Letters patent appointing the commissioners; orders of court; minutes of various Committees including the General Purposes Committee, By-laws Committee, Committee on Claims, Disposal of Refuse Committee, Finance Committee, Trial Works Committee, Sewage Manure Committee and Ordnance Survey Committee; original contracts for the construction of new sewers, including plans, sections and elevations; registers of in-letters; letter books for out-letters; drainage applications; registers of applications to construct sewers and drains; registers of proposed drainage of buildings; registers of house drainage; register of complaints; applications for private works on sewers and drains; registers of streets showing existence or absence of sewers and drains; surveyor's report books; staff records; financial accounts; rate books; printed items bound into volumes, including reports (several written by Joseph Bazalgette), papers, resolutions, prospectuses, surveys and inspections on various subjects including sewers and drains, cesspools, sewage, manure, waterways, flushing operations, public health, industrial sites, public conveniences, subterranean surveys, tides and water supply; minutes of the Commissioners and plans and maps of sewers, drains and waterways.
Sans titrePapers of Adml Thomas Francis Fremantle. They consist of three logs, 1793 to 1796, two signal notebooks, undated, two memoranda on naval discipline, 1806, and some printed material relating to the French and Spanish navies.
Papers of Cpt Stephen Grenville Fremantle. They consist of logs, 1828 to 1829, 1839 to 1841; letter and order books, 1839 to 1842, 1852 to 1857, and a private record of letters sent and received, 1847 to 1848. There is also a privately-printed statement in answer to the charges made against him as Captain of the JUNO.
Papers of Sir Edmund Robert Fremantle. They cover Fremantle's career well, especially the Maori and Ashanti war periods They include logs, 1849 and 1859, 1856 to 1857 and 1873 to 1881; letterbooks, 1862 to 1876, 1879 to 1880; personal letters written mainly between 1864 and 1866 and papers relating to his commands, 1889 to 1895. There is also a section which deals with his court martial for grounding the Eclipse in 1866.
Papers of Adml Sir Sydney Robert Fremantle. They consist of a memorandum on the war in the Aegean, 1916 to 1917, detailed minutes compiled while he held office as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff and other papers relating to this post. There are also collected essays and articles written by Fremantle, 1904 to 1919.
Sans titrePapers of Capt Tynte Ford Hammill, covering the bombardment of Alexandria and the landing at Port Said, for which there are some orders received and a report of proceedings; for the Nile Expedition there is a record of telegrams sent and received, orders received and printed reports on the navigation of the river. There is also a volume of press cuttings on the courts martial following the stranding of the Howe in 1892 at which Hammill gave evidence.
Sans titrePapers of Charles Johnstone, consisting of eighteen diaries, 1880 to 1897, 1890 and 1895 excepted, which describe all the major events of Johnstone's life in detail. His logs cover the years 1858 to 1864, 1866 to 1867 and 1871 to 1873. There are official letters among the loose papers as well as letterbooks, 1883, 1892 to 1894, 1896 to 1898, and many of these refer to Madagascar and to the Victoria and Camperdown collision; for the latter affair there is Johnstone's own vindication of his conduct. The printed papers, including news cuttings, refer to Borneo and Madagascar and to the education of naval officers.
Sans titrePapers of Augustus Keppel, consisting of two groups. The first, deposited on permanent loan in 1944, is a collection of letters, 1778, from the Admiralty and Keppel's replies. There are also court martial resolutions on Admiral Byng, 1757. The second, purchased in 1946, is a series of order books, 1748 to 1778, and two Quarter Deck order books, 1761 to 1762, 1778.
Sans titrePapers of Kenneth Dewar, consisting mainly of letters received, including some from Admiral Sir Herbert Richmond (q.v.) and drafts and memoranda relating to Dewar's Admiralty service, there being little official or other correspondence relating to his career afloat. Private and family letters, and papers concerning the court-martial arising out of the Royal Oak affair, were presented subject to certain conditions and access to them remains restricted. There are also diaries kept for both the First and Second World Wars and official service documents.
Sans titreRecords of the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths, 1494-2006. Records include charters; ordinances; court minutes; financial accounts; apprentice bindings registers; freedom admission registers; and deeds relating to Company property. Please note no access is allowed to Ms 2881/27-40 without permission from the Company.
Collection also includes records of the Fraternity of St Eligius (MS 02883 and 05535, ca 1424 and 1496, 2 production units). An inventory of goods belonging to the Fraternity of St Loye at Blacksmiths' Hall dated 1496 survives in a volume of Blacksmiths' Company wardens' accounts [GL Ms 2883/1]. It includes three garlands [caps] bearing an image of St Eligius, which almost certainly were used to crown the incoming master and wardens. This is apparently the last documented reference to the Fraternity and its subsequent history is unknown.
Ms 5535 was deposited in the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library by the Farriers' Company in 1949. Ms 2883/1 was amongst records deposited by the Blacksmiths' Company in 1929 and 1946. Both volumes now form part of the archive of the Blacksmiths' Company Catalogued at various dates by members of Guildhall Library staff.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries.
