Shortly after, he outlined a scheme for broadcasting experiments in telepathy for the BBC and, in 1925, was appointed foreign research officer to the American Society for Psychical Research, apposition he was to hold until 1931. In 1926, the National Laboratory of Psychical Research moved to new premises in Queensbury Place, South Kensington, and Price was to experience his first sittings with Rudi Schneider in Braunau-am-Inn, Austria, and to conduct his first experiments with Eleanore Zugun in Vienna. One year later, Price publically opened the 'box' of prophetess, Joanna Southcott at a Church Hall in Westminster.
In 1929, Rudi Schneider was brought to London for experiments into his mediumship and Price began his 10 year investigation of hauntings at Borley Rectory in Suffolk. Shortly after, the National Laboratory moved again to Roland Gardens in South Kensington. In 1932, Price, along with C.E.M.Joad, travelled to Mount Brocken in Germany to conduct a 'black magic' experiment in connection with the centenary of Goethe, involving the transformation of a goat into a young man. The following year, Price made a formal offer to the University of London to quip and endow a Department of Psychical Research, and to loan the equipment of the National Laboratory and its Library. The University of London Board of Studies in Psychology responded positively to this proposal and, in 1934, the University of London Council for Psychical Investigation was formed with Price as Honorary Secretary and Editor. Price's psychical research continued with investigations into Karachi's Indian rope trick and the fire-walking abilities of Kuda Bux in 1935. He was also involved in the formation of the National Film Library (British Film Institute) becoming its first chairman (until 1941) and was a founding member of the Shakespeare Film Society. In 1936, Price broadcast from a haunted manor house in Meopham, Kent for the BBC and published The Confessions of a Ghost-Hunter and The Haunting of Cashen's Gap. This year also saw the transfer of Price's library on permanent loan to the University of London, followed shortly by the laboratory and investigative equipment. In 1937, he conducted further televised experiments into fire-walking with Ahmed Hussain at Carshalton and Alexandra Palace, and also rented Borley Rectory for one year. The following year, Price re-established the Ghost Club, with himself as chairman, conducted experiments with Rahman Bey who was 'buried alive' in Carshalton and drafted a Bill for the regulation of psychic practitioners. In 1939, he organised a national telepathic test in the periodical John O'London's Weekly. During the 1940s, Price concentrated on writing and the works The Most Haunted House in England, Poltergeist Over England and The End of Borley Rectory were all published. He died in March 1948.
Publications: The Sceptic (psychic play), 1898; Coins of Kent and Kentish Tokens, 1902; Shropshire Tokens and Mints, 1902; Joint Editor, Revelations of a Spirit Medium, 1922; Cold Light on Spiritualistic Phenomena, 1922; Stella C.; An Account of Some Original Experiments in Psychical Research, 1925; Short-Title Catalogue of Works on Psychical Research, Spiritualism, Magic, etc. 1929; Rudi Schneider: A Scientific Examination of His Mediumship, 1930; Regurgitation and the Duncan Mediumship, 1931; An Account of Some Further Experiments with Rudi Schneider, 1933; Leaves from a Psychist's Case-book, 1933; Psychical Research (talking film), 1935; Confessions of a Ghost-Hunter, 1936; Faith and Fire-Walking, article in Encyclopædia Britannica, 1936; A Report on Two Experimental Fire-Walks, 1936; The Haunting of Cashen's Gap (with R. S. Lambert), 1936; Fifty Years of Psychical Research, 1939; The Most Haunted House in England: Ten Years' Investigation of Borley Rectory, 1940; Search for Truth: My Life for Psychical Research, 1942; Poltergeist over England, 1945; The End of Borley Rectory, 1946; film scenario of Borley hauntings (with Upton Sinclair), 1948; Works translated into eight languages; numerous pamphlets and contributions to British and foreign periodical literature.
