Records of the Metropolitan Water Board relating to the Croydon Corporation Waterworks, comprising plans from the Engineering Department including Croydon Corporation Waterworks; Waddon Pumping Station; Stroud Green Waterworks; Surrey Street Pumping Station and water mains, ponds, wells and rivers.

Minutes of the New River Company, including minutes, papers and reports of Weekly Meetings, of the General Courts of Governors, of the Surveys of the River Committee, of the Parliamentary Committee, of the Building Committee and of the River Lee Conservancy Board. Also copies of the charters of 1606 and 1737.

Correspondence files of the New River Company, including Secretary's letter books; letter books of staff members including engineers, supervisors and surveyors; general letter books and estate letter books.

Legal papers of the New River Company, including case papers; deed registers; correspondence; contracts; valuations; agreements; leases; papers relating to compensation and arbitration; petitions; and papers relating to land purchase.

Records of the New River Company relating to Parliamentary proceedings, including papers regarding relevant Select Committees and Bills; memoranda of proceedings; reports; and correspondence, statistics and reports relating to the Royal Commission on the Metropolitan Water Supply.

Records of the New River Company relating to stocks and shares, including registers; dividends receipt books; pamphlets; ledgers; indemnities; share transfers; certificates and reports.

Contracts of the New River Company including specifications; quotations; contracts; tenders; accepted contracts; accepted stores contracts and contracts for building offices.

Records of the New River Company which were separated from the main collection and used for exhibitions, including minutes; papers of the Surveyor; papers of the Engineer; negotiations for the supply of water; property papers; correspondence; reports; royal charters; agreements; legal papers; newspaper cuttings; papers relating to shares; contracts and specifications of works; and papers relating to staff.

Records of the Shadwell Waterworks Company, comprising financial material including rent books; cash books; receipt books; wage books; account books and some papers relating to works carried out.

Corporate records of the Southwark and Vauxhall Water Company, including Board meeting minute books; Committee meeting minute books; Secretary's reports; correspondence and letter books; solicitor's accounts; legal papers; records relating to stocks and shares; registers of probates; mortgage records and contracts records.

Staff records of the Southwark and Vauxhall Water Company, including wages books; expenses books; time books and applications, testimonials and correspondence.

General records of the Southwark and Vauxhall Water Company, including newscuttings books; papers relating to a legal case; papers relating to stocks and papers relating to works.

Records of the South London Waterworks Company (later the Southwark and Vauxhall Water Company) including papers relating to shares; minutes of Director's meetings; stock certificates; papers relating to works and papers relating to a lawsuit.

Minute book of the Mining and Metallurgical Club, 1910-1916, with a note dated 2010.

Appointment of William Dilks, of Stratford, then in Essex, as Trustee of the Middlesex and Essex Turnpike Trust, 1728.

Records of Staines Local Board of Health, 1883-1929, comprising minute books, notice of bye-laws relating to Staines Commons and petition to Parliament for exclusion from Coal and Wine Duties Bill.

Records of Staines Urban District Council, 1894-1946, including minute books of various Committees including the Highways Committee and the Cemetery Committee; copies of agreements; reports and inquiries; financial accounts and town planning schemes including plans.

Records of Staines Rural District Council, 1894-1934, including Council minute books; Committee minute books; Parochial Committee minute books; reports; correspondence; housing scheme plans and town planning meetings.

Records of parishes in Staines, 1803-1953, including poor rate books; papers relating to tithes; papers relating to maintenance of roads, including plans; minute books of various Committees; and bills for maintenance work done.

Records of other bodies, 1828-1930, including the Commissioners of Staines Bridge; Staines Poor Law Union; Staines Joint Hospital District; Sunbury Hall Company Limited and Staines School Board.

Records of the Staines Local Board of Health, Urban District Council and Rural District Council relating to road and bridge maintenance, provision of utilities and sewer and drainage works, 1876-1961, including correspondence; agreements; memoranda; contracts; deeds; copies of legislation; petitions; orders of the Local Government Board and licences.