Sans titreRecords of the Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers, 1677-1997. The records include court minutes from 1830, freedom admissions from 1803 and apprentice bindings from 1677.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries.
Sans titreRecords of the Worshipful Company of Cooks. The records were compiled from 1616 but they include deeds from 1461. Records include registers of freedom admissions from 1694 and of apprentice bindings from around 1656; Clerk's letter books; Court minute books; financial accounts; inventories; membership lists; and photographs.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries.
Sans titreRecords of the Worshipful Company of Coopers, 1440-1978, including Court minute books; mark books (alphabetical lists of members practising the trade of a cooper with a representation of their marks); financial accounts; title deeds and other papers relating to property; lists of freemen; registers of freedom admissions; registers of apprentice bindings. There are also records relating to the charities of William Alexander, Nicholas Gibson and Henry Strode.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries.
Sans titreRecords of the Worshipful Company of Founders, 1497-1916. The records include registers of freedom admissions from 1681 and of apprentice bindings from 1643; ordinances; Court minute books; quarterage books; financial accounts; histories; papers relating to charitable activities and papers relating to properties.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries.
Sans titreRecords of the Worshipful Company of Girdlers, 1500? - 1981. The records were compiled from the 16th century, but they include deeds dating from 1326. The membership records include registers of freedom admissions and apprentice bindings from 1654; charters and ordinances; Court minute books; financial accounts; papers relating to charitable bequests and papers relating to property and estates.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries.
Sans titreRecords of the Worshipful Company of Horners, 1373-1997. The records include registers of freedom admissions from 1847 and of apprentice bindings from 1694. Other records include ordinance books; Court minute books; financial accounts; legal documents including covenants; legal case papers and correspondence. NO ACCESS TO MS 30509 WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE CLERK.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries.
Sans titreRecords of the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers. IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries.
The records have been compiled between 1454 and 1979, but they include deeds dating from 1273. They also include registers of freedom admissions from 1455 and of apprentice bindings from 1515; and records relating to Irish estates.
Records of Geffery's almshouses: 1712 - 1915; 14 production units; refs: MS 17053- , 17063- 8, 31763-. These records comprise: accounts, 1707-1803 (Ms 17053); deeds and related papers, 1712-37 (Ms 17063); burial register, 1794-1850 (Ms 17064); lists of inhabitants, 1785-1886 (Ms 17065); inventory, ca. 1782 (Ms 17067); committee minute book, 1911-15 (Ms 31763); and miscellaneous items, 1878-99 (Ms 17066, 17068). Further references may also be found in other Ironmongers' Company records such as minutes and accounts.
Records of Lewin's almshouses: 1545 - 1896; 4 production units; refs: MS 17065-, 17074- 5, 17250-. These records include: lists of inhabitants, 1785-1886 (Ms 17065); papers concerning payments under the terms of Lewin's will, 1747 (Ms 17074); papers relating to the Old Street estate, 1545-ca. 1811 (Ms 17250); and miscellaneous papers, 1811-96 (Ms 17075). Further references may be found in other Ironmongers' Company records such as minutes and accounts.
Sans titreRecords of the Worshipful Company of Joiners and Ceilers. The records have been compiled between 1571 and 1997, but they include deeds from 1497, and a list of the livery 1537-ca. 1902, compiled in ca. 1902. They also include registers of freedom admissions from 1651 and of apprentice bindings from 1641, and papers relating to the Irish estates, 1832-1910.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries.
Sans titreRecords of the Worshipful Company of Longbowstringmakers. The records include registers of freedom admissions, 1559-1797 (incomplete), and of apprentice bindings, 1604-68; ordinances and oaths; Court minute books and financial accounts.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries.
Sans titreRecords of the Worshipful Company of Masons, 1550? - 1955. The records were compiled from around 1550, but they include a schedule of deeds 1463-1676. They also include registers of freedom admissions and apprentice bindings from 1663; and records relating to the Irish estates, 1609-1910.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries.
Sans titreRecords of the Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers, compiled from around 1400, but including deeds dating from ca. 1200, and copies of the ordinances of 1359 and 1371. They also include registers of freedom admissions and apprentice bindings from 1596; charters; Court and Committee minute books; account books; papers relating to charity and charitable bequests; and records relating to property owned by the Company including estates in Ireland.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries.
Sans titreRecords relating to Livery Companies, 1644-1985. IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ACCESS: These records are stored at the Guildhall Library site rather than the LMA Clerkenwell site. Researchers wishing to access these records should do so at the Guildhall Library Rare Books table. The Library is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 16:45. Researchers will need to have an Archives History Card or a Library Readers Card. An archivist will be available at Guildhall Library on Thursday mornings to answer any queries.
-
Abstracts from the minute book of the Company of Surgeons, 1745-1783.
-
Scrapbook of miscellaneous printed items, facsimiles and copies of documents relating to the Barber Surgeons' Company, 17th-19th centuries.
-
Transcripts of original charters, bye-laws etc relating chiefly to various London livery companies, made for Sir Francis Palgrave as Commissioner of Enquiry into the Municipal Corporations.
