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. 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. It was divided into two parts (north and south) by the River Thames, which was the most significant geographical 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-west. The highest point was Hampstead Heath in the north of the county at , 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
Creation of the county
The Metropolis Management Act 1855 revolutionised and amalgamated much of local government across an identical, newly formed, area. This reform created an indirectly elected Metropolitan Board of Works which initially built and maintained infrastructure for the metropolis, including modern sanitation. 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. or by creating ten municipal corporations matching the parliamentary boroughs of the metropolis. These had all been defeated in Parliament, in part because of the agency power of the City Corporation. 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.
Local government
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:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!
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
|-
|Woolwich
|Greenwich, Newham
|13
|}
† Not a metropolitan borough.
Decline in population
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. The following table illustrates the approximate population according to the census at various intervals:
{| class="wikitable"
! Year !! Central Area†!! Inner Ring‡ !! Second Ring§ !! County of London <br />Total !! Outer Ring# of <br /> Greater London
|-
|1881
|1,743,000
|1,008,000
|1,093,000
|3,844,000
|950,000
|-
|1901
|1,623,000
|1,201,000
|1,601,000
|4,425,000
|1,422,000
|-
|1921
|1,364,000
|1,186,000
|1,933,000
|4,483,000
|2,993,000
|-
|1931
|1,260,000
|1,163,000
|1,976,000
|4,399,000
|3,807,000
|}
†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.
<nowiki>#</nowiki>Defined as the area of the Metropolitan Police district outside the County of London.
Abolition
thumb|240px|[[London boroughs covering the area of the former County of London within modern 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. 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
- List of civil parishes in the County of London in 1891
- Home counties
- London postal district
References
Works cited
External links
- County of London boundary map