1. DIRECTOR'S REPORT

During 1998-9 the Centre was active in four main research areas concerning London and its wider impact, established one new research project, explored themes for future research, organised conferences and other meetings and supervised graduate students. For most of the year eight staff were employed at the Centre, and several former staff continued to work at the Centre from time to time. In addition, three Visiting Research Fellows of the Institute of Historical Research, three graduate students and six project advisors were associated with the work of the Centre.

All those who visited the Institute of Historical Research during the Summer and Autumn of 1999 will have been aware of the rebuilding programme. This created much noise, dust and interruption of schedules, but one of the many positive outcomes has been that access to the CMH from within the Institute is now much more straightforward than it was before. At the third floor, turn right out of the lift, then left along a new corridor, left again down a short flight of stairs and through the glass door.

A substantial part of the Centre's work this year was concerned with the network of markets and fairs in medieval England and with the related issue of London's role as an integrating factor in the national economy. Samantha Letters's gazetteer of markets and fairs in England and Wales up to the sixteenth century made splendid progress, identifying more of those institutions than any previous study, finding relevant material in printed sources hitherto unused for the purpose, and raising new questions concerning the incidence and political context of grants of markets and fairs. The quantity of material, however, is almost overwhelming, raising questions concerning the most appropriate form of the final publication. Moreover, references to markets and fairs are difficult to identify in some of the major published sources and calendars, on account of the deficiencies of their indexes. The final product will be a research tool of immense value, but there will be some printed sources which it will not have been possible to cover systematically. Jim Galloway's and Margaret Murphy's analysis of London's impact on the national commercial network during the late medieval and early modern period this year began to produce substantive results which enable us to characterise the different forms in which London's changing relationship with other parts of the country was expressed. These important findings, allowing systematic and quantitative exploration of issues which was not possible before, are matched by a new conclusions arising from the study of the behaviour of corn prices, which point to the cyclical rather than evolutionary character of this important aspect of commercial life, as well as to striking regional variations. Both approaches provide important new measures of economic change, and throw light on the significance of commercial developments overseas for the English experience. This results of this study, incorporating those of an earlier study which focused on the period around 1400, will be presented in a monograph to published by the Cambridge University Press in its historical geography series.

In May 1999 the funding for the project 'Mortality in the metropolis, 1860-1920' came to an end and we said formal goodbyes to Graham Mooney and Andrea Tanner, whose future activities and plans are outlined below in the project report. Both remain in London and in close contact with the Centre. The monograph presenting the findings of the study is about two-thirds written, and continues to be directed and edited by Bill Luckin from his base in Bolton.

A new research activity began in August 1999, when we were joined by Dr Christine Faunch, the research assistant to the St Paul's Cathedral history project. The new history, sponsored by the Dean and Chapter, is under the general editorship of the director, supported by Arthur Burns and Andrew Saint as co- editors. During 1998-9 the plan for the history was finalised. It involves some forty authors who provide a narrative coverage of the 1,400 years of the cathedal's history to 2004 and thematic treatments, using images as well as texts, of the cathedral's many characteristics and functions. A unifying theme will be the cathedral's relations with the city and the state. As her report below indicates, Chris's initial objective has been to provide guides to the mass of uncatalogued archival and graphic material concerning the history of the cathedral.

The book on the development of an English mercantile political culture, 1660-1720, largely focusing on London merchants and their interests as a coherent political interest, a draft of which Perry Gauci had almost completed when he left us in September 1998, is now complete and has been accepted for publication by Oxford University Press.

Over the last year or so Olwen Myhill has made great strides with making information available on the CMH website (http://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/cmh.main.html). This is now the most up to date place to look for information on current projects, staff, publications, forthcoming conferences, and the seminar programme. Past Annual Reports and Newsletters are also available there, together with an electronic version of the now out-of-print Epidemic Disease in London. We plan also to use the website to provide details of the historical data available for consultation at the Centre (this page is under construction at present) and in the medium to longer term have plans to make the data themselves available on the web. For example, this will be one of the forms in which the Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs will be published, probably before the end of 2000. Constraints of time and the availability of computing functions, of course, mean that these developments will not take place overnight, but it is clear that many of the detailed results CMH research over the last decade are ideally suited to wider dissemination by these means.

A good deal of effort during the year was devoted to planning future research projects, although funding for them is not yet assured. An interdisciplinary group has been formed to discuss approaches to the study of the formation of suburban culture and identity in London between 1880 and the Second World War. It involves historians, geographers, socio-linguists, architectural historians and literary scholars. The discussions are lively and the range of possible topics to be explored almost infinite. The next problem to solve is the definition of achievable objectives. A project in a more advanced stage of planning concerns the London court of George II, the first monarch for many decades to maintain an effective presence in London and one whose court made a distinct contribution to shaping the life and architectural character of London as a capital. We are still pursuing the possibility of establishing an interdisciplinary programme of research, based at the CMH and elsewhere, on the theme of 'London, the regions and the nation'. Other studies planned include an investigation of the political economy of royal grants of markets and fairs during the thirteenth century, and a study of the medicalisation of children over the period 1850-1939, focusing on the exceptionally rich records of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children.

The Centre organised several international conferences or workshop meetings, all held during July 1999. They included a session at the Institute's Anglo-American Conference on race and enthnicity in London; an interdisciplinary workshop on 'Social history and socio-linguistics: space and process'; a conference on 'Trade, urban hinterlands and markets hinterlands, 1300-1600', the papers from which will shortly be published in the CMH working paper series; and a conference on 'Peasant agriculture and technology in medieval England: current thoughts and future research strategies'. We also sponsored a research-in-progress conference concerning the project on the culture of Victorian London organised by the University of Virginia and the the Department of English at University College. In September, on the 333rd anniversary of the Great Fire of London, we collaborated with the Corporation of London in a special conference and debate on the Fire and the problems of rebuilding afterwards by comparison with the issues involved in building (or rebuilding) the city today. This proved to be a lively interchange between the lessons of history and problems faced today, which we intend to repeat in further ventures with the Corporation.

The Metropolitan History seminar focused on 'commercial and imperial metropolises', and included papers on Florence in the thirteenth century, Shanghai, Harvey Nichols and Harrods, and 'Anti-Imperial London' as well as other topics.

