Regent Street Polytechnic, founded by Quintin Hogg as the Youth's Christian Institute, encompassed members who were not students, but were involved in recreational activities via a large number of clubs. The Polytechnic Parliament, established in 1883, was a debating society whose members examined contemporary issues. It was perhaps the oldest model parliament in the country. There was an increasing division between the educational side of the Polytechnic, which dealt with students and the organisation of classes, and the Polytechnic Institute, which catered for members of the social and sporting clubs. The Institute was eventually to decline, particularly after Regent Street Polytechnic became the Polytechnic of Central London in 1970. The Polytechnic Parliament was wound up in 1970.
The Polytechnic Institution was opened in August 1838 to provide the public with (in the words of its prospectus of 1837) 'a practical knowledge of the various arts and branches of science connected with Manufactures, Mining Operations, and Rural Economy'. The idea was that of Charles Payne, former manager of the Adelaide Gallery in the Strand. William Mountford Nurse, a builder, provided the initial capital. Sir George Cayley (1773-1857), landowner and aeronautical scientist, became chairman of the provisional committee and later of the directors. His influence helped to raise the necessary share capital. A house at no 5 Cavendish Square was purchased, and a new gallery building (designed by James Thompson) added, with an entrance on Regent Street. The Institution received its charter of incorporation in 1839. The Gallery housed a large exhibition hall, lecture theatre, and laboratories. Public attractions included exhibitions, working machines and models, scientific lectures, rides in a diving bell - a major attraction - and, from 1839, demonstrations of photography.
In 1841 Richard Beard opened the first photographic studio in Europe on the roof of the building. The Polytechnic became known for its spectacular magic lantern shows, pioneered by Henry Langdon Childe (d 1874), and a new theatre was added in 1848. John Henry Pepper (1821-1900) was appointed lecturer and analytical chemist in that year. He was its most famous showman, also expanding the teaching role of the Polytechnic, which began evening classes in 1856 under the auspices of the Society of Arts. By the 1870s these were formalised under the Polytechnic College. By 1841 the Institution was calling itself the Royal Polytechnic, probably due to the patronage of Prince Albert. Expansion gradually gave way to financial difficulty, reflecting a long-standing tension between education and the need for profit. A fatal accident on the premises in 1859 caused the first company to be wound up and a new one formed. Various regeneration schemes were considered, but in 1879 a fire damaged the roof, precipitating the final crisis. By 1881 the Royal Polytechnic Institution had failed, the assets sold at auction and the building (no 309 Regent Street) put up for sale. It was purchased by the philanthropist Quintin Hogg (1845-1903), and the RPI succeeded by his Young Men's Christian Institute (later known at the Regent Street Polytechnic), which opened in 1882. Hogg lived for some years in the house in Cavendish Square. See also Richard Altick, The Shows of London (1978); and, on the Polytechnic and the history of photography, Helmut Gernsheim and Alison Gernsheim, The History of Photography (1969); Brenda Weeden The Education of the Eye (2008).
The Young Men's Christian Institute became Regent Street Polytechnic when the Polytechnic Scheme of Administration was approved by an Order in Council on 23 June 1891. The Scheme, which was drawn up under the auspices of the Charity Commissioners, established a new governing body and ensured annual funding from the City Parochial Foundation.
The Scheme changed the name and status of a well-established and rapidly expanding institution. The Young Men's Christian Institute (originally the Youths' Christian Institute), founded and funded by Quintin Hogg (1845-1903) in Covent Garden, had moved to no 309 Regent Street in 1882, and gradually assumed the title of Polytechnic, which came from the name of the building, well known to the public as the former home of the Royal Polytechnic Institution. Hogg's vision was to provide for the athletic, intellectual, social and religious needs of young men, and to this end he provided a range of sporting and social facilities as well as an increasing range of educational and vocational classes. His institution attracted a great deal of attention from the technical education lobby, and also from Henry Cunynhame, one of the Charity Commissioners, whose reports prompted the Commission's decision to devote a substantial proportion of the revenue created by the City of London Parochial Charities Act (1883) to endowing Regent Street and establishing a network of polytechnics on the Regent Street model throughout the metropolis. The City Parochial Foundation (CPF) was established in 1891 to administer the funds. The 1891 Scheme, with some amendments, shaped the government of Regent Street Polytechnic until 1970. From 1893 the Polytechnic also received grants from the Technical Education Board (TEB) of the London County Council. The London Polytechnic Council (LPC) was established to inspect and co-ordinate the work of the polytechnics. Both the TEB and the LPC were abolished following the London Education Act in 1904, when the LCC took over responsibility for education in the metropolis. By then it had overtaken the CPF in provision of financial support for the polytechnics, and continued to fund and to manage them until 1965, when it was succeeded by the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA). The maintenance grant for Regent Street was negotiated on an annual basis. CPF funding, which remained at the level established by the 1891 Scheme, was withdrawn from the polytechnics in 1962.
The establishment of a formal management structure and the increasing dependence upon outside funding, which brought external accountability and loss of independence, eventually led to the breakdown of Hogg's unified vision. The educational side, which dealt with students and the organisation of classes, became separate from the Institute side, which catered for members of the social and sporting clubs, with the eventual decline of the Institute. This was a slow process, however, with many individuals participating in the full range of activities, and the Polytechnic remained remarkably unchanged until after World War Two. When Hogg died in 1903, he was succeeded as President by Kynaston Studd, who remained in office until his death in 1944, and did much to continue the traditions of the founder. Two major appeals were launched to support expansion, the first for the rebuilding of no 309 Regent Street in 1910-1912, and the second to build the Polytechnic Extension building in Little Titchfield Street, which was formally opened in 1929. Both buildings continued to provide sporting and social facilities for members of the Institute as well as workshops and classrooms for students of the Education Department.
