Records of Associated Metropolitan Water Companies, comprising minutes and accounts of the Metropolitan Water Companies Meetings of Chairmen; minutes of sub committees including the Intercommunication Committee of Engineers of the Metropolitan Water Companies and the Committee for the Management of Works of Intercommunication; and correspondence.
Associated Metropolitan Water CompaniesRecords 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.
Corporate records of the Chelsea Waterworks Company, including Court of Directors minute books; General Board minute books; Committee of Accounts and Works minute books; Finance and Audit Committee minute books; Parliamentary Committee minutes; Secretary's report books; agenda books; correspondence; letter books; legal papers; register of stock and share holders; stock and share ledgers and other records; dividend books; registers of wills; bond records; contracts and specifications.
Chelsea Waterworks CompanyFinancial records of Chelsea Waterworks Company, including annual account books; annual reports; accounts ledgers; journals; cash books; bills books; revenue ledgers; meter accounts; and order books.
Chelsea Waterworks CompanyGeneral records of the Chelsea Waterworks Company, including correspondence relating to water charges; printed circulars and forms; newspaper cuttings; and reference material.
Chelsea Waterworks CompanyProperty records of the Chelsea Waterworks Company, comprising land purchase registers and rent books.
Chelsea Waterworks CompanyPurchase records of the Chelsea Waterworks Company, including works day books; day books; Pipe Yard day book; stock books; and records relating to the delivery and consumption of coal.
Chelsea Waterworks CompanyStaff records of the Chelsea Waterworks Company, including register of employment; wages accounts and wages books.
Chelsea Waterworks CompanyRecords of the Chelsea Waterworks Company, including papers relating to steam engines and other machinery; service records of workmen; sick pay regulations; deeds and other legal documents relating to company property; financial accounts; legal case records; Parliamentary papers; licences and historical notes.
Chelsea Waterworks CompanyWater supply and distribution records of the Chelsea Waterworks Company, including engineer's reports; meter inspection reports; storekeeper's reports; water supply aggreements and applications; supply records; meter registers; district water services records; collector's rate books; special supplies records; parish assessments and rates; statistical records; stopcock registers; pipelaying and works records; cartage books; meterological data and water analysis records.
Chelsea Waterworks CompanyPapers of John William Couchman and Harold Seymour Couchman, surveyors, agents to the lords of the manors of Tottenham and Edmonton and civil engineers, 1789-1938. The majority of the papers are those of John William Couchman who was a civil engineer (in particular, apparently, a waterworks expert) and a surveyor and valuer, but a few later ones relate to his successor, Harold Seymour Couchman.
John William Couchman acted as surveyor and agent to the lords of the manors of Tottenham and Edmonton. Most of the manorial documents are valuations for enfranchisement of copyhold property. These cover the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and are arranged alphabetically under the names of the copyholders. There is also, however, a survey of Tottenham manor of circa 1830 and two rentals of quit and waste rents for Tottenham and one for Edmonton, together with correspondence with the local urban district councils over their purchase of manorial waste.
The remainder of the collection consists of documents concerning property of the Sperling family and of others for whom Couchman acted as agent; his own papers relating to various engineering projects - notably that to provide a drinking water supply for Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados, papers concerning the Tithe rent charges for Tottenham (for which he acted as valuer), various sales particulars including one of 1789 for Bruce Castle and Mount Pleasant, and two albums of photographs taken at the end of the last century which are of considerable interest.
Couchman , John William , fl 1840-1900 , surveyor and civil engineerRecords of the East London Water Works Company, 1899-1903, consisting of contract drawings and a timetable of a visit made by members of Portsmouth Water Works Company to East London Water Works.
East London Water Works CompanyFinancial records of the East London Waterworks Company, including general ledgers; journals and cash books; Collectors' accounts volumes; analyses of expenditure volumes; minor financial volumes and rating files.
East London Waterworks CompanyCorporate 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.
East London Waterworks CompanyProperty records of the East London Waterworks Company, including rental ledgers; particulars of land purchases; notices and plans of intended purchase and schedule of deeds.
East London Waterworks CompanyStaff records of the East London Waterworks Company, including Officers' guarantees; papers relating to salaries annual holidays and sickness; and staff lists.
East London Waterworks CompanyPapers of the East London Waterworks Company relating to water supply and distribution, including Engineers' reports; Engineers' correspondence; volumes of accepted tenders; water supply agreements; Collectors' and Inspectors' letter books; indexes to the locations of meters; rating volumes; accounts; plans and diagrams.
East London Waterworks CompanyFinancial 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.
Grand Junction Waterworks CompanyRecords of the Grand Junction Waterworks Company, including Court of Directors' papers; legal papers; parliamentary papers; investments records; plans; engine and coal accounts; contracts; staff records and property records.
Grand Junction Waterworks CompanyCorporate records of the Grand Junction Waterworks Company, including Court of Directors minute books; Committee books; Court record books; General Assembly minute books; Directors' reports; correspondence and letter books; registers of shareholders; stock ledgers; mortgage records; and contracts records.