-
Various legal documents including apprenticeship indentures and leases.
-
Rules or bye-laws for the government and regulation of the freemen of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen of the River Thames, their widows and apprentices and the boats, vessels and other craft to be used or worked by them, set down by the court of Mayor and Aldermen; official copies, signed by the Town clerk and examined by a High Court judge.
-
A complete list of the apprentices bound to the freemen of the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers of London; also a complete register of the freemen of the same, with index.
-
Catalogue of the pictures and statuary in Drapers' Hall, with descriptions of the stained glass windows and biographical notices of benefactors of the Company, 1884.
-
An account of the Worshipful Company of Drapers and its benefactors, 1885.
-
Parish clerks' certificates of searchers' reports on viewing dead bodies, stating the name of the person and the cause of death, 1815 - 1834.
-
Notes, press cuttings and extracts from books, articles, statutes and Founders' Company archives relating to weights and measures, with special reference to the right of the Company to size and stamp brass weights, compiled ca. 1854.
-
Alphabetical list of freedom admissions and apprenticeship bindings within the Worshipful Company of Poulters, 1620-1694.
-
List of the Master [sic] Wardens and Court of Assistants and Livery of the Worshipful Company of Drapers, 1831.
-
Extracts from records of the Skinners' Company and from minutes of Court of Common Council relating to the interests of the Skinners' Company in the Irish plantation, late 17th century.
-
Notes on parish clerks and the Parish Clerks' Company, ca. 1321-1940, by Harry McClintock Harris (1857-1959), parish clerk of St Stephen Walbrook and past master of the company. Compiled ca. 1940. Much of the source material for these notes was destroyed by enemy action in 1940.
-
Alphabetical list of apprentice bindings in the Coachmakers' and Coach Harness Makers' Company, 1677-1800, compiled in 1937 by G. Eland and F. Wall.
-
Index of apprentices bound, freemen and liverymen admitted, and assistants, wardens and masters elected in the Coachmakers' and Coach Harness Makers' Company, 1803-93; compiled 1985.
-
Notes on the Wardens' accounts of the Founders' Company, 1497-1681 (now GL Ms 6330/1-2). Include an analysis of company income and expenditure throughout the period.
-
Fellowship Porter badge, issued October 1873, of a Robert Slaymaker, with an acknowledgment of his payment of the association's admission fee and a copy of his freedom certificate of the City of London (September 1873).
-
Petition from the Watermen on the Thames to Oliver, Lord Protector, and the Privy Council. The petition is on behalf of the watermen and many hundreds of poor men complaining that the ballast officers are preventing watermen and many others who gain a living thereby from providing river ballast for ships. It further alleges that the ballast engines used by the ballast officers are harmful to the river. The document includes circa 700 names, roughly half of which are signatures and the other half are names and marks (of illiterate men). The petition is not dated but it can be dated between 1653 and 1658 as it is addressed to the Lord Protector.
Records of the London South Western Coroner's District, comprising case papers, 1927-1945.
Sans titreRecords of the Greater London Northern Coroner's District, comprising case papers, 1965-2001. Please note these records are subject to a 30 year closure period.
For the closed period researchers are advised to consult local newspapers for references to inquests. In very rare cases where medical or legal questions are involved, information from closed records may be made available. It will be necessary to contact the Coroner currently in charge of the court concerned, who has the power to release transcripts or details of inquests to suitable applicants.
Sans titreRecords of the North West Kent Coroner's District, comprising case papers, 1951-1965.
Sans titreRecords of the Greater London Inner South Coroner's District, comprising case papers, 1965-2000. Please note these records are subject to a 30 year closure period.
For the closed period researchers are advised to consult local newspapers for references to inquests. In very rare cases where medical or legal questions are involved, information from closed records may be made available. It will be necessary to contact the Coroner currently in charge of the court concerned, who has the power to release transcripts or details of inquests to suitable applicants.
Sans titreRecords of the London North Eastern Coroner's District, comprising case papers, 1927-1930.
Sans titreRecords of the London South Eastern Coroner's District, comprising case papers, 1927-1934.
Sans titreFormulary and precedent book of a London law clerk or attorney's scrivener, possibly John Ambler.
Sans titreRecords of Hendon Magistrates' Court, 1873-1992 and Harrow (Wealdstone) Magistrates' Court, 1889-1934. Records of Hendon Magistrates' Court include: court registers (Hendon, Edgware and Harrow Courts); registers of juvenile, income tax and matrimonial cases; court minute books; licensing registers and bail forms. Records of Harrow (Wealdstone) Magistrates' Court include: court registers; Justices' Quarterly Meeting minute books and petitions.
Court registers record the date of the hearing, the name of the informant or complainant (often the police), the name of the defendant, a brief note of the offence and the decision of the magistrate. Court minute books or notebooks are rough notes of the proceedings recording the gist of the evidence given.
