Royal Commission on the Amalgamation of the City and County of London the ancient City of London had been prominent political topics since the 1830s. Recommendations by royal commissions given in 1837, 1854 and 1867 had largely been left unimplemented. The Local Government Act 1888 had set up a County of London which surrounded, but did not include, the square-mile and main business district of the City of London. London was therefore governed by the Corporation of London at its core and the London County Council for its metropolitan area. When the first London County Council was elected, the Progressive Party, closely allied to the parliamentary Liberals, took control. The first chairman
Letter-Books of the City of London Letter-Books of the City of London The Letter-Books of the City of London are a series of fifty folio volumes in vellum containing entries of the matters of in which the City of London was interested or concerned, beginning in 1275 and concluding in 1509. The volumes are part of the collection of the City of London Records Office, and are kept in the London Metropolitan Archives. The volumes derive their name from being lettered from "A" to "Z" (with two odd volumes marked respectively "&c." and "AB") and again from "AA" to "ZZ". Besides being known by distinctive letters,