The London and Middlesex Archaeological Society (LAMAS) is a society founded in 1855 for the study of the

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and

local history Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context, often concentrating on a relatively small local community. It incorporates cultural and social aspects of history. Local history is not merely national history writ small bu ...

of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

and the historic county of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. It also takes an interest in districts that were historically in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

and

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, but that now lie within

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

. The Society receives support from the

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall, London, Gui ...

, and works in close association both with the Museum and with

Museum of London Archaeology MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) is an archaeology and built heritage practice and independent charitable company registered with the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA), providing a wide range of professional archaeological servic ...

. It acts to some extent as an umbrella organisation to support smaller archaeological and local history societies in the Greater London area. It hosts an Annual Conference of London Archaeologists and an annual Local History Conference.

History

The Society was established in 1855 "for the purpose of investigating the antiquities and early history of the Cities of London and Westminster and the Metropolitan County of Middlesex". The inaugural meeting was held on 14 December 1855 at Crosby Hall,

Bishopsgate Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London's former defensive wall. The gate gave its name to the Bishopsgate Ward of the City of London. The ward is traditionally divided into ''Bishopsgate Within'', inside the line wall, and ''Bishop ...

.Bridgmore Brown 1955. The primary instigators were George Bish Webb (who was already honorary secretary of

Surrey Archaeological Society Surrey Archaeological Society is a county archaeological society, founded in 1854 for "the investigation of subjects connected with the history and antiquities of the County of Surrey" in England. Remit The Society concerns itself with "the Cou ...

, established the previous year, and who became the first honorary secretary of LAMAS); and Rev. Thomas Hugo, curate of

St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate is a Church of England church in the Bishopsgate Without area of the City of London, and also, by virtue of lying outside the city's (now demolished) eastern walls, part of London's East End. Adjoining the buildi ...

(who became the first chairman of LAMAS). Other founder members included

Charles Boutell Charles Boutell (1 August 1812 – 31 July 1877) was an English archaeologist, antiquary and clergyman, publishing books on brasses, arms and armour and heraldry, often illustrated by his own drawings. Life Boutell was born at Pulham St Mary, N ...

Henry Christmas Henry Christmas (1811 – March 10, 1868), at the end of his life going by the surname Noel-Fearn, was an English clergyman, a man of letters and editor of periodicals, known also as a numismatist. Life Born in London in 1811, he was the only son ...

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

, and

Charles Roach Smith Charles Roach Smith (20 August 1807 – 2 August 1890), FSA, was an English antiquarian and amateur archaeologist who was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and the London Numismatic Society. He was a founding member of ...

. Boutell served as honorary secretary from 23 July to 27 November 1857, but was dismissed for what was termed "improper" bookkeeping involving the disappearance of £56 15s received in subscription fees.Brooks 1985, p. 213. Also active in the early decades were

John Gough Nichols John Gough Nichols (1806–1873) was an English painter and antiquary, the third generation in a family publishing business with strong connection to learned antiquarianism. Life The eldest son of John Bowyer Nichols, he was born at his fath ...

and

Edward Brabrook Sir Edward William Brabrook (10 April 1839 – 20 March 1930) was an English civil servant, author, and anthropologist with a special interest in folklore. He was a member of the Folklore Society and a fellow of Society of Antiquaries of London ...

(the latter eventually serving as President from 1910 to 1930).

Sir Thomas Phillipps Sir Thomas Phillipps, 1st Baronet (2 July 1792 – 6 February 1872), was an English antiquary and book collector who amassed the largest collection of manuscript material in the 19th century. He was an illegitimate son of a textile manufacture ...

was another early supporter, but allegedly withdrew on learning that Hugo had expressed a wish to see the restoration of the monasteries.

Membership

Individual membership in the Society is open to all. In the early years, and until the late 1870s, membership seems to have stood at around 400. The total subsequently started to decline, falling to 277 in 1891, 163 in 1905, and 132 in 1911. It then began to recover, rising to 232 in 1939, 350 in 1950, and nearly 500 in 1955. The figure was 662 in 2004; 675 in 2010; and 608 in 2018. Any archaeological or local history society in the Greater London area may become an Affiliated Society of LAMAS. As of 2020, there were 53 such affiliate members.