Domestic / matrimonial cases: A married woman under the provisions of the Summary Jurisdiction (Married Women) Act 1895 and subsequent Acts could go to a magistrates' court and apply for orders which in certain circumstances would enable her to separate from her husband, have custody of any children and receive maintenance from him. Under the Poor Law Amendment Act 1844 a mother expecting a bastard child or who had given birth to one could obtain a maintenance order against the putative father.
Sans titreRecords of Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court, 1975-1999, including court registers; domestic proceedings; licensing and protection orders; rates registers; probation orders; adoption cases and custodianship cases.
Court registers record the date of the hearing, the name of the informant or complainant (often the police), the name of the defendant, a brief note of the offence and the decision of the magistrate. Court minute books or notebooks are rough notes of the proceedings recording the gist of the evidence given.
Domestic proceedings: A married woman under the provisions of the Summary Jurisdiction (Married Women) Act 1895 and subsequent Acts could go to a magistrates' court and apply for orders which in certain circumstances would enable her to separate from her husband, have custody of any children and receive maintenance from him. Under the Poor Law Amendment Act 1844 a mother expecting a bastard child or who had given birth to one could obtain a maintenance order against the putative father.
Sans titreRecords of Kensington Petty Sessional Division, 1890-1973, including court registers; registers of offences under the Education Acts; registers of offences under Weights, Food and Drugs regulations; minutes and registers relating to licensing; indexes of off-licensed premises; Justices signing-in books; court files; and records of the North-Western Sub-Committee of County of London Licensing Planning Committee.
Court registers record the date of the hearing, the name of the informant or complainant (often the police), the name of the defendant, a brief note of the offence and the decision of the magistrate. Court minute books or notebooks are rough notes of the proceedings recording the gist of the evidence given.
Sans titreThis collection contains records of South Mimms Magistrates Court, 1880-1923 and 1929-1941, and consists of Court Registers. Court registers record the date of the hearing, the name of the informant or complainant (often the police), the name of the defendant, a brief note of the offence and the decision of the magistrate.
Sans titreRecords of Saint Pancras Petty Sessional Division, 1823-1956, comprising court minute books, court registers and licensing registers. Court registers record the date of the hearing, the name of the informant or complainant (often the police), the name of the defendant, a brief note of the offence and the decision of the magistrate. Court minute books or notebooks are rough notes of the proceedings recording the gist of the evidence given.
Sans titreRecords of the Thames Magistrates Court, 1804-1971, including court registers; clerk's letter books and papers; and wreck enquiry notes. Court registers record the date of the hearing, the name of the informant or complainant (often the police), the name of the defendant, a brief note of the offence and the decision of the magistrate.
Sans titrePapers of the Westminster Quarter Sessions of the Peace relating to administration, 1713-1883. Records relate to the House of Correction, Tothill Fields (also known as Westminster Bridewell and the Westminster House of Correction), including reports, letter book and minute books of the Visiting Justices; papers relating to the Governor of the House of Correction and other staff, including bonds, financial accounts and petitions; bills for maintenance and repair works; inventories; reports; returns of the number of prisoners; lists of prisoners; regulations; warrants and orders; correspondence and plans of the building.
Also minute book of the Committee of Accounts for City and Liberty of Westminster, 1839-1844.
Note on the Quarter Sessions records: Although Westminster has fewer surviving records than Middlesex, the City's sessions would have produced similar records to those of the County, but they would have been smaller in quantity, and have included less administrative material. Also, as with all Quarter Sessions records, "seeing that the Custos Rotulorum was a private gentleman or nobleman and the Clerk of the Peace an attorney with a private practice it is likely that many county records were (if not lost or destroyed) handed down to their families or their professional successors" and many may still remain to be found in private hands (Emmison and Gray, County Records, 1987). Those records that have survived are often difficult to read or understand because of the handwriting, use of Latin (until 1733), or legal jargon and abbreviations; although standardised legal formats were used and printed pro formas introduced by the nineteenth century.
For the Middlesex and Westminster records there may also be confusion over the records' arrangement resulting from the attempts at classification by previous generations of archivists which have left many records split up into unnatural groupings. Originally they would not have been sorted into any cohesive arrangement. These were records that were "kept for administrative convenience rather than as sources for future generations" (G. Jones, Quarter Sessions records in the Leicestershire Record Office).
Because of this overlapping between many classes of record, any study of the Westminster records should include consultation of those for Middlesex. There was in any case a lot of co-operation between the two courts during the period covered by the records. Judicial (Gaol Delivery Sessions for example) and administrative functions were shared, as were court personnel (including justices). Westminster prisoners could elect to be tried at the Middlesex sessions, as these were held more frequently than their own.
The sessions records are a very useful source for family history, studying trends in law and order, and the life of the City and its inhabitants over a relatively long period of time. The capital was an area with high levels of crime, the natural place for riot and conspiracy, and attracted a wide variety of people from the whole country and abroad. The main record of proceedings at the sessions will be found in the sessions rolls (MJ/SR and the uncatalogued WJ/SR - index in WJ/CB); the (partially uncatalogued) sessions books (WJ/SB, MJ/SB); and the (partially uncatalogued) sessions papers (WJ/SP, MJ/SP). City administrative work is in the records of the County Day sessions (WJ/O), and for one particular type, in the records of the street surveyors (WJ/SS). Records of judicial procedure are in the records of court fines (WJ/E), writs to summon juries (WJ/W), and the trial process (WJ/Y); Lists of prisoners made at various times during the trial process are in WJ/CC and WJ/CP.
