Records of the London Gas Light and Coke Company, 1833-1883, comprising Directors' meetings signed minutes; Shareholders' meetings signed minutes; Committee of Works, Estimates, Contracts and Buildings signed minutes; Committee of Finance signed minutes; and Committees of Works, Finance and Inspection, and General Board signed minutes.

Record of the Peckham Building Investment Company comprising deed of settlement, 4 May 1846, for John Tricker Conquest of Finsbury Square and Henry England of New Cross, to form joint stock company 'The Peckham Building Investment Company'. The deed records the name and business of company, names of subscribers, and of directors and officers, duration of company and mode of dissolution; with signatures and addresses of shareholders, and note of number of shares held by each.

Minute books of the Liverpool Protective Assurance and Burial Society.

Record of the Society for Equitable Assurances on Lives and Survivorships, comprising a volume containing copies of the deed of settlement, bye-laws and speeches.

Records of Cable and Wireless (Holding) Limited. The records comprise of Court of Directors minutes and presented papers, Committees including Managing Directors minutes, Committee reports to the Board, Annual General Meetings minutes, verbatim reports of ordinary and extraordinary general meetings, annual reports and accounts, balance sheets, cash books, journals, purchases and sales journals, financial statements, investment and general ledgers, and summary list of investments.

Records including minutes; policy registers; annual reports; financial records including papers relating to shares and shareholders; agreements; correspondence; deeds; and reports; of predecessors and subsidiaries of the Guardian Royal Exchange Assurance Company, as follows:

Guardian Assurance Company Limited;
Royal Exchange Assurance;
Albion Fire Insurance Company Limited;
Atlas Assurance Company Limited;
British Equitable Assurance Company Limited;
Caledonian Insurance Company;
Car and General Insurance Corporation Limited;
Car Services Limited;
Essex and Suffolk Insurance Company Limited;
Licenses and General Insurance Company Limited;
Liverpool and London Plate Glass Insurance Company;
Local Government Guarantee Society;
London and Manchester Plate Glass Insurance Company;
Manchester Assurance Company Limited;
Motor Union Insurance Company Limited;
National Provincial Insurance Company Limited;
Pilot Insurance Corporation Limited;
Reliance Marine Insurance Company;
State Assurance Company Limited;
United British Insurance Company Limited;
Westminster and General Insurance Company Limited;
Essex and Suffolk Accident Indemnity Society.

Records of Harrisons and Crosfield Securities Limited, including minutes and agendas; annual reports; general correspondence and list of investments.

Access to records less than 30 years old (or records less than 70 years old which relate to staff) should be sought from Elementis plc (contact details may be obtained from a member of staff).

Records of London Sumatra Plantations Limited, including articles of association, minute books, circulars to shareholders, annual reports, financial accounts, inventories, and correspondence.

Access to records less than 30 years old (or records less than 70 years old which relate to staff) should be sought from Elementis plc (contact details may be obtained from a member of staff).

Records of Assam and African Investments Limited, including annual reports and financial records.

Records of Gray, MacKenzie and Company Limited, general merchants and agents in the Persian Gulf, including partnership agreements; articles of association; correspondence; legal papers; financial accounts; annual reports; papers relating to property; historical notes; papers relating to Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company Limited, Bahrein Slipway Company Limited and Dilmun Navigation Company Limited.

Records of Legal and General (Unit Assurance) Limited, comprising memorandum and articles of association, annual reports and accounts.

Records of Legal and General International Limited, comprising annual reports and accounts.

Records of the Gresham Fire and Accident Insurance Society, including memorandum and articles of association; minutes and agendas; annual reports and accounts; registers; financial records; papers regarding foreign and overseas business; specimens of forms and policies; and staff registers.

The archive comprises records of London Life Association Limited, 1806-1953; Clergy Mutual Assurance Society, 1829-1935; and Metropolitan Life Assurance Society, 1834-1933.

London Life Association Limited records comprise minutes and accounts 1806-1944 (Ms 19634-41), policy registers 1873-1953 (Ms 19642-4) and scrapbook of printed forms 1891-1923 (Ms 19645).

Clergy Mutual Assurance records comprise minutes and accounts 1829-1924 (Ms 19646-50); policy and claims registers 1830-1935 (Ms 19651-3); and miscellaneous items 1891-1914 (Ms 19654-6).

Metropolitan Life Assurance Society records comprise minutes, accounts and regulations 1834-1933 (Ms 19657-67), policy registers 1835-ca. 1928 (Ms 19661, 19668-72).

Access to records which are closed for 80 years should be sought from London Life Association (contact details may be obtained from a member of staff).

Records of the National Mutual Life Assurance Society and predecessors the National Life Assurance Society and the Mutual Life Assurance Society. The records include constitutional documents, minutes, annual reports and accounts, seal books, reports, policy records and other administrative papers.

