Richard J. wrote:

Franklin wrote on 04
August 2010 23:39:42 ...
Mizter T wrote:


On Aug 1, 9:19 pm, "Richard
wrote:

g wrote on
01 August 2010 16:00:07 ...

In a year or two I expect to be visiting the main Olympic
stadium. I'm considering a side trip to visit the civic hall for
the Wimbledon area.
[snip]

I am thinking of visiting the town hall for Wimbledon to rummage
through public files in order to find an old friend. I've lost
touch with him but I figure there is some info in the local
government offices: perhaps a building permit in his name, perhaps
a statement he made at a public meeting, perhaps feedback he gave on
local development plans.

Here you can't search local records electronically. You have to
visit in person. Is Wimbledon/Merton the same?

It is certainly worth an online search. Things like planning
applications, minutes of council meetings are online. For the stuff
that isn't online, I don't think there is likely to be any practical
way of searching for his name in Merton's records. The London
Borough of Merton has a population of about 200,000.

You would do better, I think, to take out a subscription to
www.192.com and search there for his name, which would cover
electoral registers (though only if he agreed to his name's inclusion
in the online register), phone directories, and various other
records.

192.com is a very interesting web site. Any more like it which may be
useful in locating my old buddy?