Sans titreRecords of the Justices of the Peace for the Westminster Quarter Sessions of the Peace, 1687-1887. WJP/C contains the original Commissions of the Peace issued to the Justices of the Peace; WJP/L are lists of the justices in those commissions; WJP/D contains names of justices who had paid subscriptions for dinners held at the Sessions House; WJP/O contains a record of oaths taken by justices upon their appointment to the commission; and WJP/R is a record of the qualifications needed by justices in order to be eligible for appointment
Note on the Quarter Sessions records: Although Westminster has fewer surviving records than Middlesex, the City's sessions would have produced similar records to those of the County, but they would have been smaller in quantity, and have included less administrative material. Also, as with all Quarter Sessions records, "seeing that the Custos Rotulorum was a private gentleman or nobleman and the Clerk of the Peace an attorney with a private practice it is likely that many county records were (if not lost or destroyed) handed down to their families or their professional successors" and many may still remain to be found in private hands (Emmison and Gray, County Records, 1987). Those records that have survived are often difficult to read or understand because of the handwriting, use of Latin (until 1733), or legal jargon and abbreviations; although standardised legal formats were used and printed pro formas introduced by the nineteenth century.
For the Middlesex and Westminster records there may also be confusion over the records' arrangement resulting from the attempts at classification by previous generations of archivists which have left many records split up into unnatural groupings. Originally they would not have been sorted into any cohesive arrangement. These were records that were "kept for administrative convenience rather than as sources for future generations" (G. Jones, Quarter Sessions records in the Leicestershire Record Office).
Because of this overlapping between many classes of record, any study of the Westminster records should include consultation of those for Middlesex. There was in any case a lot of co-operation between the two courts during the period covered by the records. Judicial (Gaol Delivery Sessions for example) and administrative functions were shared, as were court personnel (including justices). Westminster prisoners could elect to be tried at the Middlesex sessions, as these were held more frequently than their own.
The sessions records are a very useful source for family history, studying trends in law and order, and the life of the City and its inhabitants over a relatively long period of time. The capital was an area with high levels of crime, the natural place for riot and conspiracy, and attracted a wide variety of people from the whole country and abroad. The main record of proceedings at the sessions will be found in the sessions rolls (MJ/SR and the uncatalogued WJ/SR - index in WJ/CB); the (partially uncatalogued) sessions books (WJ/SB, MJ/SB); and the (partially uncatalogued) sessions papers (WJ/SP, MJ/SP). City administrative work is in the records of the County Day sessions (WJ/O), and for one particular type, in the records of the street surveyors (WJ/SS). Records of judicial procedure are in the records of court fines (WJ/E), writs to summon juries (WJ/W), and the trial process (WJ/Y); Lists of prisoners made at various times during the trial process are in WJ/CC and WJ/CP.
Sans titreRecords enrolled or filed with the Clerk of the Westminster Quarter Sessions of the Peace, 1552-1885. The records classified as WR/A are concerned with the registration of foreigners; WR/B are records produced by Building Surveyors; WR/F are returns of those eligible to serve on juries; WR/L/P covers the licensing of printing presses; WR/LV relate to Licensed Victuallers; WR/ML are concerned with Militia and Lieutenancy; WR/O are Oaths of Office; WR/P are papers concerning Parliamentary Elections; WR/PLT Land Tax; WR/R contains the records produced from the control and recording of all non-conformists; WR/S contains records concerned with Societies; and WR/U records deposited with the court concerning Public Undertakings.
Note on the Quarter Sessions records: Although Westminster has fewer surviving records than Middlesex, the City's sessions would have produced similar records to those of the County, but they would have been smaller in quantity, and have included less administrative material. Also, as with all Quarter Sessions records, "seeing that the Custos Rotulorum was a private gentleman or nobleman and the Clerk of the Peace an attorney with a private practice it is likely that many county records were (if not lost or destroyed) handed down to their families or their professional successors" and many may still remain to be found in private hands (Emmison and Gray, County Records, 1987). Those records that have survived are often difficult to read or understand because of the handwriting, use of Latin (until 1733), or legal jargon and abbreviations; although standardised legal formats were used and printed pro formas introduced by the nineteenth century.
For the Middlesex and Westminster records there may also be confusion over the records' arrangement resulting from the attempts at classification by previous generations of archivists which have left many records split up into unnatural groupings. Originally they would not have been sorted into any cohesive arrangement. These were records that were "kept for administrative convenience rather than as sources for future generations" (G. Jones, Quarter Sessions records in the Leicestershire Record Office).
Because of this overlapping between many classes of record, any study of the Westminster records should include consultation of those for Middlesex. There was in any case a lot of co-operation between the two courts during the period covered by the records. Judicial (Gaol Delivery Sessions for example) and administrative functions were shared, as were court personnel (including justices). Westminster prisoners could elect to be tried at the Middlesex sessions, as these were held more frequently than their own.
