Records of the River Plate Trust Loan and Agency Company Ltd, 1876-1978, including minutes, ledgers, registers, accounts, annual reports, legal documents, insurance records, staff records, letters and files, some relating to subordinate companies (Ref: A); and records of the subsidiary companies it administered:
River Plate and General Investment Company Ltd, comprising minutes, 1888-1965, ledgers, 1888-1941, and annual reports, 1889-1983 (Ref: B);
Mortgage Company of the River Plate Ltd, comprising minutes, 1888-1965, ledgers, 1888-1953, and annual reports, 1888-1981 (Ref: C);
Compagnie Française des Chemins de Fer de la Province de Santa Fé, comprising circulars to bondholders, 1891-1947, and reports, 1936-1947 (Ref: D);
London Trust Company, comprising ledgers, 1889-1928, registers of stock, 1889-1958, and miscellaneous papers, 1819-1974 (Ref: E);
Entre Rios Railway Company, comprising reports, 1891-1900, and circulars and minutes, 1933-1947 (Ref: F);
Cucuta Railway Company, comprising Presidents' reports, 1926-1936 (Ref: G);
Montevideo Waterworks, comprising reports and accounts, 1880-1940, and notices and circulars, 1949-1953 (Ref: H);
Consolidated Waterworks of Rosario, comprising reports and accounts, 1897-1946, and notices and circulars, 1930-1955 (Ref: J);
Rosario Drainage Company, comprising reports and accounts, 1898-1947, and notices and circulars, 1955 (Ref: K);
Buenos Aires Central Railway, comprising minutes, 1916-1944 (Ref: L);
Buenos Aires and Lacroze Tramways, comprising minutes, 1932-1940, and reports and accounts, 1933-1941 (Ref: M).
(1) Letter from Sir James Robert George Graham of the Admiralty to John Spottiswood, 14 May 1834. Concerning the postpoining of the second reading of the Leith Harbour Bill in the House of Commons.
(2) Letter from Sir James Robert George Graham of Whitehall to James Loch, 30 Nov 1842. Urging him to serve on the Poor Law Commission for Scotland.
(3) Letter from Sir James Robert George Graham of the Admiralty to James Loch, 19 Jun 1853. Discussing works on harbours in Alderney, Guernsey, Dover and Portland, and the training of pilots for the Channel Islands.
Sans titreThe original Deed of Association of the English and Bristol Channels Ship Canal. Contains about 600 signatures, opposite each of which are shown the number of deposits paid and amount subscribed, c1825.
Sans titreManuscript copies of papers relating to the Aire and Calder Navigation Company's proposed Leeds and Selby Canal, [1714-1772], as follows.
- Memorandum, [1771], upon the monopoly enjoyed and the exorbitant charges imposed by the farmer of the Aire and Calder Navigation, and the danger of the proprietors' wish to reroute the navigation away from Knottingley, Yorkshire, '...[which] proceeding would depopulate the... town reduce the property of individuals therein below it's present value and... totally deprive the same of all the natural advantages of it's situation...'. (Single sheet. 13" x 7¾").
- Memorandum of a meeting held on Monday, 30 December, 1771, at Bluits Inn, York, under the chairmanship of Charles Ingram, 9th Viscount Irwin, held to oppose the plans of the Aire and Calder Navigation to alter the route of the navigation by Act of Parliament. A list is given of the more notable attenders at the meeting. A plan of intended alterations was produced by Messrs. Wilson, Birt and Smeaton, but not considered, grievances of objectors to the plan were heard, and a subscription entered into to prevent 'the course of the rivers Aire and Calder from being altered by the present undertakers...and... [to concert] the proper means for reducing and ascertaining the tolls and duties on the said rivers...'. Adjournment to 28 January, [1772]. (Single sheet. 19½" x 14").
- Subscription list dated 30 December 1771 [referred to above] composed of thirteen names, headed by that of Lord Irvine. (Single sheet. 7" x 8").
- Articles of agreement of 9 July, 1714, made between (1) William Milner, of Leeds, and John Smith, of Heath, Yorkshire, on behalf of themselves and the other undertakers of the navigation on the rivers Aire and Calder, (2) Robert, Marquis of Lindsey, Lord Great Chamberlain and Privy Councillor, and (3) Arthur Ingram and Thomas Atkinson, both of Knottingley, on behalf of themselves and other inhabitants of that town. To settle disputes touching the erection of a lock and dam at Chapel Haddlesey (1) will, on or before 29 September, 1715, make one or more new large cuts or sluices with a turnpike in the middle of the dam at Chapel Haddlesey in the river Aire at least 15 yards wide...and maintain them at their own costs. They will also deepen by one foot the drain running out of Haddlesey Ings into the river Aire, and will erect a good and substantial bridge with two leaves over the Aire near the ferry by Chapel Haddlesey Marsh as good and substantial as Beal Bridge lately built on the said river, and make a good and sufficient causeway to Chapel Haddlesey. There are other clauses relating to tolls, flooding, etc. Bond in £2000 by (1) to (2) to observe and perform all covenants conditions, etc. (2 leaves. 15½" x 10").