Publications

The Society's

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

is entitled ''Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society''. It is published annually, and is issued free to members. The historic numbering of the volumes of ''Transactions'' may cause confusion. The first volume was published in three parts between 1856 and 1860, and the final part of volume 6 appeared in 1890: these six volumes form what is now known as the "first series". The next volume was completed in 1905, and was numbered as volume 1 of the "new series". This new series continued to volume 11 (dated 1952). The decision was then taken to revert to the original scheme of numbering, and so the next volume, dated 1955, was numbered volume 18 (the numbers 12–17 having been omitted). Volume 70 is dated 2019. All volumes of ''Transactions'' to volume 67 (2016) have been digitised, and are freely available to download from the Society's website. Since 1976, the Society has also published occasional monographs or collections of essays in its "Special Papers" series. The 17th volume in this series was published in 2014. The first 16 volumes have been digitised, and are available to download from the Society's website. Three additional volumes of Special Papers, dealing with excavations in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

and Staines, have been published jointly with the

. The Society publishes a ''Newsletter'', which is produced three times a year and sent to all members. It is also available in digitised form on the Society's website. St Andrew Undershaft, St Mary Axe, EC2 - Wall monument of John Stow - geograph

St Andrew Undershaft, St Mary Axe, EC2 - Wall monument of John Stow - geograph

Stow Memorial Service

The Society is joint sponsor and organiser (with the

Merchant Taylors' Company ] The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors is one of the 110 Livery company, livery companies of the City of London. The Company, originally known as the ''Guild and Fraternity of St John the Baptist in the City of London'', was founded prio ...

) of the regular Stow Memorial Service, held in the church of St Andrew Undershaft in the City of London. This commemorates the antiquary

John Stow John Stow (''also'' Stowe; 1524/25 – 5 April 1605) was an English historian and antiquarian. He wrote a series of chronicles of English history, published from 1565 onwards under such titles as ''The Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles'', ''The C ...

, author of the ''Survey of London'' (1598; second edition 1603), who is widely revered as the founding father of London history. The service is normally held close to the anniversary of Stow's death on 5 April, and includes an address by a respected London historian or archaeologist, and the replacement of the (real)

quill pen A quill is a writing tool made from a moulted flight feather (preferably a primary wing-feather) of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen, the metal- nibbed pen, the fountain pen, and, eventuall ...

held by Stow's effigy on his monument in the church. The service was first held in its present form in 1924, and was then held annually until 1991, including the years of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. No services could be held in 1992 or 1993 because of damage to the church caused by the

Baltic Exchange bomb The Baltic Exchange bombing was an attack by the Provisional IRA on the City of London, Britain's financial centre, on 10 April 1992, the day after the General Election which re-elected John Major from the Conservative Party as Prime Minister. ...

of 1992. The service was revived in 1994, but from 1996 to 2017 was held only once every three years. The service due to take place in 2020 was cancelled because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

LAMAS Research Fund

The Society awards small grants (envisaged as totalling approximately £3,000–£5,000 per annum) to support research into the archaeology and history of London and Middlesex. The grants are available to all full individual members of the Society. The scheme was inaugurated in 2005 to mark the Society's 150th anniversary.

Logo

The Society's logo comprises a monochrome pseudo-heraldic

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

, combining elements of the authentic arms of the

, the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...

and the county of

, as they normally appeared in the mid 19th century. The shield is quarterly, with the first and fourth quarters occupied by the arms of the City of London, the second by those of Westminster, and the third by those of Middlesex. The

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

and

supporter In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up. Early forms of supporters are found in medieval seals. However, unlike the coro ...

s are taken from the arms of the City of London: a " Muscovy hat" surmounted by a dragon's wing charged with a cross, for the crest; and two dragons charged on the wings with crosses for supporters. Beneath the arms, a motto scroll reads "1855", the year of the Society's foundation. The present rendition is by Kenneth Ody, and was introduced in 1955, the Society's centenary year. In Ody's full design, the arms were placed within an oval border bearing the words "London and Middlesex Archaeological Society", but the border was often omitted, and was abandoned entirely in the early 1990s. Ody's design was a reworking of the Society's original device, introduced at its foundation, and engraved by

Orlando Jewitt Thomas Orlando Sheldon Jewitt (1799 – 30 May 1869) was a British architectural wood-engraver. Biography Thomas Orlando Sheldon Jewitt was born in Buxton, Derbyshire, the son of Arthur Jewitt and brother of Llewellyn Jewitt. Before the introd ...