The sessions records are a very useful source for family history, studying trends in law and order, and the life of the City and its inhabitants over a relatively long period of time. The capital was an area with high levels of crime, the natural place for riot and conspiracy, and attracted a wide variety of people from the whole country and abroad. The main record of proceedings at the sessions will be found in the sessions rolls (MJ/SR and the uncatalogued WJ/SR - index in WJ/CB); the (partially uncatalogued) sessions books (WJ/SB, MJ/SB); and the (partially uncatalogued) sessions papers (WJ/SP, MJ/SP). City administrative work is in the records of the County Day sessions (WJ/O), and for one particular type, in the records of the street surveyors (WJ/SS). Records of judicial procedure are in the records of court fines (WJ/E), writs to summon juries (WJ/W), and the trial process (WJ/Y); Lists of prisoners made at various times during the trial process are in WJ/CC and WJ/CP.
Sans titreThe collection includes copies of the official verdict transcript of American Military Tribunal III, 1947-1948, at which the United States tried twelve German industrialists from the Fried. Krupp AG company for crimes committed during World War Two. Included among the defendants were Alfried Felix Alwyn Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, head of Fried. Krupp AG (or the Krupp Concern); Ewald Oskar Ludwig Loeser, finance and administration officer for Fried. Krupp AG; and ten of the Krupp managers, including Erich Mueller; Friedrich von Bulow; and Hans Albert Gustav Kupke.
Sans titreOfficial transcripts from the Nuremberg trials of German war criminals, 1949 and related published books including Documents concerning German-Polish relations and the outbreak of hostilities between Great Britain and Germany on September 3 1939 (HMSO, London 1939); Jahrbuch für Auswärtige Politick, 1939, ed. Friedrich Berber (August Gross Verlag, Berlin, 1939); Jahrbuch für Auswärtige Politick, 1940, ed. Friedrich Berber (August Gross Verlag, Berlin, 1940); Jahrbuch für Auswärtige Politick, 1941, ed. Friedrich Berber (August Gross Verlag, Berlin, 1941);
Nazi-Soviet relations, 1939-1941: documents from the archives of the German Foreign Office (US Dept of State, 1948); The Captured Archives: the story of the Nazi-Soviet documents, Bernard Newman (Latimer House Ltd, London, 1948); Ciano's diary, 1939-1943, ed Malcolm Muggeridge (Heinemann, London, 1947); International Military Tribunal: trial of the major war criminals, Nuremberg, 1949, Vols 40, 41 and 42;
L'Allemagne et le genocide: plans et realisations nazis, J Billig (Editions du Centre, Paris, 1950); Les archives secretes de la Wilhelmstrasse. Vol 2: L'Allemagne et la Tchecoslovaquie, 1937-1938 (Librairie Plon, Paris, 1951); The Holstein memoirs: memoirs and diaries of German Foreign Ministry official Friedrich von Holstein, Vol. 1 and 2, eds Norman Rich and M H Fisher (Cambridge University Press, 1956-1957);
A catalogue of German Foreign Ministry files and microfilms, 1867-1920 (American Historical Association for the study of war documents, 1959) and Probleme des zweiten weltkrieges, ed. Andreas Hillgruber (Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Koln, 1967).
Papers, 1814-1971, relating to Hamilton's life, military career and activities. The collection specifically includes correspondence, 1852-1899; diaries and notebooks, 1870-1899; printed correspondence and speeches of FM Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts of Kandahar, Waterford and Pretoria, 1878-1893; diaries kept during the siege of Ladysmith, South Africa, 1899-1900; personal and official correspondence during the Second Boer War, 1899-1902, including Hamilton's letters to FM Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts of Kandahar, Waterford and Pretoria, 1901-1902, and operational correspondence of 10 Div and Hamilton's Force, 1900; Hamilton's diaries of the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905 and related correspondence, 1902-1905; publications of the Royal Commissions on the war in South Africa and on the Militia and Volunteers, 1903-1904; correspondence as General Officer Commanding Southern Command, 1905-1909, and related official papers; correspondence as General Officer Commanding Mediterranean Command and Inspector General of Overseas Forces, 1910-1914, including papers relating to compulsory and voluntary military service, official reports on overseas forces, and correspondence relating to Hamilton's tours of the West Indies, South Africa, the Far East, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; correspondence as Commander-in-Chief Central Force, Home Defence, 1914-1915; papers as General Officer Commanding Mediterranean Expeditionary Force on Gallipoli, 1915, including correspondence with FM Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum and Broome, and the War Office, Rt Hon Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill MP, Lt Gen Sir John Grenfell Maxwell and Lt Gen Sir William Riddell Birdwood; papers relating to Ellis Ashmead Bartlett and Keith Arthur Murdoch, war