The Education Department provided a wide range of courses, with a rapid expansion of commercial subjects alongside the original trade and technical classes. Courses ranged from post-elementary school entry for craft and technical training at 13 to preparation for University of London external degrees. Most teaching was in the evening and part-time, though day classes increased throughout the period. Following World War Two there was a rapid growth in the demand for further education and training, which was reorganised following the White Paper on Technical Education (Cmnd 9703) in 1956. The variety of levels of work at Regent Street meant that it was designated a regional college rather than a college of advanced technology, after which the governors decided to reduce the proportion of lower level work. Following the establishment of the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) in 1964, a number of degree courses were approved and became operational. In 1960 the London County Council announced a plan to turn Regent Street into a tri-partite federal college by adding a new College of Architecture and Advanced Building Technology (CAABT) and also a College of Engineering and Science (CES). The existing commercial subjects would remain centred on no 309 Regent Street. CAABT was allocated the Luxborough Lodge site in Marylebone Road and CES a site in New Cavendish Street. Both schemes suffered prolonged delays and the new buildings were not finished until 1970. Meanwhile the publication of the White Paper, 'A Plan for Polytechnics and Other Colleges' (Cmd 3006), had announced the creation of some 30 polytechnics throughout the country to form what became called the public sector of the binary system of higher education. The 13 existing colleges managed by ILEA were to be reorganised into five. Holborn College of Law, Languages and Commerce was merged with Regent Street to form PCL (the Polytechnic of Central London). At a ceremony on 21 May 1971, the Lord Chancellor Lord Hailsham, grandson and namesake of Quintin Hogg, opened the new buildings and designated the new institution.
The inaugural meeting of the Polytechnic Harriers was held on September 5 1883 and from the beginning it was closely associated with the Polytechnic, Regent Street, founded by Quintin Hogg. Until 1886 the club concentrated purely on cross country running but quickly gained an international reputation for the high standard achieved by its members in all athletic disciplines. In 1975 the Harriers merged with Kingston AC and there is now little contact with the Polytechnic of Central London from which it originated.
The philanthropist Quintin Hogg (1845-1903) was convinced of the health-giving and character-building qualities derived from organised sport, and saw it as an integral part of the work of his foundation, the Youths' Christian Institute, and its successors the Young Men's Christian Institute and Polytechnic Institute, later Regent Street Polytechnic. Hanover United Athletic Club - for cricket, football, rowing and swimming - originated when the Institute had premises in Hanover Street. After the Institute moved in 1882 to Regent Street, formerly home of the Royal Polytechnic Institution, a harriers (running) club had its inaugural meeting in 1883. The club was known as the Polytechnic Harriers. Hogg provided 27 acres at Merton, where athletics took place. The Polytechnic's 40-acre Memorial Ground at Chiswick, bought by public donation following Hogg's death in 1903, opened in 1906.
The first big open meeting was held in 1888 in conjunction with the Polytechnic Cycling Club. The Harriers organised the first inter-club competition in 1893, and began to publish their Gazette - discontinued in 1902 because all events were reported in The Polytechnic Magazine. By 1914 the Club had established 11 world records, and at its peak in 1929 the Club had over 800 members.
In 1908 Club was invited to organise the trial race for the marathon, which was to be introduced into the Olympic Games in London in 1908. The race, the first to be run in the UK, was run over 23 miles from Windsor Castle to Wembley Park. The Olympic event was also planned by Jack Andrew, secretary of the Harriers. The race began at Windsor Castle and ended at White City Stadium over a distance of 26 miles and 385 yards (added so that the event could finish in front of the royal box). Runners were escorted by members of the Polytechnic Cycling Club. Poor British performance in the Olympics led the Harriers to organise an annual international Polytechnic Marathon, beginning in 1909. The Kinnaird Trophy inter-club meeting at Chiswick was also first held in 1909.
When Regent Street Polytechnic became the Polytechnic of Central London in 1970, relations with the sports and social clubs - which had been an integral part of Quintin Hogg's vision for the Polytechnic - were redefined as part of the new constitutional arrangements. The Harriers became legally separate but retained some links with the Polytechnic Institute. The expense of mounting major events placed an increasing strain on the club. The Polytechnic Institute did not have the resources to modernise the Quintin Hogg Memorial Ground at Chiswick, and by the late 1970s the lack of an all-weather running track prevented the Harriers from hosting major events. The Club left Chiswick to become the Kingston AC and Polytechnic Harriers.
The philanthropist Quintin Hogg (1845-1903) was convinced of the health-giving and character-building qualities derived from organised sport, and was himself a keen footballer. He saw sport as an integral part of the work of his foundation, the Youths' Christian Institute, and its successors the Young Men's Christian Institute and Polytechnic Institute, later Regent Street Polytechnic. Hogg's friend Arthur Fitzgerald Kinnaird (1847-1923, 11th Baron Kinnaird) was a famous gentleman footballer and President of the Football Association, who with Hogg organised the first unofficial England-Scotland international matches. The two had played together at Eton at a period when the game, until then limited to public schools playing to their own rules, was first being organised. On leaving school, both continued to play for the Wanderers, a team of public school old boys which won five of the first seven FA cup finals. Kinnaird was involved with Hogg's charitable foundations and retained his connection with their football teams. Hogg's Institute encompassed members who were not students, but were involved in its other activities.
