Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London

Metropolitan boroughs were subdivisions of the County of London from 1900 to 1965. The 28 boroughs were created by the London Government Act 1899.[1] In 1965 they were abolished and replaced by larger London boroughs within the new area of Greater London.

This article is about the former County of London's boroughs. For the current Greater London boroughs, see London boroughs. For the current metropolitan borough across England, see Metropolitan Boroughs.

Metropolitan borough (London)
  • Also known as:
  • Borough
CategoryLocal government district
LocationEngland
Found inCounty of London
Created byLondon Government Act 1899
Created
  • 1900
Abolished by
Abolished
  • 1965
Number28 (as of 1965)
Possible status
  • City (1)
  • Royal (1)
Government
  • Borough Councils

History

Parliamentary boroughs covering the metropolitan area were created in 1832. They were Finsbury, Greenwich, Lambeth, Marylebone, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Westminster. Soon after their creation it was proposed that they should be incorporated for local government purposes[2] and this was also a finding of the Royal Commission on the City of London, but this did not happen.

The metropolitan boroughs were created in 1900 by the London Government Act 1899 which created 28 metropolitan boroughs as sub-divisions of the County of London. Their borough councils replaced vestry and district boards as the second tier of local government.

Some boroughs were formed as amalgamations of parishes, but most were continuations of existing units of local government, with the parish vestry or district board elevated to a borough council.[3] With the creation of the boroughs, the opportunity was taken to correct a number of boundary anomalies. All civil parishes in the County of London continued to exist, although their role was reduced to administration of the New Poor Law and they were amalgamated over time to become aligned with the boroughs.

In 1965 the County of London was abolished by the London Government Act 1963 and replaced with the much larger Greater London. The 28 metropolitan boroughs were also abolished and merged to create 12 of the 32 larger London boroughs[4] and are also known as Inner London boroughs.

List of boroughs
Metropolitan Borough Successor(s) Population in 1961[5] Area in 1961 No. on map
Battersea Wandsworth 105,870 2,164 acres (8.76 km2) 28
Bermondsey Southwark 51,860 1,501 acres (6.07 km2) 8
Bethnal Green Tower Hamlets 47,078 759 acres (3.07 km2) 6
Camberwell Southwark 175,304 4,482 acres (18.14 km2) 10
Chelsea Kensington and Chelsea 47,256 660 acres (2.7 km2) 29
Deptford Lewisham 68,829 1,564 acres (6.33 km2) 11
Finsbury Islington 32,887 586 acres (2.37 km2) 4
Fulham Hammersmith 111,791 1,707 acres (6.91 km2) 25
Greenwich Greenwich 85,546 3,864 acres (15.64 km2) 14
Hackney Hackney 164,766 3,294 acres (13.33 km2) 16
Hammersmith Hammersmith 110,333 2,288 acres (9.26 km2) 24
Hampstead Camden 98,844 2,267 acres (9.17 km2) 20
Holborn Camden 22,008 407 acres (1.65 km2) 3
Islington Islington 228,345 3,092 acres (12.51 km2) 18
Kensington (Royal Borough) Kensington and Chelsea 171,272 2,291 acres (9.27 km2) 23
Lambeth Lambeth 223,763 4,089 acres (16.55 km2) 27
Lewisham Lewisham 221,753 7,016 acres (28.39 km2) 12
Paddington Westminster 116,923 1,355 acres (5.48 km2) 22
Poplar Tower Hamlets 66,604 2,348 acres (9.50 km2) 15
Shoreditch Hackney 40,455 659 acres (2.67 km2) 5
Southwark Southwark 86,249 1,131 acres (4.58 km2) 9
St Marylebone Westminster 69,045 1,472 acres (5.96 km2) 21
St Pancras Camden 124,855 2,694 acres (10.90 km2) 19
Stepney Tower Hamlets 92,000 1,771 acres (7.17 km2) 7
Stoke Newington Hackney 52,301 865 acres (3.50 km2) 17
Wandsworth Lambeth, Wandsworth 347,442 9,110 acres (36.9 km2) 26
Westminster (City) Westminster 85,735 2,505 acres (10.14 km2) 2
Woolwich Greenwich, Newham 146,603 8,281 acres (33.51 km2) 13

No. 1 on the map indicates the City of London. This was not a metropolitan borough. It predated the metropolitan boroughs and is still in existence.

References
  1. London Government Act 1899 c.14, s.1: "Establishment of metropolitan boroughs in London"
  2. The Westminster Review: Volumes 25-26, 1 January 1835, Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy - Publisher
  3. "London's Boroughs". History Today. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  4. London Government Act 1963 c.33, s.3: "the following administrative areas and their councils (and, in the case of a borough, the municipal corporation thereof) shall cease to exist, that is to say, the counties of London and Middlesex, the metropolitan boroughs, and any existing county borough, county district or parish the area of which falls wholly within Greater London"
  5. "Vision of Britain | 1961 Census: County Report". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 30 September 2022.

Further reading
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