Records of the City Lands Committee, Court of Common Council, including journals, 1699-1870; minutes, 1703-1968; rough minutes, 1668-1698; committee papers, including reports, petitions and other documents presented to the committee, 1666-1957; City Lands and Bridge House Committees letter books, 1898-1913; report books, 1941-1965; order books, 1667-1816; warrants for payments to be made to workmen, 1873-1887; standing orders, 1793 and 1837-1909; City rentals, 1937-1950; papers of the City and Bridge House Accounts Committee, 1838-1845; papers regarding liability under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1897; powers vested in the committee by the Court of Common Council, 1668-1673 and 1796-1846 and papers regarding collection of rents and enforcement of payments, 1873-1893.

Papers relating to service in World War One, 1917-1919, and in China, 1921-1945, including copies of personal letters from Army colleagues, 1918-1919; copy of manuscript account of service during third battle of Ypres, 1917; typescript narrative diary of 15 Field Company Royal Engineers, 8 Div, 2 Army, Somme, German March offensive, 1918, with copy of manuscript account ofthe German attack, 21 Mar 1918; correspondence relating to road surveys in China, 1921-1927, with copy of typescript account of journey by Jacobs-Larkcom from Yunnan to Sichuan, China, 1921; copies of two manuscript narrative diaries, British Military Mission to China, 1943-1945; three typescript articles relating to China entitled 'Disease', 'For those interested in the Chinese language' and 'River travel-and a question of cash' [1945].

Notebooks and diary including notebooks containing notes taken from lectures on physics and electricity given at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, illustrated with sketches and diagrams, 1902; pilotage notes, 1907; Diary while serving with HMS VIRAGO, a destroyer on the China station, including visits to Hong Kong, Japan and elsewhere in the Far East, 1908 and notebooks containing lecture notes on electricity and mechanics, illustrated with small sketches and diagrams. Inscriptions 'J E L Bashford, HMS Vernon, Aug. 1911.' MS. 5740 also includes notes on mine-sweeping and on torpedoes fired, 1916-1918.

Copy of Court Orders of Westminster Commission of Sewers, 7 and 28 June 1709, allowing Mrs Katherine Akrode to make a drain from her house in Butcher Row, Saint Clement Danes, into the sewer there, 28 June 1709.

Records of Bedfont and Bagshot Turnpike Trust, 1763-1850, including minutes; financial accounts; grants of land; correspondence; reports and Acts of Parliament.

Records of Colnbrook Turnpike Trust, 1728-1871, including minutes; financial accounts; assignments; leases of tolls; conveyanves and other deeds; plans; correspondence; bonds and Acts of Parliament.

Minutes of the Hampton and Staines Turnpike Trust, 1826-1859.

Correspondence and papers of J H Stevenson relating to the Aeronautical Engineers' Association (AEA), 1943-1954, comprising:
Photocopies of political correspondence, 1946-1958, correspondents include Brendan Bracken (1950), James Callaghan (1954), Ernest Marples (1952), Edward Heath (1952, 1958), H Montgomery Hyde (1951), Robert Carr (1950), Edward Grigg, Lord Altrincham (1958), Harold Macmillan, [later Earl of Stockton] (1950), Sir Gerald Nabarro (1950), Anthony Barber (1958), Sir Herbert Butcher, (1956), Lord Shawcross (1950), Fenner Brockway (1950), Viscount Hinchingbrooke (1958), and Enoch Powell (1953); copy of letter from Stevenson to The Times, on rear facing seats for aircraft passengers, 1990; group photographs of AEA annual conferences, 1946-1947; printed papers including Rule Books, 1943-1949, Wings: Official Organ of the Aeronautical Engineers' Association, 1943-1954 (incomplete series); pamphlets, 1944-1948; ephemera including Stevenson's membership cards, 1944-1963, and badges.

Typescript of unpublished autobiography of Wilfred Blackwell Beard, titled Along This Way, written c1966-1967, and covering his early life and education in Manchester, his work as an apprentice and journeyman patternmaker in Manchester, Stockport, Bradford and Newcastle, c1905-1929; his membership of the United Patternmakers' Association, from 1912, and his work as a full time Union Official from 1929-1966; and his membership of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) General Council, 1947-1967, particularly his year as Chairman of the TUC, 1955-1956.

