London Metropolitan Archives

The London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) are the main archive

History of the archive

The growth and expansion of London from walled city to today's sprawling metropolis, has meant that the boundaries of the area termed ‘London’ have had to be changed and rearranged at various points throughout history. In the same way the historical records that accompany Greater London have, over time, been cared for by different archives which have since merged and developed to form what we have today; London Metropolitan Archives (LMA). To understand the different collections currently held at the LMA you need to know a little about the history of the archives itself.

LMA in its current form, is in essence an amalgamation of four separate bodies. The first three of these groups are The London County Record Office, The London County Council Members Library and The Middlesex County Record Office, which came together to form the Greater London Record Office and History Library (GLRO) in 1965. The Greater London Record Office then became the London Metropolitan Archives in 1997 and has since merged with the former Corporation of London Record Office (CLRO)

London County Record Office

Until 1889 London was still the area within the walled city, to the south of the river was Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

and Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

and to the north of the city's limits was Middlesex

Middlesex

Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...

. These areas however, had become densely populated and given the sphere of influence of the city, traditional boundaries were no longer practical. The County of London was created and controlled by the newly formed London County Council

London County Council

London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...

which took over many of the duties of its predecessor the Metropolitan Board of Works

Metropolitan Board of Works

The Metropolitan Board of Works was the principal instrument of London-wide government from 1855 until the establishment of the London County Council in 1889. Its principal responsibility was to provide infrastructure to cope with London's rapid growth, which it successfully accomplished. The MBW...

. It was the records of these bodies and similar groups such as the London School Board

London School Board

The School Board for London was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London....

and Metropolitan Asylums Board

Metropolitan Asylums Board

The Metropolitan Asylums Board was established under Poor Law legislation, to deal with London's sick poor. It was established by the Metropolitan Poor Act 1867 and was wound up in 1930, its functions being transferred to the London County Council. Despite its name, the MAB was not involved in...

that would form the nucleus of the London County Record offices holdings which were based at County Hall on the south bank of the River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

.

As well as the official records that the council generated, they also began to accept deposits of records fundamental to London's History such as copies of memorials from the Middlesex Deeds register, diocesan and parish records and records of charities such as the Foundling Hospital

Foundling Hospital

The Foundling Hospital in London, England was founded in 1741 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word "hospital" was used in a more general sense than it is today, simply...

. Under the Public Records Act 1958

Public Records Act 1958

The Public Records Act 1958 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom forming the main legislation governing public records in the United Kingdom....

, the record office became recognised as a place of deposit for public records.

Since the creation of the London County Council there had been a record keeper in the Clerks Department who held custody of the documents. By the 1930s they had established individual departmental record rooms staffed by record assistants working under the general supervision of the Record Keeper. Finally in 1953 the position of Head Archivist and Librarian was created.

London County Council Members Library

As the name suggests the library was originally that of the members of the London County Council and reflected their interests. Situated in the same building as the London County Record Office the library was added to with books on the history and topography of London. The library also included a rich collection of maps, prints drawings and photographs.

Middlesex County Record Office

No single act or resolution marked the beginning of the Middlesex County Record Office. Like most other county record offices it developed naturally from the duty of the Clerk of the Peace

Clerk of the Peace

A clerk of the peace held an office in England and Wales whose responsibility was the records of the Quarter Sessions and the framing of presentments and indictments. They had legal training, so that they could advise justices of the peace.-England and Wales:...

to preserve certain records from the Quarter Sessions

Quarter Sessions

The Courts of Quarter Sessions or Quarter Sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the United Kingdom and other countries in the former British Empire...

, together with other records such as enclosure awards and plans of public utilities. The first significant period in the formation of the county record office was in the early 1880s when a special committee was appointed by the justices of the peace to consider and report on the accommodation provided for the storage of the ‘old records’ of the county. On behalf of the committee, John Cordy Jeaffreson an inspector of the historical manuscripts commission sorted the records covering 1549-1820 into 87 classes comprising over 10,000 volumes and nearly 5000 rolls. The more modern records from post 1820 were given a separate room.

The formation of the London County Council in 1889 had seen the County of Middlesex

Middlesex

much reduced in size. In 1893 when the Middlesex sessions papers were to be moved from the sessions house in Clerkenwell

Clerkenwell

(an area that was previously Middlesex but now London) an argument broke out between the two county councils as to who should have responsibility for the material. This protracted dispute lasted some five years with eventually a high court judge deciding in favour of Middlesex.

Around the same time a Middlesex County Council

Middlesex County Council

Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965.The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the county to constitute the County of London...

act empowered the council to spend money preserving, arranging, indexing, classifying and publishing such records of the county that may be in the public interest. In 1913 the new Middlesex Guildhall

Middlesex Guildhall

The Middlesex Guildhall is the home of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. It stands on the south-west corner of Parliament Square in London.-History:...

at Westminster

City of Westminster

The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...

opened and was equipped with specially constructed muniment rooms with an assistant to arrange and supervise their transfer from temporary storage. It wasn’t until 1923 that a full-time graduate assistant was placed in charge of dealing with things such as document repair, storage issues, written enquiries, production of documents for public researchers and receipt of any gifts or deposits.

