HAMPTON COURT GAS COMPANY

This accession consists of twelve volumes of signed minutes of directors meetings of proprietors, 1937-1949. The majority of the volumes contain certain cuttings about the company and the gas industry in general which have been extracted from local newspapers and pasted inside the front and back covers.

<p>The legal papers of F. J. Kent, solicitor to and director of the company, are also held in this office (ref: ACC/333/48/1-38). They cover the years 1850-1892 and include the deed of settlement, contracts and specifications, bills and receipts, lists of share-holders and share certificates, title deeds to property, correspondence and the seal of the company.</p>

The Hampton Court Gas Company was instituted in 1850 and provisionally registered in 1851 and 1852. Full registration of the company was obtained on 29 November 1852, after the completion of a deed of settlement, under the name of the Hampton Court United Gas Company, being a joint stock company for the purpose of supplying the parish and neighbourhood of Hampton with inflammable air or gas. the initial capital was £7, 500 in 750 shares of £10 each, and the place of business was designated to be the Red Lion Inn, Hampton.

Office and works were built at Sandy lane, Hampton Wick, in the parishes of Hampton and Teddington. By 1937 the company had expanded the works in Sandy Lane, and the offices and showrooms were situated at Bridge Foot, Hampton Wick. Initially, gas was supplied to the parishes of Hampton, including Hampton Court Palace, Teddington, and East and West Molesey in Surrey. By the Hampton Court Gas Act, 1867, the supply was extended to the parishes of Hanworth and Feltham, additional capital of £36,000 in paid up shares of £10 each was raised, and the company was incorporated under the name of the Hampton Court Gas Company.

The company continued to function under its board of directors until the nationalisation of the gas industry was implemented by the Gas Act, 1948 (11 and 12 Geo. VI c.67). The board held its last meeting on 14 April 1949, and thus the company was deprived of its centenary celebrations.