Nothing to do with fleas, nor even the plague. Instead, I describe another two of those administrative curiosities that London seems to specialise in - the Inner and Middle Temples.
Was he a liberal reformer and the first black Lord mayor of London, a figure to be celebrated, or an imperialist unaware of his own ethnicity? Read on to discover why I don't really answer the question.
A post for devotees of municipal governance. Welcome to a world of Freemen, Liverymen, Councilmen, Aldermen, Sheriffs, Aldermanic Sheriffs and a Lord Mayor, in a city that is home to less than 10,000 people.
The Tower of London survives in all its glory; the lost Baynard's Castle and Bridewell Palace are well-documented. So I've written a short post on the long-forgotten Tower Royal. It's short because there's next to no evidence.
Welcome to the bizarre world of the Southwark Courts Leet, City outposts south of the Thames that have had no purpose for centuries and yet are still with us, alive and ... er ... well, they are certainly alive.
