IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 ACC/0538
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: WOODBRIDGE AND SONS, UXBRIDGE {SOLICITORS}
Date(s): 1281-1960
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 39.4 linear metres
Name of creator(s): Woodbridge and Sons | solicitors x Riches and Woodbridge
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The firm of Woodbridge and Sons, formerly Riches and Woodbridge, seems to have been, if not the sole firm of solicitors in Uxbridge in the 19th century, then certainly the most prominent, and many of the leading Uxbridge families are well represented in the collection. Riches and Woodbridge is listed in the Post Office Directory of 1847 as situated on the High Street, Uxbridge. By 1853 the solicitors is listed as Riches, Woodbridge and Son and by 1859 as Charles Woodbridge and Sons.
In Kelly's Directory of Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex of 1908 the important role of the family in local government is revealed. Woodbridge and Sons are listed as "solicitors, and solicitors to Uxbridge Permanent Building Society, 38 High Street". Charles Woodbridge is described as "solicitor, commissioner for oaths, clerk to the magistrates for Uxbridge division, clerk to the commissioners of taxes, to the Joint Hospital Board, Uxbridge Rural District Council, clerk to the guardians and assessment committee of Uxbridge Union and superintendent registrar of Uxbridge district and joint registrar of county court"; his son Algernon Rivers Woodbridge, is listed as a solicitor and deputy superintendent registrar of Uxbridge Union, while Francis Charles Woodbridge is a solicitor and clerk to Uxbridge United Charities and Thomas Hurry Riches Woodbridge is a solicitor and joint registrar of county court. Edgar Thomas Woodbridge is simply listed as 'solicitor'.
The business subsequently expanded. In the 1937 Kelly's Directory of Middlesex their offices are listed at 38 High Street, Uxbridge and 7 New Square, Lincoln's Inn, London. Algernon Rivers Woodbridge is described as a solicitor, clerk to the magistrates for Uxbridge division, clerk to commissioners of taxes and superintendent registrar of Uxbridge district; while Edgar Thomas Woodbridge is listed as deputy superintendent registrar and clerk to the Joint Hospital Board. Francis Charles Woodbridge is listed as clerk to the Uxbridge United Charities.
Although centred on Uxbridge, the firm's business spread over the neighbouring Middlesex and Buckinghamshire parishes, particularly Harlington, Hayes, Hillingdon and Denham.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of Woodbridge and Sons, solicitors, 1281-1960, including:
*Official records, with papers of the Uxbridge Poor Law Union, Rural Sanitary Authority and Rural District Council, and of the Uxbridge Petty Sessions (members of the firm being clerks to these bodies) and also of the Harlington Tithe Commissioners, whose clerk was William Mercer, a solicitor with no apparent connection with the Woodbridge firm;
*Charity records, comprising account books, minutes, letter books, deeds and papers of the Lords in Trust of the Manor and borough of Uxbridge, later known as the Uxbridge United Charities;
* Administrative records of the firm including account books, salaries books and partnership agreements; and
* Practice papers, which themselves fall into several groups, namely, deeds of property of which the firm became mortgagee, Woodbridge family deeds and private papers, and clients' papers, by far the largest section. A large number of probates, letters of administration and unproved wills were preserved by the firm as a separate class. The rest of the clients' papers are preserved in separate personal or family groups (covering in many cases two or three generations); since many of the documents are title deeds, these bundles have been arranged according to the parish in which their property lay, although where a family owned property in more than one parish, the whole group has been listed under the parish in which the clients resided. An index of places is provided. Original bundling has been preserved although this has sometimes interfered with the logical arrangment. Where necessary for clarification, family trees have been included; although as accurate as possible these do not claim to be comprehensive.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
In sections: Uxbridge manorial, charitable and borough records; Plans; and Property, family and manorial records.
Conditions governing access:
Available for general access.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright rests with the City of London.
Physical characteristics:
Fit
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Received in 1954 (Acc/0538)
ALLIED MATERIALS
Related material:
For the Uxbridge Poor Law Union see reference BG/U.
Publication note:
For more information about local government and charities in Uxbridge, see A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), available online on the British History Online website.
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: July to October 2009