IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 CLC/279
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: CORPORATION OF LONDON: COURT OF ALDERMEN
Date(s): 1532-1784
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 4 production units.
Name of creator(s): Court of Aldermen | Corporation of London
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The office of Alderman (like that of Sheriff) predates the Norman Conquest but the first mention of an Alderman of London by name is not until 1111 while the place-name Aldermanbury appears in 1128. Each Alderman was responsible for administration of a Ward, and was elected by their Ward. The position of Alderman was held for life. In the 12th and 13th centuries the Wards in the City of London are still mainly identified by the name of their Alderman although the first full list of Wards under permanent names such as Dowgate or Cornhill is dated 1285. The roots of municipal government in the City of London are thus found in the activities of the Aldermen in their Wards which in the medieval period provided such public services as existed. Working individually, or in co-operation, the power of the Aldermen grew as the corporate unity of the City of London developed and they exercised both administrative and judicial functions in what became the Court of Aldermen.
The main administrative work of the City is recorded in the proceedings of the Court of Aldermen until the latter half of the 17th century. Civic control of trade and industry, of the police and prisons, of hospitals and poor relief, of citizenship, the companies and the Freedom, of markets and the Thames, and of water supply, sanitation and building, was exercised largely by the Aldermen. In modern times the activities of the Court have been confined mainly to the regulation of the City Livery Companies, Freedom through the Companies, and the administration of justice and elections.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Papers of the Court of Aldermen of the Corporation of London, including cases relating to constables, 1748-1784; extracts from proceedings of the Court of Aldermen, 1532 and 1631; and documents relating to the swearing in (and discharge from) the office of alderman of the ward of Farringdon Within of Thomas Polhill, 1669.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Records arranged by MS number, assigned during cataloguing at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section.
Conditions governing access:
Available for general access.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright to this collection rests with the City of London.
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Deposited in the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section, which merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Related material:
See COL/CA for the main series of records relating to the Court of Aldermen and its committees.
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: August to October 2010.