correspondents on Gallipoli; papers relating to operations at Suvla Bay and Sari Bair, Aug-Sep 1915, and to the efficiency of commanding officers; papers relating to Hamilton's despatches from Gallipoli, and to recommendations for decorations; officialdespatches, 1914-1919; force orders, intelligence bulletins and other papers of General Headquarters, Mediterranean Expeditionary Force; papers relating to Hamilton's Gallipoli diary; maps and official photographs of the Gallipoli Campaign; depositions of witnesses given to the Dardanelles Commission, with related correspondence, 1916-1919; correspondence with the War Office, 1917-1938;correspondence as Colonel of the Gordon Highlanders, 1912-1949; correspondence relating to ex-servicemen, the British Legion, and to war memorials, 1916-1949; correspondence and papers as Lord Rector of Edinburgh University, 1932-1936; correspondence with major military, political and literary acquaintances, including Rt Hon Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill MP, Rt Hon Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane of Cloan, Capt Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart, John Masefield, FM Sir William Robert Robertson, and senior officers associated with the Gallipoli Campaign, 1916-1949; correspondence relating to the Anglo-German Association and to Anglo-German relations, 1928-1947; correspondence with members of the public and relatives, 1908-1948; business and financial correspondence, 1913-1947; correspondence relating to Hamilton's estate and his literary executors, 1948-1969; papers relating to Hamilton's publications, 1872-1948; speeches, articles and letters to the press, 1918-1947; scrapbooks and press cuttings, 1883-1971; photographs, 1855-1947;publications and other printed material, 1814-1966; diaries, correspondence and publications of Hamilton's wife, Jean Miller Hamilton, Lady Hamilton, 1869-1940; correspondence of Eleanor Charlotte Sellar, 1896-1934, including correspondence with Hamilton, FM Sir George Stuart White and FM Sir Neville Bowles Chamberlain.
Sans titrePostmortem reports for London coroners' courts, 1907-1913.
Sans titreFour volumes of administrative documentation relating to the Bath Casualty Hospital: two volumes relating to the Hospital's rules and orders, an account book and a register of wills in the Hospital's favour, 1788-1840.
Sans titreThe collection covers both Pettigrew's medical and antiquarian activities, which are intermingled in the material's arrangement. The medical items include correspondence with many medical figures, medical jurisprudence (an Anniversary Oration delivered to the Medical Society of London), corpulence, hydrophobia, medical observations by army officers in India, and an autobiographical memoir of the philanthropist and prison-reformer James Neild (1744-1814), transcribed by Pettigrew and incorporated into his life of John Coakley Lettsom M.D. The antiquarian items include material on Kett's Rebellion, Hindu deities, the library of the Duke of Sussex and correspondence with the Italian antiquary Giovanni Spano (1803-1878) and Gaetano Cara, as part of Pettigrew's role as Vice-President of the British Archaeological Society. Types of material held include notebooks, loose papers, correspondence and diplomas.
Sans titreTypescript of Heinz Pannwitz' account of the assasination of Reinhard Heydrich, 27 May, 1942, translated and annotated by Stanislav Berton entitled "The assassination of Reinhard Heydrich"; offprint of German publication of this account, annotated by Berton entitled "Das attentat auf Reinhard Heydrich vom 27. Mai 1942. Ein Bericht des Kriminalrats Heinz Pannwitz" [The assassination of Reinhard Heydrich on 27 May 1942. an account by Criminal investigator Heinz Pannwitz] in "Vierte;jahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte", vol 4, 1985, pp 668-706.
Sans titrePapers of August Closs and his family, comprising:
August Closs: Personal Papers
Correspondence with Hannah and Elizabeth Closs (later Closs-Traugott);
Diaries, 1915-1928;
General Correspondence: correspondents include Stefan Andres, 1960-1972; Anthony Blunt, 1976; Albert Einstein, 1930; T S Eliot, 1953; E M Forster, 1955; Sigmund Freud, 1930; John Galsworthy, 1928-1932; Bernt von Heiseler, 1953-1965; Arno and Anita Holz, 1922-1932; F R Leavis, 1948-1953; Thomas Mann, 1929; Christoph Meckl, 1962; J R R Tolkien, 1955;
Correspondence with UK/US based academics: correspondents include F W Bateson, 1956; Jethro Bithell, 1951-1957; Lord David Cecil, 1955; W E Collinson, 1944-1968; David Duckworth, 1972-1989; H G Fiedler, 1936-1944; Stanley Goodman, 1941-1942; G P Gooch, 1946-1963; Brian Keith-Smith, 1966-1982; Sir John Kingman, 1985-1988; Victor Lange, 1951-1973; Eudo C Mason, 1951-1963; Estelle Morgan, 1953-1987; Irene Morris, 1955-1957; Roy Pascal, 1948-1978; Ronald Peacock, 1945-1959; F P Pickering, 1937-1958; Siegbert and Helga Prawer, 1952-1987; Edna Purdie, 1953-1964; Hans S Reiss, 1964-1989; Hermann Salinger, 1963-1966; Paul and Vivian Salmon; David Scrase, 1964-1989; Ernst Stahl, 1963-1969; Ellisabeth and F J Stopp, 1946-1973; John Joseph Stoudt, 1945-1963; H M Waidson, 1960-1978; L A Willoughby, 1952-1977; Roy A Wisbey, 1980-1988; W E Yuill, 1967-1978; E H Zeydel, 1942-1961;