24 hours notice is required for access to this material. The records are subject to a 30 year rule: the permission of the depositor is required for access to material less than 30 years old (ask a member of staff for further information).

Records of Sun Insurance Office Limited as well as companies which merged with Sun Insurance, such as Alliance Assurance Company Limited; and subsidiary companies such as Bath Sun Fire Office, Patriotic Assurance Company of Dublin and London Assurance. The records include policy registers; administrative papers; minutes; reports; financial records; deeds; publications and photographs.

THESE RECORDS ARE SUBJECT TO A 50 YEAR CLOSURE PERIOD. LIFE POLICY REGISTERS, CLAIMS REGISTERS AND EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY POLICY REGISTERS ARE CLOSED FOR 75 YEARS.

Records of the Alliance Assurance Company Limited, comprising constitutional documents; board minutes and various committee minutes; life policy registers; reports of foreign visits, 1863-1965; agents' instruction books, 1868-1963, and other financial and administrative records.

'Life' material is subject to a 75 year closure period. Other material is subject to a 50 year closure period.

Records of the Bath Sun Fire Office comprising Directors' meeting minute book, also used as an out-letter book.

Records of British Fire Insurance Company Limited, comprising minutes of general meetings and directors' meetings.

Permission to publish any material must be obtained from the Company Secretary (further information is available from staff).

Crown Life Assurance Company records comprise: deed of settlement, 1853; conveyance of assets, 1867; agreement for amalgamation, 1891; rules and regulations, 1825-1873; minutes, 1825-92; and report books, 1870-1890.

Permission to publish any material must be obtained: ask a member of staff for further information.

The Farmers and General Fire and Life Insurance and Loan and Annuity Company collection primarily comprises minutes, but also includes some constitutional documents, examples of policies and other administrative records.

The Imperial Insurance Company (also known as the Imperial Fire Insurance Company) collection comprises constitutional documents, minutes, and financial and administrative material.

The Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company records comprise: deed of settlement and related papers, 1803, 1850-1858; committee minutes and reports, 1803-1922; financial records, 1803-1927; policy records, 1823-1884; "Million Fund" records, 1860-1909; registers of dividends and sureties, ca. 1830-1884; muniments of title, 1710-1913; and correspondence and other papers relating to property, 1821-1908.

The London and Lancashire Insurance Company Limited records comprise constitutional documents, minutes, annual reports and accounts, seal books, policy registers and other administrative papers.

They may be freely consulted with the exception of a few items less than 30 years old which may only be seen with the permission of the depositor, from whom permission must also be sought to publish any material.

The London Assurance Corporation records comprise: corporate and share records, 1719-1955; committee minutes, 1720-1927; administrative records, 1883-1967; investment books 1831-1926; policy records, 1721-1967; risks books, 1832-54; ship charter records, 1720-1853; fire charter records, 1721-1854; financial records, 1721-1958; staff records, 1906-63; property records, 1703-1923; plans, 1747-8, 1882-4; and other miscellaneous records, 1725-1932.

THESE RECORDS ARE SUBJECT TO A 50 YEAR CLOSURE PERIOD. LIFE ASSURANCE MATERIAL IS CLOSED FOR 75 YEARS.

The Reading and District Mutual Plate Glass Insurance Company records comprise a policy register 1896-1918; and a ledger 1896-1926.

The Rock Life Assurance Company records comprise: deed of settlement and related papers 1807-1901; minutes, prospectus and circulars 1806-1937; miscellaneous papers relating to directors, auditors and agents 1812-1909; records relating to the company's emblem c 1807; elevation of the company's offices, 1807; dinner menus 1868-1906 and volume relating to the Society for Equitable Assurances on Lives and Survivorships 1762-1817.

Permission to publish any material must be obtained from the depositor.

Papers of the Sun Insurance Office Limited relating to meetings; including General Committee minutes; Directors' meeting minutes; Management Committee minutes; annual general meeting minutes; minutes of the Accounts Committee, Finance Committee, Town Committee, Country Committee, and Building Committee; minutes of special committees such as the Committee of Inquiry relating to firemen, fire engines and water supply; report books; and resolutions book.

THESE RECORDS ARE SUBJECT TO A 50 YEAR CLOSURE PERIOD. LIFE POLICY REGISTERS, CLAIMS REGISTERS AND EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY POLICY REGISTERS ARE CLOSED FOR 75 YEARS.

Records of Sun Insurance Office Limited relating to agencies, both UK and abroad; including instructions to agents; lists and registers of agents; scrapbooks and notebooks containing notes, press cuttings and notices about agencies; foreign agency memorandum books; and foreign instructions books for Africa, Central and South America, Asia, Australasia, Europe and Russia.

THESE RECORDS ARE SUBJECT TO A 50 YEAR CLOSURE PERIOD. LIFE POLICY REGISTERS, CLAIMS REGISTERS AND EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY POLICY REGISTERS ARE CLOSED FOR 75 YEARS.