Crawfurd Price was a journalist who toured the Balkans between 1920 and 1922. The Balkans had been ruled by the Austro-Hungarian empire from 1867 until its defeat at the close of World War I (1914-1918). The Versailles peace treaties defined a new pattern of state boundaries in the Balkans, and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was founded in 1918.
James Prew was a surgeon dentist of Bristol and Bath.
No information was discovered at the time of compilation.
Preston Watson and Company Limited were wine and spirit merchants of Havant, Hampshire. The Company number was 38301. The company was wound up on 23/01/1964.
Born in Manchester, 1869; his interest in Portugal arose from reading adventure stories, particularly of Vasco da Gama's voyage to India; while at school at Radley, began to study Portuguese; converted to Roman Catholicism, 1886; first visited Portugal, 1891; second class in modern history, Balliol College Oxford, 1891; admitted in 1896 and practised as a solicitor in his father's firm, Allen, Prestage & Whitfield, at Manchester until 1907; often visited Lisbon, mainly for historical research, and befriended several prominent Portuguese scholars, 1891-1906; elected to the Portuguese Royal Academy of Sciences; in Lisbon, introduced to the salon of Dona Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho, a distinguished writer and widow of the Brazilian poet Gonçalves Crespo, whose daughter he married, 1907; later lived in Lisbon; pursued research in the Portuguese state and private libraries; a monarchist, never reconciled to the republican regime until the advent of Dr Salazar; press officer at the British legation in Lisbon, 1917-1918; Camoens Professor of Portuguese, King's College London, 1923-1936; engaged in little teaching and mostly in research, arranging periodical public lectures on Portuguese themes; delivered the Norman MacColl lectures at Cambridge, 1933; lecture on the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance to the Royal Historical Society, 1934; elected Fellow of the British Academy, 1940; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society; grand officer of the Order of São Tiago; corresponding member of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, the Portuguese Academy of History, and the Lisbon Geographical Society; in his later years, concerned with spiritual matters rather than work; died in London, 1951. Publications include: translation, from the French, of Letters of a Portuguese Nun: Marianna Alcoforado (1893); with (Sir) C R Beazley, translated for the Hakluyt Society the chronicler Azurara (2 volumes, 1896, 1899); biography, in Portuguese, of the writer D Francisco Manuel de Mello (Coimbra, 1914); published diplomatic correspondence relating to the Portuguese Restoration of 1640, including (collaboratively) that of João F Barreto, Relação da Embaixada a França em 1641 (Coimbra, 1918) and of F de Sousa Coutinho, Correspondência Diplomática (Coimbra, volume i, 1920; volume ii, 1926; volume iii, 1950); Diplomatic Relations of Portugal with France, England and Holland from 1640 to 1668 (Watford, 1925 and Coimbra, 1928); Afonso de Albuquerque (1929); The Portuguese Pioneers (1933); Portugal: a Pioneer of Christianity (1933); lecture on the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance to the Royal Historical Society included in the society's Transactions, 1934; numerous articles in Portuguese historical reviews; contributed chapters to several publications; compiled a bibliography on Portugal and the War of the Spanish Succession (1938); published various Lisbon parish registers.
Alan Richmond Prest, 1919-1985, was educated at Archbishop Holgate School York and Cambridge University. He worked in the Department of Applied Economics at Cambridge, 1945-1948, became a Rockefeller Fellow, USA, 1948-1949 and was a lecturer at Cambridge, 1949-1964. He was a Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge, 1950-1964, a Tutor, 1954-1955, and Bursar 1955-1964. In 1964, he moved to Manchester University where he held the post of Professor of Economics and Public Finance, 1964-1968, and Stanley Jevons Professorship of Political Economy, 1968-1970. In 1970, he moved to the London School of Economics, where he was Professor of Economics (with special reference to the Public Sector), 1970-1984. During the post war period, Prest became interested in the problems of developing countries. This led him towards the field of national income accounting, and in the early 1950s these interests came together in his work on the national income of Nigeria. He also became interested in public finance both in the UK and in developing countries. This culminated in the work for which he is best known, "Public Finance in Theory and Practice".