The first Institute football club was formed in 1875 as the Hanover Football Club, for which Hogg and Kinnaird both played. Following the removal of Hogg's foundation to premises in Regent Street, formerly home of the Royal Polytechnic Institution, in 1882, the club became the Polytechnic Football Club. It had grounds in Barnes and Wimbledon but in 1906 moved to the Polytechnic's Quintin Hogg Memorial Ground at Chiswick. The club continues to play there as a member of the Southern Amateur League.
In 1885 Quintin Hogg (1845-1903), founder of the Polytechnic Young Men's Christian Institute (later Regent Street Polytechnic), announced the founding of a day school there, a response to the fact that so many rooms in its premises at no 309 Regent Street were left empty during the day (much of the teaching and activities taking place in the evenings). The school opened in 1886 with 130 boys, aiming to provide professional, commercial (including Civil Service) and industrial secondary education at moderate fees. It was run by the Polytechnic President, Director of Education, and Governing Body, with its own Headmaster. It catered for boys aged 7 to 17 and soon had over 500 pupils; there was also, from 1888, a school for girls in Langham Place, which may have survived into the 1930s. Hogg himself undertook some teaching. The school used the Polytechnic sports and laboratory facilities. It pioneered educational trips abroad with a visit to Belgium and Switzerland in 1888. A club, the 'Old Quintinians', was formed in 1891 for former pupils to keep in touch with the Polytechnic after leaving the school, and a supplement added to the Polytechnic's magazine for them. The school was known variously as the Polytechnic (Boys') Day School, the Polytechnic Middle Class School, and the Polytechnic Intermediate Day School. Due to growing numbers of students, the Technical School (originally the Industrial Division) and Commercial School (which included the Professional Division) were divided in 1892. They came to operate largely as separate schools, despite occupying the same building. 'Aided' status under the London County Council was attained in 1911. The Commercial Day School and the Technical Day School were reunited as the Polytechnic Secondary School in 1919. Conditions in Regent Street were cramped owing to the expansion of the adult Polytechnic. The school was evacuated to Minehead in 1939. On the return to London it was again apparent that the Regent Street Polytechnic building was overcrowded and lacked facilities such as a playground. A proposed alternative site near Regent's Park was bombed, and other proposals also proved abortive. Boys who had returned to London were taught in St Katherine's House, Albany Street, and additional space was found at the LCC Institute for Distributive Trades in Charing Cross Road. Most of the classrooms in Regent Street were in use by the Polytechnic, although some school laboratories remained in the Great Portland Street extension (Little Titchfield Street). This accommodation was unsuitable for the bulk of the pupils returning from evacuation in 1945 and the Pulteney School (originally an elementary board school, founded in 1881) in Peter Street, Soho, provided further premises. Under the Education Act (1944) fees were abolished. The school moved from aided status to become a voluntary controlled school, under closer control by the London County Council. Renamed the Quintin School in 1948, when it became a grammar and instituted its own governing body, the school continued to operate on the split site until 1956, when it moved to new accommodation in St John's Wood, designed by Edward D Mills & Partners and opened in 1957, neighbouring the newly-relocated Kynaston Technical School (formerly Paddington Secondary Technical School). The two schools merged in 1969 to form Quintin Kynaston School, a boys' comprehensive, which became co-educational in 1976. For further information see L C B Seaman, The Quintin School 1886-1956: a brief history (London, 1957).
David Pollock, a Scottish-born saddler who had settled in London, had three distinguished sons: Sir David Pollock, Chief Justice of Bombay; Field Marshal Sir George Pollock, who served in Afghanistan; and the Right Honorable Sir Frederick Pollock. The papers in this collection seem to relate to properties owned by the latter and his family.
Frederick Pollock was born in 1783. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he excelled. He was called to the Bar in 1807 and pursued a successful legal career. He became MP for Huntingdon and was appointed Attorney General, being promoted to Lord Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer in 1844. In addition he pursued mathematical interests, submitting articles to the Royal Society.
Pollock married Frances Rivers in 1813. She died in 1827 and in 1835 he married Srah Ann Lanslow of Hatton. He had a large family, 20 children by both women. His eldest son, William Frederick Pollock, inherited the baronetcy in 1870 when Frederick died.
Information from: The Times, Wednesday, Aug 24, 1870; pg. 10; Issue 26837; col E.
Islington Cemetery, 278 High Road, East Finchley, was founded in 1854. It was the first municipally owned cemetery in London.
The London Necropolis and National Mausoleum Company, later known as the London Necropolis Company, established the Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey in 1854, to ease pressure on crowded London burial grounds.