As well as his research writing, lectures and teaching, the Director served as a member of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, of the English Heritage London Advisory Committee, of the International Commission for the History of Towns, of the Fabric Advisory Committee of St Paul's Cathedral, of the advisory committee for the 'Winchester Pipe Rolls' project at the Hampshire Record Office, of the British Historic Towns Atlas Committee, and as managing Trustee of the London Journal.

The Centre welcomed many visitors during the year, including overseas visitors from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.

[1988-9 Report] [1989-90 Report] [1990-1 Report] [1991-2 Report] [1992-3 Report] [1993-4 Report] [1994-5 Report] [1995-6 Report] [1996-7 Report] [1997-8 Report] [10th Anniversary Conference] [Back to Contents]

2. PROJECT REPORTS

i METROPOLITAN MARKET NETWORKS c.1300-1600

[1996-7 Report] [1997-8 Report] [10th Anniversary Conference] [Market Networks c.1400 project] [Publications arising from the project] [Back to Contents]

ii Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to AD 1540

In recent years historians, historical geographers and economists have devoted increasing attention to institutions which provide a framework for trade. Yet even for such a well-studied country as England we lack a comprehensive guide to their development. This two-year, ESRC-funded project (ESRC ref. R000237395), currently in its twentieth month, aims to produce a gazetteer of all markets and fairs in England and Wales, covering the period from c.900 to 1516. The Gazetteer is arranged by county, and then by place in alphabetical order. Standard information is provided for each place, including grid references, whether it was a borough or a mint and an indication of its wealth, to provide context and a basis for comparison. As much evidence as possible is provided regarding the establishment and operation of each market and fair.

Markets and fairs fall into two categories: prescriptive and granted. Many of the oldest and most successful markets and fairs were held by prescriptive right, that is, by custom. These were often in urban centres. The problem with identifying prescriptive markets and fairs is that evidence is often unavailable before the thirteenth century. For example, a market is first mentioned at Maldon, Essex, in 1287. However, Maldon is known to have been a borough from 916 and to have had a mint between 924 and 939 and from the 970s to 1100, when it was probably a centre of trade with a market. As at Maldon, it seems very likely that the prescriptive markets which first appear in the records in the thirteenth century had already been trading for several centuries.

The second category of markets and fairs is those set up by a grant. By 1066, the right to establish a market or fair was considered to be a royal franchise. However, it is not until the thirteenth century that there is systematic evidence that the king enforced his right to licence all markets and fairs. From 1199 onwards, royal grants were recorded on the Charter Rolls, which are the main source of information for the Gazetteer. These grants name the grantee, the day of the week for the market, or the feast-day and duration of the fair. The location of the market or fair was noted, usually at a manor belonging to the grantee; occasionally, its exact site was specified. A typical charter granted a market and a fair at the same place. From at least the reign of John onwards, the king also insisted on his right to approve any alterations to the timing, duration or location of existing markets and fairs.

Although royal charters granted the right to hold a market or fair, this did not necessarily mean that the market or fair was ever established. From 1200 onwards, royal charters were conditional, granting the right fair only if it was not detrimental to neighbouring markets or fairs. If neighbouring institutions could successfully prove such damage, the new market or fair would not be set up.

It is possible to study the early development of markets and fairs in England more systematically than elsewhere in Western Europe. This is due to the degree of centralisation in England and to the survival of much material from the royal administration, particularly from 1199 onwards. The evidence reveals a network of legally- established markets and fairs in thirteenth century England which was already dense and highly developed. Despite the importance of English markets and fairs, there is no comprehensive national survey available. Work has been focused on individual county studies, which vary widely in coverage. Few studies address the important question of whether the trading institution was actually set up and of how long it survived.

Evidence for the Gazetteer is largely taken from printed primary sources concerning the royal administration. The principal source is the Calendar of Charter Rolls (1227-1516), on which work was completed last year. This year, the project continued to work systematically through the sources, completing the remaining volumes of the Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum and the printed Pipe Rolls. Evidence for several charters and confirmations granted by Henry II was taken from the Recueil des Actes de Henri II (Paris, 1906-27) and for the many charters granting markets and fairs issued by King John from Rotuli Chartarum (1837). Information regarding grants made during Henry III's campaigns in Poitou and Gascony was taken from the Gascon Rolls, which provide evidence for grants of around fifty markets and sixty fairs in 1253-4 alone.

The second largest source for the Gazetteer is the Close Rolls. When the king granted a new market or fair, he often sent a corresponding letter close to the sheriff of the respective county, informing him of the new grant and instructing him to proclaim it in the county court. Some of these letters contain more information than the charters. They provide a means of identifying problem places and distinguishing between several grants at the same place. They also provide information on changes made to the timing, duration or location of a market or fair, and on their closure when detrimental to neighbouring institutions. Many such changes arose from the ecclesiastical campaign to prohibit trading on Sundays, hitherto a popular market day. Letters Close were also used to make grants of markets and fairs during the minority of Henry III (1216-27), as it was not possible to issue charters when the king was under age. Finally, as the king did not need to grant himself a charter to set up markets and fairs on the royal demesne, or to make changes to them, he simply sent instructions to the relevant sheriff in the form of letters close. This valuable information the Close Rolls, however, is difficult to extract from the printed volumes, on account of their imperfect indexes.

Additional evidence for the functioning of markets and fairs, and for further prescriptive markets and fairs, was taken from Placitorum Abbreviatio (1811), the printed Curia Regis Rolls for the period 1196 to 1243, Rotuli Litteratum Patentum (1835), from the Cartae Antiquae and from the printed inquest of 1185 into the possessions of the Templars.

Work has commenced on the Placita de Quo Warranto (1818) which provides evidence for markets and fairs in the reigns of Edward I, Edward II and Edward III. Anyone claiming the right to hold a market or a fair had to specify by what warrant he made the claim: either by prescriptive right (defined as having been held since 1189) or by grant, in which case the charter was often produced in order to reiterate the rights it bestowed. This invaluable source reveals which markets and fairs were trading and which had never been set up. In the absence of an adequate index, reading each case and comparing the material with that collected in the Gazetteer is a slow process. In the time available it has not been possible to perform a comprehensive search of the volume. However, the First Report of the Royal Commission on Market Rights and Tolls (1889) includes what appears to be a systematic listing from Quo Warranto, which has been used as a guide to material in the volume.

