NATIONAL PAWNBROKERS' ASSOCIATION

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0074 CLC/012
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full title	: NATIONAL PAWNBROKERS' ASSOCIATION
Date(s)	: 1845-1972
Level of description	: Collection
Extent	: 27 production units.
Name of creator(s)	: National Pawnbrokers' Association

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The National Pawnbrokers' Association was established in Derby in 1892 in response to a growing need, widely recognised among pawnbrokers, for a national body to represent their interests. Alfred Hardaker, a leading campaigner on behalf of pawnbrokers, was appointed the first president. However, the original financial arrangements and rules were not thought satisfactory and the NPA was therefore reconstituted in London in 1895, with Henry Attenborough as chairman. The Association attempted to persuade increasing numbers of pawnbrokers to insure their premises and stock; to defend its members in legal actions; and to secure revisions of the Parliamentary legislation regulating pawnbroking. The Pawnbroking Acts of 1922 and 1960 were passed as a direct result of NPA pressure.

In 1925, the Association acquired Lombard House, Little Britain, as its headquarters, where it remained until 1973, when the building was sold as part of a development scheme. It was subsequently administered from the home of the general secretary in Southend-on-Sea, and now operates from offices at 6 Wimpole Street.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of the National Pawnbrokers' Association, comprising: minutes and agendas, 1900-72 (Ms 22306-11); and correspondence, reports and related papers, 1937-60 (Ms 22312-15); photographs, 1898-[1950?] (Ms 22316-17); papers relating to the National Benevolent Fund, 1913-65 (Ms 22318-19); and Pawnbroker's Charitable Institution papers, 1845-1933 (Ms 22320).

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

The records have been arranged in order reflecting the record function, e.g. administration, financial and so on.

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 these records rests with the depositor.

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

The archive was deposited in the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library in 1987. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Records of the following distinct, but related, organisations were deposited in the Archive with the records of the Association (they have been catalogued separately): Bouverie Society, Eastern Society of Master Pawnbrokers, Metropolitan Pawnbrokers' Protection Society, Pawnbroking Parliamentary Reform Association.

Publication note:

Issues of the Pawnbrokers' Gazette, 1872 and 1895-1958, and the NPA Journal, 1959-86, which were deposited with the archive, are available in the Printed Books Section of Guildhall Library.

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
June to August 2010.