Papers relating to the part of Jacques Louis Chaumont de La Millière in the creation of legislation in the Assembleé Nationale Constituante relating to the Ponts et Chauseés (or bridges and highways) of France, 1790, including:
- Letter from Millière to [Pierre Louis] Roederer introducing a memorandum entitled 'Observations pour servir de réponse à un mémoire sur les travaux publics du Languedoc...une partie d'administration aussi importante', 30 Oct 1790. The mémoire referred to appears to be that entitled 'Extrait d'Observations faites il y a quelques mois sur un mémoir de l'Ingénieur en chef de la cydevant province de Bretagne par lequel il proposait de conserver à Rennes l'École particulière des Ponts et Chaussées...les observations...pourront servir de réponse à un mémoire d'un directeur des Travaux Publics du Languedoc'.
- Letter from Millière to [Pierre Louis] Roederer, 20 Oct 1790, enclosing the 'dernières observations...sur la nouvelle rédaction du decret proposé par M. [Charles François] Le Brun [Duc de Plaisance] relativement aux Ponts et Chausées', with brief note in Millière's hand on the principles of the organisation of the Ponts et Chausées, and an item headed 'Observations sur plusiers articles du dernier projet du decret concernant les Ponts et Chausées proposés par le Comité des Finances'.
Copy of a memorandum [by George Fyler] entitled 'Further memorandum as to the most eligible transit route for mails, passengers & traffic through Mosquito & Costa Rica (being a rider to the memorandum of Dec 5th 1849) and directed to consider the shackles which now impede the development of trade with Central America, the means available for their removal and the concentration of the British Mails and traffic to and from Australia as also the Pacific generally... Presented to the Right Honourable Henry Labouchère [President of the Board of Trade], 29 Jan 1850. The manuscript memorandum suggests a route via Greytown (now San Juan del Norte), River St. John, Lake Nicaragua, and by road, eventually by canal, from the lake to Port Salinas, and indicates the advantages of the route, such as quicker mail services and avoidance of the influence of the United States at Panama.
Sans titreTwo printed forms, completed in manuscript, dated 12 Jan 1715 and 16 Jan 1717, appointing surveyors of highways for the parish of St Stephen, Bristol. With the signatures and seals of the respective mayors, Henry Whitehead and Nicholas Hickes, and by other Justices of the Peace.
Sans titrePapers, 1777-1782, relating to proceedings between Sir Martin Folkes, lord of the Manor of Wells, and George Chad and others, in the Court of King's Bench, concerning the harbour at Wells, annotated throughout and with sketches in the hand of Robert Mylne (see English Reports, XCIX, 589-91, 686-8). Includes a Report to the Commissioners for the Preservation of the Harbour of Wells by John Wooler, 7 Jul 1777; estimates for repair works submitted by Stephen West, [1781]; copy of the judgment of Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, [21 Nov 1782]; a memorandum in Mynle's hand headed 'Facts and Observations on Wells Harbour', with details dating from 1663; 5 maps, one by H.A. Biedermann (no.II) and one of the Wash (no. IV). The following printed matter is also included: April 28, 1781. Mr. Mylne's Report on his Survey of the Harbour (1781); The Report of John Smeaton, Engineer, upon the State and Condition of Wells Harbour (1782); and The Reports of Mess. Hodskinson, Grundy, Hogard and Nickalls on the State and Causes of the Decay of Wells Harbour (1782).
Sans titreCopy of the minutes of the Hipperholme with Brighouse townships meetings, in the possession of Brighouse Corporation, copied in 1929. The meetings' main concerns were poor relief, roads and local tax assessment.
Sans titreBirmingham and Gloucester Railway time book, filled in by Herbert Spencer with details of his surveying work, [1838-1839].
Sans titreRecords of the Save the Broad Street / Richmond Line (Hampstead) Committee, including minutes, agendas, correspondence, leaflets, petition forms and financial records.
Sans titreRecords of the Metropolitan Free Bridges Association, comprising committee minutes and a cash book.