Samuel Pollard was born in Camelford on 20 April 1864, the son of Samuel Pollard snr., a preacher with the Bible Christian Church. Samuel Pollard jnr. also entered the Ministry of the Bible Christian Church. In 1907 the Bible Christian Church united with other sections of Methodism to form the United Methodist Church. Samuel Pollard went to China in 1886. He attended the Ganking Language School in 1887. In 1888 he was posted to Yunnan. From 1905 he worked in Miao Country amongst the Miao people. His work there was evangelical, but he was also responsible for developing a unique phonetic script to translate the New Testament into the Miao language (Hua Miao). He died of typhoid fever in Miao Country on 16 September 1915. Further reading: R Elliott Kendall, Eyes of the Earth: the Diary of Samuel Pollard (1954); W A Grist, Samuel Pollard: Pioneer Missionary in China (Taipei, 1971).
Born in Camelford, Cornwall, 1864; his father, Samuel Pollard, and his mother were preachers with the Bible Christian Church (from 1907 part of the United Methodist Church); converted, c1875; initially prepared for a career in the civil service, but a London conference influenced him to become a missionary, 1885; appointed Bible Christian missionary, 1886; sailed for China, 1887; attended Ganking Language School, 1887; posted to Yunnan province, 1888; went to Chaotung (Zhaotong), where a new station was opened, 1891; married Emmie (née Hainge), 1891; assigned to the provincial capital (now Kunming); engaged in evangelistic work; worked with the Flowery Miao (A-Hmao, a minority tribe), among whom started in Anshun, Kweichow (Guizhou) province, a religious movement which spread to Chaotung, from c1905; Pollard became its most prominent missionary leader; established a centre for thousands of new believers at Shihmenkan; travelled extensively, planting churches, training leaders, and soliciting justice for Miao Christians from officials and landlords; developed a new script which he used to translate the New Testament into the Miao language; died from typhoid fever while in service as a missionary, 1915. Publications: Tight Corners in China (second edition [1913]); with Henry Smith and F J Dymond, The Story of the Miao (1919); In Unknown China: observations, adventures and experiences of a pioneer missionary (1921); Eyes of the Earth: the diary of Samuel Pollard, ed R Elliott Kendall (1954).
See sub-fonds level descriptions for individual biographies.
Pollard entered the Navy in 1846 and served in the Black Sea from 1854 to 1855, when he became a lieutenant. He was present at the capture of Canton in 1857 and in the later operations in the north of China, including the attack on the Peiho forts, 1859, when he commanded the STAUNCH; in the next year he was in the Gulf of Pechili and was at the capture of Tientsin. He was promoted to commander into the SIMOOM in 1861 and in 1863 was appointed to the ROYALIST on the North American Station where, during 1864, he was engaged in the suppression of slaving off the south coast of Cuba. He was promoted to captain in 1868. From 1878 to 1881 be was in the Mediterranean in command of the RUPERT and was then in the DEFENCE, coast guard service, between 1882 and 1884. He retired with the rank of rear-admiral in 1855.
Doris M Pollard attended Avery Hill College, a London County Council teacher training college for women in Eltham, from 1928 to 1930.
Albert Pollard was born in Ryde on 16 December 1869. He went to Jesus College Oxford and achieved a first class honours in Modern History in 1891. He became Assistant Editor of the Dictionary of National Biography in 1893. He was Professor of Constitutional History at University College London from 1903 to 1931. He was a member of the Royal Historical Manuscripts Commission, and founder of the the Historical Association, 1906. He was Editor of History, 1916-1922, and of the Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, 1923-1939. He published 500 articles in the Dictionary of National Biography, and many other books and papers concerning history. Pollard died on 3 August 1948.
Albert Frederick Pollard was born on 16 December 1869. He received a scholarship to Jesus College, Oxford University, where he attended the Union and rowed in the college eight. At Oxford he received a first class degree in History. In 1893, Pollard obtained the assistant editorship of the Dictionary of National Biography where he remained for nine years. In 1903, he became Professor of Constitutional History at University College London and in 1908 he was elected to a research fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford. His seminal publications include England under the Protector Somerset (1900), Henry VIII (1905) and Evolution of Parliament (1920). Pollard was also a co-founder of the Historical Association in 1903, editor of its journal History for six years and President 1912-1915. Most signally for the University of London, he was founder of the Institute of Historical Research (IHR) and Director and Honorary Director in turn from its opening in July 1921 until 1939. His long association with the University of London included the continuous Chairmanship of the Board of the Studies in History from 1910 until 1923. Pollard was also deeply interested in modern history and politics and in 1918 he served on the Government Committee on the League of Nations. For three consecutive years 1922-1924, Pollard stood unsuccessfully as Liberal candidate for the University of London seat. In 1924, Pollard took up the post of Visiting Professor at Columbia University for four months and toured a number of universities in Canada and the USA. In 1920, Pollard was elected to the British Academy and in 1930 he was made a Corresponding Member of the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres (Institut de France). By 1933, he had received an Honorary Degree from Manchester University and become an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford. He died on 3 August 1948.
Albert Frederick Pollard was born on 16 December 1869. He received a scholarship to Jesus College, Oxford University, where he attended the Union and rowed in the college eight. At Oxford he received a first class degree in History. In 1893, Pollard obtained the assistant editorship of the Dictionary of National Biography where he remained for nine years. In 1903, he became Professor of Constitutional History at University College London and in 1908 he was elected to a research fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford. His seminal publications include England under the Protector Somerset (1900), Henry VIII (1905) and Evolution of Parliament (1920). Pollard was also a co-founder of the Historical Association in 1903, editor of its journal History for six years and President 1912-1915. Most signally for the University of London, he was founder of the Institute of Historical Research (IHR) and Director and Honorary Director in turn from its opening in July 1921 until 1939. His long association with the University of London included the continuous Chairmanship of the Board of the Studies in History from 1910 until 1923. Pollard was also deeply interested in modern history and politics and in 1918 he served on the Government Committee on the League of Nations. For three consecutive years 1922-1924, Pollard stood unsuccessfully as Liberal candidate for the University of London seat. In 1924, Pollard took up the post of Visiting Professor at Columbia University for four months and toured a number of universities in Canada and the USA. In 1920, Pollard was elected to the British Academy and in 1930 he was made a Corresponding Member of the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres (Institut de France). By 1933, he had received an Honorary Degree from Manchester University and become an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford. He died on 3 August 1948.