After the Second World War, the work of the county record office expanded steadily with the appointment of a County Archivist

Archivist

An archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value. The information maintained by an archivist can be any form of media...

, firstly in a part time capacity, then full-time from 1957. By this time the archive had also moved to new premises at 1 Queen Anne's Gate Buildings, Dartmouth Street. In 1960 the record office was appointed an official place of deposit by the Lord Chancellor

Lord Chancellor

The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...

under section 4 (1) of the Public Records Act 1958

Public Records Act 1958

The Public Records Act 1958 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom forming the main legislation governing public records in the United Kingdom....

. After this time the archive increased its holdings, with significant deposits of petty sessions, coroners, Boards of Guardians and other official material. By this time, the record office had acquired an extensive reference library on the topography of Middlesex as well as a great number of maps prints and photographs

The Greater London Record Office

Under the Local London Government Act 1963 which came into effect on 1 April 1965, the administrative counties of London and Middlesex together with their respective county councils were abolished. They were replaced by the Greater London Council

Greater London Council

The Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a much smaller area...

(GLC) which administered a much wider area known as Greater London

Greater London

. The formation of Greater London also meant that some areas that had been previously part of Kent

Kent

, Surrey

Surrey

, Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

and Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...

, were also now included. However to minimise any confusion, it was agreed that records from these areas should remain within their ancient county. For instance material from the West Ham

West Ham

West Ham is in the London Borough of Newham in London, England. In the west it is a post-industrial neighbourhood abutting the site of the London Olympic Park and in the east it is mostly residential, consisting of Victorian terraced housing interspersed with higher density post-War social housing...

area would remain at Essex.

The new Greater London Council took responsibility for the two well established record offices of the counties of London and Middlesex

Middlesex

as well as the former member's library of the London County Council. Together these became the Greater London Record Office (GLRO) and Library. Although joined together the new archive continued to exist at two separate sites, with Middlesex material still at Dartmouth Street and London material at County Hall on the South Bank, in fact the record office was approximately where the London Aquarium

London Aquarium

The Sea Life London Aquarium is located on the ground floor of County Hall on the South Bank of the River Thames in central London, near the EDF Energy London Eye...

is now situated. The two archives finally came together when the Dartmouth Street site was sold off by the GLC in 1979 and both archives were housed at County Hall.

Things changed again in 1982 when the GLRO moved to specially adapted premises at 40 Northampton Road, Clerkenwell. The site was a print works, home to the former Temple Press building. The Temple Press had moved from nearby Roseberry Avenue in August 1939 barely a month before the outbreak of the Second World War. They continued to use the site until the end of the 1960s.

In 1986 the Greater London Council was abolished and since that date the archives have been administered by the City of London Corporation. In the early 1990s work was started on a new block adjacent to site in Northampton Road. This extension fully conformed to archival storage standards with moveable double sided shelving and a temperature controlled climate.

The GLRO was renamed the London Metropolitan Archives in 1997.

In 2005 the archives of the Corporation of London Records Office were moved to the London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) while the Guildhall underwent a vast refurbishment programme. The City of London Corporation is the local government authority for the City of London, the area often referred to as the Square Mile. These archives include the earliest material currently held at LMA, dating from 1067. The archive contains the official records of how the City was governed and developed, through bodies such as the Court of Aldermen

Court of Aldermen

The Court of Aldermen is an elected body forming part of the City of London Corporation. The Court of Aldermen is made up of the twenty five Aldermen of the City of London, presided over by the Lord Mayor...

and Court of Common Council and many other official departments like the Chamberlains (which dealt with people being given the freedom of the city). It also contains a large number of records of organisations which the City of London Corporation are responsible for such as the City of London Police

City of London Police

The City of London Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the City of London, England, including the Middle and Inner Temple. The service responsible for law enforcement within the rest of Greater London is the Metropolitan Police Service, a separate...

, a number of Courts and many of the major London markets.

In 2006 LMA merged with the City of London Libraires and Guildhall Art Gallery to form the City of London Department of Libraries, Archives and Guildhall Art Gallery. Within this department, LMA sits in an administrative group with the Guildhall Library

Guildhall Library

The Guildhall Library is administered by the Corporation of London, the government of the City of London, which is the historical heart of London, England. It was founded in the 1420s under the terms of the will of Lord Mayor Dick Whittington...

(a major historical reference library for London, holding printed books, manuscripts and map and print collections), the Guildhall Art Gallery

Guildhall Art Gallery

The Guildhall Art Gallery houses the art collection of the City of London, England. It occupies a building that was completed in 1999 to replace an earlier building destroyed in The Blitz in 1941...

and Keats House based at Hampstead

Hampstead

Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...

, the London home of the poet John Keats

John Keats

John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...

. The department also includes three lending libraries and the City Business Library.