(one of the original members). This showed the same combined arms, presented as if on a medieval

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

, and surrounded by the legend +LONDON⋅AND⋅MIDDLESEX⋅ARCHÆOL⋅SOC⋅ESTAB⋅MDCCCLV. The only heraldic variation is that in Jewitt's design the supporters appear as

wyvern A wyvern ( , sometimes spelled wivern) is a legendary winged dragon that has two legs. The wyvern in its various forms is important in heraldry, frequently appearing as a mascot of schools and athletic teams (chiefly in the United States, Unit ...

s (i.e. with only two legs), rather than four-legged dragons. By the mid-20th century, Jewitt's design was considered "perhaps a little crowded", and Ody was asked to redraw it to "represent the taste of 1955". File:Coat of Arms of The City of London.svg, Arms of the City of London File:Westminster1601.png, Arms of the

File:Arms of Essex.svg, Arms of

Presidents

The following have served as presidents of the Society: * 1855–1860: Albert Denison, 1st Baron Londesborough * 1860–1883: James Talbot, 4th Baron Talbot of Malahide * 1883–1885: General

Augustus Pitt Rivers Lieutenant General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers (14 April 18274 May 1900) was an English officer in the British Army, ethnologist, and archaeologist. He was noted for innovations in archaeological methodology, and in the museum display o ...

* 1885–1910: Edwin Freshfield * 1910–1930:

* 1930–1942: Sir

Montagu Sharpe Sir Montagu Sharpe KBE DL (28 October 1857 – 23 August 1942) was an English politician, lawyer, amateur archaeologist, antiquarian, and ornithologist. He came from an old Middlesex family that owned Hanwell Park. He was a member of the Midd ...

* 1943–1946: Edmund Byng, 6th Earl of Strafford * 1947–1949:

Harry Nathan, 1st Baron Nathan Harry Louis Nathan, 1st Baron Nathan, (2 February 1889 – 23 October 1963) was a British Liberal politician who from 1934 onwards represented the Labour Party. He served two London seats non-consecutively and while serving the second seat w ...

* 1950–1958: W. F. Grimes * 1959–1964: D. B. Harden * 1965–1970: R. Michael Robbins * 1971–1973: A. J. Taylor * 1974–1976:

Ralph Merrifield Ralph Merrifield (22 August 1913 – 9 January 1995) was an English museum curator and archaeologist. Described as "the father of London's modern archaeology", Merrifield was a specialist in the archaeology of both Roman London and magical pra ...

* 1977–1979:

Max Hebditch Maxwell Graham Hebditch (born 22 August 1937) was Museum director, Director of the Museum of London in London, England. He was born on 22 August 1937 in the Yeovil area, the son of Harold and Lily (née Bartle) Hebditch. He was appointed the fi ...

* 1980–1981: Valerie Pearl * 1982–1985:

John Wilkes John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fo ...

* 1985–1988: John Kent * 1988–1991: Derek Renn * 1991–1992: Hugh Chapman * 1992–1993: Derek Renn * 1993–1996: Harvey Sheldon * 1996–1999: Mark Hassall * 1999–2002:

Derek Keene Derek John Keene, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, FRHistS (27 December 1942–April 2021), was an English Urban history, urban historian. He was founding director of the Centre for Metropolitan History from 1987 to 2002 at the Institute of ...

* 2002–2005: Clive Orton * 2005–2008:

Simon Thurley Simon John Thurley, (born 29 August 1962) is an English academic and architectural historian. He served as Chief Executive of English Heritage from April 2002 to May 2015. Early life and education Thurley was born in Huntingdon and grew up in G ...

* 2008–2011:

Caroline Barron Caroline Mary Barron (''née'' Hogarth; born 1940) is a British retired medieval historian. She is professor emerita in the department of history at Royal Holloway, University of London. Barron's research relates to "late medieval British hist ...

* 2011–2014:

Martin Biddle Martin Biddle, (born 4 June 1937) is a British archaeologist and academic. He is an emeritus fellow of Hertford College, Oxford. His work was important in the development of medieval and post-medieval archaeology in Great Britain. Early lif ...

* 2014–2017: John Clark * 2017–2020: Taryn Nixon * 2020– : Gillian Tindall

References

External links

* {{Authority control Archaeological organizations 1855 establishments in England History of London Archaeology of London History organisations based in London Organizations established in 1855