Correspondence with German/Austrian/Swiss based academics: correspondents include Ernst Alker, 1952-1972; Felix Braun, 1942-1948; Hans Egon Holthusen, 1950-1961; Heinz Kindermann, 1949-1974; Frans Koch, 1946-1957; Manfred Lurker, 1968-1972; Horst Oppel, 1946-1985; Arthur Pfeiffer, 1953-1957; Hans Pyritz, 1933-1956; Kurt Schäfer, 1982-1986;
Correspondence with other European based academics: correspondents include Jan Aler, 1946-1959 and Erik Lunding, 1953-1969;
Correspondence with individual academics, Hans Bähr, Roger Loomis, Eirwen and Idris Parry, Friedrich Heinz and the Humboldt Gesellschaft;
War diaries of Max Closs;
Correspondence with L P Hartley, 1955-1972, and letters between Closs and publishers on the publication of the correspondence;
Corrspondence, photos and papers on Theodor Däubler, 1930-1947 and undated;
Correspondence and articles relating to Herman Pongs, 1946-1978;
Notes, articles and reviews by Closs on German literature, 1915-1990;
Papers relating to Bristol University, including correspondence and papers on award of Honorary D.Litt, 1987;
Correspondence and papers on the Bristol/Hannover Link 1947-1987, particularly 40th anniversary celebrations, 1987;
Correspondence with publishers on royalty payments, 1949-1983;
Robert Preibsch papers, 1899-1934, including correspondence, notes on German literature and palaeography, correspondence about the Priebsch/Closs Collection;
Hannah Closs papers 1934-1952, including correspondence, reviews and articles, writings on art, reviews of her work, obituaries and tributes;
Elizabth Closs-Traugott papers, 1951-1988, including correspondence, notes for lectures, articles and reviews, and press cuttings;
Acquired Papers:
Medieval manuscripts: Das Leiden Christi, mss booklet describing a vision by a nun of the Passion of Christ [15th century], Pseudo-Clemens Romanus, early 9th century west German fragment; Heinrich Seuse: Buch der ewigen Weisheit six loose fragments [14th century], Predigten, by German wandering preacher, in Latin, c 1450; wooden cover with pressed calf leather, bearing arms of Pope Paul III Farinesi;
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century material: Hexenprozesse three folio booklets - original records of witchcraft trials of Catharina Stroblin, 1617; Appolonia Nueberin, 1623, bill to cover costs of difficulties caused by and rewards offered for executed magical persons during the years 1617, 1628, 1629 by Hans Schölern; title deed to land and farm sold by Nette, servant of Graf Dietrich von Plesse to a nunnery, Low German, 1516;
Autograph letters and mss including poems Bittschrift by Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, [undated], and Friedrich von Bodenstadt [undated]; letters from Wilhelm von Humboldt [c 1799], Theodor Storm, 1867, Friedrich and Caroline de la Motte Fourque, 1814, 1927, Eduard Devrient, 1839, August Heinrich Hoffman von Fallersleben, 1864, Friedrich Schlegrl, [undated], Ludolf Wienbarg, 1839, Christina G Rosetti, 1865, James Martineau - letter to J S Mill on the University of London, 1841, Stefan Zweig, 1909, Henriette Hendel-Schütz, 1807, Friedrich Karl von Savigny, 1856.
The collection consists of probate papers and four codicils connected with that probate.
Sans titreThe collection consists of probate papers, mortgages, deeds and other estate papers.
Sans titreArchive of the British Humanist Association, including: papers of the British Humanist Association and it's predecessors bodies, The Union of Ethical Societies, The Ethical Union and the Humanist Association,1887 - c.2001; papers of the Humanist Trust, 1958 - 1996; papers of groups affiliated to the British Humanist Association and it's predecessor bodies, The Union of Ethical Societies and The Ethical Union, 1892 - 2007; Uncatalogued material of the British Humanist Association, c.2000-2014. (1887-2014)
Sans titrePapers of Albert Speer, 1979, comprise a transcript of an interview conducted over several days in October 1979 by the depositor at the home of Albert Speer in Heidelberg, Germany. It covers Speer's involvement with the Nazi Party; his relationship with Hitler and other senior Nazis; his views on Nazi war crimes including his own involvement; anti-Semitism and prison life at Spandau.
Sans titrePapers of Edith Stein, 1999, comprise correspondence between Suzanne Batzdorff and Ian Montrose, with extracts relating to an aspect of the will of Edith Stein.
Sans titrePapers relating to the camps Stalag VIII B Lamsdorf and Teschen Camp, 1942-1944, including statistics on inmates; deaths/discharges; executions; health statistics; organisational changes. Also other documents including weapons handling procedure; reports on escapes; arrest warrants; POW statements and correspondence with the Swiss legation in Germany.
Sans titreMicrofilm of expert witness testimony concerning the German nationality of Jewish former residents of Bukovina, Romania/Ukraine in the context of claims for compensation in post-war German trials, 1963-1968.
Sans titre