Collections

The records held at the London Metropolitan Archives have been arranged in 17 major classes, of which a number are detailed below. Not all collections are available for consultation. Uncatalogued collections can be made available only by prior appointment made at least 48 hours in advance of the intended visit. Some material is restricted or closed because it contains sensitive information relating to named individuals, other records may require written permission from the depositor before you can view them.

Associations

LMA holds records of many associations all with very different purposes. A large number of records are associations with political purposes such as the London Labour Party, London Liberal Party as well as regional branches of the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

and Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

. The records of associations also include a number of trade unions including the National Union of Teachers

National Union of Teachers

The National Union of Teachers is a trade union for school teachers in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It is a member of the Trades Union Congress...

London and Middlesex branches, the Transport Salaried Staff Association and the Union of Post office Workers. Within the field of education there are records of The National Education Association and the London Head Teachers Association.

Records of pressure groups and campaigning organisations such as the National United Temperance Council and the Royal Society for Checking the Abuses of Public Advertising are also held. One of the larger series of records held are those belonging to the Public Morality Council. Formed in 1899 to combat vice and indecency in London, its members included representatives of all the major religions as well as leaders in education and medicine. The council continued until 1969 concentrating latterly on opposition to sexual immorality and pornography particularly with regards to theatre, cinema, radio and television.

A number of the records relate to groups promoting the arts, sport and recreation. Of particular note are the records of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters

Royal Society of Portrait Painters

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters is a British association of portrait painters which holds an annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London...

, though consultation of these archives, are subject to obtaining written permission. Other records include the Artists League of Great Britain, and The Royal Choral Society. On a more sporting theme, there are records of the London Schools Football Association, the National Amateur Rowing Association and the Ramblers Association

One of the most important series of archives amongst the Associations series, are those of the Peabody Trust

Peabody Trust

Peabody Trust , founded in 1862, is one of London's oldest and largest housing associations with over 19,000 properties. It also a charity and urban regeneration agency...

. The trust has its origins in a donation of £500,000 made by an American citizen George Peabody

George Peabody

George Peabody was an American-British entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Peabody Trust in Britain and the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, and was responsible for many other charitable initiatives.-Biography:...

, for the benefit of the people of London, the city where he had spent most of his adult life. The donation was put into the hands of selected trustees who were to ensure that it was used to ‘ameliorate the condition of the poor’ of London. It was agreed that cheap, clean housing would best fulfil the intention of the gift, and that the Trust would provide an alternative to their contemporary Model Dwellings Companies who operated on a private, less philanthropic basis. The first housing estate was opened in Spitalfields

Spitalfields

Spitalfields is a former parish in the borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London, near to Liverpool Street station and Brick Lane. The area straddles Commercial Street and is home to many markets, including the historic Old Spitalfields Market, founded in the 17th century, Sunday...

in 1864 and consisted of 557 dwellings and 9 shops. Further block estates were built in Southwark

Southwark

Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...

, Lambeth

Lambeth

Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...

, Westminster

City of Westminster

, Chelsea

Chelsea, London

Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...

, Islington

Islington

Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...

and Tower Hamlets; they, along with the Trust's newer properties, remain a part of modern London life. The collection consists of registers of tenants, photographs, plans and a number of administrative and financial records.

Businesses

LMA holds many archives from businesses that operated in the London and Middlesex areas. These are arranged alphabetically by the name of the company. One of the major collections in the series is that of the Predecessors of London Transport

Transport for London

Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...

. These include a number of railway companies particularly the Metropolitan Railway

Metropolitan railway

Metropolitan Railway can refer to:* Metropolitan line, part of the London Underground* Metropolitan Railway, the first underground railway to be built in London...

and many of the London Omnibus Companies, as well as the records of the London Passenger Transport Board

London Passenger Transport Board

The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for public transport in London, UK, and its environs from 1933 to 1948...

which unified services in the London area for the first time and ran from 1933-1948.

Another important collection is the archives of Thames Water

Thames Water

Thames Water Utilities Ltd, known as Thames Water, is the private utility company responsible for the public water supply and waste water treatment in large parts of Greater London, the Thames Valley, Surrey, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Kent, and some other areas of in the United Kingdom...

Predecessors. The archive comprises the records of major institutions which supplied water to the metropolis between 1582 and 1974. Up to 1902 the work was largely carried out by private companies operating under increasing public control as time went on. The records of each company have been catalogued separately except in cases where takeover occurred. The companies include London Bridge Waterworks Company and the New River Company. In 1902 all the smaller private institutions were taken over by the Metropolitan Water Board

Metropolitan Water Board

The Metropolitan Water Board was founded in 1903 to bring the nine private water companies supplying water to London under a single public body. The members of the board were nominated by the various local authorities within its area of supply. A Royal Commission had reported in 1899 on the need...

which assumed supply responsibilities for an area covering 576 square miles (1,491.8 km²). The surviving records include corporate material such as board minutes and legal papers, accounts, staff records, engineering and technical files, plans, photos and property records.