Josiah Clement Wedgwood was born on 16 March 1872. He received his education from Clifton College and the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. Wedgwood worked as an Assistant Constructor in the dockyard at Portsmouth from 1895-1896 and as a naval architect at Elswick shipyard from 1896 to 1900. Wedgwood served in the forces between 1914 and 1916. In 1917 he became Assistant Director of Trench Warfare and in 1918 he served on the Mission to Siberia. From 1906 to 1942 Wedgwood represented Newcastle-under-Lyme as a Labour Member of Parliament. He was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1924. He was created 1st Baron of Barlaston in 1942. He had an active interest in history, particularly the history of Parliament. He was Chairman of the Committee on House of Commons Records in 1929 and one of the trustees for the history of Parliament. Wedgewood wrote on politics and history. His historical works include, Staffordshire Parliamentary History, 1258-1919, 1922; History of Parliament, 1439-1509, 1940 and Testament to Democracy 1942. Wedgwood died on 26 July 1943.
The Politics Of Health Group (POHG) was established in 1977; comprised of socialists and feminists working in the health service or researching health issues, it also included activists, community workers and others interested in the politics of health; the aim of the Group was to examine the link between ill health and inequality in society, and to consider improvements to the National Health Service; the group gave rise to new independent organisations including the Women's Health Information Centre and Radical Nurses, and initiated the creation of the London Food Commission; POHG disbanded in 1986.
The Political Intelligence Department was established as a secret Foreign Office Department at the outbreak of the Second World War, and provided cover for the Political Warfare Executive, which was formed in August 1941 to undermine enemy morale and resistance by various forms of propaganda. It was constituted by an amalgamation of parts of the European sections of the BBC and of the Foreign Publicity Department of the Ministry of Information with Special Operations 1, part of the Special Operations Executive, which was subordinate to the Ministry of Economic Warfare. Special Operations 1 had itself been preceded by Department EH, which had included a Department of Publicity in Enemy Countries responsible for propaganda by means of leaflets dropped from the air.
The Political Studies Association (PSA) was founded in 1950 with the aim of developing and promoting the study of politics. The PSA organises annual conferences, publishes series of works on political subjects, offers research scholarships and prizes, and maintains contact with other similar organisations. It also publishes four periodicals: Political Studies, the British Journal of Political and Industrial Relations, Politics, and PSA News. Overall policy and administration is decided by an Executive Committee.
The Political Economy Club was founded in 1821 to support the principles of free trade. The prime mover for the formation of the society appears to have been Thomas Tooke (1774-1858), economist, perhaps at the instigation of David Ricardo. The first meeting, on 18 April 1821, took place at the house of Swinton Holand, a partner in Baring and Co, and James Mill was given the task of preparing a draft set of rules for consideration. The first full meeting of the Club took place on 30 April at the Freemason's Tavern.
From the beginning, the Club was composed mainly of businessmen, followed by politicans, civil servants and professional economists. Each meeting was to discuss 'some doubt or question on some topic of political economy' and no official record was kept of the discussion. At first the rules of the Club stated that the remarks of the opening and subsequent speakers should not be written down, although later on opening speakers were allowed to circulate a printed synopsis of their argument. Eventually the practise of reading a written paper became the norm.
The Political Economy Club continues to meet to the present day.
Political and Economic Planning was founded in 1931 at the height of the Great Depression to plan for British recovery in the widest sense. During the thirties it carried out a series of investigations into the operation of the British economy, and into education and health. During and after World War Two it extended its interests into policy issues in other countries and carried out many detailed investigations of social problems. In 1978 PEP merged with the Centre for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), and became the Policy Studies Institute (PSI). The present collection consists of the archives of the PEP/PSI together with the PEP papers of Leonard Elmhirst and Max Nicholson.
Gaetano Polidori: born, 1764; secretary to the Italian dramatist and poet Alfieri; teacher of Italian in London; author of educational works; father of the physician and associate of Byron, John William Polidori, and of Frances Mary Lavinia Polidori, who by her marriage to Gabriele Rossetti became the mother of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Christina Rossetti; died, 1853. Publications include his translation of Milton, Traduzione delle Opere poetiche di Giovanni Milton (London, 1840). François-Auguste-René, Vicomte de Chateaubriand: born at Saint-Malo, France, 1768; author and diplomat; among the first French Romantic writers, and a prominent and influential literary figure in early 19th-century France; died in Paris, 1848.
The units involved were reserve Police Batallion 93; Police Batallion 322 and Reserve Police Batallion 109.
No information was discovered at the time of compilation.