Papers of the Sun Insurance Office Limited relating to other organisations; including copy minute books of the Accident Offices Association, Fire Offices' Committee (Foreign), London Continental Fire Insurance Committee, and Fire Offices' Committee.

THESE RECORDS ARE SUBJECT TO A 50 YEAR CLOSURE PERIOD. LIFE POLICY REGISTERS, CLAIMS REGISTERS AND EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY POLICY REGISTERS ARE CLOSED FOR 75 YEARS.

Papers relating to the activity and operation of the Chelmsford Star Industrial Co-operative Society, including: reports and balance sheets, 1884-1920; correspondence with various national societies regarding credit trading, 1915-1916; report by the Co-operative Union on the office, organisation and method of the Chelmsford Star Industrial Co-operative Society, 1964; miscellaneous papers, correspondence and ephemera regarding the Chelmsford Star Industrial Co-operative Society, the Good Samaritan Optical Fund, Braintree Co-operative Society, Maldon and Heybridge Co-operative Society, the Essex and Suffolk Hours and Wages Board, the Essex Co-operative Funeral Furnishing Society, the Essex Co-operative Boot and Shoe Repairing Society, the Essex Co-operative Ice Cream Society, the Joint Advisory Committee of East Anglican Co-operative Societies, 1893-1975; delegate pack, including handwritten notes for the Chelmsford Star Industrial Co-operative Society delegate at the Co-operative Congress, Eastbourne, 1971.

Papers of Caroline Selena Ganley, 1916-1966, including typescript autobiography, c1955; miscellaneous papers concerning her career and work, including desk diary and miscellaneous papers and correspondence, 1916-1966.

Papers of the London Co-operative Society, c 1870-1995, including papers and correspondence relating to all areas of LCS political, educational, trading and financial activity, and material relating to the Co-operative Retail Society, c1920-1995; minutes of all LCS Committees, including its Political Committee, Education Committee, General Manager, Chief Accountant and Secretary's reports on accounts and other matters, c1920-1975; minutes and reports of LCS Sub Committees, 1920-c1975; minutes, papers, accounts and balance sheets of the following local societies: Aylesbury Co-operative Society, Barking Co-operative Society, Berkhamsted Co-operative Society, Brentwood Co-operative Society, Canterbury and District Co-operative Society, Chadwell Heath Co-operative Society, Chesham Equitable Co-operative Society, Croxley Co-operative Society, Edmonton Co-operative Society, Epping Forest/Longton Branch of the National Guild of Co-operators, Grays Co-operative Society, Harrow Road and Queen's Park Co-operative Society, Hendon Co-operative Society, High Wycombe Co-operative Society, Hitchin Co-operative Society, Kingston and District Co-operative Society, Newmarket Co-operative Society, North Battersea Co-operative Party, North Ilford Co-operative Party, North West London Co-operative Society, Radlett Industrial Society, Seven Kings Co-operative Party, South Western Industrial Co-operative Society, Southend Co-operative Party, Staines Co-operative Society, Stratford Co-operative Society, Tring Co-operative Industrial and Provident Society, Upminster Men's Co-operative Guild, Watford Co-operative Society, West London Industrial Co-operative Society, Willesden and District Co-operative Society and Wood Green Co-operative Society, c1870-1970; photographs of LCS and individual branch activities, retail outlets, personalities and educational and cultural events, c1875-1990.

Records of the London County Council Tramways Department, 1870-1933, including copies of relevant legislation; reports by solicitor; annual accounts; printed reports on the purchase of undertakings, methods of traction, electrification and so on, tramways development, financial matters, fares, staff and organisation and light railways; papers relating to arbitration proceedings against the London Street Tramways Company, North Metropolitan Tramway Company, London Tramways Company, London Deptford and Greenwich Tramways Company, Woolwich and South-East London Tramways Company and London United Tramways Company; arbitration concerning contract for construction of the superstructure of Greenwich Generating Station by Joseph Westwood and Company Limited; proceedings on claim for reduction of weekly hours from 56 to 48 and award thereon; proceedings on claim for increased wages for employees in the Electrical Section and award thereon.

Map of the tramways of London; maps showing the tramways of London North and South of the Thames; tramway map of London and suburbs showing the LCC tramways, their connections with other tramways and the tube railways; copies of the Official LCC Tram Map and Guide, containing descriptions of places of public interest and the tram routes serving them; 'Direct Services between North and South London - A Guide to Kingsway Tramway'; 'A Description of the System of LCC Tramways prepared on the occasion of the Annual conference of the Tramways, Light Railways and Transport Association'; issues of brochure 'The London Holiday Maker'; publicity brochures and fixture cards; regulations regarding the Electrical Power (Conduit System) on the LCC tramways; rules and regulations for conductors and drivers; 'What the progressives have done for the people's Trams', LCC election campaign literature (text and photographs reprinted from The Daily News).