J. Lyons Company was founded in 1886 as a catering business for exhibitions in Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

, Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Paris and London. By 1894 it had become a public company and it rapidly established a chain of Teashops, corner houses and restaurants. This is one of the most intriguing business collections deposited, for as well as all the usual corporate records such as management, finance and administration the collection is particularly strong in what may be termed ephemera. There are hundreds of photographs starting from as early 1887, a few films and videos, a large collection of press cuttings, advertisements, menus, lithographs and even a Nippy's uniform.

Brewers have supplied the metropolis with beer for at least five centuries and by 1700 around 200 common brewers existed. As the industry evolved through acquisitions and competitive means, a hierarchy developed. By 1830 a few large companies dominated, supported by a base of smaller concerns. Several London Brewers joined the ranks of England's greatest industrial enterprises and the LMA holds archives of six of those major companies. These include Truman, Hanbury, Buxton & Co Ltd, Courage

Courage

Courage is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation...

, Barclay & Simonds Ltd, Watney, Combe, Reid, Ltd, latterly Watney, Mann Ltd and Whitbread

Whitbread

Whitbread PLC is a global hotel, coffee shop and restaurant company headquartered in Dunstable, United Kingdom. Its largest division is Premier Inn, which is the largest hotel brand in the UK with around 580 hotels and over 40,000 rooms. Its Costa Coffee chain has around 1,600 stores across 25...

and Co Ltd. The surviving records include administrative and financial records, staff records, property records photographs and ephemera.

Charities

LMA's holdings of charities records date from the early 17th century and include notable foundations such as Archbishop Tenison's Grammar School, the Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy

Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy

The Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy is a charity founded in 1655 which provides financial support to clergy of the Church of England.The Corporation was established in 1655 in response to the distress of the large number of clergymen who were dispossessed of their livings under the regime of...

and Sutton's Hospital (Charterhouse school) which was founded by Thomas Sutton

Thomas Sutton

Thomas Sutton was an English civil servant and businessman as well as being the founder of Charterhouse School. He was the son of an official of the city of Lincoln, and was educated at Eton College and probably at Cambridge...

in 1611 for the benefit of distressed gentlemen and the education of poor boys. Many of the charities are concerned with housing, education and medicine. One of the major collections is that of the Charity Organisation Society, now known as the Family Welfare Association which was formed to make sure that charitable organisations did not overlap with each other in terms of what they were trying to achieve.

Amongst the many archives of housing associations held, are records of the Hampstead Garden Suburb

Hampstead Garden Suburb

-Notable Residents :*Theo Adams*Martin Bell*Sir Victor Blank*Katie Boyle*Constantine, the last King of Greece*Greg Davies*Richard & Judy Finnigan*David Matthews*Michael Ridpath*Claudia Roden*Jonathan Ross*Sir Donald Sinden*Marc Sinden...

. The Hampstead Garden Suburb

Hampstead Garden Suburb

was the vision and accomplishment of Henrietta Barnett who together with her husband Canon Samuel Augustus Barnett

Samuel Augustus Barnett

Samuel Augustus Barnett was an Anglican clergyman and social reformer particularly associated with the establishment of the first university settlement, Toynbee Hall in east London in 1884....

set about creating an estate where the working classes could live within pleasant surroundings. The land near Hampstead

Hampstead

was purchased via the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust that she had formed. A total of 323 acres (1.3 km²) were purchased for £140,000 by 1907. The idea was that the estate would be aesthetically pleasing consisting of low density housing and thoroughly planned with a mix of buildings and nature. The community would be served by a range of local amenities including churches, libraries, schools, an institute of education and shops. Henrietta wanted to bring different classes together in one area. Unfortunately though the houses may have been more modest, they were still too expensive for many working class people. Increased building costs and the shortage of local employment meant that the suburb would become largely middle class. By 1936 building was virtually complete and the suburb was home to some 16,000 people. The collection is particularly valuable to those interested in the history of planned settlements, architecture and the life and work of Henrietta Barnett. The archive consists of records of suburb organisations and recreational societies, education institutions and approximately 10,000 plans and 10,000 photographs.

Perhaps the most fascinating collection of archives amongst the charities section are those of the Foundling Hospital

Foundling Hospital

. Established by Royal charter in 1739 by Thomas Coram as a refuge for abandoned children, the Foundling Hospital was the sole institution responsible for taking in illegitimate children in the London area for a period of well over 120 years. Coram had been appalled by the number of dead and dying babies on the streets of London. Since the decision of Christ's Hospital

Christ's Hospital

Christ's Hospital is an English coeducational independent day and boarding school with Royal Charter located in the Sussex countryside just south of Horsham in Horsham District, West Sussex, England...

to only accept legitimate orphans in 1676 the only other place to care for them was the parish poorhouse, here they faced little or no child care provision and extremely high mortality rates.

Admission to the new hospital was at first limited because of lack of funds. Infants were to be less than two months old and in good health. Once a child had been admitted they were baptised and given a new name and boarded out to a dry or wet nurse in the country. On reaching the age of three, they were returned to the hospital to receive basic schooling before eventually being apprenticed out to trades or service or being enlisted in the armed forces. In 1760 the admission system changed with mother having to submit written petitions, the petitions form a valuable insight into the background and circumstances of the mothers. The officers of the hospital were extremely meticulous in record keeping, even in the very early days. The detailed documents that survive record the lives of the children, the way in which the hospital operated the methods of nursing, the prescriptions of apothecaries, the reports of inspectors and the extraordinary accounts of women's lives. Some parts of the collection have been returned to the Coram family, while more modern files concerned with the Berkhamsted site are at Hertfordshire Record Office.

