Subfonds MCC/FIN - COUNTY TREASURER'S DEPARTMENT: GENERAL

Identity area

Reference code

MCC/FIN

Title

COUNTY TREASURER'S DEPARTMENT: GENERAL

Date(s)

  • 1889-1965 (Creation)

Level of description

Subfonds

Extent and medium

29.13 linear metres

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

The County Council was required by statute to appoint a Finance Committee, and a recommendation from the Finance Committee was required to enable payments to be made. This prevented the Council committing itself to expenditure beyond its means. In addition to the duty of examining and approving estimates, the Committee also examined and approved all accounts for payment, made arrangements for financing expenditure and raised loans.

The chief financial officer was the County Treasurer. He had responsibility for the conduct of the Financial Department and the control and organisation of the staff. He also prepared, in conjunction with other chief departmental officers, estimates of the expenditure of each committee for the ensuing year.

The County Council had three sources of revenue: the income from charges of various kinds which they are allowed by law to levy; government grants and rates. Charges for services included school tuition, for accommodation at old people's homes, for children maintained in Council homes, for home helps and other health services, although some of these charges were stopped or changed over the course of the Council's operations. Other charges included rentals of properties, smallholdings, fines and court fees, and various licences. Government grants included contributions from the Ministry of Transport towards upkeep of roads, assistance from the Ministry of Agriculture for small holdings, payment from the Ministry of Education for school meals and teacher training, a grant from the Home Office for the Fire Service and a grant from the Ministry of Health for health services.

The balance of the Council's requirements was raised by rates. These were obtained not by a direct levy on the tax-payer but by a precept on each borough and urban district council, as the rating authority. This precept required each authority to pay to the County Council a rate of so many pence in the pound by instalments spread over the financial year. For the bulk of services the County precept was levied over the whole County, but for some services a 'special county rate' was levied. For example, the borough of Acton was responsible for its own public libraries, therefore it would have been unjust for the rate-payers of that borough to pay a County charge for libraries outside their area.

Everyday expenditure on the upkeep of schools and roads, on salaries and wages and on the many other services was known as 'revenue expenditure', as distinct from 'capital expenditure'. The building of a new school or similar project was 'capital expenditure'. In most cases this would be too heavy to charge to the rates in one year, and the money was borrowed in the form of stock issues or mortgages.

The Edmonton Latymer Foundation was the legacy of Edward Latymer (1557 or 1558-1627), an official of the Court of Wards, who by his will dated 1624 left property in the Hammersmith area to provide, amongst other things, clothing and education for eight poor boys of Edmonton and eight of Fulham. Separate groups of trustees administered the property on behalf of the boys in the two parishes.

Archival history

MCC/FIN 1889-1965 subfonds 29.13 linear metres MCC , Middlesex County Council x Middlesex County Council

The County Council was required by statute to appoint a Finance Committee, and a recommendation from the Finance Committee was required to enable payments to be made. This prevented the Council committing itself to expenditure beyond its means. In addition to the duty of examining and approving estimates, the Committee also examined and approved all accounts for payment, made arrangements for financing expenditure and raised loans.

The chief financial officer was the County Treasurer. He had responsibility for the conduct of the Financial Department and the control and organisation of the staff. He also prepared, in conjunction with other chief departmental officers, estimates of the expenditure of each committee for the ensuing year.

The County Council had three sources of revenue: the income from charges of various kinds which they are allowed by law to levy; government grants and rates. Charges for services included school tuition, for accommodation at old people's homes, for children maintained in Council homes, for home helps and other health services, although some of these charges were stopped or changed over the course of the Council's operations. Other charges included rentals of properties, smallholdings, fines and court fees, and various licences. Government grants included contributions from the Ministry of Transport towards upkeep of roads, assistance from the Ministry of Agriculture for small holdings, payment from the Ministry of Education for school meals and teacher training, a grant from the Home Office for the Fire Service and a grant from the Ministry of Health for health services.

