CORPORATION OF LONDON: COURT OF ALDERMEN

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0074 CLC/279
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full 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 & 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.

Publication note:

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:
August to October 2010.