City of London Corporation

The records that were formerly held by the Corporation of London Record Office and now held at the LMA have been re-catalogued and are now arranged in two distinct sections.

Records with the prefix COL are the administrative and corporate records of the City of London Corporation. Included in this section are the repertories, journals and letter books from the courts of Aldermen and Common Council

Common Council

Common Council may refer to:* The Court of Common Council, an elected body of the City of London Corporation* Buffalo Common Council, the legislative branch of the Buffalo, NY City Government...

, records of those receiving the freedom of the City of London from the Chamberlains department as well as numerous plans from the planning and surveyors departments.

Records with the prefix CLA are deposited collections from organisations and bodies that operate in close association with the City of London Corporation. This series includes records of many of the bridges across the Thames and particularly Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, England, over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, from which it takes its name...

, many markets including Smithfield

Smithfield, London

Smithfield is an area of the City of London, in the ward of Farringdon Without. It is located in the north-west part of the City, and is mostly known for its centuries-old meat market, today the last surviving historical wholesale market in Central London...

, Billingsgate

Billingsgate

Billingsgate is a small ward in the south-east of the City of London, lying on the north bank of the River Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge...

, Spitalfields

Spitalfields

and Leadenhall, and a number of courts such as Mansion House

Mansion House, London

Mansion House is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of the City of London in London, England. It is used for some of the City of London's official functions, including an annual dinner, hosted by the Lord Mayor, at which the Chancellor of the Exchequer customarily gives a speech – his...

and Guildhall Justice Rooms and Southwark coroner's court. Records of particular interest in this series are the records of the City of London Sessions, these include criminal trials held before the London jury at the Old Bailey

Old Bailey

The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...

. Another series of particular interest are the records of the City of London Police

City of London Police

. Archives include warrant books, over 95% of all personnel files as well as material relating to the Houndsditch murders and letters sent to the force concerning Jack the Ripper

Jack the Ripper

"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...

and the Whitechapel murders.

Court records

The court records held at LMA are dominated by one of the finest collection of quarter session records known to exist in the country. The records of the Middlesex

Middlesex

and Westminster

City of Westminster

Sessions cover both the judicial and administrative functions of the Justices of the Peace covering the period 1549-1971. These include sessions of Gaol delivery for the Middlesex area, held at the Old Bailey

Old Bailey

until 1834. Until the 1870s and 1880s the Middlesex Justices were not only responsible for judicial matters in their area, they were also responsible for many of the functions now under the control of local governments. Such roles and responsibilities included county bridges, prisons, lunatic asylums and Feltham Industrial School. The deposited records also include Land and Hearth tax assessments, electoral registers, licensed victuallers, recognizance's, building surveyors returns, enclosure awards and maps and plans of numerous public undertakings such as canals, docks and railways.

LMA also holds a number of records of the former Inner London police courts. Whilst many of these courts date from the 18th and 19th centuries the surviving records often only start in the early 20th century. Included in the same section are records of petty sessions, magistrate

Magistrate

A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...

courts and county courts for London and Middlesex. Some magistrate courts in the London area are not covered and hold no records of crown courts. Perhaps the most popular series of records in this section are the records of coroner

Coroner

A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...

's courts. These include the Middlesex area prior to 1889, the London and Middlesex areas from 1889 onwards and the Greater London

Greater London

area after 1965. Unfortunately the survival rate of coroner

Coroner

's records is only about 10%. They are also subject to a closure period of 75 years as opposed to the 30 years on other court records.

Diocesan records

The records of the Diocese of London

Diocese of London

The Anglican Diocese of London forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England.Historically the diocese covered a large area north of the Thames and bordered the dioceses of Norwich and Lincoln to the north and west. The present diocese covers and 17 London boroughs, covering most of Greater...

have been split between the LMA and the Guildhall Library

Guildhall Library

. The LMA has records concerning the Consistory Court of London and the Archdeaconry Court of Middlesex. These records include probate material up to 1858, Tithe maps, Bishops Transcripts and Matrimonial and Testamentary Cause Papers.

To the south of the river Thames

River Thames

LMA holds records of the Diocese of Winchester

Diocese of Winchester

The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England.Founded in 676, it is one of the oldest and largest of the dioceses in England.The area of the diocese incorporates:...

including probate and marriage bonds and allegations from the Archdeaconry Court of Surrey as well as probate from the Commissary Court of Surrey. The LMA also has records of the Diocese of Southwark

Anglican Diocese of Southwark

The Diocese of Southwark is one of the 44 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was formed on May 1, 1905 from part of the Diocese of Rochester...

