List of members of the Metropolitan Board of Works

This is a list of the members of the Metropolitan Board of Works, London, 1855-1889.

Members of the board were not elected by the general public, but were chosen by the City of London Corporation and by the Vestries and District Boards of the Metropolis from among their members.

The first members were elected in December 1855, coming into office in January 1856. From May 1857 one third of the board retired annually, the seats becoming vacant being chosen by ballot. Where casual vacancies occurred these were filled for the remainder of the term these are annotated and explained in the adjoining column..

Over 1885–86 the membership was enlarged: 11 members were added for populous parts of the city.Metropolis Management Amendment Act 1885 A further Battersea-specific member was added in 1888. These additions are table-coloured lime green.

The board also had a salaried chairman: John Thwaites was elected by Greenwich and St Saviours Districts in 1855. He resigned both seats on becoming chairman on 22 December 1855. He was knighted in 1865. James Hogg, who had been elected to represent St George Hanover square, succeeded Thwaites on 18 November 1870. He assumed the surname of McGarel Hogg in 1877 and was created Baron Magheramorne in 1887.

Electing authority Members NotesCity of London (3) Henry Lowman Taylor (1855–1883) (a) William Burnham Garrett (1883–1888) (b)George Manners (1888–1889) (c)(a) Taylor died 7 July 1883. (b) Garrett elected by Common Council 26 July 1883.(c) Garrett resigned, Manners elected 12 July 1888 Thomas Henry Hall (1855–1856) (a) Alderman William Cubitt (1856–1860) (b)Alderman William Lawrence (1860–1863) (c) Alderman Thomas Quested Finnis (1863–1866) (d)Alderman David Henry Stone (1866–1868) (e)Alderman Sills John Gibbons (1868–1871) (f)Alderman David Henry Stone (1871–1874)(g)Alderman Thomas Sidney (1874–1875) (h)Alderman Sir Francis Wyatt Truscott (1875–1879) (h)Alderman James Figgins (1879–1881) (i)Alderman Simeon Charles Hadley (1881–1883) (j)Alderman Sir Charles Whetham (1884) (k)Alderman John Staples (1884–1885) (k)Alderman Sir Robert Norman Fowler (1885–1886) (l)Alderman Sir John Staples (1886–1888) (m)Alderman Sir Francis Wyatt Truscott (1888–1889) (n)(a) Hall died 2 October 1856 (b) Cubitt took seat 17 October 1856 He resigned in 1860. (c) Lawrence took his seat on 19 October 1860. (d)Finnis elected 19 November 1863 (e) Finnis resigned, Stone elected May 1866(f) Stone resigned, Gibbons chosen by Common Council 11 June 1868 (g) Stone resigned on being elected Lord Mayor of London November 1874. (h) Sidney resigned, Truscott elected 3 December 1875. (i) Truscott resigned on becoming Lord Mayor November 1879. Figgins elected 20 November 1879.(j) Figgins resigned, Hadley appointed 1881.(k) Whetham resigned 17 October 1884, Staples elected 30 October 1884.(l) Staples resigned on becoming Lord Mayor, Fowler elected 19 November 1885(m) Staples died 16 January 1888.(n) Truscott elected 16 February 1888. Deputy Edward Harrison (1855–1863) (a) James Ebenezer Saunders (1863–1885)(a)George Shaw (1885–1889) (a) Harrison resigned, Saunders chosen by Common Council 23 July 1863. Bermondsey Vestry Beriah Drew (1855–1858) (a) Cyrus Legg (1858–1881) (b)William Shepherd(a) Resigned 17 September 1858(b) Chosen by Bermondsey Vestry 28 September 1858 Resigned 21 January 1881. Bethnal Green Vestry Thomas B Beven (1855–1879) Alfred Ewin (1879–1889)(a)(a) Ewin took seat 14 November 1879 Camberwell VestryRepresentation increased to 2 members in 1885. Alexander Lodwick Irvine (1855–1858) James Pew (1858–1868)Edward Dresser Rogers (1868–1889)Andrew Middlemass (1885–1889)(a)(a) Middlemass died January 1889, seat remained vacant until abolition of board on 21 March 1889. Chelsea Vestry Francis Chalmer (1855–1858) (a) William Tite MP (1858–1873) (b) Edward Kingsbury (1873–1885)(c)Charles Mossop (1885–1889)(a) Chalmer resigned November 1858 (b) Tite took his seat 26 November 1858 He died 20 April 1873.