Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/691

Rh LONDON. 683 LONDON. officers of Westminster are a high steward, who is ly a nobleman, and a high bailiff, who is chosen by ..igh steward; and these two are appointed for life. Theru are also other bailiffs and burgesses, one of the latter being elected for the City, and the other for the liberties. There arc four principal courts viz. that of the duchy of Lancaster, that of the quarter sessions of the peace, the St. Martin's-lo-Grand, and the court-leet Jield by the dean or his deputy for removing nuisances, Hloosing the parish officers, &c. Westminster has its own coroner, police, and county courts, besides various other independent institutions, and it returns two mem- bers to parliament. Besides the members who sit for the City of London, Westminster, and Southwark, there are also two returned for Marylebone, two for Fins- bury, two for the Tower Hamlets, and two for Lambeth. Th lords-lieutenant, of the Tower Hamlets, Middlesex, Kent, and Surrey exercise jurisdiction within certain parts of the metropolis ; and 23 of the largest parishes, isivc of the City, have vestries to manage their local re. Of the smaller parishes, 59 are massed into and managed by 15 district boards, besides which the
 * rrhouse, Westminster Close, and the Inns of Court

are united in one group. Certain members, elected by parishes, vestries, and districts form the Metropo- litan Board of Works, which was first established in 1855 to act as a central local government for the whole 'polis, and has its offices in Spring Gardens. It consists of 45 members, of whr-m 9 form a quorum, and its duties are to seo that all new buildings comply with the provisions of the Building Act, to superintend the drainage and sewer works, preserve in repair the public streets and thoroughfares, and name them ; to _:is and weights and measures, to purify the river, to appoint medical officers of health, to remove nui- sances and obstructions, and to exercise various other functions for the public good, under the control of the homo secretary. Their powers are very large, and the annual sum raised by them for the local management and main drainage works of the metropolis amount to nearly 5100,000. The City and metropolitan police are each r their own chief commissioner, and number nearly 1 men, costing together about 500,000 per annum ; the criminal population averaging about 1 4,000 within nhere of action of the London police i.e. in a radius of 15 miles from the General Post Office. The incipal prisons are Newgate, which stands on the site of s ancient City gatehouse, and the Surrey county gaol, in Horsemonger-lane, and it is at these two only that ics executions take place. The other prisons are the House of Correction, in Coldbath Fields, Clerkenwcll ; I iddlesex House of Detention, in St. James's Walk, L'li'iki-mvell; the Westminster House of Correction ; the L'ity House of Correction, at Holloway ; the Surrey t Correction, on Wandsworth Common ; the ' 'lison, at Pcntonville, and Hillbank Peniten- tiary. Besides these there are prisons at Brixton and m, and reformatory schools in various parts of the . where offenders of both sexes are sent after it mint, in order to be taught some trade which fil them to become useful members of society. The of these are that which was, in 1788, esta- n St. George's Fields, near the "Elephant and Castle" tavern, but is now removed to Redhill, in Surrey ; , at Bow ; and the Roman Catholic Reformatory wen. Besides these there are the Boys' Home, iin-road; the Girls' Refuge, at Hampstead; i Grove Training Refuge, and many other us, supported either wholly or in part itributions of the public, and some ''d partially self-supporting by the sale of 1 ured by their inmates. The esta- whii-h come under tho head of metropolitan institutions for the maintenance and eduea- ') who have not been convicted of any a arious causes incapable of supporting i, and yet are not fit objects for par- so numerous that it would be impossil I Itatc them all in detail hero. Suffice it to say that it has been calculated that the annual income of these establishments, arising from gifts and contributions, is upwards of a million and a half; and this, added to the funds already possessed by them arising from bequests, makes a grand total of two and a half millions. This money is divided among nearly 650 institutions, which may be classified as general hospitals, hospitals and institutions for special medical purposes, dispensaries, institutions for the preservation of life, health, and morals, penitentiaries and reformatories, refuges under the names of "homes," asylums, colleges, and almshouses, relief institutions and 'dispensaries, soup-kitchens, a foundling hospital, lying-in charities, orphan homes, educational establishments, and many other similar institutions, founded and maintained for the express purpose of alleviating the sufferings and supplying the wants of the poorer classes of the community. Among the several hospitals may be mentioned Charing Cross ; Guy's, in Southwark ; the German, at Dalston ; the Great Northern, in York-road, King's-cross; the Homoeo- pathic, in Great Ormond-street, and one for sick chil- dren, in the same street ; King's College, at the angle of Carey-street and Portugal-street, Lincoln's Inn Fields ; the London, in Whitechapel; the Middlesex, in Berners- street, Oxford-street ; the Royal Free, in Gray's-Inn- road ; St. Bartholomew's, in Smithfield ; St. George's, at Hyde Park Corner ; St. Mary's, in Cambridge-place, Paddington ; St. Thomas's, on the 8. bank of the Thames, close to Westminster Bridge ; University Col- lege, in Upper Gower-strcet ; the Westminster, in tho Broad Sanctuary, and the Victoria Park. Besides these many hospitals have been founded for particular ob- jects, such as lying-in hospitals, hospitals for the cure of cancer, consumption, fever, ophthalmia, &c., and one for the reception of the incurable and the convalescent. There are also several noble asylums and benevolent institu- tions, such as the London and Infant Orphan, the Blind, the Deaf and Dumb, the Philanthropic Institution, the Governesses Benevolent, the Female Aid Society, the Royal Benevolent Society, the Mendicity, and many others, as well as almshouses, schools, and various insti- tutions founded and supported by charitable individuals for the comfort both of the souls and bodies of those who have been less prosperous than themselves, and designed for the alleviation of every ill "that flesh is heir to." Some of tho most important and distinguished of the scholastic establishments in London owe their origin to charitable purposes. Thus Westminster School, the proper title of which is St. Peter's College, was founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1560, and subsequent bequests have been made for the purpose of educating poor scholars. It now ranks as one of the public schools of England. Be- sides the foundation scholars, others are now admitted by payment, and the school possesses 37 scholarships, or exhibitions. St. Paul's school was founded by Dean Colot in 1612, and is placed under the superintendence of the Mercers' Company. Here also boys are admitted besides those who are on the foundation, and it has sent up many eminent scholars to the universities. Christ's Hospital, in Newgate-street, was founded in 1553, upon tho site of tho Grey Friars' monastery, by Edward VI., for poor fatherless children and foundlings. Presenta- tions are in the hands of the governors, whose turn comes round once in three years, except in tho case of the lord mayor, who has two presentations annually, and the court of aldermen one each. Tho revenues of this school are very extensive, and several ancient customs are still maintained there. Tho scholars in the head class are styled " Grecians," and tho second " Deputy-Gre- cians." A branch school was established at Hertford in 1683, and here the junior pupils are first sent, and girls are educated as well as boys. The Charter House, in Aldersgate-street, consists of a hospital and a school- house. It was originally a Carthusian convent, and, in 1611, it was endowed by Thomas Sutton for 80 old men, who are called "pensioners," or "poor brethren," and are 44 scholars on tho foundation, nominated by governors. Tho Merchant Taylors' School, in Ik-lane, Cannon-stteet, maintained by the company