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City of London Corporation
The London Archives

London County Council: an overview

Research guide

1. About this guide.

This guide will help you navigate the records of London County Council (LCC). The LCC was the principal local authority for inner London from 1889 to 1965. Its responsibilities changed during its history but included:

  • Housing
  • Education (from 1904)
  • Public Health
  • Welfare Services
  • Children’s Services
  • Town Planning
  • Roads, traffic, transport
  • Parks and Open Spaces
  • Sewerage and Drainage
  • Public Control
  • Heritage and Culture
  • London Fire Brigade

2. Searching the catalogue

You can search the main records of the London County Council on the catalogue under reference code LCC. Scroll down to Collection Tree View to see the full list.

You will notice that the records are arranged are arranged as follows:

  • LCC/AR - Architect’s Department
  • LCC/CE - Chief Engineer’s Department
  • LCC/CH - Children’s Department
  • LCC/CL - Clerk’s Department
  • LCC/CO - Comptroller of the Council’s Department
  • LCC/EO - Education Officer’s Department
  • LCC/FB – Fire Brigade Department
  • LCC/HSG – Housing Department
  • LCC/LP – Legal and Parliamentary Department
  • LCC/LTCY – Lieutenancy of the County of London
  • LCC/MIN – Committee Minutes and Presented Papers
  • LCC/PC – Public Control Department
  • LCC/PH – Public Health Department
  • LCC/PK – Parks Department
  • LCC/RC – Restaurant and Catering Department
  • LCC/SU – Supplies Department
  • LCC/TWYS – Tramways Department
  • LCC/VA – Valuation Department
  • LCC/WE – Welfare Department
  • LCC/WKS – Works Department

3. Council and Committee minutes and papers

3.1 Council minutes

Council minutes record the top-level decisions. For most subjects, they are the best way into the Council’s records. The minutes are not available online but can be consulted in the library in our public rooms.

The minutes are extensively indexed by year. When searching the index, please think carefully about how your topic may be discussed. For example, if you are looking for a particular housing estate, look under ‘housing’ as well as the name of the estate.

If you do find something of interest, make a note of the committee responsible for the decision and the relevant date. This will enable you to order the related committee minutes and presented papers for further information on the matter (see Section 3.2).

3.2 Committee minutes and presented papers

The agenda papers, minutes and presented papers of individual committees and subcommittees are catalogued under LCC/MIN-1. and LCC/MIN-2. Scroll down to Collection Tree View to see the full list.

Committee minutes are not usually indexed so it is often necessary to begin with the Council minutes (see Section 3.1). Matters would be discussed at Committee before going to Council. When you do find the matter in the Committee minutes, please make a note of the date of the meeting and the agenda number. This will help you find the related presented papers.

Committee presented papers contain the reports, correspondence, notes and sometimes plans that were presented at meetings. They are normally bound by meeting date and then follow the order of the agenda. The agenda number can be found in the top right-hand corner of the presented document.

Please be aware of the following anomalies:

  • There are no presented papers for certain minor special and ad hoc committees and sub-committees.
  • Many plans and drawings are not in the presented papers as they were returned to the original department.
  • Some presented plans are catalogued separately under LCC/PP.
  • There are no presented papers for the Education Committee and its sub-committees until September 1940. Before this date, you will need to look at the agenda papers.
  • Presented papers of the Asylums Committee up to the end of 1919 were destroyed during the Second World War.
  • Presented papers of the Housing of the Working Classes Committee between March 1889 and December 1906 are bound by subject rather than chronologically. From 1907, the normal chronological system is followed.
  • Presented papers of the Theatres and Music Halls Committee between March 1889 and October 1909 are bound by theatre or subject rather than chronologically. From October 1909, the normal chronological system is followed.

4. Departmental records

If you are interested in the activities of a particular department, you can browse their records in the catalogue under reference code LCC. Departmental records are most useful for policy level documents, for administrative material and for evidence of how policies were enacted by council officials. Please be aware that departments did not have a standardised way of keeping records and some departments have fuller records than others.

Things to bear in mind:

  • It may be easier to search the whole catalogue for your subject of interest. For best results, use the ‘Search Filters’ on the right-hand side to narrow your results to document level. Documents are individual files that can be ordered and viewed in our public rooms.
  • Don’t rely solely on the departmental records. Often more detail can be found in the Council and Committee minutes and presented papers that are described in Section 3.
  • When the LCC was abolished in 1965, its functions and responsibilities were transferred to the Greater London Council (GLC) and the London boroughs. Consequently, many records were handed over to this bodies and can now be found in their archives. We hold the GLC archives and the catalogue can be browsed under reference code GLC.

5. Publications

The council published many reports, books and pamphlets. You can browse these in our catalogue under reference code LCC/PUB. Titles can also be found in our library catalogue.

Useful titles available in the library in our public rooms include:

  • Ceremonial Pamphlets, 1894-1965 and Opening Ceremonies, 1902-1922 (shelfmark 18.7) - Pamphlets published on the opening of developments such as schools and housing estates.
  • Council’s Roll of Honour, 1914-1918 (shelfmark: 18.3) – Pamphlets published while the First World War was in progress to honour members of staff who had died. Includes detailed biographies.
  • Education Service Particulars, 1909/10 to 1965 (shelfmark 22.06 LCC) – Lists of schools and headteachers.
  • Names of Streets and Places in the Administrative County of London variously published in 1901, 1912, 1929, 1955 (on shelves by map cabinets) – Useful for tracing changes to street names and house numbers.
  • Record of War Service, 1914-1918 (shelfmark 18.3) – A short history of the First World War as far as the staff are concerned, with brief details of every member of staff who served.
  • Services and Staff, 1909-10 - 1939 (shelfmark 18.0) – Lists of officers by department. Does not include all staff.

Reports of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council, 1892-1964 are available to view on the Wellcome Library’s London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972.

The LCC/GLC Staff Association published a regular staff magazine called 'LCC Staff Gazette’, 1900-1928 (shelfmark 18.38) and then ‘London Town', 1929-1986 (shelfmark 19.43 GLC). The Gazette includes much information on individual members of staff and their views and opinions. Issues must be ordered from the stores.

6. Photographs

We hold a large quantity of photographs taken by the LCC (and later the GLC). They were taken to record the work of the local authority and are particularly useful for reflecting changes in the built environment. There are two sequences, one arranged topographically in SC/PHL/01 and one arranged by subject in SC/PHL/02.

All the images from SC/PHL/01 and part of the images from SC/PHL/02 are available to view on London Picture Archive Researcher, a resource available to view in the Mediatheque in our public rooms. Most of the images can also be browsed on London Picture Archive.