Sans titreRecords of the Proprietors of Battersea Bridge, 1842-1871, including a copy of a statement on tolls sent to the Committee of Metropolitan Bridges, copies of questions submitted on the Thames Navigation Act 1870 and on Albert Bridge, copy of an agreement and a copy memorial sent to the Examiners of Standing Orders for Private Bills of non-compliance with standing order.
Sans titreCircular from the "Society for Erecting and Maintaining A Building in the Metropolis For the Meeting of Religious, Charitable, and Scientific Institutions", including plans of the proposed building between Exeter Street and the Strand [later called Exeter Hall, 272 Strand], 1829 and copy of the Ninth Annual Report of the Society For Erecting and Maintaining A Building Called Exeter Hall For the Meeting of Religious, Charitable and Scientific Institutions, 1834.
Copy of the report of the London and Greenwich Railway, read at the first General Half Yearly Meeting of the Proprietors held at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate Street, on 9 February 1841.
Sans titreRecords from the Lee Conservancy Board Engineer's Office at Enfield Lock. The engineer appears also to have been responsible to the Lee Conservancy Catchment Board (for example, see Acc 2423/062).
The collection consists of nineteenth and twentieth century plans, papers and volumes concerning the Lee Conservancy Board, the Lee Conservancy Catchment Board, and the British Waterways Board, covering many aspects of maintenance work on waterways and administration. The papers comprise:
- Plans 1760-1954 (ACC 2423/P/0001-3786) A large proportion of the collection consists of plans, many reused with annotations. Items relate to repair work on sewers and buildings, improvements to rivers and pumping stations, and the purchase of land for new projects.
- Parliamentary Plans 1840-1965 (ACC 2423/PP/001-041) Plans produced for or submitted for Parliamentary Sessions to illustrate forthcoming work on waterways, for example, sewerage work, or waterways affected by the construction of railways.
- Specific Plans 1867-1964 (ACC 2423/R/001-076) A set of plans illustrating large projects, which seems to have been kept as a set distinct and separate from the main ACC 2423/P plan series by the placing of the letter `R' before each original plan number.
- General Plans 1828-1974 (ACC 2423/X/001-300) A collection of more general plans relating to projects focusing on improvements to the Lea River and Navigation, the Stort River and Navigation, the Bow Back Rivers and the Grand Union Canal.
- Ordnance Survey Maps 1838-1955 (ACC 2423/05/001-139) Maps used to plan forthcoming work, with frequent annotations, particularly for the drafting of courses for sewers.
- Engineers' Reports and Letter Books 1858-1961 (ACC 2423/001-136) Sets of volumes and files recording reports, contracts and specifications, and other maintenance records.
- Administrative and Legal Documents 1829-1977 (ACC 2423/AL/001-119) Administrative files relating to accidents and damage, together with inventories of assets, minutes of meetings, and engineers' reports. Legal documents include material on agreements for sale and tenancy, the conveyance of property, and contracts.
- Engineering and Maintenance Records 1892-1978 (ACC 2423/EM/001-097) Records relating to the maintenance and improvement of waterways, including development plans, moratorium surveys, pumping records, and related graphs and operation sheets.
Property records of the Chelsea Waterworks Company, comprising land purchase registers and rent books.
Sans titreGeneral records of the Chelsea Waterworks Company, including correspondence relating to water charges; printed circulars and forms; newspaper cuttings; and reference material.
Sans titreCorporate records of the East London Waterworks Company, including Court of Director's minute books; legal papers; Committee papers; title deeds; correspondence and letter books; papers relating to stocks, shares and debentures; Parliamentary papers; papers relating to royal commissions on water supply; Secretary's files; press cuttings; and plans.
Sans titreFinancial records of the Grand Junction Waterworks Company, including half-yearly accounts; ledgers; journals; cash books; liabilities; balance books; revenue ledgers; office rate books; Collectors' recoveries and meter collections.
Sans titrePurchase records of the Grand Junction Waterworks Company, comprising stock books.
Sans titreGeneral records of the Grand Junction Waterworks Company, including examples of forms printed and distributed by the company; general index of drawings; papers relating to rate assessment appeals; valuation of tools and working plant; and papers relating to Parliamentary Acts and Royal Commissions.
Sans titreRecords of the London Bridge Waterworks Company relating to water supply and distribution, including water rental books; particluars of improvements to iron pipes; log book for steam engines and account of the working of the fire engine.
Sans titreRecords of the Lee Conservancy Catchment Board, including minutes of Board meetings; papers relating to staff including wages and superannuation; papers regarding the Sadler's Mill stream diversion; papers regarding flood relief and defences; correspondence and papers of the Association of River Authorities; papers relating to clearing the river; petitions; rainfall statistics; fishing rights; papers regarding members of the Board; drainage schemes; public relations files; papers regarding the Water Resources Act 1973; reports; papers regarding the acquisition of properties; and agreements for works, clearing, drainage, diversions, improvements, flood prevention, land sales and so on.
