Papers 1944 to 1949

Committee Allowances Sir Cuthbert Whitaker MA, FSA 27 July 1944	Coach hire expenses before 1809; allowances to Committees for refreshments thereafter, listed in Pocket Books 1824-1924; coach hire and “line money” paid to members for attendance, technically abolished 1836; summer excursions on the River Thames for Members and their wives on board the former State barge Maria Wood abolished 1885; defence of Committee allowances before 1854 Royal Commission; foundation of the Guildhall Club at the end of the 19th century; Committee luncheons; institution of the budget system by Harvey Preen, Chairman of the Coal, Corn and Finance Committee; the current [1944] system of Committee allowances.
Some Notes on the City’s Cash Major J Lockhart Gow MC 11 May 1945	The historical origin of the City’s private purse; an explanation of the title of the Coal, Corn and Finance Committee; the City’s revenues and expenditure from the Middle Ages; the City Lands; the Royal Contract and the Conduit Mead Estate; John Carpenter’s bequest; the City Markets.
Some Observations on A.R.P. and Civil Defence F.W. Brundle CBE 4 September 1945	The beginnings of the Committee; the author’s work as Committee chairman from 1937 with the assistance of the new City Engineer and Medical Officer of Health; development of ARP in the country and City; air raids, damage and casualties in the City; contingency measures; salvage statistics; Fire Guards organisation; standing down from April 1945 and dispersal from July 1945.
The Special Committee Major G.H.M. Vine TD 3 April 1946	Background of attacks on the Corporation during the 19th century, especially the 1853 Royal Commission and the proposed reforms of 1882, which caused the first appointment of the Special Committee [fore-runner of the current Policy and Resources Committee] in 1883 to protect the Corporation’s rights; the 1893 Royal Commission; its part in the formation of Metropolitan Borough Councils in 1899 and the winding up of the first Special Committee; its re-establishment in 1904 and terms of reference; its work respecting rates unification and the Union of Parishes Act 1907; its other areas of work and influence; chairmen.
The Title and Office of Chief Commoner Lt.-Col. G.J. Cullum Welch OBE, MC 1 July 1946	Origin of the term “commoner;” origin of the City Lands and CL Committee; evolution of the title of Chief Commoner for the chairman of that Committee in the 3rd  quarter of the 19th century; proposals to elect a Chief Commoner separate from the chairmanship of the City Lands Committee in 1905; arguments for and against the official recognition of the Chief Commoner as a spokesman for the Court of Common Council in 1907; official recognition of the title from 1918; precedence; Chief Commoner’s room.
The Court of Aldermen Sir Frank Newson-Smith Bt. 30 September 1946	Origin and development of the City Wards and the powers of Aldermen since Saxon times; gradual increase of administrative business taken over by Common Council; functions and business of the Court of Aldermen, especially respecting elections, Freedoms, City Livery Companies and justice; the continuing role of the Aldermen in the civic constitution.
Tithe Rate in the City of London Sir Cuthbert Whitaker MA, FSA 30 December 1946	A brief history of religious tithes; tithes in England from 1066 to 1936; the difference between them and tithes in the City of London; Acts of Parliament of 1670 and 1804 affecting City tithes; effects of the City of London (Union of Parishes) Act 1907 and the role of the Special Committee in its passage; problems caused by the Second World War and attempts at reform; collection of City tithe rate as part of the City’s rates from City of London (Tithe) Act 1947.
The Public Health Department of the Corporation of London J.H. Morton FCA 31 March 1947	Development of Ward-based sanitation, sewerage, street cleansing and lighting up to 1667; the Great Fire of London 1666 and its consequences; Commissioners of Sewers and the development of public health measures 1668-1898, including the City of London Sewers Act 1848; the City of London Sewers Act 1897; the formation, development and duties of the Public Health Department and its Committees 1898-1947; current [1947] public health provisions in the City.
The City of London Freemen’s School: Cives in loco parentis Gervase E Wood 30 June 1947	The background to the foundation of the School by Act of Parliament of 1850; the conversion of the London Workhouse endowments into funds for a school; the separate foundation of the City of London School by Act of Parliament of 1834; Warren Stormes Hale and the foundation of the City of London School (1837) and the City of London Freemen’s Orphan School (1854); the Freemen’s School at Brixton (1854-1926) and Ashtead (1926-date).
The Early History of the City of London Sir Cuthbert Whitaker MA, FSA 30 September 1947	The unknown origins of the City of London; London’s geographical and strategic advantages; Roman London and its decay; Saxon London and the appointment of Alfred the Great’s son-in-law, Ethelred as Governor of London in 886 and its apparent county status thereafter; offices of Portreeve and Sheriff of the City and of Middlesex; the Norman Conquest and the granting of the “William Charter” c.1067, ratifying existing rights and privileges of Londoners; the City’s medieval attempts at extending its independence from the Crown; the granting of the Commune in 1191 and the subsequent development of City government along the lines of that of national government; citizens’ rights guaranteed by Magna Carta 1215; development of democratic government and Common Council from the 1320s; the City of London’s unique constitution and the relatively late development of the term “Corporation of London”; non-party political nature of the City’s government.
The Privileges of the City of London Leonard C Beecroft FCA 29 December 1947	Difficulties of defining City of London’s privileges; those relating to trade and commerce, especially import, export and marketing, (including some very obscure offices) which largely disappeared in the 18th century and were finally abolished in 1856; legal privileges of the Lord Mayor and of Aldermen as Justices of the Peace; City’s right to elect its own Mayor, Aldermen and especially Sheriff; rights of citizens to be tried in City Courts; City’s ceremonial privileges, including the Lord Mayor’s Show, greeting the Sovereign at Temple Bar, privileged regiments and the Lord Mayor’s responsibilities relating to the accession of the Sovereign; numerous privileges (some now out of date) in relation to Parliament; privilege of entertaining royalty; privileged unwritten constitution of the City and the Custom of London;  administrative privileges, including the right to change the constitution; privilege of possessing the City Lands and funds other than the rates.