Papers relating to British railway history, especially that of the Great Western Railway (GWR) and railways in the London area, including books, maps, periodicals, timetables and several thousand photographs, c1920s-1980s. The books represent a strong collection on British railway history from earliest times to the early 1980s. The collection is less strong in periodicals but there are some substantial runs of major titles. There is a large collection of early railway maps including Airey and Railway Clearing House (RCH) maps; also Ordnance Survey maps and railway junction diagrams, and a substantial collection of Bradshaw guides, and working and passenger timetables, with the following archival material:

Clinker Collection comprising notes and correspondence relating to the publications of Charles Ralph Clinker on railway history, particularly his Register of closed passenger stations and goods depots in England, Scotland and Wales, 1830-1977 (1963, revised 1978) and papers relating to his 1982 revision of the History of the Great Western Railway (London, 1964) by E T MacDermot; timetables, including those for the Bristol area, 1880s-1970s; General Strike, 1926; timetables during other strikes, 1920s; Great Western and Midland, various notices; Midland and South Western Junction Railway timetables, 1885-1947; operation instructions, GWR, London Midland and Scottish (LMS), London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), Southern Railway (SR); GWR working of stations, 1939-1965; LMS Railway train marshalling, 1943-1944; LMS timetables, 1890s-1940s; train arrangements during World War One and World War Two, 1914-1918, 1939-1945; papers relating to Broadgauge conversion; papers relating to Golden Valley Railway and Leominster-Kington Railway; ephemera relating to the Hay Railway, 1811-1977; Southern Railway plans for stations west of Salisbury, 1905- (mainly 1920s-1930s); Severn Bridge, General Manager's file, 1936-1943; logging of train performances, 1918-1927; books and periodicals, including rare and 19th century printed material on the early railway system, particularly guidebooks and station instructions.

Garnett Collection, mainly comprising railway maps, particularly those produced from 1869 by John Airey, an employee of the RCH, and subsequently by the RCH itself, and also includes Ordnance Survey maps and railway maps produced by the various railway companies; catalogues and research notes by Garnett, including lists of maps prepared by Airey and the RCH, 1869-1960; Macaulay [Zachary] series for Great Britain, Ireland and London, 1851-1908; notes on tramways and railways in Port Talbot area; catalogues of station handbooks, 1851-1956, and railway junction diagrams (the Airey and RCH maps, station handbooks and junction diagrams were used to determine ownership of stations and junctions for commercial purposes).

Research notes and photographs relating to Railway structures by Stuart Kear (9 vols); typescript of Chronology of the construction of Britain's railways, 1856-1922 by Leslie James; research notes by John Palmer on 19th century railway periodicals and the Eastern Counties Railway in its formative years; research notebooks and papers of Harold Vernon Borley on the history of railways in London, used for his Chronology of London railways (Railway and Canal Historical Society, Oakham, 1982).

Locomotive and General Railway Collection, featuring several thousand photographs (photographer unknown) of British locomotives, particularly steam trains, 1920s-1970s.

Wookey Collection, comprising several thousand photographs of British railway stations and signal boxes.

Mowat Collection (of Professor Charles Loch Mowat, 1911-c1969), comprising 2500 photographs in albums of railway scenes, 1926-1969 (mostly 1942-1969, with a few before 1924). These are mostly of small and medium sized railway stations (trains are generally incidental), covering most of the United Kingdom, with particular emphasis on the GWR and Wales, with coverage of Somerset and Dorset, Midland and South Western Junction, Lincolnshire, Midland Railway in the West Country, Great Eastern, Glasgow and Edinburgh Suburban, Bristol Suburban, Ireland, and narrow gauge lines in the UK such as Ffestiniog, Penrhyn, Bishop's Castle and Ditton's Prior. He also covered south east of Manchester in 1962, including the Hayfield, Macclesfield, Buxton (London North Western and Midland) and North Staffordshire lines. The collection also includes Mowat's index to his photographs and 14 notebooks containing track diagrams and notes on the stations he photographed, c1920-1969.