All of the sources above have been utilised systematically. Additional sources have been used, but not comprehensively since their indexes are deficient and the return on the immense labour of searching each page would be relatively small. These sources include the printed Patent Rolls, Hundred Rolls, and Calendars of Inquisitions Miscellaneous and Post Mortem. Between 1517 and 1536 letters patent were used to make grants of markets and fairs, but the indexes to the letters recorded in the Calendars of Letters and Papers, Henry VIII are inadequate. For this reason, the terminal date of the Gazetteer has been altered from 1540 to 1516.

The Victoria County History has been used in a similarly selective fashion, concentrating on those volumes with effective topographical coverage and adequate indexes. Many of the volumes utilised, particularly those produced most recently, have provided valuable information regarding the survival of individual markets and fairs.

In March 1999, a letter was sent to nearly seventy record offices in England and Wales requesting information on any unpublished lists of markets and fairs, or any unpublished sources concerning markets and fairs up to 1540 in their collections. Several very useful replies were received from individuals with a particular interest in markets and fairs, and the advice and assistance offered by John Bleach, Custodian of Lewes Castle and Museums, Sussex, was particularly welcome.

Problems encountered during the year mainly arise from the unanticipated scale of the project. Many of the existing county lists were found to be inadequate as sources for the Gazetteer, on account of their restricted range and their reliance on secondary sources such as the Report of the Royal Commission (itself far from comprehensive or reliable) or on the card index in the Public Record Office (partly based on the Report). Much more systematic searching of sources was required than originally envisaged. The total number of places with markets or fairs was in line with expectations, but information on their management and fortunes is much more prolific than indicated by most county lists. Topics omitted by many of those lists include prescriptive institutions, reductions or extensions of rights bestowed, and the numerous markets and fairs on royal demesne.

It has not been possible to solve these problems by obtaining further funding. Thus, a selective approach to certain sources has been employed and the introduction to the Gazetteer will be less ambitious than planned. The introduction will now include the historiography of the study of markets and fairs, an explanation of the methodology and sources used by the project and some examples, including graphs and maps, demonstrating how the information can be used. More wide- ranging findings concerning the chronological and spatial development of markets and fairs will be covered in papers to be published separately.

To date, 2,131 places in England have been identified as having a market and/or fair, comprising total of 2,045 markets and 2,489 fairs. For Wales the corresponding figures are 138, 78 and 132. This gives a total of 4,743 markets and fairs in England and Wales. It is expected that these figures will increase slightly as the study is finalised. Graphs have been produced showing the incidence of grants from 1199 onwards, with others indicating differences between regions. The material can also be mapped from the database. Fig. 4 serves as an example of this form of analysis, showing markets in Essex by date category. Those established before 1250 are widely spaced and tend to follow the principal road, while the later ones seem to take advantage of physical and temporal spaces in the existing trading network. Overall, the statistics confirm the existing hypothesis that the number of markets and fairs rose steadily over the thirteenth century. Numbers of grants declined after the mid fourteenth century and remained low throughout the fifteenth century. The increase in grants during the thirteenth century was marked by cycles of years in which exceptionally large numbers of charters were issued. This pattern seems to indicate a distinctive political economy of market regulation, a topic which it is hope to explore in a future project.

Fig. 4. map showing Essex:prescriptive and granted markets up to 1350
Source: Markets and Fairs database.

The Gazetteer will be of unique value for historians, historical geographers and economists studying these and related issues, on account of its systematic character, the wide range of sources and topics covered, and its form as a database linked to a geographical information system. It will also be of value to non-professionals interested in local studies. Although the systematic collection of evidence stops in 1516, it will be of interest to historians of later periods, for the earlier a market or fair was established, the greater its chances of survival into the sixteenth century and beyond. The network of markets and fairs which existed in the early sixteenth century was virtually the same as that which existed in the mid thirteenth century.

Plans for the dissemination of the Gazetteer are well under way. Its great bulk may mean that it is not suitable for conventional publication, although hard copies will be made available for major research libraries, with relevant sections being supplied to county record offices. In addition, the Gazetteer and indexes will be published electronically via the CMH's website. An experiment is in progress with the material for Essex, and the entire Gazetteer could be on line in this form by the end of 2000. The databases will be available for consultation and analysis at the CMH and the History Data Archive, and the possibility is being considered of making them available on CD ROM.

[1997-8 Report & 10th Anniversary Conference] [Publications arising from the project] [Back to Contents]

iii MORTALITY IN THE METROPOLIS 1860-1920

Funding for this project, supported by the Wellcome Trust, came to an end in May 1999. About two-thirds of the book outlining the principal findings of the project has been drafted. Writing continues, although inevitably at a slower rate than formerly. An introductory group of chapters surveys historiographical approaches and modes of explanation for the 'mortality decline' experienced by many major cities in the industrialised world during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, among which London was certainly a leader for improvement in health. These chapters also outline the broad epidemiological experience of London over the century and a half up to 1860, and provide overviews, for the period 1860-1920, of the main governmental and administrative institutions relevant to metropolitan sanitary affairs and of the broad pattern of living conditions and wealth differentials across London as a whole.

A substantial chapter then sketches the pattern of mortality decline in relation to age, cause of death and metropolitan geography. It uses summary indicators such as decadal life expectation at birth and crude annual death rates, plotted in relation to registration districts and to the character of those districts, decade by decade, as 'sectors' of London defined in terms of population density and rate of housing growth (described in the Annual Report for 1997-8). Cause-specific death rates across London are compared and the significance of changes in cause- specific mortality for improvements in life expectation are assessed. In particular, this allows the decline in childhood diseases and tuberculosis as causes of death to be assessed, along with the corresponding increase in mortality from adult diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

Fine-grained analysis, comparing district with district from year to year or decade to decade, depends upon a resolution of the problem arising from the large number of deaths which occurred in institutions. For the years before 1885 those deaths were recorded under the districts in which the institutions were situated, thus in some cases severely distorting the recoded pattern of mortality. The method of 'redistributing' those deaths to the districts in which the dead had normally resided is fully described in an article in Social History of Medicine, 12 (1999), and is more briefly reviewed for the book in a chapter which prefaces a group of three chapters dealing with the specific patterns displayed by the diseases of infants, children, and adults. These deal with the problems of classifying diseases on the basis of the contemporary, and evolving, system of describing causes of death, and with the difficulties of framing disease-specific models. They then focus on a selection of diseases, or causes of death, for which robust analysis is possible, including infant mortality and diarrhoea (see Fig. 5), scarlet fever, whooping cough, measles, tuberculosis, typhus and typhoid, heart disease and cancer. These chapters systematically outline the patterns of mortality change in relation to social and environmental conditions.