The Press Association was founded in 1868 as a limited company. It was formed by provincial newspapers acting together in a cooperative venture to organise their own collection and supply of national and foreign news to their newspapers outside London. In forming the Press Association, its founders sought to produce a more accurate and reliable alternative to the monopoly service of the telegraph companies. Through their co-operation, they wanted to provide a London-based service of news-collecting and reporting with correspondents in all the major towns. The Press Association copy is always anonymous. There was a Board of seven directors, who were themselves directors, managers or editors of regional papers. There was also a Finance Committee of three directors, and a Consultative Committee which consisted of members of the Board and five previous directors. The chief executive was the general manager. Other officers included the editor, the secretary and assistant general manager, and the telecommunications manager. It was based in the Strand (1868-70), 7 Wine Office Court (1870-93), 14 New Bridge Street (1893-1922), Byron House (later 85) Fleet Street (1922-ca. 1994), 292 Vauxhall Bridge Road (ca. 1994-). In 1934 Byron House and adjoining properties in Salisbury Court and Salisbury Square were demolished for the construction of a new building. During the four years of demolition and construction, the Press Association was temporarily housed in an office in St Bride Street.
At the beginning of the First World War, the government tried to control the dissemination of news in emergency situations. A committee, later called the D (Defence) Notice Committee, was set up in 1914, under which newspapers were asked not to refer to certain matters, or to consult the War Office before doing so. An Assistant Secretary of the War Office and Edmund Robbins, the representative of the Press Association, were appointed as joint Secretaries of the Committee. If the Admiralty or the War Office wished to inform the Press of something which should not be published, the War Office would get in touch with Robbins, a meeting of the Committee would be convened or the members would be consulted, their agreement would be obtained and Robbins would send the agreed notice to the newspaper editors. The records of the Press Association included volumes of D-notices 1914-39, but these have not survived. References to D-notices may however be found in the minute books of the Management Committee (Ms 35358), manager's memoranda books (Ms 35362), Robbins' memoranda books (Ms 35417) and the typescript histories (Mss 35596-8).
In 1871 Central News was formed out of the already existing Central Press. Central News was the majority shareholder in the Column Printing Company, which distributed news to clubs, and betting and sports news to private subscribers. In 1938, the PA and Exchange Telegraph Company bought an equal share of a 81% interest in Central News, and a 75.7% interest in the Column Printing Company. By an agreement which became effective in 1947, the PA took over the Parliamentary Service and transmission plant, and the Central News library of photographs. The ETC, in return, took over the PA's shares, making it the sole shareholder in Central News, and the majority controlling shareholder in the Column Printing Company.
In 1868 an Act was passed providing for the taking over of the old telegraph companies by the State. From 1870, when the first Press Association news message was sent, to 1920, news was distributed by means of Post Office press telegrams (except to the London newspapers, which were served by messengers). The Press Association copy is always anonymous. In 1869 a contract was signed under which Reuters supplied the Press Association with foreign telegrams for exclusive use in the British Isles outside London. In turn, Reuters would disseminate Press Association news overseas. A special supplementary foreign service was started by the Press Association in 1890, later to be called Foreign Special.
In 1905 the Press Association began to use telephones to supply sports results and news items. Telephone centres were opened in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield, and one in London in 150 Fleet Street. From 1868 to 1918 the news was mainly sent on the Wheatstone-Morse telegraph system which was subject to Post Office delays. From the beginning of the 20th century the Exchange Telegraph Company had used teleprinted machines which printed messages at a faster speed, and both Reuters and the Press Association later used this system for transmission of some of their news in London. In 1915 the Post Office proposed sharp increases in the charges for press telegrams. The increases did not come into operation until 1920 and then at a lower rate than originally planned, but by that time the Press Association had decided that it needed a more efficient system for disseminating news. From 1919 the Press Association installed its own "private wire system" using the experimental Creed-Wheatstone telegraph service, and in 1920 the first provincial telegraph service was opened in Bristol. The Creed system was abandoned in 1949 and replaced with a new voice frequency (v.f.) multi-channel teleprinter system working on 6-channel broadcast. This system was much faster as it enabled all the provincial newspaper offices to receive the news simultaneously.
