Editorial note

EDITORIAL NOTE

The present volume is the third to have been compiled for the Committee formed in 1979 to complete the Middlesex History.

The Committee was at first financed according to their rateable value by the seven London Boroughs whose areas make up what may be called inner Middlesex and, until its abolition in 1986, by the Greater London Council. The Local Government Finance Act, 1988, abolished rates from 1990. A consequent move towards payments of equal sevenths for 1990-1 was assisted by a compromise formula for the poorer boroughs and by an extra sum from Westminster. For 1991-2, however, equal shares were not fully paid by two boroughs and for 1992-3 two more made no payment; for 1993-4 one default was partly offset by contributions from Bethnal Green and Stepney neighbourhood councils. Increased support from two boroughs, and generous donations from charities and individuals, have enabled work to continue at a reduced pace. Contributors since 1990-1 include the Corporation of London, the Marc Fitch Fund, the British Academy, the Pilgrim Trust, the Goldsmiths' Company, the Mercers' Company, Camden History Society, and the late Mr. S. E. Piesse, as well as others giving privately. All are warmly thanked for their help.

The University of London gratefully acknowledges the help of the Middlesex V.C.H. Committee, which has continued under the chairmanship of Dr. David Avery, and the generosity of the London Boroughs of Westminster and of Kensington and Chelsea, which have raised their payments, of Islington, which has maintained its full contribution, and of Hackney.

As a result of the reductions in funding the County Editor (Mr. T.F.T. Baker) and the Assistant Editor (Miss D.K. Bolton) retired early in 1992 and were re-employed part-time, while the other Assistant Editor (Dr. P.E.C. Croot) was temporarily seconded elsewhere. She has since continued as full-time Assistant Editor.

The structure and aims of the Victoria History as a whole are set out in the General Introduction (1970). The contents of the first seven volumes of the Middlesex History are listed and indexed in outline in a booklet, The Middlesex Victoria County History Council, 1955-84, which also describes the work of the precursor of the present Middlesex Victoria County History Committee.

Those who have provided information for the volume or commented on parts of the text are named in the footnotes, and they are sincerely thanked for their help. Particular mention may be made here of the valuable contributions of Mr. R. M. Robbins, C.B.E., who helped with the section on communications, and of Isobel Watson and Mr. D. Mander, who separately read the whole text of the volume.