Minutes and papers of various small, temporary committees of the Court of Common Council, 1668-1990. The Committees were formed to consider various matters including the election, remuneration and behaviour of officers and staff of the Corporation of London; consideration of the effects of various Parliamentary Acts and Bills; the historical rights and privileges of the City of London; the provision of cemeteries; parishes and benefices; metage, particularly of coal and corn; the reform of the Corporation; markets; building maintenance and preservation; debtors, insolvency and bankruptcy; the Gresham bequest; food imports; transport including railways; presentation of the Freedom to William Pitt; militia; the erection of monuments and statues; the funerals of Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington and Horatio, Viscount Nelson; legacies and bequests; care of orphans; poor relief; estate management; schools and libraries; City finances; water and gas supply; Port of London; sewers; regulation of trade and licensing; street lighting; prisons and compters.

Also papers relating to the general organisation and running of Court of Common Council Committees, including the decision to allow public and press to attend certain committees, 1974; lists of committee Chairmen and members for various years; committee books, 1690-1727 and 1813-1990; bills books, 1873-1884; notes on the historical powers of the Court of Common Council and the Court of Aldermen and notes on the streamlining of committees and administration, 1835-1965.

Records of the Sanitary Committee (1866-1897) and the Public Health Committee (1898-1956) including minutes, 1866-1956; committee papers, 1906-1956; report books, 1866-1956; Burial Board letter books, 1948-1956 and subject files, 1867-1955. Subjects include handling of condemned food; house drainage; sanitary inspectors; slaughter houses; bacteriologists; pigeon nuisance; the Housing Act 1936; the National Health Service; the London County Council health committee; smoke abatement and the City of London Cemetery including footpaths, boundaries, fees for internment, maintenance and arrangements for civilian deaths during the Second World War.

Papers of Portsmouth Dockyard. They consist of 566 volumes of the correspondence between yard officials, the Navy Board and the Admiralty, 1675 to 1899. There are also 147 plans for the yard, 1715 to 1884. The volumes are divided into four groups: those relating to the Resident Commissioner, the Admiral Superintendent, the yard officers and a miscellaneous group. Resident Commissioner's records. These consist of: letters from the Admiralty and Navy Board, 1773 to 1821, 1822 to 1827 (5 vols); abstracts of Admiralty and Navy Board letters and warrants, 1806 to 1823 (7 vols); letters to the Admiralty, 1707 to 1750, 1756 to 1763, 1769 to 1821 (19 vols); reports to the Navy Board, 1705 to 1722, 1732 to 1780, 1782 to 1815, 1817 to 1832 (41 vols); one volume of orders given by the Commissioner as a Flag Officer, 1712 to 1730, 1741; three volumes of letters to other yards and naval officers (including some by the Superintendent), 1809 to 1834. Admiral Superintendent's records. These consist of: 333 volumes of letters from the Admiralty, 1839 to 1840, 1840 to 1843, 1843, 1844 to 1845, 1845 to 1847, 1847 to 1848, 1848 to 1849, 1849 to 1851, 1852, 1855, 1855 to 1856, 1860, 1861, 1863, 1865, 1866, 1867 to 1871, 1871 to 1873, 1874, 1874 to 1875, 1875 to 1878, 1878 to 1879, 1880, 1883, 1895, 1898, 1899; and five volumes of letters to the Admiralty, 1832 to 1838. Dockyard Officers' records.

These consist of: Navy Board warrants, 1695 to 1780 and 1781 to 1822 (70 vols); the Commissioner's and Superintendent's warrants, 1694 to 1715, 1719 to 1780 and 1789 to 1848 (31 vols); an index to the Navy Board's and Commissioner's letters, 1675 to 1679, 1688 to 1690, 1694 to 1737 (3 vols); reports to the Navy Board, 1699 to 1713, 1714 to 1735, 1740 to 1780, 1782 to 1793, 1796 to 1822 (33 vols); Navy Board and Commissioner's correspondence with the Master Attendant, 1690 to 1692 and 1710 to 1713 (2 vols) and with the Ropeyard officers, 1751 to 1795 and 1796 to 1822 (2 vols); the first of these volumes also contains Navy Board orders to the Woolwich Ropeyard officers, 1746 to 1751. Miscellaneous records. These comprise: weekly reports of the progress on works, 1740 to 1744, 1778 to 1781 (2 vols); arrivals and sailings of ships, 1821 to 1848 (1 vol); arrivals and sailings of transports, 1829 to 1894 (1 vol); charts received and issued, 1809 to 1855 (2 vols); books received and issued, 1825 to 1843 (1 vol); one register of workmen entered and discharged, 1793 to 1801; reports of yard employees' trials, 1824 to 1855 (1 vol); one volume of the instructions to the Commissioner and officers, 1805, with manuscript additions, 1821 to 1822; one volume of orders to the yard Surgeon, 1823 to 1849. Plans. These include forty-four general plans of the yard and surrounding area, 1723 to 1884; forty plans connected with docks, wharves and slips, 1725 to 1854; and fifty-nine plans of buildings, 1715 to 1857.

