On behalf of the committee, John Cordy Jeaffreson, an inspector of the Historical Manuscripts Commission, sorted the records covering 1549–1820 into 87 classes comprising more than 10,000 volumes and nearly 5,000 rolls.

In 1913 the new Middlesex Guildhall at Westminster opened and was equipped with specially constructed muniment rooms, with an assistant to arrange and supervise their transfer from temporary storage.

After this, the archive increased its holdings, with significant deposits of petty sessions, coroners, Boards of Guardians and other official material.

By this time, the record office had acquired an extensive reference library on the topography of Middlesex, as well as a great number of maps, prints and photographs.

The formation of Greater London also meant that some areas that had been previously part of Kent, Surrey, Essex and Hertfordshire, were also now included.

The Manuscripts Section held deposited records from organisations and institutions within the City of London, including 75 London Livery Companies, schools, parishes, wards (local government units within the City) and of course many large and small businesses which had their home within the Square Mile, from tiny family businesses to major multi-national banking and insurance firms.

Some material is restricted or closed under Data Protection legislation because it contains sensitive or personal information relating to living individuals; some records may require written permission from the depositor before they can be viewed; some may be too fragile to be handled.

Records of pressure groups and campaigning organisations such as the National United Temperance Council and the Royal Society for Checking the Abuses of Public Advertising are also held.

Formed in 1899 to combat vice and indecency in London, its members included representatives of all the major religions as well as leaders in education and medicine.

The trust has its origins in a donation of £500,000 made by the American philanthropist, George Peabody, for the benefit of the people of London, the city where he had spent most of his adult life.

It was agreed that cheap, clean housing would best fulfil the intention of the gift, and that the Trust would provide an alternative to the Model Dwellings Companies who operated on a private, less philanthropic basis.

In 1902 all the smaller private institutions were taken over by the Metropolitan Water Board, which assumed supply responsibilities for an area covering 576 square miles (1,490 km2).

There are hundreds of photographs starting from as early 1887, a few films and videos, a large collection of press cuttings, advertisements, menus, lithographs and a Nippy's uniform.

The community would be served by a range of local amenities including churches, libraries, schools, an institute of education and shops.

The archive consists of records of suburb organisations and recreational societies, education institutions and approximately 10,000 plans and 10,000 photographs.

Among the records of charities are those of the Foundling Hospital, established by royal charter in 1739 by Thomas Coram as a refuge for abandoned children.

On reaching the age of three, they were returned to the hospital to receive basic schooling before eventually being apprenticed out to trades or service or enlisted in the armed forces.

From 1760 the mother was required to submit a written petition detailing her circumstances: these documents provide a valuable resource for social history.

Some parts of the collection have been returned to the Coram family, while more modern files concerned with the Berkhamsted site are at Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies.

Records with the prefix CLA are deposited collections from organisations and bodies that operate in close association with the City of London Corporation.

The deposited records also include Land and Hearth tax assessments, electoral registers, licensed victuallers, recognizance's, building surveyors returns, enclosure awards and maps and plans of numerous public undertakings such as canals, docks and railways.

Archives of individuals include Mollie Hunte, an influential educational psychologist; Cy Grant, actor, singer, broadcaster, community organiser and activist, who among many other roles voiced Lieutenant Green in Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons; the record office also holds the diary of Robert Hooke, surveyor of the City of London at the time of the Great Fire of 1666 and one of the men appointed to oversee the rebuilding of the City.

The collection of records is not arranged alphabetically as many different hospitals may be covered by one particular management trust, therefore it is worth asking at the reference room desk and they will direct you to the particular binder that you need.

The majority of these records are concerned with management and policy decisions, and many require written permission from the depositor before access can be granted.

Deeds and documents brought to the registry were copied onto pieces of parchment called memorials and then bound into large volumes or registers.

The records of these bodies are as broad as the functions of modern local government, with documentation on education, housing, health services, welfare, transport, building regulations, drainage, culture and leisure.

Many of the different bodies include a series of indexed committee minutes, which often prove to be a valuable starting point when attempting to access the records.

The majority of nonconformist records at The London Archives relate to the Congregationalist, Baptist, United Reformed and Methodist churches, circuits and missions dating predominantly from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Particularly well covered are subjects such as schools, housing estates, parks, bridges, churches, cinemas, theatres, hospitals, pubs and areas of war damage.

It contains over 100,000 volumes and specialises in all aspects of London life, the growth and development of the area, its history and organisation of Local Government.