County of London
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{{infobox historic subdivision|
|Name= London
|Origin= [[Metropolitan Board of Works|The Metropolis]]
|HQ= [[County Hall, London|County Hall]], Lambeth
|Status= [[administrative county]]<br>[[Ceremonial counties of England|ceremonial county]]
|Start= 1889
|End= 1965
|Replace= [[Greater London]]
|Map= [[Image:EnglandLondon1890.png|County of London shown within England]]<br>''County of London shown within England''
|Arms= [[Image:CountyLondon.svg|150px|Arms of London County Council]]<br>''Arms of London County Council
|Divisions= [[Metropolitan borough]]s (from 1900)
|Government= [[London County Council]]
|AreaFirst= {{convert|74816|acre|km2}}
|AreaLast= {{convert|74903|acre|km2}}
|AreaFirstYear= 1911
|AreaLastYear= 1961
|DensityFirst= 60/acre
|DensityLast= 42/acre
|DensityFirstYear= 1911
|DensityLastYear= 1961
|PopulationFirst= 4,521,685
|PopulationLast= 3,200,484
|PopulationFirstYear= 1911
|PopulationLastYear= 1961
|DivisionsMap= [[Image:LondonCounty.png|250px]]<br>''Boroughs numbered 2-29 (1 is the City)''
}}
The '''County of London''' was a [[ceremonial counties of England|ceremonial county]] and [[administrative counties of England|administrative county]] of [[England]] from 1889 to 1965.<ref name=saint>Saint, A., ''Politics and the people of London: the London County Council (1889-1965)'', (1989)</ref> It bordered [[Middlesex]] to the north and west, [[Essex]] to the north east, [[Kent]] to the south east and [[Surrey]] to the south. It was governed by the [[London County Council]] and corresponded to the area today known as [[Inner London]].
==Creation==
Although the county was constituted in 1889 by the [[Local Government Act 1888]], the territory of the county was first established in 1855 by the [[Metropolis Management Act 1855]]. The area had been known until then as 'the metropolis' and was under the control of a range of parishes and vestries<ref name=barlow>Barlow, I., ''Metropolitan Government'', (1991)</ref> who nominated members to the [[Metropolitan Board of Works]]; with responsibility for London's roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
In addition to being an administrative county with a [[county council]], the 1888 Act also provided that "such portion of the administrative county of London as forms part of the counties of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, shall [...] be severed from those counties, and form a separate county for all non-administrative purposes by the name of the county of London".
The county was created as part of the general introduction of [[county council]]s and was governed by the [[London County Council]].<ref name=england>Thomson, D., ''England in the Nineteenth Century (1815-1914)'', (1978)</ref> It did not cover all of today's [[Greater London]], but only the inner part. It covered parts of [[Middlesex]], [[Surrey]] and [[Kent]] - corresponding to today's [[London Borough]]s of [[London Borough of Camden|Camden]], [[London Borough of Greenwich|Greenwich]], [[London Borough of Hackney|Hackney]], [[London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham|Hammersmith and Fulham]], [[London Borough of Islington|Islington]], [[Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea|Kensington and Chelsea]], [[London Borough of Lambeth|Lambeth]], [[London Borough of Lewisham|Lewisham]], [[London Borough of Southwark|Southwark]], [[London Borough of Tower Hamlets|Tower Hamlets]], [[London Borough of Wandsworth|Wandsworth]] and [[City of Westminster|Westminster]].
The county did not include the City of London. A [[Royal Commission on the Amalgamation of the City and County of London]] was set up to explore the means of amalgamation of the two entities, but was unsuccessful in effecting the change.
==Metropolitan boroughs==
In 1900, eleven years after its foundation, the [[London Government Act 1899| London Government Act]] divided the County of London into 28 [[metropolitan borough]]s. These replaced the ancient parish [[vestry|vestries]] and district boards as the second tier of local government. When the County of London was abolished in 1965 these metropolitan boroughs were merged to form 12 [[London borough]]s.
County of London boroughs numbered in the information box on the right side:
<ol start=1><li>[[City of London]] (not a metropolitan borough)</li></ol>
{{div col}}
<ol start=2>
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Westminster|Westminster]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Holborn|Holborn]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury|Finsbury]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch|Shoreditch]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green|Bethnal Green]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Stepney|Stepney]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey|Bermondsey]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Southwark|Southwark]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell|Camberwell]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Deptford|Deptford]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham|Lewisham]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich|Woolwich]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich|Greenwich]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Poplar|Poplar]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Hackney|Hackney]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington|Stoke Newington]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Islington|Islington]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras|St Pancras]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Hampstead|Hampstead]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone|St Marylebone]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Paddington|Paddington]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Kensington|Kensington]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith|Hammersmith]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Fulham|Fulham]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth|Wandsworth]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth|Lambeth]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Battersea|Battersea]]
<li>[[Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea|Chelsea]]
</ol>
{{div col end}}
==Geography==
The county occupied an area of just under {{convert|75000|acre|0}}. It was divided into two parts (north and south) by the [[River Thames]], which was the most significant geographic feature. The highest point was [[Hampstead Heath]] in the north of the county at {{convert|440|ft|0}}, which remains one of the [[List of highest points in London|highest points in London]].
==Demography==
The county had a declining population throughout its life. 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.<ref name="t1932">''London census - Decline in County Population'', The Times, July 27, 1932, p.7</ref> The following table illustrates the approximate population according to the census at various intervals:<ref>Niklaus Pevsner, ''The Buildings of England - london, except the Cities of London and Westminster'', Harmondsworth, 1952 pp.37 - 39</ref>
{| 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<ref name="t1891">''Some Results of the Census'', The Times, June 9, 1891</ref>
|-
|1901
|1,623,000
|1,201,000
|1,601,000
|4,425,000
|1,422,000<ref name="t1901">''London and the Outer Ring'', The Times, May 15, 1901</ref>
|-
|1921
|1,364,000
|1,186,000
|1,933,000
|4,483,000
|2,993,000<ref name="t1921">''Official Census Figures - London's Shrinkage'', The Times, August 24, 1921</ref>
|-
|1931
|1,260,000
|1,163,000
|1,976,000
|4,399,000
|3,807,000<ref name="t1932"/>
|-
|1951
|738,000
|927,000
|1,683,000
|3,348,000
|4,998,000<ref>''Census of England and Wales'', The Times, July 12, 1951</ref>
|}
†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==
[[Image:London local government 1961-1971.png|thumb|200px|County of London superimposed upon [[Greater London]]]]
The county was abolished in 1965 and was replaced by the much larger [[Greater London]], which took in nearly all of Middlesex, along with areas previously in [[Surrey]], [[Kent]], [[Essex]] and [[Hertfordshire]].<ref name=maud>Redcliffe-Maud & Wood, B., ''English Local Government Reformed'', (1974)</ref>
Since the [[Greater London Council]] was not an education authority, but London County Council had been, an [[Inner London Education Authority]] was constituted to continue this role for the area of the old County of London, and this continued until 1990.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/bound_map_page.jsp?first=true&u_id=10041790&c_id=10001043 County of London boundary map]
{{London history}}
{{LGA1963}}
{{England counties}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:London}}
[[Category:Local government in London]]
[[Category:Former administrative counties]]
[[Category:History of local government in London]]
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