Signals Collection comprising two East India Company signal books. The first is a printed signal book of 1783 entitle 'A Collection of Signals for the use of the ships in the Service of the United East India Company'; a sheet of coloured flags has been loosely inserted, but the book was not issued. There is also a manuscript volume of signals issued by Captain Alexander Montgomerie to the fleet under his command, St Helena to England, 1794.

153 volumes of sailing and fighting instructions include the majority of those listed in Sir Julian Corbett, Signals and instructions (Navy Records Society, 1908). In addition, there are many examples of those issued to smaller squadrons rather than fleets. The earliest is a printed copy of 1673 issued to James Duke of York (1633-1701). There is a copy of 1691 by Admiral Russel (1653-1727), issued in 1702. Subsequent sets show the development which took place up to the Seven Years War. From 1756 onwards additional and supplementary instructions became more numerous. The collection also contains several versions of instructions for ships in convoy, 1708 to 1815. In addition to these single items, there are sets in the personal collections. The most extensive, of thirty-four volumes, is that of Admiral Duncan (q.v.), 1760 to 1799, including signals and instructions issued during the American War, convoy instructions for 1782 and a number of sets from the 1790s. Other sets of significance include those of Vice-Admiral Duff, 1748 to 1762, including convoy instructions, 1756 and 1758, and printed instructions for disembarking and re-embarking troops, which were issued by Admiral Rodney (1719-1792) for the landings at marinique, 1762; of Rear-Admiral Clements, 1758 to 1770; and of Captain Lord Longford, 1779 to 1780.

120 printed and manuscript signal books and signal logs. 1711 to 1816. The earliest signal book is a manuscript volume compiled between 1710 and 1711. This contains additional signals made by Sir John Norris (c 1670-1749) in the RANELAGH. The format of this volume is very similar to the printed signal book of 1714 by Jonathan Greenwood. There are some manuscript examples produced privately by individual officers usually with a thumb index for quick reference, dating from the mid-eighteenth century. There are also printed signal books for 1790, 1793, 1795, 1798 and The General Signal Book of 1799, 1808 and 1816. During the 1790s the printing of signal books became general practice. There are various examples (which include day and fog signals), night signals, instructions and additional instructions, which were usually issued in sets. For example, the collection has a set issued in 1793 by Admiral Lord Hood to the Mediterranean fleet. There is a similar set issued by Sir John Jervis in 1794 while in the West Indies. Most of the printed books which were issued have additional signals inserted in manuscript. The manuscript signal books are copies kept by officers who were not issued with a printed signal book, and preferred their own copy for easy reference; they are therefore usually pocket size. This practice was forbidden because of the danger of the code falling into enemy hands. However, there are a number of these in the collection and they often contain additional information, such as orders of battle and sailing, keys to both the British and French systems of coastal signals, pendant lists, etc. Many are finely executed and some are illustrated. There is a manuscript signal book used at the battle of the Nile, based on the 1795 edition entitled 'Day and Night Signal Book, Horarry, Fog etc.' by Midshipman (later Commander) Charles Claridge (fl 1798-1823) in the DEFENCE. This has a short diary at the back of the volume describing the battle and an order of battle and an order of battle and sailing. A manuscript copy of Lord Howe's (q.v.) code of 1793 is also included; this contains a list of signals for identifying coasts and headlands, caricatures, a sea song and drawings of naval vessels. The collection contains a group of signal books issued for use in a particular area; they include volumes for Barbados, 1820, Plymouth, 1797 and St Helena, 1817. There are also three signal logs, one of which was kept in the VICTORY, 1804.

Over half the signal books in this category are French; the other nations represented are Spain, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Sweden and Turkey. There are eighteen volumes, 1754 to 1885, the majority of which are printed with manuscript annotations. Of the French volumes, the earliest is a signal book kept in 1754 by the pilot of LA ROSE, in the squadron of Le Comte de Gallissoniere (1693-1756). The volume has a thumb index of coloured flags and is illustrated with watercolours of fleet manoeuvres. There is also an English translation of the signal book issued by the Comte D'Ache (1700-1775) to his fleet while in the East Indies in the ZODIAQUE, 1757 to 1759; a signal book issued by the Comte D'Orvilliers (1708-1792) in 1779; and a printed signal book of 1787 issued by the Marquis de Nieul, in which the names of the vessels in the squadron have been scratched out, but the twenty flags and ten pendants have been coloured. The Revolutionary War period is represented by three signal books issued for the navy of the Republic in 1799 and 1801. Only one has actually been issued and gives a key to the flags. In addition, there is a handbook for a coastal semaphore between Bayonne and Flushing; published in 1807, the system was invented by an artillery officer named Depillon and built ca.1803. The category also includes two signal books for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies; one was issued in c 1784 by John (later Sir John) Acton (1736-1811), the other in 1816; a Spanish book of signals and instructions printed in Cadiz in 1765 and issued by the Marques de la Victoria; another Spanish volume for 1781 for the fleet of Don Luis de Cordova; and two Swedish volumes, 1795 and 1796. The Turkish signal book is naval, 1885, and the format is similar to a French or an English volume. There is also a Dutch volume of flags rather than signals which was compiled c 1687; it is described on the title page as 'The Flagbook of Captain Paulus van der Dussen' (1658-1707).

