County of London

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For the present-day ceremonial county, see Greater London. For other uses,
see London County (disambiguation).

London
County of London

County

County of London shown within England

Area

 • 1911 74,816 acres (302.77 km2)

 • 1961 74,903 acres (303.12 km2)

Population

 • 1911 4,521,685

 • 1961 3,200,484
Density

 • 1911 60/acre

 • 1961 42/acre

History

 • Origin District of the Metropolitan Board of Works

 • Created 1889

 • Abolished 1965

 • Succeeded by Greater London

Status Administrative and (smaller) ceremonial county

Government London County Council

 • HQ County Hall, Lambeth

Coat of arms of London County Council

Subdivisions

 • Type Parishes and districts (1889–1900)
Metropolitan boroughs (1900–1965)
 Boroughs numbered 2–29 (1 is the City)

The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding

to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general
introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local
Government Act 1888. The Act created an administrative County of London, which
included within its territory the City of London. However, the City of London and the
County of London formed separate ceremonial counties for "non-administrative"
purposes.[1] The local authority for the county was the London County Council (LCC),
which initially performed only a limited range of functions, but gained further powers
during its 76-year existence. The LCC provided very few services within the City of
London, where the ancient Corporation monopolised local governance.[1] In 1900, the
lower-tier civil parishes and district boards were replaced with 28 new metropolitan
boroughs. The territory of the county was 74,903 acres (303.12 km2) in 1961. During
its existence there was a long-term decline in population as more residents moved
into the outer suburbs; there were periodic reviews of the local government
structures in the greater London area and several failed attempts to expand the
boundaries of the county. In 1965, the London Government Act 1963 replaced the
county with the much larger Greater London administrative area.

Contents

 1Geography
 2History
o 2.1Creation of the county
o 2.2County council
o 2.3Local government
o 2.4Decline in population
o 2.5Abolition
 3See also
 4References
 5Works cited
 6External links

Geography[edit]
The county occupied an area of just under 75,000 acres (30,351 ha) and lay within
the London Basin.[2] It was divided into two parts (north and south) by the River
Thames, which was the most significant geographic feature. It was bordered by
the River Lea with Essex to the north-east, Kent to the south-east, Surrey the south-
west and Middlesex to the north. The highest point was Hampstead Heath in the
north of the county at 440 feet (134 m), which is one of the highest points in London.
In 1900 a number of boundary anomalies were abolished. These included the loss of
the Alexandra Park exclave to Middlesex, gaining South Hornsey in return, and the
transfer of Penge to Kent.

History[edit]
Creation of the county[edit]
The local government arrangements in London had last been reformed in 1855. This
reform created an indirectly elected Metropolitan Board of Works which initially
provided basic infrastructure services for the metropolitan area. [3] Over time the board
gained more functions and became the de facto local authority and provider of new
services for the London area. The board operated in those parts of the counties
of Middlesex, Surrey and Kent that had been designated by the General Register
Office as "the Metropolis" for the purposes of the Bills of Mortality.[3] This area had
been administered separately from the City of London, which came under the control
of the Corporation of London.
There had been several attempts during the 19th century to reform London
government, either by expanding the City of London to cover the whole of the
metropolitan area; by creating a new county of London; [4] or by creating ten municipal
corporations matching the parliamentary boroughs of the metropolis. [5] These had all
been defeated in Parliament, in part because of the agency power of the City
Corporation.[6] Ultimately, the Local Government Act 1888 and the introduction of
county councils in England provided the mechanism for creating a territory and
authority encompassing the expanded London area. For expediency, the area of the
metropolitan board was chosen for the new county, and no attempt was made to
select new boundaries.[1] This area had been out of line with the expansion of London
even in 1855.[3] For example, it anomalously omitted built-up and expanding areas
such as West Ham, but included some sparsely populated areas on the metropolitan
fringe.[3]
The City of London and the County of London each formed counties for "non-
administrative" purposes, with a separate Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff for the
county of London.[1] However, the administrative county, which corresponded to the
area of control of the county council, also included the City of London. In practice,
the county council had very little authority over the ancient City, with some powers
over drainage, roads, fire brigade, embankment of the river and flood prevention. [1] In
common with the rest of the country, the 1888 Act provided no reform of lower-tier
authorities and the county was, initially at least, locally governed by a series of parish
vestries and district boards.
County council[edit]
Main article: London County Council
The local authority for the county was the London County Council (LCC). Initially, the
LCC provided the services it had inherited from the Metropolitan Board of Works.
  However, it eventually absorbed functions from ad-hoc agencies such the London
[1]

School Board and Metropolitan Asylums Board. The council was initially based

in Spring Gardens, but moved to a purpose-built County Hall in the 1930s. The
housing policy of the council included provision of large housing estates outside the
boundaries of the county, such as that at Becontree.[7]
Local government[edit]
In 1900, eleven years after its foundation, the London Government Act divided the
County of London into 28 metropolitan boroughs. These replaced the ancient
parish vestries and district boards as the second tier of local government.
County of London boroughs numbered in the information box on the right side:

Metropolitan Borough Successor(s) No. on map

City of London † City of London 1

Battersea Wandsworth 28
Bermondsey Southwark 8
Bethnal Green Tower Hamlets 6
Camberwell Southwark 10
Chelsea Kensington and Chelsea 29
Deptford Lewisham 11
Finsbury Islington 4
Fulham Hammersmith and Fulham 25
Greenwich Greenwich 14
Hackney Hackney 16
Hammersmith Hammersmith and Fulham 24
Hampstead Camden 20
Holborn Camden 3
Islington Islington 18
Kensington (Royal Borough) Kensington and Chelsea 23
Lambeth Lambeth 27
Lewisham Lewisham 12
Paddington Westminster 22
Poplar Tower Hamlets 15
Shoreditch Hackney 5
Southwark Southwark 9
St Marylebone Westminster 21
St Pancras Camden 19
Stepney Tower Hamlets 7
Stoke Newington Hackney 17
Wandsworth Lambeth, Wandsworth 26
Westminster (City) Westminster 2
 Metropolitan Borough Successor(s) No. on map

Woolwich Greenwich, Newham 13

† Not a metropolitan borough.

Decline in population[edit]
Population fell after World War I and as recorded at each census until its 1965
demise. In 1901, the population was 4.5 million and by 1961 it had fallen to
3.2 million. Following the 1931 census, more of the population of "Greater London"
(defined at the time as the Metropolitan Police District and City of London) lived
outside the county than in it.[8] The following table illustrates the approximate
population according to the census at various intervals: [9]

Second County of London Outer Ring# of

Year Central Area† Inner Ring‡
Ring§ Total Greater London

1881 1,743,000 1,008,000 1,093,000 3,844,000 950,000[10]

1901 1,623,000 1,201,000 1,601,000 4,425,000 1,422,000[11]

1921 1,364,000 1,186,000 1,933,000 4,483,000 2,993,000[12]

1931 1,260,000 1,163,000 1,976,000 4,399,000 3,807,000[8]

1951 738,000 927,000 1,683,000 3,348,000 4,998,000[13]

†The City of London and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Bermondsey, Bethnal Green,
Finsbury, Holborn, St Marylebone, St Pancras, Shoreditch, Southwark, Stepney and
Westminster.
‡The Metropolitan Boroughs of Battersea, Chelsea, Islington, Kensington, Lambeth
and Paddington.
§The Metropolitan Boroughs of Camberwell, Deptford, Fulham, Greenwich,
Hackney, Hammersmith, Hampstead, Lewisham, Poplar, Stoke Newington,
Wandsworth and Woolwich.
#Defined as the area of the Metropolitan Police district outside the County of
London.
Abolition[edit]
County of London superimposed upon Greater London

The county of London was abolished in 1965 and was replaced by the fivefold-
sized Greater London, which took in nearly all of Middlesex, along with areas
in Surrey, Kent, Essex and Hertfordshire. Middlesex and Surrey had already been
reduced in 1889 on the county's creation. [14] The area "that had been" has since been
known statutorily as Inner London and an Inner London Education
Authority operated in the area until 1990. The 28 metropolitan boroughs were
merged to form 12 new Inner London boroughs.

See also[edit]
 List of civil parishes in the County of London in
1891
 Home counties
 London postal district

References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f Robson 1939, pp. 80–92.
2. ^ Natural England – London Basin Natural Area.
Retrieved on 22 July 2009.
3. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Robson 1939, pp. 54–61.
4. ^ County of London Bill, 1870
5. ^ Municipal Boroughs (Metropolis) Bill, 1870
6. ^ Robson 1939, pp. 71–79.
7. ^ Robson 1939, pp. 168–169.
8. ^ Jump up to:a b "London census – Decline in County
Population".  The Times. London. 27 July 1932. p. 7.
9. ^ Pevsner, Niklaus (1952). The Buildings of England –
London, except the Cities of London and Westminster.
Harmondsworth: Penguin. pp.  37–39.
10. ^ "Some Results of the Census".  The Times. London. 9
June 1891.
11. ^ "London and the Outer Ring".  The Times. London. 15
May 1901.
12. ^ "Official Census Figures – London's Shrinkage". The
Times. London. 24 August 1921.
13. ^ "Census of England and Wales".  The Times. 12 July
1951.
14. ^ Redcliffe-Maud & Wood, B., English Local Government
Reformed, (1974)

Works cited[edit]
  Robson, William A. (1939). The government and
misgovernment of London. London: Allen &
Unwin. OCLC 504395625.

External links[edit]
 County of London boundary map
show

History of London

show

Local government districts abolished or transferred by the London Government Act 1963

show

before 1889 ← Counties of England (1889–1974) → 1974–1996

Coordinates:  51.5°N 0.1°W

Categories: 
 County of London
 Greater London predecessors
 Counties of England established in 1889
 Counties of England disestablished in 1965
 History of local government in London (1889–1965)
 Administrative counties abolished in 1965
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