The main services offered by the Press Association were general home news and Reuters' foreign news services. Additional services were gradually introduced, culminating in the introduction of the Comprehensive Service in 1941, which offered Parliamentary reports, golf, racing, cricket and football reports, as well as home and foreign news. The Press Association also provided more detailed reports, known as "Special Reporting". The opening of telephone centres by the Press Association in 1905 led to intense competition between the Press Association and the Exchange Telegraph Company. An agreement was reached in 1906 whereby the Press Association and the Exchange Telegraph Company would run a joint service in all areas except London. The service would be run by joint managers and supervised by a joint committee. Accounts would be kept jointly and audited jointly. There were difficulties in working the agreement and it was not until ca. 1911 that the joint service began to work effectively. In 1922 a Joint Commercial Service of London Stock Exchange prices and London Market Reports was agreed between the Press Association and Exchange Telegraph Company. The Press Association and Exchange Telegraph Company combined their separate Law Courts staffs in 1931, and set up the Joint Law Service. In 1945 the Press Association, Reuters and Exchange Telegraph Company concluded an agreement to pool their handling of commercial news. An agreement signed in 1961 (in effect from 1962) provided for the joint collection and sale of horse racing and greyhound racing results, betting details, and cricket and football results and scores, and for equal shares of the annual surpluses. The Exchange Telegraph Company withdrew from the joint law service it had operated with the Press Association in 1965. For the Exchange Telegraph Company's records of the joint service see Mss 23136-57.
As well as its own reporting staff, the PA employed the services of hundreds of correspondents in the UK to report on local news. The correspondents were not full-time PA staff, but usually journalists in the employment of provincial newspapers. The records are incomplete, as many records were destroyed in the early 1990s by the PA because of sewage contamination. However payments to some correspondents may be recorded in the surviving cash books (Mss 35434, 35436 and 35437/1-2).
On 1 December 1925 it was agreed that the PA should purchase a majority holding in Reuters. It bought 31,250 "A" shares (preference) and 8,750 "B" shares (ordinary) at a total cost of £160,000. This was financed by a loan of £80,000 from Lloyds, and a loan of £80,000 from the Association's members for which an issue of 800 61/2% £100 12-year Notes was made. In 1931, the PA purchased all the minority shares (18,750 "A" shares and 16,250 "B" shares) at a cost of £157,500. This was financed by a bank loan. In 1932 an offer was made to shareholders to extend the term of currency of their Notes from 1937 to 1944 and to convert them from 61/2% Notes to 5% Notes. The converted shares were called 5% Registered Notes. In 1944 the 5% Registered Notes were converted to 4% Registered Notes and the date for payment of the principal moneys was extended from 1944 to 1954. The resignation of the chairman of Reuters in 1938 led to discussions about the ownership structure of Reuters. In 1941, in response to the "national emergency", the PA sold half of the issued share capital of Reuters to the Newspaper Proprietors' Association, to form the new Reuters Trust. The PA and the NPA were each to appoint four trustees, under a chairman to be nominated by the Lord Chief Justice.