, the Diocese of Guilford and the south east London part of the Diocese of Rochester

Diocese of Rochester

The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in South-East England and forms part of the Province of Canterbury. It is an ancient diocese, having been established in 604; only the neighbouring Diocese of Canterbury is older in the Church of England....

Families and estates

Estate records held at the LMA include the Duke of Bedford

Duke of Bedford

thumb|right|240px|William Russell, 1st Duke of BedfordDuke of Bedford is a title that has been created five times in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1414 in favour of Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of France. He was made Earl of Kendal at the same time...

's Covent Garden

Covent Garden

Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...

Estate with many of the records relating to the development of the market. Other major estate records in this series are those of the Marquess of Northampton

Marquess of Northampton

Marquess of Northampton is a title that has been created twice.-William Parr:First creation, 1547–1571The title was created for the first time in the Peerage of England in 1547 in favour of William Parr, brother of Catherine Parr, the sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII. The title was forfeited...

at Clerkenwell

Clerkenwell

and Canonnbury and the Maryon-Wilson estates in Hampstead

Hampstead

and Charlton

Charlton, London

Charlton is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Greenwich. It is located east-southeast of Charing Cross. Charlton next Woolwich was an ancient parish in the county of Kent, which became part of the metropolitan area of London in 1855. It is home to Charlton...

. Notable family collections include those of the Marquess of Anglesey

Marquess of Anglesey

Marquess of Anglesey is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1815 for Henry Paget, 2nd Earl of Uxbridge, a hero of the Battle of Waterloo...

, the Clitherow family of Brentford and the Earl of Jersey

Earl of Jersey

Earl of the Island of Jersey, usually shortened to Earl of Jersey, is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1697 for the statesman Edward Villiers, 1st Viscount Villiers, Ambassador to France from 1698 to 1699 and Secretary of State for the Southern Department from 1699 to 1700...

, whose papers include correspondence with prominent politicians and literary figures, however these papers can only be viewed after obtaining written permission from the Head Archivist. The families and Estates series also includes records of over 80 manors, includingthose owned by Charterhouse School

Charterhouse School

Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...

and St Thomas' Hospital

St Thomas' Hospital

St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS hospital in London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It has provided health care freely or under charitable auspices since the 12th century and was originally located in Southwark.St Thomas' Hospital is accessible...

which covers land extending from Essex to Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

and Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

Hospitals and health authorities

LMA holds records for over 80 hospitals and local regional health authorities within the south east area. The Hospital records range from County Asylums like Hanwell Asylum

Hanwell Asylum

The County Asylum at Hanwell, also known as Hanwell Insane Asylum, and Hanwell Pauper and Lunatic Asylum, was built for the pauper insane and is now the West London Mental Health Trust ...

and Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum

Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum

Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum was an early psychiatric hospital located in Colney Hatch in what is now the London Borough of Barnet. The hospital was in operation from 1851 to 1993....

to major teaching hospitals like Guys Hospital and St Thomas' Hospital

St Thomas' Hospital

and specialist hospitals like Moorfields Eye Hospital

Moorfields Eye Hospital

Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS eye hospital located in London, United Kingdom. It is the oldest and largest eye hospital in the world and is internationally renowned for its comprehensive clinical and research activities...

and Queen Charlotte's Hospital, right down to much smaller local hospitals. Anybody wishing to find out what hospital records are held at the LMA would do well to firstly consult the hospital records database on the national archives website. The collection of records is not arranged alphabetically as many different hospitals may be covered by one particular management trust, therefore it is worth asking at the reference room desk and they will direct you to the particular binder that you need. It is also worth consulting the 3 leaflets on hospital records that the archive had produced, namely No.9 Sources for the history of nursing, which details the Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...

collection amongst the records of St Thomas' Hospital

St Thomas' Hospital

, No.13 a general guide to hospital records and No.15 which is concerned with patients records. All patient's records amongst the hospitals collections are subject to data protection laws and may be closed access depending on their date.

Jewish organisations

A great number of the Anglo-Jewish community's archives have been deposited at the London Metropolitan Archives, these include records of the Board of Deputies of British Jews

Board of Deputies of British Jews

The Board of Deputies of British Jews is the main representative body of British Jews. Founded in 1760 as a joint committee of the Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jewish communities in London, it has since become a widely recognised forum for the views of the different sectors of the UK Jewish...

, the Office of the Chief Rabbi, the Beth Din

Beth din

A beth din, bet din, beit din or beis din is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel...

, the federation of Synagogues and the United Synagogue

United Synagogue

United Synagogue is an organisation of London Jews that was founded with the sanction of an Act of Parliament, in 1870. , it remains the largest religious grouping within the British Jewish community and indeed in Europe, covering 62 Orthodox Jewish communities...

. It should be noted that the collections contain only a small number of sources useful to those studying their Jewish Family History, particular sources are the records from the Jewish Temporary Shelter and those of the Jewish Free School which is said to have educated one third of all the Jewish community in London. The majority of records from the various Jewish Organisations are concerned with subject and policy decisions and most require written permission from the depositor before access can be granted.

