St Marylebone Electricity Supply Undertaking

Records of the St Marylebone Borough Council pre-1906 and post 1906

This collection is divided into two groups of material, pre-1906 and post-1906; in March of that year St. Marylebone Borough Council assumed responsibility for electricity supplies within the borough.

The series of boxes, files and parcels of which the pre-1906 material consisted have been left virtually in their original order, apart from the weeding out of duplicate material. There is a certain amount of overlapping between the groups of 1895-1905 correspondence, but the description of these groups are intended to reduce any difficulties this may cause. The detailed descriptions of contents of the 'parcels' series are based on original lists found inside each parcel.

The post-1906 material consists entirely of a large collection of working files produced by the Department which administered the Electricity Undertaking. Some of these date back to 1906, and a number of them continue for a year or two after the Council handed over their control of the electricity supply to the British Electricity Authority and the London Electricity Board in 1948. These files have been listed in their own numerical sequence. No note has been found of the missing files or of the file numbers not used.

The following Electricity Supply Undertaking Accounts have survived and are listed with the Borough Treasurers' Records:

Cost Accounts 2 vols 1925-30

1930-34

Loans Ledger 1929-41

Cash Receipts April 1941 - March 1942

Summary of the events leading up to the time when St. Marylebone Borough Council assumed responsibility for local electricity supplies

1888 Oxford Street Electric Lighting Station opened in Rathbone Place but was purchased after a year by the South Metropolitan Electric Lighting Co.

1889 Provisional Order under the Electric Lighting Acts awarded to this company for the supply of electricity in St. Marylebone. The company then changed its name to the Metropolitan Electric Supply Co.

1890 New generating station built in Blandford Street and mains laid in St. John's Wood which took their power from the Company's depot in Amberley Road, Paddington.

1899 Willesden Power House opened and supplied most of the electricity in St. Marylebone.

May 1900 St. Marylebone Borough Council resolved to purchase the local portion of the company's undertaking.

July 1901 Act of Parliament passed empowering the Council to purchase the undertaking.

December 1901 Arbitration proceedings requested by the Company

March-August 1902 Arbitration held lasting 33 days.

February 1903 Purchase price fixed at £1,212,000.

June 1904 Act of Parliament passed enabling the Council to borrow the necessary money.

July 1904 Purchase of the undertaking by the Council complete.

June 1905 New generating station built in Richmond Street (now Orchardson Street)

March 1906 Final transfer of agreement to supply local consumers passed from the Metropolitan Electric Supply Co. to St. Marylebone Borough Council.