In 1867 the nominal capital of the Association was £18,000, divided into 1,800 shares of £10 each. In 1904 the capital was increased to £100,000 by the creation of 8,200 new shares of £10 each. In 1928, part of the share reserve fund was capitalised, and 4,914 new shares of £10 each were issued to existing shareholders to replace old shares. The P. A. Share Purchase Company was incorporated on 5 April 1911. The Company was created for the purchase and sale of shares of the Association and the investment of profits in government securities. It constituted a "market" for the Association's shares. The Companies Act, 1948, put a stop to the activities of the Share Purchase Company, and in 1951 it was wound up. In 1935, 400 First Mortgage Debentures at £500 each (to a total of £200,000) carrying interest at 4% were issued to finance the rebuilding of Byron Court. In 1946 a change in the Association's Private Telegraph Wire System from Creed-Wheatstone to Multi-Channel Teleprinter Working was financed by the issue of 600 4% "Second" Notes of £250 each. The Association's capital was reduced in 1951 from £100,000 to £91,360 (following the demise of the Share Purchase Company). The capital was then increased to £100,000 by the creation of 864 shares of £10 each, and later the same year from £100,000 to £500,000. In 1963 members were allowed by a change in the Articles of Association to convert Ordinary Shares of £10 into 61/2% Cumulative Preference Shares of £10. This measure was adopted to deal with the problem of passive shares. The main purpose of the Ordinary Shares was to provide services for members at a discounted rate; the shares were not intended to pay dividends. Some shares had become passive because the newspapers which held them had ceased publication or were weekly newspapers which no longer required the News Services. In 1970 the capital was increased to £1,250,000 by the creation of 75,000 Ordinary Shares of £10 each.
Only a few staff records survive for the Press Association. In the early 1990s, burst drains in the PA building contaminated the records with sewage and many of them were destroyed. It can therefore be very difficult to find information relating to PA staff at particular dates. For some staff, entries in the pension contributions books (Mss 35534-7, 35542-3, 35547, 35561-2) or records of their expenses in various cash books (Mss 35432-6) may be all there is. An annuity fund was first set up in 1897. In 1921 this fund was closed to new members following the establishment of a supplementary fund, called the "Annuity Fund (1921)", and a fund for the Association's officers, the "Officers' Fund". The two schemes were closed in 1938 (the Officers' Fund continued to pay the pensions of retired officers), and a new fund was set up, called the "P.A. Annuity Fund (1939)". The name of the fund was changed in 1944 to the "Press Association Annuity Fund", and in 1983 to the "Press Association Pension Fund". In 1882 an Insurance and Endowment Fund was set up. It was voluntary for present staff members, but new members were required to join the scheme. Each employee insured his or her life for the amount of their present annual salary. The Joseph and Jane Cowen Fund was founded with a bequest of £5000 from Miss Jane Cowen in 1950. Beneficiaries of the fund could include any person who had contributed to the work of the Association; it was not necessary to have been employed by the PA. The aims of the fund were to relieve the poverty of any beneficiary, to pay the education fees or maintenance of any dependent of any beneficiary, and to assist charitable institutions. The annuity funds and the Joseph and Jane Cowen Fund were administered by the P.A. Annuity Fund Trust Limited (established in 1939), later called the P.A. Pension Fund Trust Limited (from 1985).
As a response to the launch of the Soviet radio satellite, 'Sputnik', on 4 Oct 1957, President Dwight David Eisenhower launched the President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) on 21 Nov 1957. Dr James Killian, Jr, previously Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) president, was appointed its first chairman. Dr George Kistiakowsky was appointed to that position in 1959 and served as PSAC chairman until 1961. The PASC was presented with a succession of space and national security issues in general and arms control in particular. On the advice of the PSAC, Eisenhower established the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and the Defense Reorganization Act of 1958, which proposed a centralisation of science and technology in the newly created office of Director of Defense Research and Engineering. By the summer of 1958 PASC turned its attention towards the formulation of national security policy. Exploiting a network of working groups on topics such as reconnaissance, arms control, missiles and early warning systems, PSAC was able to give Eisenhower a succession of recommendations on disarmament, aerial and space-based reconnaissance, and banning of nuclear weapons tests. Other major areas of study included the exchange of scientific information with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries and the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). As much as technical advice and information was essential, however, the PSAC was divided on political issues such as test-ban verification. In addition, subsequent administrations valued the PSAC less highly than Eisenhower did and accorded it less influence. It was disbanded by President Richard Milhous Nixon in 1973.