London local authorities

Two very important series of records have been classified under the heading London Local Authorities. The first of these, are the records of the Boards of Guardians of the Poor Law Unions for London and Middlesex

Middlesex

. Poor Law Unions were formed as a result of the new Poor Law

Poor Law

The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws before being codified in 1587–98...

amendment act of 1834, when neighbouring parishes joined together to pool their resources, each of these unions would be administered by a Board of Guardians

Board of Guardians

Boards of guardians were ad hoc authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930.-England and Wales:The boards were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish Overseers of the Poor established under the old poor law, following the recommendations...

. The records consist primarily of general minutes of the board, administrative records including details of staff, settlement examinations, orders of removal, workhouse

Workhouse

In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...

and infirmary records and school records. The records are arranged by each individual board although the amount of surviving material varies from board to board. The majority of material is from the period 1850 to 1930.

The other major collection in this series, are the records of the Middlesex Deeds Register. By an act of parliament in 1708 a registry was established for the registration of all deed

Deed

A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed...

s, conveyances

Conveyancing

In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien....

, wills

Will (law)

A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...

, encumbrance

Encumbrance

Encumbrance is legal technical terminology for anything that affects or limits the title of a property, such as mortgages, leases, easements, liens, or restrictions. Also, those considered as potentially making the title defeasible are encumbrances...

s etc., affecting freehold land and leased land for periods of 21 years or more, within the ancient county of Middlesex. In 1862 the national land register was introduced on a voluntary basis. In 1899 it became compulsory for land in the new area of North London that was formally Middlesex to be registered nationally. This dramatically reduced the amount of entries to the Middlesex Deeds Register, though it continued to serve the outer part of Middlesex until 1938 when all land within Middlesex had to be registered through the national land register. Deeds and documents brought to the registry were copied onto pieces of parchment called memorials and then bound into large volumes or registers. The documents are not complete copies of the originals and certain information such as covenants and other restrictions may be missing. Information entered includes date of the transaction, names of the parties and a description of the property. From the mid 19th century this also often included a plan of the property.

London-wide elected bodies

As well as the archives of the London County Council

London County Council

, Middlesex County Council

Middlesex County Council

, Greater London Council

Greater London Council

, Inner London Education Authority

Inner London Education Authority

The Inner London Education Authority was the education authority for the 12 inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990.-History:...

and the London Residuary Body

London Residuary Body

The London Residuary Body was a body set up in 1985 to dispose of the assets of the Greater London Council after the council's abolition in 1986. Similar residuary bodies were set up for the metropolitan counties. After the abolition of the Inner London Education Authority, the LRB took control of...

, the LMA also hold records of their 19th and 20th century predecessors such as the Metropolitan Board of Works

Metropolitan Board of Works

, Metropolitan Commission of Sewers

Metropolitan Commission of Sewers

The Metropolitan Commission of Sewers was one of London's first steps towards bringing its sewer and drainage infrastructure under the control of a single public body. It was a precursor of the Metropolitan Board of Works.-Formation:...

, London School Board

London School Board

The School Board for London was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London....

and the Metropolitan Asylums Board

Metropolitan Asylums Board

. The records of these bodies are as broad as the functions of modern local government, with documentation on education, housing, health services, welfare, transport, building regulations, drainage, culture and leisure. Many of the different bodies include a series of indexed committee minutes which often prove to be a valuable starting point when attempting to access the records.

Maps

The LMA has an extensive collection of maps numbering over 15,000. Many of the maps are split up amongst the various different collections for example tithes maps found amongst the diocesan records and enclosure maps found amongst court records. Fortunately there is a single card catalogue that combines all of the maps from the various collections and has listed them by the area they cover. Twenty of the most popular maps held by the LMA are accessible in the map cabinet in the reference room. These include the first edition of the Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...

for London 1867-1870 and the Second World War Bomb damage maps.

National records

Included in this series are records of the British Waterways Board particularly concerning the River Lea, plans of National Schools in Middlesex and the London Region of English Heritage

English Heritage

English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

which took over many of the files and plans of the former Greater London Council

Greater London Council

Historic Buildings Division. Also featuring in the series of National Records are the archives of Wandsworth (HM Prison)

Wandsworth (HM Prison)

HM Prison Wandsworth is a Category B men's prison at Wandsworth in the London Borough of Wandsworth, south west London, England. It is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service and is the largest prison in London and one of the largest in western Europe, with similar capacity to Liverpool...

and Wormwood Scrubs (HM Prison)

Wormwood Scrubs (HM Prison)

HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs is a Category B men's prison, located in the Wormwood Scrubs area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, in inner west London, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service....

. Of the two prisons the Wandsworth records are much more extensive, including administrative and staff records, photographs and prisoners records from 1879. For Wormwood Scrubs the majority of records concern prisoners and begin in 1917.

