Metropolitan Borough of Westminster

Westminster
County of London

Status:	City, Metropolitan borough
Admin. HQ:	Westminster
Created:	1900
Abolished:	1965

Successor:	London Borough of Westminster

The Metropolitan Borough of Westminster was a metropolitan borough in the County of London, England, from 1900 to 1965.

It was abolished in 1965 and its area became part of the City of Westminster along with the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington and the Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone.

City status

By royal charter dated 29 October 1900 the borough was granted the title City of Westminster. Westminster had originally been created a city and seat of the shortlived Diocese of Westminster in 1541. The diocese was suppressed in 1550, but the area was still known as a "city", although without official sanction.

Arms and motto

The arms of Westminster represent two monarchs, closely associated with the City. Edward the Confessor, who rebuilt the church of St Peter (Westminster Abbey), and Henry VII, who added a chapel, within the Abbey. The portcullis and rose emblems are derived from the Tudor dynasty - from whom Westminster first achieved its status; and they appear throughout many public and religious buildings in Westminster, and the portcullis was adopted by the House of Commons. The supporting lions are adopted from the Cecil family, who have had a long association with the borough. The arms were first granted in 1601.

The motto Custodi Civitatem Domine, is translated as O Lord, watch over the City^[1].

Area

It consisted of the area that is now part of the City of Westminster and south of Oxford Street and Bayswater Road. It included Soho, Mayfair, St. James's, The Strand, Westminster, Pimlico, Belgravia, and Hyde Park.

It was formed from various parishes:

St Anne within the Liberty of Westminster (usually known as St Anne's Soho)
St Clement Danes
St George Hanover Square
St Martin in the Fields
St Mary le Strand
St Paul Covent Garden
St James Westminster (usually called St James Piccadilly)
St Margaret and St John Westminster
And the extra parochial places of the Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter (or Westminster Abbey), the Precinct of the Savoy and the Liberty of the Rolls.

Previous to the borough's formation it had been administered by five separate local bodies.

Area and population

The Borough covered acres ( km²). The population recorded in the Census was:

Civil parishes 1801-1899

Year^[2]	1801	1811	1821	1831	1841	1851	1861	1871	1881	1891	1901
Population	160,759	168,657	189,543	209,229	229,473	244,531	257,232	248,714	229,784	198,871	183,011

External link

Metropolitan Borough of Westminster at Vision of Britain

References

^ Civic Heraldry accessed 20 Jun 2007
^ Statistical Abstract for London, 1901 (Vol. IV); Census tables for Metropolitan Borough of Westminster

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

from County of London: Battersea • Bermondsey • Bethnal Green • Camberwell • Chelsea • Deptford • Finsbury • Fulham • Greenwich • Hackney • Hammersmith • Hampstead • Holborn • Islington • Kensington • Lambeth • Lewisham • Paddington • Poplar • Shoreditch • Southwark • St Marylebone • St Pancras • Stepney • Stoke Newington • Wandsworth • Westminster • Woolwich
from Essex: Barking • Chingford • Dagenham • East Ham • Hornchurch • Ilford • Leyton • Romford • Walthamstow • Wanstead and Woodford • West Ham
from Hertfordshire: Barnet • East Barnet
to Hertfordshire: Potters Bar †
from Middlesex: Acton • Brentford and Chiswick • Ealing • Edmonton • Enfield • Feltham • Finchley • Friern Barnet • Harrow • Hayes and Harlington • Hendon • Heston and Isleworth • Hornsey • Potters Bar • Ruislip-Northwood • Southall • Southgate • Tottenham • Twickenham • Uxbridge • Wembley • Willesden • Wood Green • Yiewsley and West Drayton
from Kent: Beckenham • Bexley • Bromley • Chislehurst and Sidcup • Crayford • Erith • Orpington • Penge
from Surrey: Barnes • Beddington and Wallington • Carshalton • Coulsdon and Purley • Croydon • Kingston upon Thames • Malden and Coombe • Merton and Morden • Mitcham • Sutton and Cheam • Surbiton • Richmond • Wimbledon
to Surrey: Staines † • Sunbury-on-Thames †

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