IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 CLC/281
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: CORPORATION OF LONDON: CHAMBERLAIN
Date(s): 1559-1953
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 40 production units.
Name of creator(s): City Chamberlain | Corporation of London
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The Chamber of a city is the place where the funds of the corporation are kept and where moneys due are received - a kind of treasury. The Chamber is run by the Chamberlain, an officer who receives the rents and revenues owed to the corporation. The origin of the Chamber of London is obscure, but as soon as the citizens were sufficiently united to hold lands and tenements in common an officer must have been appointed to collect rents and disburse income for public welfare. The Chamber is first mentioned in 1275 and in the following year Stephen de Mundene is named as City Chamberlain. At first the Chamberlain was chosen by the Mayor and Aldermen, but by 1319 elections were introduced and the officer was chosen by the liverymen in Common Hall. The Chamberlain's duties combined municipal finance with public banking. His main duty was as treasurer or banker of the City of London with custody of the monies of the Corporation, called the City's Cash, and other funds. Former Chamberlains were able to keep for themselves profits derived from interest on the cash! The Chamberlain also collects the rents of all Corporation properties and makes payments on behalf of the Corporation including salaries and pensions. He also invests money, is responsible for insurance, the preparation of tax returns and production of reports and statistics.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of the City Chamberlain, Corporation of London, including return of pensions paid by the Corporation; receipts for rents and rates paid; papers relating to Freedoms of the City of London; assessments of subsidies; quinquennial valuation lists; papers relating to duties and rates.
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:
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information may be subject to access restrictions.
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
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: August to October 2010.