Born, 1814; Education: Mus Doc (1867, Oxford); Career: Articled to an engineer; Consulting engineer, Westminster; Professor of Engineering, Elphinstone College, Bombay (1844-1847); returned to England and was Consulting Engineer to the Government and other bodies; Professor of Civil Engineering, University College, London (1857) Lecturer at the Royal Engineer Establishment, Chatham; Member of the Government Commission on the use of Iron for War Purposes; was colour blind; wrote on the game of whist; Memberships: FRAS; FGS; MICE (1840); Fellow of the Royal Society, (1861); Vice President of the Royal Society Council, (1875-1876 and 1888-1889); died (1900).
Alfred Poland was born in London, in 1822. He was educated at Highgate, in Paris, and in Frankfurt. After qualifying he became Demonstrator of Anatomy; then Assistant Surgeon to Guy's Hospital in 1849; Surgeon in 1861; and was placed in general charge of the Ophthalmic Department. He was Surgeon to the Royal Ophthalmic Hospital, Moorfields, 1848-1861, but he gradually gave up ophthalmic practice due to ill health. He won an honorarium of fifty guineas for his Triennial Prize Dissertation,The Origin, Connection and Distribution of the Nerves of the Human Eye and its Appendages. He won the Fothergillian Prize with the Gold Medal for his essay Injuries and Wounds of the Abdomen, at the Medical Society of London, in 1853. He died in 1872.
Albert Poisson is described by Caillet, as 'savant alchimiste moderne, né et mort à Paris. Étudiant de médecine'. He wrote several works on Alchemy and translated some ancient alchemical texts. He used the pseudonym 'Philophotos'.
Louis Poirot was missionary from the Congregation de propaganda fide at Pekin.
The church of Saint Alban was constructed in 1887, while the parish was established a year later.
Pocock entered the Navy in 1718, became a lieutenant in 1726, a commander in 1734, a captain in 1738 and served almost continuously until the peace in 1748. In 1754 he went to the East Indies in command of the CUMBERLAND and in the following year was promoted to rear-admiral. In 1757 Pocock became a vice-admiral and on the death of Rear-Admiral Charles Watson (1714-1757), succeeded him in command, remaining in the East Indies until 1760. In 1762, he was promoted to admiral, but after he commanded the expedition to capture Havana, 1762 to 1763, had no further employment. He was Member of Parliament for Plymouth from 1760 to 1768.
David Pocock was born in London in 1928. He studied at Cambridge and Oxford before becoming a lecturer at the Institute of Anthropology in Oxford. In 1966 he moved to the University of Sussex. While there he was Director of the Tom Harrisson Mass Observation Archive at the University of Sussex. He retired in 1987, and died in 2008 aged 79.
The collection listed here consists of his personal genealogical records. His ancestors inhabited the London and Middlesex areas.
Sir Edward Eric 'Bill' Pochin K.B.E. (1909-1990) was a scientist of international stature: a physician, endocrinologist, radiobiologist , and an acclaimed authority on radiological protection. In his clinical career he was involved with the care of patients, teaching and research, and subsequently with development of protection techniques and the setting of standards and their application.
The Plywood Chest Association was formed in 1932 by a group of tea chest manufacturers and distributors to establish a quota selling scheme and for synchronisation of distribution. All meetings of the six members (Harrisons and Crosfield Limited, ACME Tea Chest Company Limited, Bobbins Limited (previously British plywood importers), Lea Elliott (London) Limited, Luralda Limited and Venesta Limited) were held at Harrisons and Crosfield Limited's offices. A branch of the Association, the Ceylon Plywood Chest Association, held its meetings at the offices of Harrisons and Crosfield Limited's Colombo branch.
The accounts date back to 1927 as the quota granted to each of the sellers was based on their respective shipments from Europe during the previous five years. Each seller was therefore required to submit figures of chest shipped 1927-32.
Samuel Vosper, "Regent Brewery", Stonehouse; Mrs Butcher, "Anchor Brewery", Chapel Street, Stonehouse; George Ryall, "Frankfort Street Brewery", Plymouth; Hicks and Company "South Devon Brewery", Willow Street, Plymouth and FR Vaughan and Company, "Saltash Brewery", Saltash-on-Tamar, Cornwall, were all amalgamated and incorporated as Plymouth Breweries in 1889. By 1894 all but the Regent Brewery had closed.
The Company acquired Torquay Brewing and Trading Co. Ltd. in 1897 and Swayne and Co. Ltd., Ellacombe Brewery, Church Road, Torquay and Greenslade Bros. St Mary Church Brewery, Fore Street, Torquay, in 1925.
They were acquired by Courage, Barclay and Simonds in 1970. The company name was changed to Courage (PB) in 1971 and became part of Courage (Western) in 1973.