President Harry S Truman, and political and military representatives at the Potsdam Conference, 1945
The Potsdam Conference, 17 Jul 1945-2 Aug 1945, was the meeting of the principal Allies of World War Two, the United States, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Great Britain, to clarify and implement agreements reached previously at the Yalta Conference, 4-11 Feb 1945. The chief representatives were US President Harry S Truman, Soviet Premier Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, British Prime Minister Rt Hon Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill and, after Churchill's defeat in the British general elections, Rt Hon Clement Richard Attlee. The representatives agreed to transfer the chief authority in Germany to the American, British, Soviet, and French military commanders in their respective zones of occupation and to a four-power Allied Control Council for matters regarding the whole of Germany. The Allies set up a new system of rule for Germany which outlawed the Nazi Party, disarmed Germany, and introduced representative and elective principles of government. The German economy was to be decentralised, and monopolies dismantled. The question of Polish sovereignty was discussed, and all former German territory east of the Oder and Neisse rivers was transferred to Polish and Soviet administration, pending a final peace treaty. The German population in these territories was to be transferred to Germany and a mode of reparations payments was outlined.. Finally, the Potsdam Declaration, 26 Jul 1945, presented an ultimatum to Japan, offering the nation the choice between unconditional surrender and total destruction. The material in this collection contains President Harry S Truman's diary and official papers relating to the Potsdam Conference, 29 Mar-2 Aug 1945.
The collection consists of meeting minutes, memoranda, and semi-official correspondence relating to US foreign policy with respect to Korea, 1945-1953. During this period, Korea went from Japanese occupation, to civil war between communist forces led by Kim Il-Jong and republican forces led by President Syngman Rhee, to partition under terms imposed by the United Nations.
The microfilm collection contains copies of the minutes and documents relating to the formulation of domestic and foreign policy in the United States during the administration of President Dwight David Eisenhower, 1953-1961. Originally composed of nine members, the Cabinet was increased in 1953 with the addition of the post of Secretary Health, Education, and Welfare. During Eisenhower's two terms in office, the Cabinet included Richard Milhous Nixon, Vice President of the United States, 1953-1961; John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State, 1953-1959; Christian Archibald Herter, Secretary of State, 1959-1961; George Magoffin Humphrey, Secretary of the Treasury, 1953-1957; Robert Bernerd Anderson, Secretary of the Treasury, 1957- 1961; Charles E Wilson, Secretary of Defense, 1953-1957; Neil H McElroy, Secretary of Defense, 1957-1959; Thomas S(overeign) Gates, Jr, Secretary of Defense, 1959-1961; Herbert Brownall, Jr, Attorney General, 1953-1957; William Pierce Rogers, Attorney General, 1957-1961; Arthur E Summerfield, Postmaster General, 1953-1961; Douglas McKay, Secretary of the Interior, 1953-1956; Frederick A Seaton, Secretary of the Interior, 1956-1961; Ezra Taft Benson, Secretary of Agriculture, 1953-1961; Sinclair Weeks, Secretary of Commerce, 1953-1958; Frederick H Mueller, Secretary of Commerce, 1959-1961; Martin P Durkin, Secretary of Labor, 1953; James P Mitchell, Secretary of Labor, 1953-1961; Oveta Culp Hobby, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1953-1955; Marion B Folsom, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1955-1958; Arthur S Flemming, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1958-1961
Whereas the Presbyterian Church of England Foreign Missions Committee was established in 1843, and was sending missionaries and their wives out to China from 1847, it was not until 1878 that the first single woman missionary was appointed to the mission field.
Whereas the wives of missionaries had played a vital role in education and mission work amongst women and girls, the recognition that full-time women missionaries were required to dedicate themselves to educational work, supervising schools and training teachers, led to the establishment of the Women's Missionary Association (WMA). A Synod resolution of 1877 stated 'They are glad that the efforts are being made on behalf of the females of the East, and would welcome the formation of special Associations on the part of the ladies of the Church for the encouragement of this work'.