Fig. 5. picture of 'Save the Babies' poster issued by the Babies of the Empire Society in 1918
It dramatically illustrates the continuing problem of summer diarrhoea, despite considerable improvements since the mid nineteenth century in infant mortality and child health.

The focus then shifts to public, professional and institutional perceptions and responses, in the first instance in relation to key epidemic crises of the period: cholera in 1866, smallpox between 1860 and 1885, and influenza in 1918-19. What were the differential impacts of these events within London? How did people and institutions react? What did the crises mean in the overall context of 'mortality improvement'? A substantial chapter then deals more broadly with the evolution of the political economy of public health in London over the period as a whole. It focuses on the districts of Hackney and Kensington, which have been studied in depth, and on three other districts of contrasting character for which less comprehensive information has been collected. The aim here is to explore the relationships between the particular mortality experiences of these districts, changes in the metropolis as a whole, and the processes of decision-making and expenditure concerning public health at both local and London-wide levels. The respective roles of bureaucracies, political process and scientific expertise will be considered. Both the intended and the unintended outcomes of local policies will be assessed. A concluding chapter offers an overall assessment of the demographic transition, measured in terms of fertility and mortality, experienced in London over this period, and places London's experience in relation to that of other cities and types of community.

Even this comprehensive study will not exhaust the value of the material collected in the course of the project. The basic mortality data, related to a geographical information system which incorporates the changing boundaries of registration districts, has immense scope for further analysis, particularly as the questions to be asked of it are refined. The background information collected on individual districts of London, especially Hackney and Kensington, will be used for self-contained studies of topics such as housing, rubbish and the medical profession, for which there is insufficient space in the book.

After the formal end of the project Graham Mooney began a four-year research fellowship at the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, where he will focus on the growth of 'surveillance medicine' during the Victorian period, dealing with the increasing local authority and national interest in, and supervision of, infectious and other diseases. Andrea Tanner undertook a pilot study, arising from her experience on the mortality study, of the patient records at the Great Ormond Street Hospital, with a view to using them in a full investigation of the medical treatment of children from the 1850s onwards.

This 46-month project was funded by the Wellcome Trust.

[1994-5 Report] [1995-6 Report] [1996-7 Report] [1997-8 Report] [10th Anniversary Conference] [Publications arising from the project [Back to Contents]

iv ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL HISTORY, 604-2004

A comprehensive new history of St Paul's Cathedral, funded by the Dean and Chapter, is to be published in 2004 in celebration of the cathedral's one thousand four hundredth anniversary. The history's General Editor is Derek Keene; his co-editors are Dr Arthur Burns of King's College London and Professor Andrew Saint of Cambridge University. Nearly forty authors will contribute to the history on all aspects of the cathedral's life, fabric and setting. The aim is to strike a balance between continuous narrative and more detailed discussions revealing the current state of knowledge and research. Among the most important themes to be explored throughout the history will be the relationship between the cathedral, the metropolis and the state. The project's research assistant is Dr Christine Faunch who joined the Centre for Metropolitan History in August 1999. Her initial objectives have been to explore the large quantity of manuscript material for the cathedral's history, so as to make it accessible to the writers.

INITIAL AREAS OF RESEARCH

Manuscript Archives

Prior to 1980, most of the records relating to the Cathedral and Chapter were kept in-house. During that year the bulk of the manuscript archive was transferred to the Guildhall Library at Aldermanbury which is also the repository for records of the City's parishes, wards, and livery companies and those of the Diocese of London. The St Paul's records are housed in the Manuscripts Section and a significant proportion have been catalogued and are readily accessible to readers. Bound manuscripts, a few specific collections and more recent archival material have been retained at St Paul's Cathedral Library, where they are housed with its considerable collection of printed ecclesiastical works.

In addition to the accessible records in the Guildhall, there remain one hundred and thirty archive boxes of St Paul's records which have not, as yet, been catalogued. Our first priority was to find out what was held in the boxes and to provide a list of contents for contributors. This list, running to some forty-one pages, was completed in November 1999 and has been circulated. Although unsorted and somewhat diverse in nature, the boxed material is now accessible and, in conjunction with the catalogued holdings at the Guildhall, will provide a valuable resource both for contributors and for future research. A number of the items which were uncovered in the listing exercise were known to previous historians but had disappeared from sight over the years; others are likely to be new to contributors.

The more prominent collections to be found in the boxes relate to cathedral clergy, administration, services and visitors, building and fabric, including accounts dating from the seventeenth century. A few of the boxes also contain material on cathedral decoration and fittings, procedures for the preservation of the cathedral during wartime and papers relating to the estates over which the Dean and Chapter held peculiar jurisdiction. In particular, it has been discovered that the archive contains a run of visitation processes which were held regularly at Easter and Michaelmas by the D&C. The sets of visitation papers are dotted around the collection in numerous archive boxes, but are virtually complete for the period 1760-1846 inclusive. Although these tend to be standardised forms with printed questionnaires, some are more detailed than others and the survival of the group as a whole identifies the Dean and Chapter's attention to their duties and responsibilities over the period.