Born, 1821; educated at home; after a brief period studying at King's College London, entered University College Oxford (of which his uncle, Frederick Charles Plumptre, was Master, 1836-1870) as a scholar; took a double first-class in mathematics and classics, 1844; elected to a fellowship at Brasenose; ordained by Bishop Samuel Wilberforce, 1846; MA, 1847; resigned his fellowship on his marriage, 1847; for a period his religious views were influenced by his brother-in-law Frederick Denison Maurice, but later in life he rejected his conclusions; joined the staff of King's College London, where he introduced evening classes; chaplain, 1847-1868; professor of pastoral theology, 1853-1863; professor of exegesis, 1864-1881; took a leading role in promoting the higher education of women, and until 1877 a professor of Queen's College, Harley Street, where he was principal, 1875-1877; assistant preacher at Lincoln's Inn, 1851-1858; prebendary of St. Paul's, 1863; Boyle lecturer, 1866; rector of Pluckley from 1869 and of Bickley from 1873; member of the Old Testament revision committee, 1869-1874; Grinfield lecturer and examiner at Oxford, 1872-1874; resigned his work in London on becoming Dean of Wells, 1881-1891; served not only the cathedral and the Theological College but the city of Wells and its hospital, almshouse and workhouse; died at Wells, 1891; buried in the cathedral cemetery. Publications: contributed to the Cambridge Bible, Speaker's Commentary, and Bible Educator; wrote Christ and Christendom. The Boyle Lectures for 1866 (1867); Biblical Studies (1870); St Paul in Asia (1877); Popular Exposition of the Epistles to the Seven Churches (1877 and 1879); Movements in Religious Thought: Romanism, Protestantism, Agnosticism (1879); Theology and Life (1884); The Spirits in Prison, and other studies on Life after Death (1884 and 1885); Wells Cathedral and its Deans (1888); Life of Bishop Ken (1888). Verse: Lazarus and other poems (1864); Master and Scholar (1866); Things New and Old (1884); several hymns. Translated the plays of Sophocles (1865) and of Æschylus (1868); English version of Dante's work, The Divina Commedia and Canzoniere of Dante Alighieri; with Biographical Introduction, Notes and Essays (volume i, 1886; volume ii, 1887).
The Manor of Little Stanmore was also known as Canons. In 1086 the manor belonged to Roger de Rames and remained in his family, although gifts of land were made to St Bartholomew the Great, West Smithfield, and to other churches; while parcels of land were sold, leased or transferred. By 1243 the Rames holding in Little Stanmore was divided between three tenants, leasing the land from St Bartholomew's. By 1353 the priory had increased its holdings to 957 and a half acres, the largest single estate of St Bartholomew's until the Dissolution. The priors leased out the manor house and gardens and portions of the estate, from 1501 referring to it as "Little Stanmore called Canons". St Bartholomew's surrendered to the Crown in 1539 and Little Stanmore was granted to Robert Fuller, the last prior. He died in 1540 and the manor reverted to the Crown, who granted it to Hugh Losse and his heirs.
In 1604 one of the Losse heirs sold the manor to Sir Thomas Lake. It remained in the Lake family until 1709 when it was sold to James Brydges, who became duke of Chandos in 1719. He rebuilt the mansion house of Canons in ostentatious style, including marbles, rare woods, ceiling paintings and tapestries. The grounds included canals, hothouses, an aviary and sculptures. His son Henry was forced by debts to break up the Canons estate, much of the furniture and collections of fine art were sold and the house was pulled down in 1753. However, the Brydges family did retain the lordship of Little Stanmore and Great Stanmore and still owned a small amount of land in the area. William Hallett bought the site and built a new, more modest villa. By 1838 Canons was added to the neighbouring estate owned by the Plumers. In 1929 when the mansion with 10 acres of land were bought by the North London Collegiate School, while part of the estate was purchased by Harrow Urban District Council to be used as a park.
Information from: 'Little Stanmore: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 113-117 (available online).
No information could be found at the time of compilation.
Max Plowman was born on 1 September 1883 at Northumberland Park, Tottenham, and was educated at various private schools. From 1937 to 1938 he was Secretary of the Peace Pledge Union. He was the Editor of The Adelphi from 1938. Plowman married Dorothy Lloyd Sulman in 1914 and had one son. Plowman died on 3 June 1941. Publications: four books of verse; War and the creative impulse (1919); Introduction to the study of Blake (1927); A subaltern on the Somme (by Mark VII) (1928); and The faith called pacifism (1936).
Bridget Horatia Plowden (1910-2000) was the daughter of Admiral Sir Herbert W. Richmond, naval historian. She was educated at St. Alfred's School, Hampstead, and at Downe House School, Berkshire. She married Edwin Plowden, later Baron Plowden in 1933. She was active in many fields, including as a Director of Trust Houses Forte Ltd, 1961-1972, a member of the Inner London Education Authority Education Committee, 1967-1973, a Governor and Chairman of the BBC, 1970-1975 and Chairman of the Independent Broadcasting Authority, 1975-1980. She was involved in a wide variety of voluntary organisations, notably in the fields of primary and pre-school education. She was Chair of the Central Advisory Council for Education (England), 1963-1966. As such she also chaired its Committee of Enquiry into Primary Education whose influential report, Children and Their Primary Schools, was published in 1967.
Andrew Plowden was servant to Mistress Honore Henslow.
Henry G Plitt [1918-1993] was born in New York City, and graduated from Staunton Military Academy, Virginia; Syracuse University and obtained a law degree from Saint Lawrence University. He practised law for a brief period before volunteering for military service.
He was in the first group of 101st Airborne Division soldiers to jump into Normandy on the night before the invasion to set flares marking landing strips for British glider pilots, and is officially credited with being the first American soldier to touch French ground.
After the war he organized a small group of volunteers, pressed several former Waffen SS officers into service and went around southern Germany and Austria looking for high ranking Nazis. According to him he brought in dozens of men but only Streicher and Ley were noteworthy.
