Foreword and acknowledgements

FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

THE PRESENT volume is the fifth to have been compiled for the Middlesex VCH Committee formed in 1979 to complete the Middlesex History. The University of London gratefully acknowledges the help of the Committee, which has continued under the chairmanship of Dr Alan Clinton, with Mr Roy Harrison as Treasurer. Mr R.J. Swindells succeeded Mr C.J. Koster as Secretary in 1999. The University also records its gratitude for the continued generosity of the City of Westminster and the London Boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea, Islington, and Hackney in supporting the Committee's work. However, due to pressures on local government funding Hackney had to cease contributing from 2001, and both Islington and Kensington and Chelsea from 2003; Westminster is continuing with a reduced contribution. The completion of the present volume has been made possible by a very generous contribution from Cadogan Estates, who are thanked warmly for their support.

In 2001 the County Editor, Mr T.F.T. Baker, and one of the two Assistant Editors, Miss D.K. Bolton, retired, having worked on the Middlesex History since 1967 and 1965 respectively. Dr P.E.C. Croot, previously Assistant Editor, was appointed to the post of County Editor in 2001. Work on the present volume was also assisted by three temporary appointments: Dr R.M. Kemsley, a full-time Assistant Editor from November 1999 until early 2001; Dr C.R.J. Currie as part-time Consultant Editor for a year in 2001/2; and Dr C. Insley as part-time Assistant Editor from January to August 2002. Reduction in funding prevents the appointment of a permanent Assistant Editor at present.

The general editing at VCH Central Office was carried out by Dr A.T. Thacker (Executive Editor) and Ms Elizabeth Williamson (Architectural Editor).

Those who have provided information for the volume are named in the footnotes, and they are sincerely thanked for their help. We are especially grateful to the staff of Kensington and Chelsea's Central and Chelsea libraries, in particular Carrie Starren, Nicholas West, and Dave Walker, for their assistance over several years, and also to the staff of the London Metropolitan Archives and the Guildhall Library for their help in various ways. We would also like to record our thanks to Mr Stuart Corbyn and his staff at Cadogan Estates for their kind assistance.

The structure and aims of the Victoria County History as a whole are set out in the General Introduction (1970) and its Supplement (1990). The contents of the first seven volumes of the Middlesex History are listed and indexed in outline in a booklet, The Middlesex Victoria History Council, which also describes the work of the precursor of the present Middlesex Victoria County History Committee.