Researching The Lansbury Estate

Locating estate records in the archives of the LCC

It’s got to be here somewhere…

As part of a talk for the 20th Century Society, archivist Claire Titley explores what and where we can find records to understand the history of the Lansbury Estate

Things to Consider

The continuity of the archival record

We define our holdings by the body that created them, but in practical terms there was a continuity between the London County Council (LCC) and Greater London County (GLC) – don’t limit searches to LCC records only (and don’t be surprised to find LCC era records in the archives of the London Residuary Body). LCC>GLC>LRB

Record keeping history

Although we've always looked after the records, 'we' haven't always been the same thing! The London Archives (TLA) was previously known as London Metropolitan Archives (LMA). LMA was previously known as the Greater London Record Office (GLRO).

We don't always have the records you might expect us to have

Plans for the LCC/GLC housing developments were transferred to the London Boroughs on the transfer of responsibility for housing in the early 1970s. For the Lansbury Estate, you might also try Tower Hamlets Local Studies and / or Tower Hamlets housing department. Be aware that plans may have been passed to the housing association (Poplar HARCA).

The Survey of London research notes for Lansbury (compiled by Alan Cox?) suggest that additional plans for the Lansbury were transferred to Tower Hamlets in 1986.

We don't have Records of tenants

Searching for Lansbury

There is a surprising amount of material scattered through the LCC/GLC archive, which does not always survive for their other estates. This suggests that council officers felt the Lansbury had particular importance and that they identified records for permanent preservation. It was highlighted as part of the Festival of Britain Live Architecture exhibition, and was also the first post-war housing estate.

A note about the LCC / GLC Architect’s Department

The Architect’s Department was peripatetic in that other departments commissioned them for work, e.g. housing, education etc. This means that the Department’s records themselves can be a limited source for individual developments. However, we do hold records of the Architect’s Department plan registry (GLC/AR/PL) covering the LCC and GLC period. These plans were weeded heavily in the 1970s, reduced from 450,000 to 200,000 or so that were passed to the record office.

LCC Architect's Department plans

The richest set of plans are in LCC/AR/HS/03/030/001 – the section is strong on the early history of the estate and the live architecture exhibition. Limited number of plans for later LCC/GLC period – there are some in GLC/AR/PL/17 and GLC/AR/G/12.

Town Planning plans

There are a large series of relevant records in the GLC Transport and Development Department records GLC/TD/DP/DC/41. These are not listed under the Lansbury Estate, but under the 'Stepney and Poplar Reconstruction Area' heading. These may not have been picked up by the Survey of London (as they were possibly catalogued after its publication). The records gives insight into the level of research behind the redevelopment plans and the specific features that the planners were interested in.

The GLC/AR/G/22 goldmine

The records held under the reference GLC/AR/G/22 are part of the records of the Architecture Department’s General Practice Branch. Despite the GLC reference code these are primarily LCC records. They are particularly strong on:

Building and supplies
Shopping centre and market square
Publicity around the live architecture exhibit, and the relationship with the Festival of Britain and local boroughs
Schools and the Roman Catholic

Minutes and committee papers

The bulk of the records of the LCC and GLC are found within the committee and council minutes. The entries in the minutes cannot be picked up by catalogue searches. The LCC is a member led elected body with a committee structure – the best way in almost to any subject is the main series of Council minutes – these tell you the decisions the council made and the date they made them. They are printed and a full set is available on open access at TLA.

The main series of Council minutes are indexed, you may need to search across terms.

The Council minutes record decisions made – there is little about the decision-making process.

Each Council meeting is accompanied by papers presented to the Council by the relevant committee; these can be a rich source of information.

Council minutes are not located on open access shelves - you have to order them. They all have an LCC/MIN reference code.

Key to using the minutes - record dates of meetings as this is how the presented papers are arranged.

Each committee has its own set of minutes, e.g. housing committee, education committee. It will also have its own set of presented papers to accompany each committee meeting. This takes you a long way into the decision-making process.

You can get to know the work of individual committees and the individuals that dominate them at certain dates, as well as the character of the various officers reporting to them and the reports, memos etc that they produce.

An example of presented papers of the Housing Committee includes a petition from residents of St Gabriel St SE11 in July 1950, protesting at the rehoming of a Polish woman on their development (LCC/MIN/7643). Committee minutes and presented papers can sometimes give you access into the minutiae of the work of the LCC but sometimes they can be surprisingly brief. You may need to consult the records of several committees in an estate like the Lansbury. However, they are essential to understanding the work of the LCC and its departments and are a crucial part of any research.

The London Picture Archive

Many of the photographs taken by the LCC of the Lansbury Estate can be found on the London Picture Archive. There are some photographs – particularly from the live architecture period – that haven’t made it online (this will happen in due course!). You can find these on the catalogue.