Letter from Joseph Locke to [Isambard Kingdom Brunel], 14 Jul 1846. Arranging to meet Brunel and Robert Stephenson.

Autograph, with signature.

Estimates in John Urpeth Rastrick's and another hand, usually endorsed and corrected by Rastrick, Dec 1843-Jul 1844.

Papers of Professor Harold Heywood, 1925-1973, comprising biographical papers; notebooks and papers, 1925-1957, covering Heywood's undergraduate career at Imperial College, work concerning dusts and sedimentation, sieving, particle size and pulverisation, including records of work undertaken during World War Two and after for the Ministry of Supply concerning the problems caused by dust during military operations in desert warfare, travel diaries; working papers on particles and pulverisation, 1929-1971; working papers on solar energy, 1946-1970, begun at Imperial College but mainly carried on at Woolwich and Loughborough, including notes and observations, travel diaries, correspondence and other papers relating to conferences and consultancies relating to solar energy; lectures and papers, 1924-1971; correspondence, 1933-1958; reports and publications, 1937-1948.

Engineering designs for Phillipe de la Hire of L'Academie Royale des Sciences, 1735.

Manuscript letter, dated 22 February, 1643, containing an Order of the Committee of Revenue to Thomas Fauconbridge, Receiver of Crown Revenues, to pay 'the poore Pewterers or Hammer men' of London the sum of £100, due to them by virtue of an Act of Parliament. The letter is signed by members of the Committee for Revenue, including Sir Henry Vane, Sir Henry Mildmay, Francis Rous, William Ashhurst, Thomas Hoyle and Dennis Bond. With a receipt dated 27 February 1643, bearing 56 signatures or marks and the signature of Robert Leeson, Warden of the Worshipful Company of Pewteres.

Records, 1926-1951, of the Chinese Government Purchasing Commission (CGPC), including information on the state of Chinese communications; the workings of the Chinese Ministries of Communications, Railways and Industries; Chinese banking; construction and engineering technology and the work of British manufacturers; and some information on Chinese educational and cultural institutions in receipt of subsidies from the Board of Trustees for the Administration of the Indemnity Funds Remitted by the British Government.

Records, 1926-1951, relating to the foundation and constitution of the CGPC comprise printed report of the Anglo-Chinese Advisory Committee (China Indemnity Advisory Committee), 1926; correspondence, largely letters from the Board of Trustees to the CPGC, 1931-1950, concerning the constitution of the Commission, procedural issues, personnel and financial matters; file on procedure on appointment of a new member of the Commission, 1947-1948; correspondence concerning events preceding the winding-up of the Commission, 1951.

Financial records, 1931-1951, comprise papers on the Board Account, 1937-1950; papers on the Chin Fund (apparently a grant paid to Constance Chin, a patient of the Bethlem Royal Hospital), 1945-1951; summaries of expenses relating to purchase orders made by Chinese ministries, 1931-1951; Indemnity Fund cash books, 1937-1950; invoices and receipts relating to CGPC business, 1937-1951; financial statements and correspondence relating to banking matters with the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, 1931-1951, the subjects including investments and tax.

Operational records, c1928-1951, relating to the administration of purchase orders, comprise register of tenders/purchase orders, 1942-1946; contract registers (not comprehensive), 1931-1949, recording the management of contracts for the supply and delivery in China of plant, machinery and other materials manufactured in the UK for the Chinese government, and over 1,000 related contract files for engineering companies and manufacturers for industrial, construction, railway and other projects; tender forms, 1934, issued to contractors by the CGPC; specifications and standards, c1928-1937 and undated, largely for the construction of railways and carriages; correspondence concerning administration of purchase orders, 1932-1951, relating especially to delivery of locomotive spare parts and related materials; registers of export licences issue to British manufacturers under wartime regulations, 1941-1946; applications for export licences, 1939-1945; registers of shipments, insurance, freight and inspection fees, 1931-1951; shipping letters, 1937-1950, issued for CGPC shipments; general correspondence concerning the administration of the CGPC, 1931-1951, including correspondence with solicitors and correspondence concerning the CGPC premises in Tothill Street, London.