(c) Kingsbury elected by Chelsea Vestry 13 May 1873. St. James & St. John Clerkenwell Vestry James Pascall (1855–1861)Denis McDonnell (1861–66) Edward John Thompson (1864–1883) (a) William Robson (1883–1889) (a)(a) Thompson resigned, Robson chosen by Clerkenwell Vestry 20 September 1883. Fulham VestryFrom 1886.Previously part of Fulham District. William Henry Lammin (1886–1887)Philip Pethick Perry (1887–1889) Hammersmith VestryFrom 1886.Previously part of Fulham District. George Brown (1886–1889) Fulham DistrictFulham District dissolved 1886, see parish vestries: Fulham; Hammersmith Valentine Stevens (1855–1862 ) (a)William Henry Lammin (1862–1881)George Brown (1881–1886) (a) Stevens died 30 November 1862. Greenwich DistrictRepresentation increased to 2 members in 1885. John Thwaites (1855–1856) (a) Alfred Rhodes Bristow (1856–1862) (b)Guildford Barker Richardson (1862–1889)(a) Thwaites was also elected for St Saviours District. He resigned both seats on being elected chairman 22 December 1855. (b) Bristow took seat 7 January 1856 William Andrews (1885–1889)Hackney DistrictRepresentation increased to 2 members in 1885. George Offor (1855–1862)John Joseph Tanner (1862–1866)Frederick Clarke (1866-1867) John Runtz (1867–1889) Frederick Cox (1885–1888) (a)(a) Cox resigned December 1888. Seat remained vacant until dissolution of board.Hampstead Vestry Thomas Turner (1855–1859) Philip Hemery Le Breton (1859–1879) (a) Simeon Stone (1879-1880)(a) (b)Henry Harben (1880–1889)(b)(a) Le Breton resigned 26 September 1879. Stone took his seat 21 November 1879.(b) Stone resigned October 1880. Harben took seat 29 October 1880.Holborn District Robert Benton Seeley (1855–1857) (a) John Orde Hall (1857–1880) (b) George Phillips (1880–1889)(a) Seeley resigned September 1857 (b) Hall elected 23 September 1857 Islington St Mary Vestry (2)Representation increased to 3 members in 1885. William Dennis (1855–1858) George Peckett (1858–1866) (a) Charles Henry Elt(1866–1882) (b) John Edwin Bradfield (1882–1888) (c)Henry Samuel Friend (1888–1889)(a) Peckett resigned in October 1866 and died 30 November 1866.Stockbroker, aged 62 at death. (b) Elt took seat 19 October 1866, died 19 May 1882Aged 77, one of the last surviving members of the original Islington Vestry d. 2Q 1882, aged 76, Islington District Vol.1b p.158(c) Bradfield died 16 October 1888. John Savage(1855–1875)(a) Robert Stephens Cufflin (1875–1878) (a) (b)John Reddish (1878–1887)(b)John Spencer Furlong (1887–1889)(a) Savage died, Cufflin took seat 10 December 1875. (b) Cufflin died 5 October 1878. Reddish took his seat 25 October 1878. Samuel Price (1885–1888)(a)Frederick Murray (1888) (b)William Adams (1888–1889)(a) Price resigned, Murray took seat 24 February 1888.(b) Murray died April 1888.St Mary Abbott Kensington VestryRepresentation increased to 3 members in 1885. William Hawkes (1855–1858) (a) Robert Freeman (1858–1887) (b)Jubal Webb (1887–1889)(a) Hawkes retired 1858 (b) Freeman held the seat from 1858 until his death on 19 January 1887 William A Lindsay (1885–1889) William Boutcher (1885–1888)Frederick Charlwood Frye (1888–1889)Lambeth Vestry (2)Representation increased to 3 members in 1885. Frederick Doulton (1855–1868) (a)Francis Hayman Fowler (1868–1888)Captain Charles William Andrew (1888–1889) (b)(a) Doulton resigned 18 February 1868 (b) Andrew took seat on 22 June 1888 in place of Fowler, resigned.Robert Taylor (1855–1881) (a)George Hill (1881–1889)(a) Taylor died 19 October 1881. Peter William Funnell (1885–1889)Lewisham District with Plumstead DistrictCeased to elect a joint member from 1886, with District Boards of Lewisham and Plumstead each electing a member thereafter. Charles Atkins (1855–1857) (a) James Brooker (1857–1870) (b) James Richard Lloyd (1870–1885)Edwin Hughes (1885–1886)(a) Atkins resigned 24 April 1857 (b) Brooker elected May 1857Lewisham DistrictFrom 1886Theophilus William Williams (1886–1889)Plumstead District From 1886 Colonel Edwin Hughes MP (1886–1889)Limehouse District Benjamin Dixon (1855–1872)William Nathan (1872–1880) (a)John Abbott (1880–1889)(a) Nathan took his seat following Dixon's resignation, 14 April 1872. He died in January 1880.Hamlet of Mile End Old Town Vestry William Ephraim Snow (1855-1862)William Newton (1862–1876) (a)Robert Jones (1876–1879)Theodore Moore (1879–1880)Robert Jones (1880 -1886)Francis John Wood (1886–1887)Henry Cushen (1887–1889)(a) Newton died 9 March 1876 St Mary Newington Vestry Ambrose Boyson (1855–1860)Edward Conduitt Dermer (1860–1864)Benjamin Evans (1864–1869)Charles Stuart Barker (1869–1873)(a)William Robbins Selway (1873–1889) (a)(a) Barker resigned January 1873. Selway took seat 24 January 1873.Paddington VestryRepresentation increased to 2 members in 1885. Henry Burslem (1855–1860)Charles Mills Roche (1860–1881)William Urquhart (1881–1884) Thomas George Fardell (1884–1889) William Urquhart (1885–1888)Mark Hayler Judge (1888–1889)(a)(a) Judge took seat on 22 June 1888 in place of Urquhart, resigned.Poplar District Representation increased to 2 members in 1885. Simon Knight (1855–1861)Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda (1861–1865)Edward Rider Cook (1865–1889) John Lenanton (1885–1889)Rotherhithe Vestry with St Olave DistrictWilliam Misken (1855–1857) Alderman John Humphery (1857–1863) (a)Benjamin Lucas Judkins (1863–1866)Thomas Turner (1866–1875) (b)John Tolhurst (1875–1889) (a) Humphery died 28 September 1863 (b) Turner resigned, Tolhurst took seat 26 November 1875. St George Hanover Square Vestry (2)Henry Arthur Hunt (1855–1856) (a) John Leslie (1856–1861) (b)Henry George Robinson (1861–1864)Charles Westerton (1864–1872)General Sir William Codrington (1872–1877) (c)Dr. William Brewer MP (1878–1881)(d)Hon. Alan de Tatton Egerton (1881–1889)(a) Hunt resigned 7 March 1856 on appointment to a government post (b) Leslie took seat 16 March 1856 He died in December 1879.(c) Codrington took seat following death of Westerton 17 May 1872. (d) Codrington resigned and Brewer took seat 18 January 1878. (d) Brewer died 3 November 1881.(e) Hogg gave up his seat on being elected chairman in November 1870. (f) Fitzroy took his seat 16 January 1880. (g) Fitzroy resigned and Webster took his seat 19 June 1885. Major William Lyon (1855–1858)Joseph Bennett (1858–1864)Major William Lyon (1864–1867)Colonel James Hogg (1867–1870)(e)Dr. William Brewer MP (1870–1873)(e)John Leslie (1873–1879) (b)Lord Frederick John Fitzroy (1880–1885)(f)Robert Grant Webster (1885–1888)(g)Colonel Howard Vincent MP (1888–1889)St George in the East Vestry Philip Crellin (1855–1865)William Clark (1865–1876)(a)Thomas W Fairclough (1876–1888)(a)Richard Stevens Sly (1888–1889)(a) Fairclough took his seat 14 January 1876 following the death of Clark on 19 December 1875.St Giles District Captain Edward Barnett, RN (1855–1857) Lieutenant Colonel John Pitt Kennedy (1857–1860) (a) Borlase Hill Adams (1860–1885) (b) William Henry Hewitt (1885-1888)(c)Lieutenant-Colonel Edward James Gardiner (1888–1889) (d)(a) Kennedy resigned 27 April 1860 (b) Adams died 29 April 1885 (c) Hewitt took his seat 8 May 1885.(d) Gardiner took his seat 8 May 1888 following Hewitt's resignationSt Luke Middlesex Vestry Joseph Moreland (1855–1875) (a)Alfred J Walker (1875–1878) (a)Joseph Storey (1878–1879) (b)Sir Edmund Hay Currie (1879) (b) (c)Dr. Frederick Ingoldby (1879–1887)(c)George Berry (1887–1889) (a) Moreland died July 1875. Walker took his seat 8 August 1875.(b) Storey resigned June 1879, Currie took his seat 20 June 1879.(c) Currie resigned, Ingoldby took seat 21 November 1879.St Martin in the Fields Vestry William Henry Dalton (1855–1884) (a)George James (1884–1889) (a) Dalton died June 1884.