Miss Catherine Maria Ricketts, a financially independent young woman, was appointed as the first single woman missionary, to Swatow, China. Her appointment in 1878 led to the Women's Missionary Association of the Presbyterian Church of England taking shape, and it was formally founded in December of the same year. Miss Ricketts was quickly followed by the first WMA missionary, Miss E Murray, who was appointed to Formosa in 1880.
The first President of the WMA was Mrs Hugh Matheson, the wife of the Convenor of the Foreign Missions Committee. Branches were quickly formed in many of the London Presbyterian Churches, and in May 1879, the first issue of the WMA periodical Our sisters in other lands: a record of mission work among women was published. Forty two branches of the Women's Missionary Association had been established by 1880. In terms of its home administration, the WMA functioned as an independent unit within the overall framework of the Presbyterian Church of England until 1925, when a union between the Foreign Missions Committee and the Women's Missionary Association was ratified. WMA became part of the FMC and women were given equal representation with men on the FMC Executive. By 1932 a Joint Advisory Committee had been set up by the FMC to deal with matters relating to the mission field, leaving the WMA its home organization, its fundraising function and the training of its candidates.
In terms of the mission field, the women who worked for the WMA concentrated on evangelical work and teaching, primarily if not exclusively among women and girls. Many schools were set up by WMA missionaries, and both nurses and female doctors were also sent out to work in local clinics and hospitals. Staff also undertook the training and supervision of local teachers and worked closely with local people.
The Women's Missionary Association was based in the same areas at the Presbyterian Church of England Foreign Missions Committee. They worked in Swatow (Lingtung) in Southern China, with stations at Wukingfu and Hakka; in Amoy (South Fukien) at Amoy, Chuanchow, Po-sun, and Yungchun; and in Formosa (Taiwan). They also worked in Singapore and Malaysia, and Rajshahi on East Bengal, India (later Bangladesh), with branch stations at Naogaon.
The Presbyterian Church of England (PCE) Foreign Missions Committee, or the English Presbyterian Mission, was established in 1843, as one of the first committees of the reconstituted Presbyterian Church. It resolved at its Synod to 'institute foreign missions in connection with this Church as speedily as possible'; however, the first missionary was not appointed until 1847. China was chosen as the first mission field for the English Presbyterian Mission, due in part to the interest engendered by the Opium Wars and in part to the fact that the Free Church of Scotland were unable to set up a Presbyterian mission in China at that time. In 1847 William Burns was appointed, and worked firstly in Hong Kong, moving on to Amoy in 1850.
The first mission field for the English Presbyterian Mission was Amoy (South Fukien) established by Burns and Dr James Young. Work was extended to the Swatow (Lingtung) area of East Shandong. George Smith was the first permanent PCE missionary in the area from 1858, and the Swatow Mission Hospital was established in 1863, while the Women's Missionary Association was founded in 1878. The mission field in China was further extended inland with the establishment of the Hakka mission in 1879.
Work began in Formosa (Taiwan) in 1865, and it was quickly designated as a children's field. Medical and education work was carried out by missionaries Dr Maxwell and Thomas Barclay, the latter founding the Tainan Theological College. The growing power of Japan in the 1930s led to a reduction of PCE staff in Formosa, and missionaries finally withdrew in 1940. In the post-war period however the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan was able to recover, and the relationship between the Church and PCE has undergone profound change.
Whereas the Formosa mission extended out from Amoy, the extension of PCE mission work to the Singapore and Malaysia field was as a response to calls from missionaries in the Swatow and Hakka fields, and from the expatriate Presbyterian congregation of Orchard Road, Singapore. John Bethune Cook began work in the area in 1881, and retired in 1925. The fall of Singapore and the Japanese occupation effectively ended the PCE mission, a small number of missionaries were interned and the Church cut off from mission support. In the period of ecumenical change following the War, PCE missionaries worked primarily at a congregational level and in local schools.
The withdrawl of the PCE from China, as for other missionary societies, is also a phenomenon of the post-war period. Despite the optimistic attempts to re-establish the missions after the Japanese occupation, the situation became increasingly difficult and the PCE, along with other missionary societies, withdrew from China between 1949 and 1953.