Non-established religions

At present the LMA holds no Catholic records, these are usually retained by the individual church. The majority of Non Conformist records at LMA relate to the Congregationalist, Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

, United Reformed and Methodist churches, circuits and missions dating predominantly from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In addition to this there are some records of a few German churches, and some recent marriage registers from a Salvation Army

Salvation Army

The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....

citadel, a seventh day Adventist church, the kingdom Hall

Kingdom Hall

A Kingdom Hall is a place of worship used by Jehovah's Witnesses. The term was first suggested in 1935 by Joseph Franklin Rutherford, then president of the Watch Tower Society, for a building in Hawaii...

, Wandsworth and a Sikh

Sikh

A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...

Gurdwara

A Gurdwara , meaning the Gateway to the Guru, is the place of worship for Sikhs, the followers of Sikhism. A Gurdwara can be identified from a distance by tall flagpoles bearing the Nishan Sahib ....

. As well as baptism

Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...

, marriage and burial

Burial

Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...

records from individual nonconformist churches we hold records of several nonconformist organisations such as the London Congregational Union and the New Bunhill Fields

Bunhill Fields

Bunhill Fields is a cemetery in the London Borough of Islington, north of the City of London, and managed by the City of London Corporation. It is about 4 hectares in extent, although historically was much larger....

Burial Ground. It should be remembered that with Non Conformist registers many pre 1840 registers were collected in by the registrar general shortly after the introduction of civil registration in 1837. These records are located in a series called RG4 at the National Archives.

Parishes

LMA holds records of over 700 Anglican churches in the London and Middlesex

Middlesex

areas. The types of records held vary from parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

to parish

Parish

with some parishes only depositing registers of baptisms, marriage and burials. Other parishes however, have deposited a great deal more and the types of records include vestry

Vestry

A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....

minutes, churchwarden

Churchwarden

A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish church or congregation of the Anglican Communion, usually working as a part-time volunteer. Holders of these positions are ex officio members of the parish board, usually called a vestry, parish council, parochial church council, or in the case of a...

accounts, parish poor rate

Poor rate

In England and Wales, under the 1601 Elizabethan Poor Law the poor rate was a tax on property levied on the parish which was used to provide poor relief to the parish poor. The tax was collected by local magistrates or Overseers of the Poor, and later by Local Authorities....

and early workhouse

Workhouse

In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...

material, parish magazines, plans, photographs and other ephemera.

For those interested in parish records, researchers should be aware that for certain areas of London, the LMA will not be the likely place records would be deposited. For those interested in the parish registers of the ancient City of London within the walls, these will be found at the Guildhall Library. Similarly churches within the ancient city of Westminster will deposit their records at the City of Westminster Archives. This will include parishes such as Saint Martin in the Fields, Saint James Piccadilly, Saint Clement Danes and Saint George Hanover Square. The final areas that would not deposit their records at the LMA are the modern London Boroughs that prior to the formation of the Greater London Council in 1964 would have been part of the former counties of Essex, Kent and Surrey. For each of these areas researchers should consult either their local borough archive or the respective ancient county record office.

Photograph collection

The LMA photograph collection contains almost half a million photographs covering the history and topography of London, especially the inner London area. The majority of photos were taken for official purposes by and for the London County Council and Greater London Council. The collection is arranged in two sections. The first section is arranged by alphabetically by subject covering everything from Abbeys to Zoological Gardens. Particularly well covered are subjects such as schools, housing estates, parks, bridges, churches, cinemas, theatres, hospitals, pubs and areas of war damage. The second section is arranged alphabetically by modern London borough and then alphabetically by address.

Prints and drawings

The prints and drawings collection is similarly arranged to the photograph collection with a greater focus on the inner London areas. It is also arranged both topographically and by subject. Most of the prints and drawings date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Researchers using the subject index should check with staff on duty before requesting any documents from the strong room to ensure that they have the most up to date reference number. Similarly any researcher wishing to view prints from boroughs in outer London should again check with staff on duty in the reference room.

The library

The LMA library started as the library of the former members of the London County council. It contains over 100,000 volumes and specialises in all aspects of London life, the growth and development of the area, its history and organisation of Local Government. The library is purely a reference library. A search of the archive's stock of records can be done online by accessing the LMA website and navigating the londonGenerations search tool.

Although many records (in particular the parish registers of Greater London) are stored on microfiche, there is a digitisation programme which is ongoing. The aim is to digitally store parish records, Poor Law documents, and school admission records up to 1911. An estimated 77 million people will be referenced by these documents.

It will be possible for visitors to view this data at no cost on terminals in the library. It will likewise be possible to view this data at home via the internet for a fee, via the website ancestry co uk. The first stage is set to go live in early 2009

According to a leaflet from the LMA (made available in September 2008):

"It is anticipated that the full digitisation and indexing programme will include: Parish baptisms, marriages and burials; Bishops' transcripts; Parish Poor Law records; Boards of Guardians records; Diocesan marriage bonds and allegations; Non-conformist baptisms, marriages and burials; School admission and discharge registers; Electoral registers, overseers returns and poll books; Land Tax records; Wills; City of London Freedoms; Middlesex Sessions - Transportation Contracts; Consistory Court of London Matrimonial and Testamentary Papers."

Digitised parish records went online on 16 September 2009, as an alternative to microfiche searches.

External links

The LMA website

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.