Sans titrePapers relating to the work of Witold Kay-Korzeniewicz, including development plans, photographs and reports for Paternoster Square, Saint Paul's Cathedral, Heathrow Airport, Elephant and Castle, King's Cross Station, Saint Pancras Station, South Bank, Festival of Britain, London Underground, Wembley Stadium, Grand Union Canal, and Warren Street Station.
Sans titreRecords of Westminster Bridge Commissioners, comprising volume of draft contracts and papers relating to the Bridge, including 'Act for building a Bridge cross the River Thames, from the New Palace Yard in the City of Westminster, to the opposite Shore, in the County of Surry' and articles of agreement and contracts for various aspects of building the bridge and provision of materials.
The volume is a later re-binding, possibly of the 19th century. The contracts had been paginated, and so, presumably, bound together at an earlier date. The pagination runs from 153 to 261, the right hand (odd) pages only being numbered; the surviving items thus appear to be part only of an earlier compilation. From the note made and signed by Taylor White on p.207, and the endorsements on pp [194] and [208], it appears likely that the papers were among the working papers of the Commissioners themselves.
Sans titreCollection of letters, including:
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Letter from John Meryett at Hampton to Mr Ware, Scotland Yard, Westminster, 1746, regarding the King's River.
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Letter from the Marquess of Tichfield [Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex] to the Rt. Hon. William Windham [Secretary at War], 1796, concerning the identity of Whitfield Harvey, an ensign in the Westminster Regiment. Col Cawthorne suspects that the present holder of the commission is an imposter.
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Sworn statement by Thomas Meyer, made before R Ford at Bow Street, 1802, stating that from the examination of John Devlin, in custody at Liverpool, and the description of a hat in his possession, he believes the hat to be that worn by John Cole Steele when he was murdered, and that John Devlin is connected with the crime.
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Letter from W Budd to the magistrates of the Police Office, Bow Street, enclosing handbills [missing] giving a description of a former dragoon suspected of the murder of Mr George Sergeant.
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Letter from the Duke of Portland [Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex] to Viscount Melbourne, 1831, informing him that no accurate estimate of the numbers who "may be likely to join their colours" for militia exercise can be given from the numbers of those enrolled in the County of Middlesex, except in the case of country parishes.
Records of the New River Company, comprising lease of a watercourse from main water pipe at back side of Saint Clement Danes to the private dwelling house of Thomas Dows, gentleman, 1697.
Sans titrePrinted plan of site of proposed bridge over River Thames between Twickenham and Richmond; showing alternative site and approach roads, 1774.
Sans titreRecords of the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway Company, comprising Directors' Meetings minutes; Proprietors' meetings minutes; Wotton Tramway Committee minutes; and Contract Plan and Sections for the Aylesbury - Verney Railway.
Sans titreRecords of the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway, comprising minutes of Board meetings and contract drawings for the line between West Kensington and Barons Court.
Sans titreRecords of the Harrow and Uxbridge Railway, comprising Board and General meetings minutes.
Sans titreRecords of the Kingston and London Railway Company, comprising Joint Committee Minutes.
Sans titreRecords of the London Electric Railway Company, comprising minutes of Board Meetings; minutes of General Meetings; volumes of monthly reports and operating statistics.
Sans titreRecords of the Lots Road Power House, comprising minutes of Joint Committee Meetings; minutes of the Metropolitan District and London Electric Railway Companies Power House Working Committee; minutes of meetings of Trustees; and monthly reports.
Sans titreRecords of the London and Suburban Traction Company, including minutes of Board Meetings; minutes of General Meetings; minutes of Stockholder meetings; and traffic reports.
Sans titreRecords of London United Tramways, comprising minutes of Board meetings and General meetings.
Sans titreRecords of the Metropolitan District Railway, including minutes of Board Meetings, General Meetings, the Traffic, Way and Works Committee, the Law, Parliamentary and Lands Committee, Stock Holders Meetings, Executive Officers Meetings and Standing Joint Committee; guard books containing copies of agreements with other railway companies and non-railway companies; volumes of statistics; financial ledgers; volumes of monthly reports; notices issued jointly with Piccadilly Line of London Electric Railway, concerning track and signal alterations and the bringing into use of new lines in connection with the extension of Piccadilly Line trains to Hounslow, South Harrow and Enfield West and Shareholders' Association circulars, newspaper cuttings and so on.
Sans titreRecords of the Metropolitan Electric Tramway Company, including minutes of Board meetings; minutes of General meetings; minutes of the Directors' Committee; and reports.