As well as these larger archival holdings, the boxes contain a wealth of miscellaneous items and smaller 'runs'. These include deeds and legal documents relating to cathedral estates, standard forms for procedures such as Convocation, admissions, presentations and installations, as well as numerous receipts, vouchers and correspondence concerning the financial business of the cathedral in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In addition to these more conventional types of record, there were found to be a number of papers not directly related to the cathedral. These concerned the private business of two of the officers employed on cathedral business. One was the Receiver General (a legally-trained person with responsibility for the Dean and Chapter's estates and finances). The other was the Surveyor to the Fabric. For both officers 'private' business and 'cathedral' business overlapped significantly. The Receiver's papers include items which refer to his role as steward for private individuals and the Surveyor's papers dating to the Second World War contain files concerning repair work to other war- damaged buildings both in London and elsewhere. Papers such as these are a valuable resource for identifying the people, practices and structures which, although not directly concerned with the daily procedure of the Cathedral and its clergy, affected and were in turn affected by, its greatly extended realm of influence and activities.

The archival holdings in St Paul's library are far less substantial but equally significant. Certain types of records and more recent archival material remains there. These include the cathedral's collection of music and manuscript volumes relating thereto; for example, quarterly reports kept by the Succentor, the deputy for the Precentor who presided over the choir. In addition, the library holds material relating to its own history and the administration of the chapter and clergy, including Chapter Minutes dating from the second quarter of the nineteenth century through to the twentieth. More miscellaneous in nature are its small holdings of drawings, curiosities, manuscript diaries and scrapbooks kept by individuals at the cathedral.

The importance of the formal records, such as the Chapter Minutes, is self-evident. Informal collections in the library, such as the more than twenty volumes of albums, contain a great deal of interest for the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Their content consists of newscuttings on every aspect of the cathedral, from attitudes to worship and coverage of services and ceremonies to appeals for funding and debates over schemes for liturgical fittings. The albums thus provide access to individual and public perceptions of St Paul's role in shaping national and religious identities.

Illustrative Archives

A second area of exploration concerns the numerous and extensive collections of illustrative material associated with the cathedral. The history aims to develop many of its arguments graphically as well as in text and the research assistant's role is to seek out, identify and quantify collections, both for research and publication purposes. Holdings at the Guildhall Library, St Paul's and the National Monuments Record have now been examined, whilst an initial survey of extensive material in the separate collection which constitutes the cathedral's Fabric Archive (both graphic and textual) is in progress. Collections at the British Museum, Museum of London and London Transport Museum are in the process of being investigated, whilst others will follow shortly.

Images of St Paul's range from the technical and architectural to the representational, symbolic, imaginary and commercial. However, broadly speaking, they tend to fall into two, not always distinct, groups. Those which are generally 'realist' and those which tend to be 'idealist'. Examples of realist illustrations depicting the cathedral demonstrate (to a greater or lesser degree of accuracy) the history and use of the building, both physically and culturally. This is achieved through the representation of its layout, interior space and the surrounding precincts as an evolving series of structures within an urban environment. Numerous engravings, topographical illustrations, original plans, sections, drawings and photographs exist in this group, from the famous Wren drawings and pre-fire interior views of Wenceslaus Hollar (Fig. 6) to undercroft plans of the 1980s. Many will be incorporated as specific illustrations for individual essays, others will be more appropriately located throughout the narrative.

Fig. 6. Wenceslaus Hollar's engraving of the choir of old St Paul's, predominately Gothic, but with Romanesque blind arcading and window openings on the transepts.

Idealised images of the cathedral contain an underlying text in the broadest sense of the term, which expresses more abstract and diverse conceptualisations of St Paul's, both as an architectural edifice on the London skyline and a religio-social space. The cathedral's appropriation into the public's 'visual' consciousness has presented some of the most abiding symbols for London and all activities related thereto, from drawings directly comparing the building's proportions with St Peter's, Rome to the cover of the annual report of the Centre for Metropolitan History (for an engraving comparing the cross-sections through the transepts of St Peter's and St Paul's, see Wren Society Vol. 14, p. 169 and pl. XLVI). These present a different type of challenge to the history and will also be used extensively.

Other types of visual archive to be explored include early film and television.

Bibliography

A database is being set up for the compilation of a consolidated bibliography for the project.

The Centre would like to thank John Fisher, Department of Prints and Drawings, Guildhall Library, Stephen Freeth, Keeper of Manuscripts at the Guildhall, Martin Stancliffe, Surveyor to the Fabric, St Paul's Cathedral, R. Crayford, Assistant Surveyor at St Paul's and Jo Wisdom, Librarian, St Paul's, for their time and generous help in making the records available to the history.

[Publications arising from the project] [Back to Contents]

v BIBLIOGRAPHICAL AND INFORMATION SERVICES

Heather Creaton, the Centre's Deputy Director, is responsible for this aspect of its activities.

a) BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PRINTED WORKS ON LONDON HISTORY TO 1939: SUPPLEMENT

Progress with this supplement, as with other aspects of the Deputy Director's work, was slower than she would have wished during the year. As a ramification of the Institute's long programme of building works her office was inaccessible for three months, which made normal routines very difficult. Guildhall Library continued to supply catalogue references for some new London publications, but much collection work remains to be done. Consideration is being given to publishing the supplement in electronic form.

[1988-9 Report] [1989-90 Report] [1990-1 Report] [1991-2 Report] [1992-3 Report] [1993-4 Report] [1994-5 Report] [1995-6 Report] [1996-7 Report] [1997-8 Report] [10th Anniversary Conference] [Publications arising from the project] [Back to Contents]

b) CHECKLIST OF UNPUBLISHED DIARIES ABOUT LONDON

Heather Creaton visited a considerable number of libraries and record offices during the year in quest of more references for this database. The total has now reached 810, though this is unlikely to be an accurate indication of the total because there are undoubtedly more to find, and some of the existing references will turn out to be inappropriate on closer investigation. The criterion for inclusion is that the diary should contain a substantial quantity of material conveying the 'feel' of living in London at any period, which it is hoped will lead social historians to hitherto underused material. Diaries have been kept by people of all ages, occupations, ranks and temperaments over the centuries and can contain useful insights into contemporary life of a kind not easily found in other sources.