Seven volumes concerned with naval signalling, telegraphic and merchant shipping codes, 1787 to 1822. The earliest volume is by Captain (later Admiral) Phillip Patton (1739-1815); in 1787 he published 'A system of signals combining the method commonly used in theBritish Navy...with a numerary method'. As far as is known this was never used, since preference was given to the code invented by Lord Howe. Patton employed two methods: one was the old idea of the meaning of the flag being governed by the position of the hoist and the other gave each flag a fixed numerical value. A new arrangement of Howe's day and night signals and instructions was made in 1792 by John McArthur (1755-1840), while secretary to Lord Hood, and printed in 1793. McArthur also published a comprehensive plan in c 1804, entitled 'Thoughts on several plans combining a system of Universal Signals by day and night', of which there is also a copy. There is a lithographed copy, made in 1822, of 'Practical Rules for making Telegraphic Signals with a description of the two-armed telegraph invented in 1804' by Lieutenant-Colonel Pasley (1780-1861); he put forward a system of sending messages by land using a pole with two moveable arms. A similar manuscript of ca.1820 is by Lieutenant (later Commander) Poynter Crane (1782-1879).

Papers of Frank Clarke Strick comprising minutes of the Board of Directors' and General Meetings, profit and loss accounts and annual returns of the numerous companies which made up the Strick group, 1896 to 1974. These include Frank C. Strick and Company Limited, 1903 to 1965; Anglo-Algerian Steamship Company (1896) Limited, 1896 to 1922; London, Paris and Marseilles Steamship Company Limited (later London and Paris Steamship Company Limited -- later London and Paris Steamship and Investment Company Limited), 1920 to 1965; Strick Line Limited, 1915 to 1970; Strick Line (1923) Limited, 1924 to 1958; the Shahristan Steamship Company Limited, 1923 to 1971; the Dwina Limited, 1908 to 1965; Strick, Gorchs and Company Limited, 192] to 1965: the North Devon Steamship Company Limited (later Frank Strick and Company (South Wales) Limited), 1923 to 1965; United Ship Supplies Limited, 1930 to 1965; Strick, Scott and Company Limited, 1921; Frank Strick and Company (Glasgow) Limited, 1920 to 1971, (Newcastle) 1931 to 1976 and (Liverpool) 1954 to 1974. There are ships' voyage accounts and cargo documents for a number of ships from 1969 to 1971; six freight contracts of 1914 and the 1922 management agreement between Strick's and Gray Dawes; and two letterbooks with out-letters to Government Ministries and Departments, 1909 to 1918. Finally, there are some technical records and publicity and personal material relating to Strick; included here is a memorandum on 'Ormuz' Red Oxide ore which gives details of rates and shipments, 1906 to 1942.

Private ledgers, accounts, share records, correspondence, price lists, staff and premises photographs, superannuation fund material, property ledgers. Includes subsidiaries: Clarnico Trust, Clarke, Nickolls and Coomb Properties Limited, Jonathan Edmundson and Company Limited, J and A Buchanan Limited, Charbonnel and Walker Limited, C N Toys, Salter and Company, Altbarn Property Limited, Benfleet, Edmondson's (Canada) Limited and Table Mountain Trust.

Papers of the London Regional Passenger Committee, including minutes, 1986 - 1992; reports, 1987 - 1992; press releases, 1988 - 1992; Quality of Service sub-committee minutes, 1986 - 1990; Information and Facilities sub-committee minutes, 1987 - 1992; minutes of advisory panel on public transport for people with disabilities, 1987 - 1989; Service Provision sub-committee minutes, 1986 - 1990; Performance Monitoring sub-committee minutes, 1986; annual reports, 1987 - 1992; correspondence regarding London Transport appeals, 1984 - 1991 and British Rail appeals, 1985 - 1989.

Also minutes of predecessor body the Transport Users Consultative Committee for London, 1950 - 1984 and annual reports, 1951 - 1961; and minutes of the Transport Users Consultative Committee, 1950 - 1984.