The balance of the Council's requirements was raised by rates. These were obtained not by a direct levy on the tax-payer but by a precept on each borough and urban district council, as the rating authority. This precept required each authority to pay to the County Council a rate of so many pence in the pound by instalments spread over the financial year. For the bulk of services the County precept was levied over the whole County, but for some services a 'special county rate' was levied. For example, the borough of Acton was responsible for its own public libraries, therefore it would have been unjust for the rate-payers of that borough to pay a County charge for libraries outside their area.

Everyday expenditure on the upkeep of schools and roads, on salaries and wages and on the many other services was known as 'revenue expenditure', as distinct from 'capital expenditure'. The building of a new school or similar project was 'capital expenditure'. In most cases this would be too heavy to charge to the rates in one year, and the money was borrowed in the form of stock issues or mortgages.

The Edmonton Latymer Foundation was the legacy of Edward Latymer (1557 or 1558-1627), an official of the Court of Wards, who by his will dated 1624 left property in the Hammersmith area to provide, amongst other things, clothing and education for eight poor boys of Edmonton and eight of Fulham. Separate groups of trustees administered the property on behalf of the boys in the two parishes.

Acquired with the records of its parent authority, the Middlesex County Council, and with successor authorities.

Records of the Middlesex County Council County Treasurer's Department, 1889-1965, including annual budgets; abstract of accounts; annual budget capital estimates; revised capital estimates; reports of the Accounts and General Sub-committee; statistics; financial and statistical digest; capital ledgers for various departments; general revenue ledgers; trust funds; loan ledgers; stock and stock redeemable ledgers; superannuation funds; charges for maintenance of children in hostels; financial records of individual children's homes; accounts of Hampton Grammar School Foundation; accounts of Edmonton Latymer Foundation; and financial accounts of the Estates and Housing Committee.

MCC/FIN/01: Financial statistics; MCC/FIN/02: Accounts ledgers and registers; MCC/FIN/03: Children's department; MCC/FIN/04: Education department; MCC/FIN/05: Estates and housing committee; MCC/FIN/06: Public assistance department.

Available for general access.

Copyright to these records rests with the Corporation of London.
English

Fit

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

For further information on the history of the Middlesex County Council please see Middlesex by Sir Clifford Radcliffe (2 editions, 1939 and 1953), LMA Library reference 97.09 MID; and The County Council of the Administrative County of Middlesex: 76 years of local government, 1 April 1889 to 31 March 1965, by Middlesex County Council (1965), LMA library reference S97.09 MID.

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. April to June 2009 Health services Medical institutions Finance Public finance Local finance Documents Information sources Financial records Economics of education Educational finance Construction engineering Building design Building standards Accommodation Housing Housing policy Housing finance Government Public administration Local government Hospital finance Hospitals MCC , Middlesex County Council x Middlesex County Council Finance Committee , Middlesex County Council County Treasurer , Middlesex County Council London England UK Western Europe Middlesex Europe

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Acquired with the records of its parent authority, the Middlesex County Council, and with successor authorities.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Records of the Middlesex County Council County Treasurer's Department, 1889-1965, including annual budgets; abstract of accounts; annual budget capital estimates; revised capital estimates; reports of the Accounts and General Sub-committee; statistics; financial and statistical digest; capital ledgers for various departments; general revenue ledgers; trust funds; loan ledgers; stock and stock redeemable ledgers; superannuation funds; charges for maintenance of children in hostels; financial records of individual children's homes; accounts of Hampton Grammar School Foundation; accounts of Edmonton Latymer Foundation; and financial accounts of the Estates and Housing Committee.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

MCC/FIN/01: Financial statistics; MCC/FIN/02: Accounts ledgers and registers; MCC/FIN/03: Children's department; MCC/FIN/04: Education department; MCC/FIN/05: Estates and housing committee; MCC/FIN/06: Public assistance department.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Available for general access.

Conditions governing reproduction

Copyright to these records rests with the Corporation of London.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

English

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Publication note

Notes area

Note

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

London Metropolitan Archives

Rules and/or conventions used

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area