The diaries are held in collections of all kinds, from national libraries to local studies centres, record offices, specialist repositories and museums. Many, of course, are in private hands. The field is so rich that it is difficult to pick out favourites, but the year's interesting finds have included the following:

Gervase Leveland, the son of a City woollendraper, spent much of his time travelling around the outskirts of London on convivial excursions to dine with friends in such places as Rickmansworth, Enfield, Barnet and Twickenham. He was less tolerant of his neighbour's social indulgences. On 13 August 1764 he wrote "Spent the even: at Dr Eaton's Tom Eaton in Liquor, Dr came home with him lock'd out, as he passed our Door at 2 o/c in the Morn:g he knock'd so loud at the Door, like Footmen on a visiting day which provoked me so that as soon as I was up I sent him the following Lre

Tuesday Aug 14th "Sir, If you meant last Nigyht to make your Friend uneasy you succeeded to your wish. This provoking instance of your folly I can't forget: your being in Liquor is no excuse for you...As you are sensible a little Liquor makes you in such a condition I am surpriz'd you have not sense enough to refrain..." Tom Eaton eventually apologised for his behaviour. (BL Add Ms 19,211)

Georgiana Jane Keate was a talented amateur artist. She lived in Bloomsbury, near Bedford Square, and her diaries for 1794 and 1802 are at present on loan to the Royal Society of Arts. In the first, Georgiana is a young lady at home, having music lessons and making polite visits with her mother. The family had wide cultural interests and knew many celebrities of the day. By 1802 she is married, living in the same area, with children ("I went in the coach to pay Grosvenor about rocking horse bought a tin coach for John and two Dutch toys for his sisters, found Miss Merry when I came home when she went I took the children into the park paid Davies"). The diaries give a vivid picture of middle class life in London at the period.

Fig. 7. A page from Georgiana Jane Keate's diary, January 1794.

Maria Adelaide Cust, of Eaton Square, described her wedding day, May 10 1856. "Awoke at six o'clock feeling almost ill with nervousness and fatigue. Breakfasted all together at 8 o'clock & at ten commenced my toilette. At ½ past eleven o'clock left 61 Eaton Square with my dear Mother. On our arrival at St Peter's Church we had some difficulty in being allowed to enter by the Vestry Door. Sir G Tyler & Uncle Edmund came out to meet us & in the vestry we found Mr Fuller my eight bridesmaids... We immediately proceeded to the church where all were assembled, and before the clock had struck 12 I was united in the bonds of Matrimony to my long loved Robert...Left Eaton Square with my dear Husband in Miss Cust's carriage and went to Hill St to see Mr Cust and the Misses Cust". They travelled by train from Kings Cross to Sandy, continuing by carriage to Cokayne Hatley in Bedfordshire "which we reached at 7 o'clock & found the bells ringing and the school children cheering. We walked out to speak to them and dined at ¼ before 8 o'clock. A very very happy day..." Maria's husband returned to his work in India just after the Mutiny. She joined him there and died young.(BL OIO Mss.Eur.A.118)

Moronama Bose, a student from India, was at training college in North London in 1884. Fri 29 Feb "We only had Scrip this morning for after that a general holiday was proclaimed, because the Government pass lists had arrived, & tho' we have nothing to do with the Gov Depart. yet because it has always been a holiday for all we got one... A few dys ago a part of Victoria Station was blown up by dynamite, & since then another plot has been discovered to blow up Charing Cross & Paddington in the same way _ what wicked diabolical men must they be who form such plots..." Moronama returned to India for a long and successful teaching career. (BL OIO Mss. Eur.F178/69)

Ruth Bensinger, a pupil at South Hampstead High School, kept annual diaries from 1920-28. She lived in Brondesbury with her parents and brother ('Boysie'), and wrote in lively detail about her home and school life and regular New Year skiing trips to visit relations in Germany. The family enjoyed sports and games, and Ruth often noted her parents' golfing engagements. They also liked the cinema (18 Feb. 1922 "Saw 'Queen of Sheba'. Walked there. The maids came. Simply gorgeous") and were devotees of the January sales (13 Jan. 1927 "Went to Harrod's sale. Bought mac, pale blue costume and shawl. Lovely things. Mr Heymann to dinner"). For most years Ruth used a publisher's 'School Girl's Diary' which in itself illustrates the changing times. It provides handy tables of Latin, Greek and French verbs, logarithms and other data at the beginning of each year, but by the middle of the decade the publisher has decided to add a 'Careers for Women' section as well. (Museum of London Personal ephemera box A5).

An anonymous middle class London woman started a diary at the beginning of the First World War, recording reactions to the situation in her circle: July 27 1914 "Mr Beverley still thought of going to St Petersburg & Finland the second week in August, not grasping the possibility of war and impossibility of transport, English public very slow & very indifferent". She noted with disdain the onset of hoarding: August 5 1914 "The well-to-do people in London have, in quantities, lost their heads. They are buying enormous stores of food, as if for siege provisions, despite the requests for days in the press that they should not selfishly put up the prices...Among the very poor there is indignation at rich people laying in siege stores, & they say burglars, & people who may starve later, are marking the houses where it is done, in order to raid them later on". The diary is full of the many rumours that spread at the time: Aug.30 1914 "Heard that a German tried to erect a wireless station on top of the Ritz Hotel. He was arrested". (Imperial War Museum Department of Documents Misc.29/522)

John Nevinson, the costume historian, wrote his diary consistently from 1923 to 1980. He began it as a schoolboy, intending to use it as a "safety valve for the emotions" and to re-read it at intervals in later life, a promise he fulfilled, for there are interesting later annotations. By the late 1920s he was job-hunting, describing in amusing detail interviews at the British Museum ("They were all rather bored & sleepy & only asked me the perfectly normal questions abt school & college, the answers were before them on the paper" May 1929) and at the Victoria and Albert Museum ("A representative fr. each department was there, no desertions for the Derby & all were quite lively" June 1929). He was appointed to the Victoria and Albert, but was transferred to the Ministry of Education in 1939 and remained there after the war. (Society of Antiquaries 911/3/1-118)

Work on this project is scheduled to finish in the summer of 2000 when the text will be prepared for publication.

[1997-8 Report] [10th Anniversary Conference] [Projects arising from the project] [Back to Contents]

c) RESEARCH IN PROGRESS ON THE HISTORY OF LONDON

The listing of work in progress on any aspect of the history of the Greater London area can now be searched on the Institute's web site. It is difficult to ensure that such lists are kept up to date, and we would be grateful for corrections, alterations and additions which can be sent in by post or email, as convenient.

