Archives showcase and community history

The Westminster City Archives collections and Westminster's community history are brought to life through a range of exciting online projects:

Westminster memories

Learn more about the history of different areas in Westminster and view photos, memories and comments:

• Westminster memories
• Soho memories
• Church Street memories
• St. John's Wood memories
• Covent Garden memories

Strandlines

Exploring The Strand, one of London’s most famous streets, past and present through the Strandlines website.

West End at War

Discover Westminster's wartime story on the West End at War website.

Marylebone Remembered

Using records from the Portman Estate and Howard de Walden Estate, local newspapers and other historical sources, the Marylebone Remembered website provides a snapshot of how people living and working in Marylebone responded to the demands of the First World War. 

London Lives

Search over 240,000 manuscripts from eight different archives to uncover the documented history of Londoners from 1690-1800 on the London Lives website.

Cholera and the Thames

Learn all about the fascinating story of London’s battle against cholera in the nineteenth century and the continuing battle being fought against it today.

The website focuses on Westminster and how the work of three local men, Dr John Snow, Reverend Whitehead and Joseph Bazalgette, helped to ensure that twentieth century London was free of this killer disease.

View the Cholera and the Thames website. 

Cato Street Conspiracy

Learn about one of history’s most significant attempts to overthrow the government, the Cato Street Conspiracy. The Cato Street Conspiracy website includes in-depth coverage of the build-up and aftermath of the failed plot, biographies of the conspirators, virtual reality recreations of the locations involved and education material for teachers.

Black History in Westminster

Use our interactive black history map to discover the fascinating stories of the individuals who lived, worked and visited Westminster, and changed the course of history.

Annals of the Haymarket

A M Broadley's Annals of the Haymarket features selected letters in a four-volume compilation of material on the Haymarket theatres. 

Of particular note in this treasure trove of theatre history, is the rich collection of letters included in the albums.  They record life in London's theatre industry through the eyes of its key protagonists: actors, singers, dancers and managers.

In early 2011, Westminster City Archives launched a volunteer project to transcribe these letters, to make them, and the remarkable stories behind them, available to a wider audience.

View the Annals of the Haymarket - selected letters from the Broadley Albums at City of Westminster Archives Centre.

Document

Annals of the Haymarket PDF, 1.2 MB, 131 pages

The Cookbook of Unknown Ladies

'The Cookbook of Unknown Ladies' is a manuscript recipe book in the collections of Westminster City Archives.

The recipes, recorded in several different hands, span 150 years of British cookery, providing a fascinating insight into culinary craft of the Georgian and Regency periods.

Discover more about the book, including some of its recipes on our Lost Cookbook blog.