IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 CLC/B/103-08
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: LONDON CORN TRADE ASSOCIATION
Date(s): 1882-1978
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 142 production units.
Name of creator(s): London Corn Trade Association
London Grain Futures Association
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The London Corn Trade Association was established in 1878 by members of the corn trade in order to protect their interests. Specifically, they aimed to ensure the adoption of uniform forms of contract, to be drawn up by the association, and the settlement of disputes between buyers and sellers by arbitration rather than by legislation. LCTA forms of contract required the referral of disputes to arbitration in London, each party appointing an arbitrator, who could himself appoint an umpire if a settlement could not be reached. The association was empowered to appoint an arbitrator if one of the parties failed to do so. It also laid down quality standards for use in arbitrations, and heard appeals. Initially, meetings of the association were held in the offices of one of the members, Edward Power, at 118 Bishopsgate Within, whilst additional office space at 22 Leadenhall Street was acquired in the 1880s. In 1886, the year of incorporation of the association, it moved to 2 Lime Street Square where it remained until its move to the Baltic Exchange Chambers, St Mary Axe in 1903. In 1969, talks were commenced with the Cattle Food Trade Association (formerly known as the London Cattle Food Trade Association) regarding a merger between the two associations. The new joint association, the Grain and Feed Trade Association, was formed in 1971 and the London Corn Trade Association was finally wound up on 15 May 1972.
The London Grain Futures Association was established in 1929 by the London Corn Trade Association to oversee the setting up and regulation of the London Grain Futures Market on the floor of the Baltic Exchange. Official quotations were declared daily by the LCTA clearing house, which had been established in 1921 to register contracts. The grain futures market principally dealt in Manitoba and Argentine wheat until 1933, when a second grain futures market was created in maize. Both markets were closed from 1939 to 1953 as a result of the Second World War and its aftermath. When reopened, in 1954, they dealt exclusively in barley and maize. In 1970, the London Grain Futures Association was wound up and its functions assumed by the London Corn Trade Association.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
The records of the London Corn Trade Association comprise minutes of the executive committee, minutes of annual general meetings, minutes of the American grain committee, the Argentina committee, the African and South American Pulse committee, the South African committee, the North African committee, the Persian Gulf committee, the Black Sea grain committee, the Mediterranean and Adriatic committee, the China and Manchurian feeding stuffs committee, the East India grain committee, registers of members, financial material including cash books and ledgers, and papers relating to arbitrations.
Also papers of the London Grain Futures Association, including minutes of the Council, minutes of the annual general meetings, annual reports and registers of members.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Records arranged by MS number, assigned during cataloguing at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section.
Conditions governing access:
Access by appointment only. Please contact staff.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright to this collection rests with the depositor.
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
The archives of the London Corn Trade Association and the London Grain Futures Association were deposited at Guildhall Library in 1987 by the Grain and Feed Trade Association. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Related material:
Other sub-fonds in this collection:
CLC/B/103-01: British Radio Cabinet Manufacturers Association;
CLC/B/103-02: Cattle Feeding Stuffs Central Advisory Committee;
CLC/B/103-03: Edible Oil Association;
CLC/B/103-04: London Oil and Tallow Trades Association;
CLC/B/103-05: London Cattle Food Trade Association;
CLC/B/103-06: London Copra Association;
CLC/B/103-07: London Corn Exchange Importers' Association;
CLC/B/103-08: London Corn Trade Association;
CLC/B/103-09: London Port Area Grain Committee;
CLC/B/103-10: National Association of United Kingdom Oil and Oilseed Brokers;
CLC/B/103-11: National Federation of Corn Trade Associations;
CLC/B/103-12: United Associations Limited;
CLC/B/103-13: National Lubricating Oil and Grease Federation.
Publication note:
A published history of the London Corn Trade Association, the London Cattle Food Trade Association and the Grain and Feed Trade Association, Food for Man and Beast, by Hugh Barty-King (1978), is available in the Printed Books Section of Guildhall Library.
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: November 2010 to January 2011.