The City Livery Companies Humphrey W Morris 22 March 1948	Origin of Livery Companies in late Saxon times and their development from religious fraternities; their control over their trades and crafts in the medieval period as they became more powerful; inter-Company strife in the 13th and 14th centuries; their regulation by the Court of Aldermen and their powers in the civic constitution of London; halls and their destruction in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and their rebuilding after it; Company Freemen and rules regulating them; attacks on Livery Companies from the 1870s and the Royal Commission appointed in 1880; their charitable work; the Companies’ role in the Protestant plantation of Ulster in the 17th century; notes of interest respecting several individual Companies (mostly the Great Twelve Companies).
Boundary Marks in the City of London (no paper available) Sir Frederick Tidbury-Beer 1948	Parish, ward and property marks, some covered in “Boundary and Property Marks in London” by L.B. Ellis in British Archaeological Association’s Journal (3rd series, vol. VIII, 1943); particular examples of marks and plaques and stories associated with the places marked; varying designs and symbols; with illustrations of several ward and parish marks.
Port of London Authority R.E. Philp 30 August 1948	The importance of the River Thames to the development of London; the growth of London as a trading port from Roman times onwards; establishment of the Lord Mayor as Conservator of the River Thames from Staines to the Medway in 1393; preservation of fishing and navigation and the jurisdiction of the Courts of Conservancy in Middlesex, Essex, Surrey and Kent; the Lord Mayor’s ceremonial views of the Thames and the various Navigation Barges; the work of the Navigation Committee; dispute between the Corporation and the Crown over the title to the soil and bed of the Thames settled in 1856, and the Corporation’s loss of the Thames conservancy to a new body of Thames Conservators; development of the West and East India Docks and other docks east of the City in the late 18th and early 19th centuries; establishment of the Port of London Authority in 1908.
The Custom of London Irving Gane, Chamberlain of London 29 November 1948	The establishment of the Custom of London since the “William Charter” of c. 1067; the difficulty of defining the Custom and the pre-eminence of an oral tradition over a written one with regard to it; the temporary loss of the City’s privileges under Quo Warranto 1683 – 1688; the City’s power to amend the Custom of London by Act of Common Council; extinguishing of Custom (e.g. City’s jurisdiction over testamentary bequests; admission of married women to the City Freedom); the legal status of the Custom and its survival through flexibility.
St Paul’s Cross P.E Jones LL.B, F.R.Hist.S. 31 January 1949	Brief history of St Paul’s Cross as a preaching cross, with pulpit; use of the Cross as a place to assemble citizens in the Folkmoot and to hear proclamations and announcements and to witness punishments; famous political and religious sermons at the Cross; attendance of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen at sermons from the 15th century, and improvements in their accommodation over time; payments to preachers at Paul’s Cross and the removal of the sermon to the interior of the Cathedral from the 17th century; hospitality to preachers from the 17th century; bequests to preachers from the 15th century; the erection of a memorial on the site of Paul’s Cross in 1909 from a bequest by Mr H.C. Richards, KC.
The City and the Militia J.K. Newson-Smith MA 30 May 1949	The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) (incorporated 1537) the oldest regiment in the British Isles; London militia since Saxon times; privileges of Londoners in the King’s host; provision of soldiers for the Sovereign; City Livery Companies’ bowmen; practice of archery and events leading to the establishment of the HAC; reorganisations of the London Train Bands in the 17th century; other towns and cities copy London’s example in the training of militia; lease of the Artillery Ground still used by the HAC from 1641; London Train Bands in the Civil War and later in the 17th century; practice from the 1690s onwards of citizens paying deputies to serve, and the falling off of efficiency of the Train Bands; divergence of the Train Bands and the HAC after 1777; expulsion of the Lord Mayor from the HAC in 1780; establishment of the London Rifle Brigade by Aldermen and City Officers in 1859.
Outdoor Monuments in the City of London Sir Cuthbert Whitaker MA, FSA 29 August 1949	Events leading to the research and publication of a report in 1949 by the Chairman of the Special Committee and the Deputy Keeper of the Records listing all the outdoor monuments within the City of London, with some omissions from that report in this article, namely Aldgate Pump, Aldersgate Boundary Marks, Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, Cornhill Pump, Holborn Bars, Paul’s Cross, Royal Exchange, St Bride’s and Bridewell Precinct Schools, Smithfield Garden and Fountain, statues from the front of Guildhall Chapel on the staircase from Basinghall Street to Guildhall Library. [Rider concerning the suggestion that Bunhill Fields Burial Ground should become a garden of rest, which was, in 1949, still considered a “live” issue. Sir Cuthbert Whitaker was obliged to state that the opinions in the article were his own personal views and not to be regarded as propaganda in encouraging Members to vote against the scheme when it was proposed in Common Council.]
Some Notes on the Bank of England and Her Connection with the Chamber of London, and Certain Other Aspects of Civic Life Alderman E.V.M. Stockdale 29 December 1949	Chamber of London and Livery Companies (especially the Goldsmiths’) acting as banks for 100 years prior to establishment of the Bank of England in 1694; venture capital, personal and Government loans from the Chamber in the early 17th century; the Chamberlain appointed Receiver of taxes imposed for repayment; growing strain on the Corporation’s finances during the 17th century due to increased borrowing, but crisis masked and delayed by Orphans’ money; Chamber retrenchment led to formation of Bank of England; same people involved in Chamber, Bank of England and Livery Companies (using the Grocers’ as an example); the site of the Bank of England.