The Church Commissioners for England have existed as such since 1 April 1948, at which date the amalgamation of the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the Poor Clergy (founded 1704) and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England (founded 1836) took effect under the provisions of the Church Commissioners Measure, 1947. In 1856 the Church Building Commissioners, constituted in 1818, had been dissolved and their remaining powers and duties transferred to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.
The chief duty of the Church Commissioners and before them the Ecclesiastical Commissioners has always been to administer the secular estates and revenues of the Church of England in order to maximise financial support for the clergy. They also play a role in making provision for pastoral reorganisation and dealing with parsonage houses and new and redundant churches.
Since the nineteenth century Smiths Gore (formerly known as Smiths Gore & Co.), through their national network of offices, have acted as land agents for the Church Commissioners, dealing at a local level with land and financial transactions relating to ecclesiastical estates. Their Peterborough office, from which this collection came, appears to have coordinated such activities over a wide area.
From the guide to the Smiths-Gore Papers, 19th - 20th century, (Durham University Library, Archives and Special Collections)