[1992-3 Report] [1993-4 Report] [1994-5 Report] [1995-6 Report] [1996-7 Report] [1997-8 Report] [10th Anniversary Conference] [Publications arising from the project] [Back to Contents]

d) OTHER DUTIES

In the spring term the Deputy Director ran her annual course for new postgraduates,'An Introduction to Sources for Historical Research', for the thirteenth successive year. The course is held on Thursdays over eight weeks, with a class in the morning and a visit to a record office or library in the afternoon. She also participated twice in the Institute's intensive 'Sources and Methods' courses, and talked to other groups of visiting postgraduate students. In April she was invited to sit as external adviser on an interview panel for posts at Guildhall Library, and in May she took part in the panel assessing applications for Scouloudi Trust research and publication grants. She attended the Greater London Archive Network's study day on department store records in June.

[Back to Contents

APPENDICES

I

PATRONS

Chairman
SIR KIT MCMAHON

MR WILLIAM DAVIS

SIR ROGER G. GIBBS

SIR BRIAN JENKINS, F.C.A.

MR STUART LIPTON

MR GERRY MARTIN

THE LORD PALUMBO MR MICHAEL ROBBINS, C.B.E.

MR TED ROWLANDS, M.P.

THE RT. REV. J.L. THOMPSON

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II

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Chairman
THE DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE (Professor D. Cannadine, M.A., D.Phil., Litt.D. from 1 May 1998)

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III

STAFF OF THE CENTRE

Director: DEREK KEENE, M.A., D.Phil. (Oxford)

Deputy Director (and Editor of Bibliography): HEATHER CREATON, B.A., M.Phil. (London), A.L.A.

Administrative and Research Assistant: OLWEN R. MYHILL, B.A. (Birmingham), Dip. R.S.A.

Metropolitan Market Networks, c.1300-1600
Researchers: JAMES A. GALLOWAY, M.A., Ph.D. (Edinburgh); MARGARET MURPHY, B.A., Ph.D. (Trinity College, Dublin) (to 30 November 1999)

Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to AD 1540
Researcher: SAMANTHA LETTERS, B.A., Ph.D. (London)

Mortality in the Metropolis, 1860-1920 (to 31 May 1999)
Team Leader: WILLIAM E. LUCKIN, B.A. (Oxford), M.Sc. (London)
Researchers: GRAHAM P. MOONEY, B.A., Ph.D. (Liverpool); ANDREA I. TANNER, B.A. (Strathclyde), M.A. (Warwick), Ph.D. (London)

History of St Paul's Cathedral 604-2004
Researcher: CHRISTINE FAUNCH, B.A., Ph.D. (Exeter)

HEATHER CREATON runs a regular introductory course for new postgraduate students as well as doing her bibliographical and information work. She is Vice-Chairman of the British Records Association and helped to organise their 1998 and 1999 conferences on records for the history of law and order, and on travel and tourism respectively. She is also Hon. Secretary of the London Record Society and serves on the Royal Society of Arts' History Panel. CHRIS FAUNCH's research interests are in church monuments and the built environment, the subject of her Ph.D. JIM GALLOWAY's main research interests lie within medieval historical geography and economic history, including migration, urban development and trade. His Ph.D. thesis examined the Colchester region 1310-1560. DEREK KEENE has written extensively on the society, economy, topography and archaeology of medieval and early modern towns, and especially on Winchester and London; he is a Royal Commissioner on the Historical Monuments of England and is a member of the International Commission for the History of Towns and of the Fabric Committee of St Paul's Cathedral. He is also a trustee of the London Journal. SAMANTHA LETTERS's main research interests are medieval markets and fairs and also the political and social history of thirteenth-century England. Her PhD thesis was on the Seagrave family c.1189 to 1295. GRAHAM MOONEY is interested in the demographic history of London, but in particular the effects of public health intervention on mortality and illness. MARGARET MURPHY is engaged in research on urban provisioning and regional trade. She is also maintaining her interests in medieval Irish history through recent conference papers and teaching. Apart from grappling with the Centre's computers and administration, OLWEN MYHILL's main historical interest is the impact of religious nonconformity on rural society in the nineteenth century. ANDREA TANNER is Hon. Archivist at Fortnum & Mason and a part-time tutor at Birkbeck College Extra-Mural Department. She is a member of the Advisory Council on Public Records, Council of the British Records Association; Council of the Kensington & Chelsea Community History Group, and Regular Readers' Group at the Public Record Office and is Vice-President of the Friends of the Public Record Office.

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IV

VISITING RESEARCH FELLOWS

ANGEL ALLOZA, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. (Universidad Autonoma de Madrid) 'Urbanization, social change and crime: a comparative view of Paris, Madrid, London and Amsterdam during the eighteenth century'

WILLIAM E. LUCKIN, B.A., M.Sc. (Professor, Bolton Institute) 'Mortality in the Metropolis'

GRAHAM I. TWIGG, B.Sc., Ph.D. 'Epidemics and the plague in London'

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V

POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS

CRAIG A. BAILEY, B.A. (Connecticut), M.A. (Maynooth), 'The Irish middle classes in London, 1780-1840' (Ph.D.)

PAULA MARBER, B.A. (Middlesex), 'The impact of office development in late Victorian London on the growing band of office workers' (M.Phil.)

STEPHEN G. PRIESTLEY, B.A. (Cambridge), 'Piety and charity in early medieval London: a study of the foundation and endowment of religious houses and hospitals in London and its environs c. 1100-1230' (Ph.D.)

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VI

CONFERENCE AND SEMINAR PAPERS

Heather Creaton:
'Sources for the History of London, 1939-45: finding the records', at the Greater London Archive Network's study day on the Second World War at London Metropolitan Archives, March 1999
'Sources for historians of education at the Institute of Historical Research' and 'The Yorkshire Society's London School: finding (or failing to find) the records', at the Institute of Education postgraduate historians' seminar, London, October 1999
'Approaches to 20th century suburban culture', at the School of Advanced Study workshop 'The Practice of History', University of London, November 1999.

