Papers 1980 to 1989

The Early History of the City’s Plate Norman Harry Harding 29 January 1980	Sir Crisp Gascoyne the first Lord Mayor to live at Mansion House in 1752; plate stored there since; annual plate indenture; growth of Corporation’s plate 16th – early 18th century; bequests since 18th century; details of the Lord Mayor’s Collar of SS and jewel; former habit of refashioning plate; famous pieces.
The History of Tower Bridge David Lawrence Clackson MBE, AE 29 April 1980	Problems of limited Thames Crossings before the mid 19th century; tolls; proposals for new crossing east of London Bridge in later 19th century; construction of Tower Bridge 1886-1894 and its formal opening; the machinery; changes in river traffic; closure of high-level walkway in 1909; current possibility of new crossing still further east.
Music in the City Deputy Wilfrid Dewhirst 30 September 1980	City Waits; events leading to the foundation of what became the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1880; premises of the School; students and fees; Gresham Lectures; Corporation patronage for non-Corporation events.
Life in the City in 1900 Alderman Ronald Arthur Ralph Hedderwick 31 March 1981	Contrasts between then and 1981; types of buildings; street cleansing; office practice and equipment; telephones, trains and tube; holidays and excursions; cost of living; City Imperial Volunteers 1900; major civic buildings; clubs; Lloyd’s; the author’s opinions on the camaraderie of business in the City in the past and the slipping standards of the present time.
The Wedding of the Prince of Wales: Celebrations in the City in 1863 Betty R Masters BA, FSA 30 June 1981	The marriage of Edward, Prince of Wales to Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1863; Corporation’s celebrations of the event and its historical precedents since the 14th century; speed of arrangements; details of the City’s reception to the royal couple 7 March 1863; its gift to the bride; commemorative medal; extension of buildings in Guildhall Yard for the ball of 8 June 1863; specially-made china for the event auctioned off afterwards.
The Royal Marines and the City Deputy John Trevor Yates MBE 29 September 1981	Origin of the Corps in 1664; uniform; late 17th century Anglo-Dutch wars; drumming up recruits; City privileged regiments; nicknames; capture of Gibraltar 1704; Royal Marines’ badge; Langham’s Charity for Soldiers and Sailors; Royal Marine (City of London) Reserve; post-World War II links with the City.
The Post-War Planning of Public Houses with Particular Reference to the City of London Bernard Joseph Brown CBE, JP 30 March 1982	Government attempts to control alcohol sales for 400 years; licences since 1552; changing numbers of public houses in the City; the Morris Committee and reforms of 1944; Licensing Planning Committee, its duties and responsibilities; work of its City Sub-Committee since 1949; ratios of licensed premises to population; drinking habits; the current situation.
John Carpenter. A Famous Town Clerk 1417-1438 Deputy Alexander George Coulson MA, LL.B. 29 June 1982	John Carpenter, his life, times and the City context in which he lived; his compilation of Liber Albus; his executorship of the will of Richard Whittington; rebuilding of Newgate Prison and Guildhall Library; Carpenter’s Children and the background to the establishment of the City of London School.
Roman London and British India Deputy Ralph Warren Peacock CBE, MA 30 November 1982	The author’s view of the similarities between Roman London and British India; colonisation by armies of larger empires; revolts; overthrow.
82/86 Fenchurch Street – The Story of a Gift Richard Saunders 29 March 1983	Mountjoy’s Inn since the 12th century and its ownership by New College, Oxford, since 1391; tenants and occupiers since then, lack of damage to property in 1666; 19th century redevelopment; new building in 1980.
St Paul’s Bridge: The Project of a River Bridge Near St Paul’s Cathedral and the Effects it Had Colin Frederick Walter Dyer ERD 31 May 1983	Thames crossings; proposals for a St Paul’s Bridge since 1852; Tower Bridge 1894; early 20th century ideas and objections; 1911 Act and architectural competition for the proposed St Paul’s Bridge; relationship with Southwark Bridge; First World War and stoppage of work; new Act 1921; post-War costs and consultations; St Paul’s Cathedral safety concerns; post-1929 financial crisis; death of scheme; rehousing of Southwark residents affected by the proposals and the Bridge House Estates working class housing south of the Thames.
Swan Marking and Swan Upping Cuthbert Skilbeck 29 November 1983	Natural history of the mute swan in England; royal ownership of the bird and grants of swans from the Crown; 16th and 17th century swan marks; price and prestige of swans; Dyers’ and Vintners’ Companies’ Royalty of a Game of Swans on the Thames; swan upping on the Thames every July by representatives of the Queen, the Dyers’ and the Vintners’ Companies; conservation and the numbers of swans.
Smithfield Before the London Central Markets Betty R Masters OBE, BA, FSA 29 May 1984	Fitz Stephen’s Description of London, 1175, including Smoothfield and its horsefair; area covered; cattle market from 15th century; Smithfield as a place of execution; Bartholomew Fair; numbers of animals sold and the nuisance caused; proposals for an Islington Market Bill 1834-1835 and the Corporation’s establishment of a Markets Committee; 19th century improvements and proposals; Metropolitan Cattle Market opened at Copenhagen Fields, Islington in 1855 and operated by Corporation of London until 1963.