Grand Junction Waterworks CompanyGeneral 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.
Grand Junction Waterworks CompanyPurchase records of the Grand Junction Waterworks Company, comprising stock books.
Grand Junction Waterworks CompanyStaff records of the Grand Junction Waterworks Company, comprising staff wages books.
Grand Junction Waterworks CompanyRecords of the Grand Junction Waterworks Company relating to water supply and distribution, including water supply agreements; laying on books; meter agreements; meter readings; fire report books; water rentals books; pipes records; examination of mains books; papers relating to alterations to pipes and fittings; meter charges; supply and engineering records.
Grand Junction Waterworks CompanyLetters Patent appointing Commissioners, 1810-1839; orders and proceedings (minutes of the Commissioners), 1625-1847; assessments and accounts, 1664-1834; assessments for the maintenance of the levels and marshes of East Greenwich, 1775-1809; annual estimates of expenditure for the Commission, 1790-1833; reports of Committees to the Court on various matters (assessments, surveys, and so on), 1833-1847; petitions, reports, legal papers, opinions of Counsel, jury presentments and surveys, 1810-1845; contracts, agreements and tenders relating to works, 1826-1845; correspondence, 1825-1839; A survey of East Greenwich with table of owners and occupiers, survey by Timothy Skynner, 1745 and enlarged copy of the 1745 plan of the land of East Greenwich showing survey alterations and the tenements and buildings which have been erected to July 1834, 1834.
Greenwich Commission of SewersLetters patent appointing Commissioners, 1860; volume of presentments with schedules of owners and occupiers of property, 1860; Minutes of the Commissioners, 1894-1934; deeds of grant and agreements allowing construction or maintenance work to take place, 1886-1941; surveys and plans, 1721-1858, including surveys of Dagenham, Barking and East Ham Levels by James Bermingham, ordered by the Commissioners of Sewers, 1735-1742, "plan of Lands in the Valley of the River Roding over which it is proposed to extend the jurisdiction of the Commissioners", 1854 and maps of Wicklands Level, Westbury Level and Little West Marsh, 1858.
Havering Level Commission of SewersLetters Patent appointing Commissioners, 1811-1837; qualification books, containing signatures of Commissioners acknowledging their allegiance to the sovereign, 1812-1847; standing orders of the Court, 1812-1826; minutes, copies of warrants, and presentments, 1683-1688; minutes of the Commissioners, 1716-1847; General Committee minutes, 1813-1847; Committee of Accounts minutes, 1813-1847; Committee of Works minutes, 1818-1847; entries of bonds and contracts, 1814-1841; specifications for contracts for new sewers, 1839-1847; description and particulars of sewers built by contract, providing name of contractor, place, length of sewer, 1821-1837; out-letter books, 1812-1847; in-letter books, 1840-1847; petitions for new sewers, 1812-1848; petitions for drains from houses to sewers, 1812-1848; clerk's monthly reports upon sewers ordered to be built upon contributions being paid, 1842-1847; complaints and applications from householders and others, 1813-1848; Surveyor's order books, 1812-1846; Surveyor's report books, 1811-1847; financial records, 1812-1849; rate books, 1779-1848; a collection of the public statutes relating to sewers and the local acts for Holborn and Finsbury Division, 1830; registers of sewers, 1849; maps and plans, 1745-1846.
Holborn and Finsbury Commission of SewersCorporate records of the Kent Waterworks Company, including Board of Directors' minute books; Committee minute books; Secretary's reports; correspondence and letter books; legal papers; records relating to shares, stocks and dividends; and contracts.
Kent Waterworks CompanyFinancial records of Kent Waterworks Company, including statements of account; ledgers; journals; cash books; revenue ledgers; allocation of expenditure books; receipts books and collector's accounts.
Kent Waterworks CompanyGeneral papers of the Kent Waterworks Company including press cuttings; papers relating to the Royal Commission on Water Supply; legal case papers and indexes.
Kent Waterworks CompanyPurchase records of the Kent Waterworks Company including stock books, store book meters, and weigh bridge books (containing descriptions of goods and their weights).
Kent Waterworks CompanyStaff records of the Kent Waterworks Company, including wages accounts sheets; papers relating to salaries and pensions book.
Kent Waterworks CompanyRecords of the Kent Waterworks Company relating to water supply and distribution, including engineer's reports; water supply agreements; records of supplies laid on and cut off; meter books and water rent books.
Kent Waterworks CompanyFurther records of the Lambeth Waterworks Company, including Board papers; Secretary's reports; correspondence; legal papers; Parliamentary papers; contract papers; engineer's reports; inspector's reports; foreman's reports; papers relating to water supply; property records and staff records.
Lambeth Waterworks CompanyCorporate records of the Lambeth Waterworks Company, including minute books of the Committee of Management and Directors; Committee minute books; agenda books; Director's reports; correspondence and letter books; legal papers; papers relating to stocks and shares; dividend books; registers of bonds; and contracts records.