Jim Galloway:
'One market or many? London and the grain trade of England', at the workshop on 'Trade, urban hinterlands and market integration c.1300-1600', School of Advanced Study, London, July 1999;
'Food and fuel for the medieval London market' at Ruislip and Northchurch Local History Society, November 1999.

Derek Keene:
'Sites of desire', at session on medieval markets, at the annual Medieval and Renaissance Studies Conference, Barnard College, New York, December 1998;
'Industrial organisation in English towns, 600-1150', at the international conference on urban labour markets, Free University, Brussels, December 1998;
'London and the regions', at the Regional and Local History conference, London, March 1999;
'Changes in London's economic hinterland as indicated by debt cases in the Court of Common Pleas', at the workshop on 'Trade, urban hinterlands and market integration c.1300-1600', School of Advanced Study, London, July 1999;
'2 September 1999: 333 years after the Great Fire', debate on the rebuilding of London, Guildhall, September 1999;
'The London Atlas', historic towns atlas colloquium, University of Bordeaux, September 1999;
'Alfred and London', King Alfred Anniversary Conference, Institute of Historical Research, October 1999.

Graham Mooney:
'Causes of death and life expectation: the case of Victorian London', at the Annual Conference of the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers, Leicester, January 1999;
'Laboratories for public health: diptheria and measles in early twentieth-century London', at the Science Speaks to Policy Seminar, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, February 1999;
'Life expectancy and causes of death in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century London', at the Annual Conference of the Economic History Society, Oxford, March 1999;
'Hospitals and mortality in Victorian London', Huguenot and Walloon Research Association, Institute of Historical Research, March 1999;
'Infant mortality in two London Boroughs: Hackney and Kensington, 1870-1914', Symposium on 'The social and economic aspects of infant mortality, c.1850-1950', Department of History, University of Manchester, March 1999.

Andrea Tanner:
'The Gold Standard - applicants for relief from the Goldsmith's Company in mid Victorian London', at the History of Charity Conference, University of Wales, Bangor, September 1999;
'Keeping it in the Family: applicants for Goldsmith's Company Charity before the Poor Law Amendment Act', at the London Archives Users Forum, Institute of Historical Research, November 1999.

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VII

PUBLICATIONS

Angel ALLOZA, 'La Economía Criminal de los Desheredados. Estudio comparativo de Londres, Madrid, París y Amsterdam en el siglo XVIII y comienzos del XIX', Revista Internacional de Sociología, no. 23 (1999), pp. 173-205.

Heather CREATON, Sources for the History of London, 1939-45: a Guide and Bibliography. (Archives and the User series, 9. British Records Association, 1998).

Chris FAUNCH, 'Constructing the dead: late sixteenth and early seventeenth century effigy sculpture in Devon', Church Monuments, 14 (1999), pp. 41-63.

Derek KEENE, 'England: Zunfte', Lexikon des Mittelalters VIII (Munich, 1998), cols. 699-700.

Derek KEENE, 'Wardrobes in the City: houses of consumption, finance and power', in M. Prestwich, R. Britnell and R. Frame (eds), Thirteenth-Century England VII (Woodbridge, 1999), pp. 61-79.

Derek KEENE, 'Fire in London: destruction and reconstruction, A.D. 982-1676', in M. Körner (ed.), Destruction and Reconstruction of Towns: Destruction by Earthquakes, Fire and Water (Bern, Stuttgart and Vienna, 1999), pp. 187-211.

Derek KEENE, 'Launch of "The Dublin City Francise Roll": Address', in M. Clark, Y. Desmond and N.P. Hardiman (eds.), Sir John T. Gilbert, 1828-1898: Historian, Archivist and Librarian (Dublin, 1999), pp. 125-8.

Derek KEENE, J. A. GALLOWAY and M. MURPHY, 'Fuelling the city: production and distribution of firewood and fuel in London's region, 1290-1400', in C. Chant (ed.), The Pre- Industrial Cities and Technology Reader (London and New York, 1999), pp. 104-19.

Bill LUCKIN, Graham MOONEY and Andrea TANNER, 'Patient pathways: solving the problem of institutional deaths in late nineteenth-century London', Social History of Medicine, 12:2 (1999), pp. 227-69.

Graham MOONEY, 'Public health versus private practice: the contested development of compulsory infectious disease notification in late nineteenth-century Britain', Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 73 (1999), pp. 238-67.

Margaret MURPHY, 'Archbishops and Anglicisation: Dublin, 1181-1271', in James Kelly and Däire Keogh (eds), History of the Catholic Diocese of Dublin (Dublin, 1999), pp. 72-91.

Andrea TANNER, 'The last of the Fortnums', Journal of the History of Collections, 11:2 (1999), pp. 147-157.

Andrea TANNER, 'Scarlatina and sewer smells, metropolitan public health records, 1860-1920', International Network for the History of Public Health Electronic Journal (October 1999).

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VIII

SEMINAR ON METROPOLITAN HISTORY

October 1998-March 1999
(Wednesdays, fortnightly, 5.30 pm, at the Institute of Historical Research)

Commercial and imperial metropolises

'Florence: the growth of a metropolis, 1200-1300', Bill Day (London School of Economics)

'John Summerson as an historian of London', Michela Rosso (Turin)

'The development of a commercial metropolis: trade and banks in Shanghai, 1870-1914, Shizuya Nishimura (Hosei University)

'Fountainhead of consumerism: wholesale and retail distribution in London in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries', David Barnett (University of Nottingham)

'Harvey Nichols and Harrods: two shopping cultures', Alan Cox (Survey of London)

'Epidemics and the plague: London, 1540-1720', Graham Twigg (CMH/Royal Holloway)

'Freedom and regulation: situating Middlesex petrol stations', Peter Whitehouse (Birkbeck College)

'The Vittorio Emmanuele Monument, other Roman monuments, and the forging of national identity', Catherine Brice (Ecole Française de Rome)

'Anti-Imperial London: the Pan-African Conference of 1900', Professor Jonathan Schneer (Georgia Institute of Technology)

'Yankees on the make: American immigrant entrepreneurs in Edwardian London', Scott R Fletcher (University of Reading)

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IX

SOURCES OF FUNDING

Projects:
The Dean & Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral
The Economic and Social Research Council
The Wellcome Trust