The Gordon Riots Alderman William Allan Davis 31 July 1984	Meeting in St George’s Fields on 2 June 1780 and procession through City to present Lord George Gordon’s petition to Parliament; mobs on 3 June; next days of riots and destruction of Newgate and other prisons; end of riots by 10 June; reasons for riots beginning in Cripplegate; Roman Catholic chapels and Irish residents there; Corporation’s measures against the violence; successive Roman Catholic churches in the City since 1780.
The First Mayor of London Harold Hobbs 30 October 1984	Biography of Henry Fitz-Ailwyn and his antecedents; site of his house through the centuries; his business and membership of the Drapers’ Company; his heirs and descendants; problems of dating the first mayoralty.
St Mary-Le-Bow Silver Plate 1550-1640 Reginald Thomas Dorrien Wilmot 30 April 1985	Recent sale of 2 flagons from collection; St Mary Le Bow’s one of the finest collections of church plate possessed by a church anywhere in the world; origin of some of it in churches amalgamated with St Mary Le Bow; loss of church plate at Reformation; particular items and donors.
The City and the Buffs Alderman Sir Ronald Laurence Gardner-Thorpe GBE, TD, DCL, DH 30 July 1985	City’s unique rights respecting military recruitment and marching through the City; City Imperial Volunteers’ Freedom of the City in 1900; privileged regiments; Buff’s origins and the English regiments in Holland in 16th and 17th centuries; the Holland Regiment established in 1665 and its status as a privileged regiment from 1670; origin of the name “Buffs”; subsequent re-formations of the regiment; detailed antecedents of the Buffs and other privileged regiments.
The Sewers Serving the City of London Sir John Reader Welch Bt. MA 29 October 1985	Increase in pollution as medieval London grew; Commissions of Sewers from 15th century and their responsibilities; lack of co-ordinated measures; development of the water closet and its effect on sewerage systems; Metropolitan Commission from 1848 and cholera; establishment of Metropolitan Board of Works in 1856; the Great Stink 1858 and Sir Joseph Bazalgette’s great work in building London’s new sewerage system 1856-1874; alterations to Bazalgette’s system since then.
Fishing on the Thames James R Sewell MA, FSA 29 April 1986	City’s Thames Conservancy jurisdiction from 12th century; fish and fishing in the Thames from the Middle Ages; ordinances to regulate the fishery; nets and engines; Waterbailiff and his duties; Courts of Conservancy and appearances at them; Company of Free Fishermen; fishing boats; sale of fish in the City and its markets.
The Abolition of the GLC and its Effects on the City Geoffrey William Rowley FIPM [Town Clerk] 29 July 1986	Loosening of Parliamentary control over local government from 1972; creation of Metropolitan Boroughs in 1974 and their relative wealth; decay of city centres leading to higher spending; party political conflicts and Ken Livingstone’s control of the Greater London Council in 1981; abolition of the GLC in 1986; the London Residuary Body; former GLC responsibilities passed to the City, including planning, highways and traffic management, building control, licensing of public entertainments, waste disposal, Museum of London, Greater London Record Office; statutory and voluntary associations created after the abolition relating to education, fire, waste regulation, etc; Rates Equalisation Scheme.
The Origins of the City Lands Committee Wallis Glynn Gunthorpe Hunt 30 September 1986	Origin of the City Lands from earliest times, especially since the 1444 charter of Henry VI; common soil; delegation of Common Council’s property management responsibilities to Surveyors in 16th century, then to the City Lands Committee in 1592; first City Lands grant book and business contained in it.
St Bartholomew’s Hospital Alderman John Chalstrey MA, MD 31 March 1987	Brief history its 12th century foundation, the story of Rahere, the medieval hospital, the Reformation and Second Foundation in the 16th century, the 18th century rebuilding, 20th century damage and rebuilding, NHS administration of the hospital and the retention of the annual View Day by the Lord Mayor.
Some London Courts Bernard B. Gillis QC 29 June 1987	Very brief histories and personal recollections of the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, the Mayor’s and City of London Court and the Guildhall and Mansion House Justice Rooms.
The Rich Inheritance Norman L. Hall CBE, LL.B. 30 November 1987	Brief history of Bartholomew Close, from its inclusion within the precincts of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, its purchase by Sir Richard (later Baron) Rich in the 16th century and its development from 1581 by his family for aristocratic and wealthy households (detailed) with some details of subsequent development, and a short account of Bartholomew Fair.
The City’s Textile Industry John S. Henderson OBE 29 February 1988	The concentration of the “rag trade” in the Ward of Cripplegate especially from the late 18th century to the Second World War, and its subsequent decline, with details of the companies and trades involved.
Insurance in the City of London Anthony J. Hart DSC 30 October 1988	Brief history of insurance in the ancient world, medieval Europe and the City of London, especially after 1666, up to the early 19th century.
The City’s First Medical Officer of Health George H. Challis 31 January 1989	Biographical article on John (later Sir John) Simon (1816-1904), Medical Officer of Health to the Corporation of London 1848-1855, noting the importance of his work in the City for sanitary reform and his subsequent distinguished career.
The City’s Rivers – the Walbrook and the Fleet Alderman Clive Martin OBE, TD 30 May 1989	Brief history of both rivers from Roman times to the present.
The City and the Wine Trade: An Early History Lawrence St.J.T. Jackson LL.B. 31 October 1989	The City of London’s and the Vintners’ Company’s involvement in the wine trade and the gradual decline of trade from the mid-13th to the late 15th century.