Lambeth Waterworks CompanyFinancial records of the Lambeth Waterworks Company, including ledgers; journals; cash books and day books; Collector's rent and revenue records; water charges records; road watering and meter account books.
Lambeth Waterworks CompanyStaff records of the Lambeth Waterworks Company, comprising establishment books.
Lambeth Waterworks CompanyRecords of the Lambeth Waterworks Company relating to water supply and distribution, including engineer's report books; Inspector's report books; water supply applications and agreements; supply registers; water meters; constant supply registers; registers of fires; water rent registers; engine time books and statistics; house surveys and works in progress.
Lambeth Waterworks CompanyRecords 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.
Lee Conservancy Catchment BoardHistory of the London Bridge Waterworks, 1780.
London Bridge Waterworks CompanyFinancial records of the London Bridge Waterworks Company, including cash books; Treasurer's accounts; monthly balances; Collector's accounts; arrears books; papers relating to rents; water rents lost by collectors and receipt books.
London Bridge Waterworks CompanyCorporate records of the London Bridge Waterworks Company, including Committee of Managers minute books; General Meetings of the Proprietors minute books; shareholders register; stock ledgers and transfer books and dividend books.
London Bridge Waterworks CompanyPurchase records of the London Bridge Waterworks Company comprising stock books, inventories and valuations.
London Bridge Waterworks CompanyStaff records of the London Bridge Waterworks Company, comprising servants weekly wages book.
London Bridge Waterworks CompanyStock transfer records for the London Bridge Waterworks Company, comprising book of wills for deceased shareholders and elevation and plan of the great engine for the fifth arch of London Bridge.
London Bridge Waterworks CompanyRecords 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.
London Bridge Waterworks CompanyMBW/1901-1908: Thames Floods (estimate of works required to repair damage caused by floods and estimates of works for defence against future flooding)
MBW/1909-1910: Redistribution Of Vestrymen (cuttings from minutes)
MBW/1911-1913: Water Supply (reports on the metropolis water supply)
MBW/1914-1916: Letters (in-letters, petitions, applications and out-letters)
MBW/1917-1919: Advertisements
MBW/1920-1924: Newspaper Cuttings
MBW/1925-1928: Staff Lists (including duties of officers)
MBW/1929-2309: Finance (including registers of contracts and agreements, salary books and rate books)
MBW/2310-2420: Printed Reports (including annual reports of the Board and Committees, architect's, engineer's and fire brigade reports, papers circulated to Board members, Bills and Acts of Parliament)
MBW/2421-2445: Contracts And Specifications for work on sewers, drains and embankments.
MBW/2446-2653: Plans (plans submitted to Parliament, plans of local improvements arranged by parish, plans of artisan's dwellings, plans of the metropolis water supply, plans of Thames floods, plans of parks and open spaces, plans presented to the Board and to various Committees to accompany reports, memorials and proposals for improvements, creation of parks, drainage, bridges, roads and tunnels, plans of railways)
MBW/2654-2656: District Surveyor (monthly returns and drainage applications)
MBW/2657-2663: Bridges (Accountant's Department papers concerning claims of the bridge companies whose bridges were acquired under the Metropolitan Toll Bridges Act 1877 and the Metropolitan Bridges Act 1883)
MBW/2664-2682: Thames Floods (volumes of duplicate copies of notices served on riparian [situated on the banks of a river] owners under the Metropolis Management (Thames River Prevention of Floods) Amendment Act 1879 and Metropolitan Board of Works (Various Powers) Act, 1882, with associated plans and riverfront elevations)
MBW/2683-2685: Financial Records (Accountant's Department papers)
MBW/2686-2807: Thames Floods (plans and estimates for flood prevention works and plans of river frontage with elevations of riparian [situated on the banks of a river] properties)
MBW/2808-2812: Thames Soundings
MBW/2813-2830: Specifications (volumes of specifications for housing, fire stations, bridges, drainage, parks, embankments and sewers)
MBW/2831-2837: Contract Books and Registers
MBW/2838-2840: Rate Books
MBW/P: Plans
MBW/OW: Office of Works (papers relating to the Chelsea Bridge and Embankment, Westminster Bridge, Battersea Park, Kennington Park and Victoria Park)
MBW/BC: Bridge Company (papers relating to Vauxhall Bridge)
MBW , Metropolitan Board of Works x Metropolitan Board of WorksLetters 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.
Metropolitan Commission of SewersRecords of the Metropolitan Free Drinking Fountain Association, later known as the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association; including minutes; agendas; constitution; annual reports; records relating to property and structures (fountains); correspondence; bequests and trusts; staff; financial accounts; plans; photographs; printed material including press cuttings and histories, and case files relating to individual fountains.
Metropolitan Free Drinking Fountain Association x Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough AssociationRecords of the Metropolitan Water Board relating to the Croydon Corporation Waterworks, comprising plans from the Engineering Department including Croydon Corporation Waterworks; Waddon Pumping Station; Stroud Green Waterworks; Surrey Street Pumping Station and water mains, ponds, wells and rivers.
Metropolitan Water Board