Sir Alfred Yarrow, The Shipbuilder

Details of Alfred Yarrow’s early life (born in London on 13th January 1842), education and apprenticeship with the marine engineering firm of Ravenhill; the foundation of the Civil and Mechanical Engineers’ Society.

David Hartley – Arsonist by Appointment? 1732 – 1813

Detailed description of obelisk erected in memory of David Hartley on Putney Heath in 1777; family origins of Hartley; education and early career including securing patent for protecting buildings from fire by use of iron plates.

Electoral reform, liberalism & art funded by Jamaican slave sugar – the Beckfords. Part 1 – Alderman William Beckford (1709-1770)

The early life of William Beckford; the great accumulation of wealth from sugar plantations in Jamaica; his return to England and purchase of Fonthill Estate in Wiltshire in 1745; election as Member of Parliament firstly for Shaftesbuy then latterly as one of the the City of London’s four MPs.

Magna Carta, The City of London, and the ‘Special Relationship’

800th anniversary of the sealing of the Charter of the Barons as some call it, others Magna Carta, Great Charter.

Nelson and the City

This paper charts the specific events which make up the relationship between Nelson and the City, from the celebration of three of the four major naval battles in which he took part (and which figure on the Nelson monument in the Great Hall at Guildhall) to his funeral on 9 January 1806.

Robert Walpole and the City of London, 1721-1742

An assessment of the relationship between Robert Walpole and the City during his Long Ministry: ‘Walpole’s twenty one years in power brought great benefits to the City, but its favourable influence was never readily available to him and its hostility at the end was a factor in his final defeat by his Tory opponents’.

The Office of Recorder of the City of London

The varying role and duties of the Recorder from the origins of the office in the 13th century to date.