The papers are very extensive though there are some lacunae, probably attributable to Chain's many changes of workplace. The early biographical period is sparsely documented, there are sporadic gaps in the correspondence files, and there is no original documentation of the penicillin research at Oxford (although there are many historical accounts and much correspondence about the history of penicillin). The surviving biographical material provides documentation of the arrangements for Chain to live and work in Britain, later honours and awards and his musical interests, and family correspondence, photographs and press-cuttings. There are very substantial records of his later career at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità and Imperial College, London, including his continuing contributions to biochemical problems such as carbohydrate metabolism, ergot alkaloids, edible proteins and aeration studies. The Imperial College material also contains records of the creation, administration, finance and architectural design of the Biochemistry Department, and developments in the Department after Chain's statutory retirement in 1973. Additional information about Chain's research is available in the documentation of his very extensive consultancy agreements and collaborative work with industrial firms such as Astra, Beechams and Rank Hovis McDougall, and records relating to government, grant-giving and charitable bodies such as the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research Campaign and Medical Research Council which contributed to the funding of his research. There is much material on Chain's lectures, addresses and broadcasts, and on his extensive travel on visits and conferences, which includes a substantial number of unpublished talks.

An exceptional feature of the Chain papers is the documentation of the large number of Israel and Jewish organisations with which he was associated, especially the Weizmann Institute of Science, where he was a governor for many years and had at one time considered taking up an appointment.

This catagory contains examples of various types of ships' papers and documents relating to the operation of merchant ships. There are examples of Charter Parties, including one of 1322 between Walter Giffard, master of the cog OUR LADY of Lyme and Sir Hugh de Berham for a freight of wine; the remainder are twentieth-century examples. The earliest example of a Bill of Lading is for the TRIPLE CROWN of Bristol, 1689; there are others from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Among the examples of Bills of Sale of ships and shares of ships is one for the Dutch East India Company ship DEHELDWOITEMADE, sold to James Mather, a London merchant, 1782; and also one for the SPECULATOR, a French prize, formerly LE CARME, sold in 1810. Examples of documents relating to insurance include a Statement of General Average for the POLLY AND EMILY made after she had been damaged in a gale in 1895. There are also Muster Rolls and Articles of Agreement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (see also entry no.13); Bills of Health, nineteenth and twentieth centuries; Safe Conducts, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; and various nineteenth-century passenger documents and papers relating to wreck and salvage, including an order issued by Sir Cyril Wyche (1632-1707) and Sir Henry Capel (d 1696), Lord Justices of Ireland, for the arrest of the pilot of the wrecked TALBOT pink, 1695.

Papers of Edward Bates and Sons. The major part consists of carbon copies of the daily letters written privately between 1878 and 1902 by Edward Percy Bates from Liverpool to his father Edward Bates in Hampshire and his brother Sydney in London. When he was away from Liverpool the letters were written by another brother (usually Gilbert Bates) and later by his son Edward Bertram Bates. The letters contain information on all the family's business interests, including ships' movements and cargoes, the sale of cargoes and the state of the various markets. As well as personal matters, the correspondence reflects the close-knit circle of shipowners in Liverpool during this period. Records of ships include: a disbursement book, 1902 to 1914; a movements book with details of cargo, 1908 to 1916; cargoes, 1870 to 1896; ships' expenses at different ports, 1869 to 1902. In addition there are copies of correspondence between Gilbert Bates and Edward Percy Bates while the latter was on a trip to India, 1887 to 1888; a small duplicate letterbook records the business and personal letters written by Gilbert Bates 1880 to 1881 (including a visit to India) and continued by Edward Percy Bates, 1883 to 1884, when most of the letters were written to Sydney while be was on a visit to India; copies of letters sent from Liverpool to Bombay, 1879 to 1881; a few loose letters addressed to Edward Bates during the period, 1852 to 1867; by the Bombay office, 1861 to 1865, and by masters of the ships, 1862 to 1877. There are the carbons of letters written by Colonel Denis H Bates (1886-1959), mainly to Sydney E Bates, Percy E Bates and Aubrey Brocklebank, 1919 to 1924. There is a carbon copy of a diary of a visit to India kept by H G Wilson, chief accountant of Brocklebank's, and sent to Colonel Bates; carbons of reports sent by Wilson from India to Brocklebank's, the Anchor Line and Ellerman's, 1920 to 1921; and a few papers of Sir Percy Elly Bates on shipping and transport, 1916 to 1919.

Papers of Henry Chatfield, including notes on ordnance and shipbuilding and on the sailing trials between the St. Vincent and the Queen, 1844. There are two letters relating to the Dockyard Committee of Enquiry, 1858 to 1859, and a copy of Chatfield's dissension from its Report. There are also printed copies of Parliamentary Reports relating to the dockyards, 1805 and 1860, and a pamphlet written by Chatfield in 1834, 'An elementary essay on the principles of masting ships'.