Work of the English Presbyterian mission was not confined to East and South East Asia, and in 1862, a mission was established at in the district of Rajshahi, Bengal, India (now Bangladesh). The mission was started by Rev. Behari Lal Singh who was an agent of the Free Church of Scotland's mission in Calcutta. The first English Presbyterian missionary Dr Donald Morison arrived three years after his death in 1878. Medical and educational work was carried out, with limited successes, and the mission was both understaffed and often in danger of being closed down. In the period after the partition of India in 1947, the mission increased its staffing and developed a hospital, nursing school and Girls High School. Work was also carried out among the Santal tribal people. However, the civil war between East and West Pakistan, which led to the establishment of Bangladesh in the 1960s, affected the mission field, which is now the Rajshahi deanery of the Church of Bangladesh.
In 1972 the Presbyterian Church of England joined with the Congregational Church in England and Wales, a constituent body of the Council of the Congregational Council for World Mission, to form the United Reformed Church. The CCWM changed its name to the Council for World Mission as a result of the inclusion of both Congregational and Reformed members. In 1981 the URC joined together with the Re-formed Churches of Christ.
Further information on the history of the Presbyterian Church of England Foreign Missions Committee can be found in the following works: Edward Band, Working His Purpose Out: the history of the English Presbyterian Mission 1847-1947 (London, 1948); Reginald Fenn, Working God's Purpose Out 1947-1972 (London, 1997); George Hood, Pilgrims in Mission: Celebrating 150 years of the English Presbyterian Mission (Alnwick, 1998); George Hood, Neither bang nor whimper: the end of a missionary era in China (Singapore, 1991).
In 1879, the Presbytery purchased and occupied church buildings (now called Saint Margaret) located in Putney Park Land, which had formed the private chapel of the Granard Estate. Putney United Reformed Church was therefore initially known as the Granard Presbyterian Church. This remained the place of worship until 1897 when the church moved to buildings on the corner of Briar Walk and Upper Richmond Road.
In 1941 a bomb destroyed all the halls and a third of the church. Rebuilding of the church and new halls was completed in 1957. In 1946 the church amalgamated with Wandsworth Presbyterian Church and became known as Putney and Wandsworth Presbyterian Church. In 1968 the spire was removed and the tower was capped off. At the same time, the manse which had stood next to the church was sold and replaced by a house in Fairdale Gardens.
In 1972 the church became known as Putney United Reformed Church following the union of the Congregational and Presbyterian denominations. The last service to be held took place in February 1996.
The Presbyterian Church in Poplar was first situated on Manor Street, off the East India Road, and was called the 'East India Road Presbyterian Church'. In 1865 the church moved to former Baptist premises on Plimsoll Street, taking the name 'East India Road Presbyterian Church, Plimsoll Street'. The building was bombed in 1940. In 1954 the congregation voted to change the name of the church to 'Saint Columba's Presbyterian Church'. In 1963 the church united with the Trinity Congregational Church, situated on the same street, with the name Poplar United Church. The Presbyterian church building was demolished.
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.
Saint John's Presbyterian Church was situated on Scarsdale Villas, Kensington. It was founded in 1862. In 1930 the Emperor's Gate Presbyterian Church (which was formed when the South Kensington and Belgrave Presyterian Churches merged in 1922) merged with Saint John's.
In 1891 the Presbyterian Church of England acquired land at the corner of Ballards Lane and Redbourne Avenue, where a hall was opened in 1893 and registered in 1894. The church was registered in 1895. Called Saint Margaret's from 1932, the church joined with Church End Congregational Church in 1969 to form Union Church, Finchley Central; after the formation of the United Reformed church in 1972, it was known as Saint Margaret's United Reformed Church. The old Presbyterian church hall was still used by the united congregation in 1976 but was demolished in 1977.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate (1980), pp. 87-91.