Annual reports and accounts, 1931-1950, comprise typescript accounts and reports, 1931-1950, of the CGPC and published annual reports, 1931-1950, including summaries of receipts and payments; and annual reports of the Board of Trustees, 1931-1938.

Miscellaneous records, c1932-1950, comprise one file including papers on subjects including railways, training Chinese students, Japanese imperialism, and CGPC records, a photograph of ships in harbour, and maps of China and the Far East.

Records, 1939-1943, of the China Purchasing Agency Ltd comprise standing regulations of the Board of Directors, undated; correspondence, 1939-1943, concerning various purchase orders; miscellaneous items, c1939-1940, including list of tenders passed for acceptance, 1939, and an undated schedule of materials shipped.

Financial records of Chelsea Waterworks Company, including annual account books; annual reports; accounts ledgers; journals; cash books; bills books; revenue ledgers; meter accounts; and order books.

Staff records of the Chelsea Waterworks Company, including register of employment; wages accounts and wages books.

Papers of the East London Waterworks Company relating to water supply and distribution, including Engineers' reports; Engineers' correspondence; volumes of accepted tenders; water supply agreements; Collectors' and Inspectors' letter books; indexes to the locations of meters; rating volumes; accounts; plans and diagrams.

Corporate records of the Grand Junction Waterworks Company, including Court of Directors minute books; Committee books; Court record books; General Assembly minute books; Directors' reports; correspondence and letter books; registers of shareholders; stock ledgers; mortgage records; and contracts records.

Staff records of the Grand Junction Waterworks Company, comprising staff wages books.

Corporate records of the Kent Waterworks Company, including Board of Directors' minute books; Committee minute books; Secretary's reports; correspondence and letter books; legal papers; records relating to shares, stocks and dividends; and contracts.

Staff records of the Kent Waterworks Company, including wages accounts sheets; papers relating to salaries and pensions book.

Records of the Kent Waterworks Company relating to water supply and distribution, including engineer's reports; water supply agreements; records of supplies laid on and cut off; meter books and water rent books.

General papers of the Kent Waterworks Company including press cuttings; papers relating to the Royal Commission on Water Supply; legal case papers and indexes.

Corporate records of the Lambeth Waterworks Company, including minute books of the Committee of Management and Directors; Committee minute books; agenda books; Director's reports; correspondence and letter books; legal papers; papers relating to stocks and shares; dividend books; registers of bonds; and contracts records.

Staff records of the Lambeth Waterworks Company, comprising establishment books.

Further records of the Lambeth Waterworks Company, including Board papers; Secretary's reports; correspondence; legal papers; Parliamentary papers; contract papers; engineer's reports; inspector's reports; foreman's reports; papers relating to water supply; property records and staff records.

Corporate records of the London Bridge Waterworks Company, including Committee of Managers minute books; General Meetings of the Proprietors minute books; shareholders register; stock ledgers and transfer books and dividend books.

Stock transfer records for the London Bridge Waterworks Company, comprising book of wills for deceased shareholders and elevation and plan of the great engine for the fifth arch of London Bridge.

Records of the Metropolitan Water Board, including minutes and related papers for the Board; the Appeal and Assessment Committee; the Works and Stores Committee; the Stores Account Sub-committee; the Special Co-ordinating Committee and the Special Arbitration Committee.

Records of the Metropolitan Water Board Survey Department, including terrier volumes; registered dockets; files on land acquired; deeds registers; and files regarding rates assessments.

Staff records of the New River Company, including wages books; returns of employees and papers relating to staff appointments.

Corporate records of the West Middlesex Waterworks Company, including Board of Directors minutes; General Assembly minutes; Committee minutes; letter books and correspondence; legal papers; records relating to stocks and shares; files on Royal Commissions on water supply; and general files of the Secretary.

Financial records of the West Middlesex Waterworks Company, including ledgers; cash books and journals.