The papers relating to Sir Hugh Cloberry Christian all date from 1798 when he was second in command of the Cape of Good Hope station. They include official correspondence relating mainly to the day to day running of the station but particulaly to the mutiny and subsequent Court Martial concerning the East Indiaman, PRINCESS CHARLOTTE. The papers relating to Sir Hugh's son, Hood Hanway Christian, are more extensive. Apart from an order book from 1812, when Christain was the governor of the Spanish fort at Castro, they are mostly official correspondence from the period 1824-1828. These relate to the supression of the slave trade and various disciplinary proceedings together with correspondence from the Navy Board. There is a small amount of personal correspondence including letters from Sir Richard Keats and Sir Edward Pellew.

Records of the Canadian Pacific Railway Co, comprising Official Logs, 1901 to 1913, originally part of the records of the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen, who gave them to the company in 1970. The collection includes log books of three of the 'Empress' line, the Empress of India, the Empress of Japan and the Empress of China as well as of other company ships of the pre-First World War period. The papers are a number of printed pamphlets, time tables and short histories. (Section 3: CPR/: 3ft: 91cm)

Papers of Cicely Fox Smith, consisting of some manuscript material including logs of three East India merchant ships 1851 to 1854; a number of letters and photographs which she received from various correspondents; and a few articles and newspaper cuttings; there are also letters relating to the restoration of the VICTORY, 1920 to 1929. The collection has some useful materials for the study of the sailing ship.

Papers of Orient Steam Navigation Co Ltd .Most of them are post-Second World War; the majority of the earlier records were destroyed when the company's city offices were bombed in the early part of the war. For Anderson, Green and Company Limited, surviving material includes the minutes of the Directors' meetings, 1941 to 1969; the Reports of the Directors to the Annual General Meetings of the Shareholders, 1941 to 1969; the Register of Directors and Secretaries, 1919 to 1969; files containing items for Secretary's Agenda, 1960, and miscellaneous correspondence, 1960 to 1965. Among the Orient Steam Navigation Company papers are minutes of a committee of the Directors, 1946 to 1948; minutes of the Directors' meetings, 1948 to 1964; Annual Reports from the Directors to the Shareholders, 1945 to 1960, together with balance sheets, profit and loss accounts and newspaper cuttings. The company Seal Register, 1959 to 1965, is also present and there are copies of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the company, with amendments, 1900 to 1965. The shareholders' records include lists of dividends paid to shareholders, 1954 to 1964. There is also a file containing some correspondence and other documents on the offer made by the P&O Company to Orient Line ordinary shareholders, 1960, together with acceptance forms for the sale of shares, and similar for preference shareholders, 1965. Few book-keeping records have survived, but there are some working papers on cash accumulations and analysis of receipts and payments, 1937 to 1940 and 1949 to 1953; private ledgers, 1933 to 1948, 1955 to 1959; journal, 1953 to 1966; analysis of passenger embarkations and passage earnings, 1959; and steamers' ledgers, 1947, and 1958 to 1959, together with a cash book analysis ledger, 1960; investment ledgers, 1924 to 1959. There are several files containing display advertising samples, 1931 to 1940, 1949 to 1953, and a number of copies of the Orient Line Guide, which went through several editions, 1888 to 1901 Records of ships include a selection of ship files, 1936 to 1954, including voyage reports, ship sinkings in the Second World War, newspaper cuttings, etc; some material on schedules, 1956 to 1958; passenger earnings, 1956; and a box of papers on migration, 1947 to 1956. Books of Instructions, to commanders on the carrying of mails, 1911; pursers, 1931; surgeons, 1947; and officers, 1960, have also been retained, together with a copy of Uniform Regulations, 1958. Staff records include a volume containing Reports on Character, Stewards' Department, ca.1913 to ca.1925. Finally, there are several copies of the Articles of Association of P&O/ Orient Lines Passenger Services Limited. (Section 3: OSN/: 45ft: 1,372cm) Ships' Plans: these were deposited on loan in 1963, 1969 and 1970. This collection comprises prints and linen tracings of six typical Orient liners, 1917 to 1937. Lines, general arrangements and hydrostatics are included as are 'as fitted' drawings and specifications.

Records of central administration of the Post Office Telegraphs and Telephones (later Post Office Telecommunications) including records of the Post Office Board (including meeting papers TCB 54), Post Office Advisory Committee and other central functions.

The records concern both strategic telegraphy and telephony activities, such as policy, planning, legal papers (including on the takeover of the National Telephone Company) and routine reporting, and central operational activities including personnel and communications (including Joint Production Council publications, staff magazines, press notices, media coverage and training school and studio photographs).

These central administration records also include the minuted papers relating to telecommunication services 1889-1977 that, for various reasons, fell outside previous archival transfer. The subjects in these minuted papers (TCB 2) include satellite communications (Early Bird), international telephone services, policies toward staff and unions, telephone information services (including ship telephone services, roads and weather, teletourist service, speaking clock and the Santa Claus service), and technological developments (including telephone kiosks, the answering machine, "Amplifying Telephone" and "Laryngaphone").