Sans titreRecords of Morden Station Garage, comprising minutes of Board and General meetings and financial accounts.
Sans titreRecords of Railway Equipment and Construction Company, comprising minutes of meetings of Directors.
Sans titreMiscellanea, or scraps and correspondence relating to 'Old London', as represented at the International Health Exhibition in 1884, arranged by George Shaw.
Sans titreRecords of Rivers Steam Navigation Company Limited, including:
1) Corporate records, Mss 27910-20;
2) Internal accounting and financial records, Mss 27921-39;
3) General correspondence, Mss 27940-5;
4) Papers concerning the operation of transport services and the development of transport generally, and the transport of particular commodities:
i) general-river, rail and road, Mss 27946-53;
ii) river transport, Mss 27954-66;
iii) rail transport, Mss 27967-72;
iv) road transport, Mss 27973-8;
v) passenger services, Mss 27979-82;
vi) tea, Mss 27983-90;
vii) coal, Mss 27991-5;
viii) jute, Mss 27996-9;
ix) miscellaneous (oil, sugar, mail), Mss. 28000-2;
5) Papers concerning post war operations and the reconstruction of the company, Mss 28003-13;
6) Fleet records, i.e. fleet lists, and records of shipbuilding, repair, losses and casualties. (NB see records of subsidiaries for Garden Reach Workshops, R.S.N.'s shipbuilding subsidiary), Mss 28014-37;
7) Records concerning co-operation and competition with Assam Railway and Trading Co, Mss 28038-43;
8) Competition with other companies, Mss 28044-54;
9) Records of terms and conditions of work, pension funds and trade unions, Mss 28055-67;
10) Investment in other companies, Mss 28068-72;
11) Maps, photographs, historical notes, Mss 28073-8;
12) Subsidiary companies:
i) Pakistan River Steamers Ltd, Mss 28079-91;
ii) Rivers Steam Navigation Co (Holdings) Ltd, Mss 28092-5;
iii) Garden Reach Workshops Ltd, Mss 28096-9;
iv) India Rivers Steam Navigation Co Ltd, Ms 28100;
v) Pakistan Rivers Steam Navigation Co Ltd, Ms 28101.
Appointment of William Dilks, of Stratford, then in Essex, as Trustee of the Middlesex and Essex Turnpike Trust, 1728.
Sans titreProposals prepared by the County Engineer and County Architect, Middlesex County Council, including:
proposed extensions to Willesden Polytechnic, 1902
estimate for a new bridge across the River Colne near the Upper Mill, Stanwell Moor, 1904
alterations to Town Hall, Feltham, 1905
estimate for Magistrates' Court House, Uxbridge, 1906
specification for reconstruction of Colham Bridge over the Grand Junction Canal at Yiewsley, 1906.
Sans titreLondon County Council register of tramway track lengths, recording description and lengths of route, street length, track length and remarks, such as "conversion to trolleybus", "abandoned" and so on, [1912-1952], with enclosures: photocopy of map of tramways in the London County Council area, revised to 1931; and diagrams of track lengths in Leyton and Hammersmith.
Sans titreRecords 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.
Sans titreRecords 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.
Sans titreBridge House Estates papers including bridgemasters' accounts rolls, 1381-1398; bridgemaster's annual accounts and rentals, 1404-1850; weekly payments, 1404-1445 and 1505-1849; bill books, 1745-1789 and 1815-1889; receipt books, 1598-1851; cash books, 1602-1784; fair cash books, 1713-1851; rough cash books, 1713-1810, miscellaneous ledgers and cash books, 1787-1819; materials sold, 1614-1682; corn and granary books, 1568-1714; rent and arrears books, 1707-1941; papers relating to individual properties owned by the Trust, particularly leases and grants, and administrative papers.
Sans titreRecords of the Bridge House Estates Committee relating to Tower Bridge, City of London, 1870-1994. Records include memoranda, Acts of Parliament, accounts, staff records, contracts, pamphlets, photographs, reports and printed material.
Sans titreRecords of the Bridge House Estates relating to London Bridge, 1553-1995. Papers include deeds; sale notices; accounts, receipts and payments; warrant books; fund raising; proceedings for compensation; papers and accounts relating to the design and building of the 1831 bridge; acts and statutes concerning the bridge; committee reports and minutes; tidal observations and reports on the river Thames; correspondence; histories of the bridge; papers and brochures regarding the demolition and reconstruction of the bridge, 1967-1980; plans and photographs. Also papers relating to the sale of stonework from the 1831 Bridge to McCulloch Properties Incorporated for re-erection at Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
Sans titre