Plitt went to work for Paramount Motion Picture Theater Chain, and in the 1960s and 1970s purchased part of Paramount and other theatre chains to become, for a time, chief executive of the largest theatre chain in the US, Plitt Theaters Inc.. He was also very active in charity work, raising large amounts of money for United Cerebral Palsy, Bar-Ilan University and The Friends of Israeli Defence Forces. Having re-joined the US Army reserves in 1962, he died with the rank of Brigadier General.
Samuel Plimsoll was born in Bristol in 1824. He was brought up in northern England. He became a clerk and later a businessman before entering parliament as Liberal MP for Derby in 1868, retaining the seat until 1880. Plimsoll was concerned with the struggles of the poor and with sailors' interests. He spoke out against the common practice of overloading ships with goods and devised the Plimsoll line, marked on ships to show the safe depth at which they may sit in the water. Plimsoll gym shoes, so-called because their outer rubber band is reminiscent of a Plimsoll line, are indirectly named after him.
Godfrey Lushington was born in Westminster in 1832. He was educated at Rugby School and Balliol College, Oxford. His father, Stephen, was a judge and his twin brother, Vernon, was an eminent lawyer; both twins were strongly influenced by Auguste Comte's positivist philosophy. An early supporter of the labour movement, Godfrey Lushington was one of the first teachers at the Working Men's College in London, founded in 1854. He became a civil servant, rising to permanent under-secretary at the Home Office in 1885, and was knighted in 1892. On his retirement, Sir Godfrey became an alderman of the London County Council from 1895 to 1898.
Samuel Plimsoll was born in Bristol in 1824. He was brought up in northern England. He became a clerk and later a businessman before entering parliament as Liberal MP for Derby in 1868, retaining the seat until 1880. Plimsoll was concerned with the struggles of the poor and with sailors' interests. He spoke out against the common practice of overloading ships with goods and devised the Plimsoll line, marked on ships to show the safe depth at which they may sit in the water. Plimsoll gym shoes, so-called because their outer rubber band is reminiscent of a Plimsoll line, are indirectly named after him.
Henry George Plimmer was born in 1856, in Melksham, Whitshire, the son of Dr George Plimmer. Educated at Devizes, and Shaw House School. Following the death of his father, and stepfather, Plimmer was employed as a clerk at the Coalbrookdale Company in Ironbridge, Shropshire. He abandoned a business career however, and found employment in 1878, as an unqualified assistant to Dr J H Galton, who had once been his father's assistant, at Norwood, London. He was a student at Guy's Hospital 1878-1883.
He qualified LSA in 1882 and MRCS in 1883. In 1885, he became a partner of Drs Turner and Galton, but, retired from practice in 1892 to devote himself to bacteriology and research. From 1892 to 1894, Plimmer worked with Armand Ruffer at the College of Surgeons. Plimmer was appointed Pathologist to the Cancer Hospital in 1894, until 1898 when he became Bacteriologist to St Mary's Hospital, as well as Pathologist and Lecturer on Pathology. He resigned from St Mary's in 1902, to take up the direction of the Cancer Laboratories at the Lister Institute. He extended the sphere of his pathological work in 1907, taking up the studies of Pathologist to the Zoological Gardens until 1917. Published many papers relating to Cancer and trypanosomiasis in particular.
He was the Chair of Comparative Pathology at Imperial College of Science and Technology from 1917-1918.Elected Fellow of the Royal Society, 1910; President of the Royal Microscopical Society, 1911-1912, served on many scientific committees, including the War Office Tetanus Committee, 1916, and later the Trench Fever Committee. He was also a member of the Sydenham District Medical Society, from 1887; Medical Research Club, 1894-1911; Physiological Society, 1894-1913; Linnean Society, Royal medical and Chirugical and Royal Society of Medicine, The Royal Institution; and Association of Economic Biologists.
He married in 1887, Bertha Helena Aders, widow of Alfred Aders. He died on 22 Jun 1918.
Publications: Numerous articles in the Lancet, British Medical Journal, Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology, British Gynaecological Journal.
Janos (John) Plesch was born in Hungary and originally qualified in medicine in Budapest. After studying in Strasbourg he lived and worked in Berlin for over 30 years until he emigrated to England with his family in 1933. Further details of his career can be found in his autobiography Janos: the Story of a Doctor (Victor Gollancz, Ltd, London, 1947).
Until 1856, the Vestry of Battersea was an open vestry, including all the ratepayers and with the Vicar as chair. After the 1855 Metropolis Management Act, the parish ceased to be seen as a rural parish and began being classed as a part of London. The Vestry was set up, and classed as part of the Wandsworth District Board of Works, along with Clapham, Wandsworth, Putney, Streatham and Tooting, where it had 12 representatives. The Highway Board and Inspectors of Lighting for Battersea were superseded, and their powers passed to the District Board of Works. From 1877 to 1887 various attempts were made to incorporate Battersea in its own right and after the Metropolis Management (Battersea and Westminster) Act, 1887 Battersea ceased to be represented on the Wandsworth District Board of Works and Battersea Vestry was incorporated. This meant it took on responsibility as the Sanitary, Highway and Sewer Authority for the parish and had to elect vestry-men. In 1888 the Vestry took possession of offices in Battersea Rise, purchasing them from the District Board of Works and in 1891 purchased the Elm Hill Estate on Lavender Hill to build a new Town Hall. The building, designed by E Mountford, was opened in 1893. The 1899 London Government Act wound up the vestry system and created Metropolitan Borough Councils, which took over from 1900.