Property Jobs. Why is Middlesex still in Teddington Addresses? Map of the former postal county of Middlesex. Like this article? Sign up to our weekly newsletter Sign Up. Upcoming Teddington Event When London began to spread outside the wall of the City the Corporation refused to to take responsibility for the new suburbs so Lambeth, Camden and Marylebone also had vestries.
Metropolitan Board of Works, established by the Metropolis Management Act, was the first metropolitan-wide local authority for London and covered the area that was to later become the County of London, which included parts of Middlesex. The Act made the vestries elected bodies with each vestry choosing the members who sat on the Board. The City of London was not included under its jurisdiction.
The Local Government Act of created 62 county councils in England and Wales, with 61 towns, with populations over 50, inhabitants being given county borough status. London County Council came into existence in and it was as a successor to the Metropolitan Board of Works. It was the first metropolitan authority to be elected directly by the people of London. Its powers slowly increased over the years of its existence and it controlled education, housing jointly with the metropolitan borough councils , building control, public transport and public health.
When it was created Hammersmith, Highbury and Hampstead, and other parts of Middlesex, were subsumed into the County of London. It needs to be remembered that before the various parliamentary reforms acts of the C19th and early C20th, very few of the population were able to vote and power lay in the hands of the aristocracy and the middle classes. The Local Government Act created urban and rural district councils, and parish councils for villages of over inhabitants, and the Act granted women the right to vote and stand for these councils.
These councils had different responsibilities to the county councils and covered smaller areas. After the Second World War the growth of London continued, as it had done between the wars, and the suburbs grew and swallowed up more land. As the conurbation grew it became clear that London and the surrounding areas needed to be governed by one body, as well as by the metropolitan boroughs, so as to ensure that the capital city developed and functioned efficiently and for the benefit of all its citizens, for government and business.
The Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London examined the options for the future of London and was published in The report looked in details at the history of local government in London, the growth of London, examined the nature and purpose of local government, and looks at all areas that came the remit of local government. The report produced detailed conclusions and recommendations which proposed the creation of the Greater London Council, and the amalgamation of metropolitan boroughs and urban district councils to form 32 London boroughs while the City of London retained its unique status.
Middlesex County Council, which faced extinction, naturally opposed these plans but to no avail and on 1st April , in the shorthand of the Times quoted above, the county of Middlesex disappeared altogether when Greater London was created. Further confusion has been added by the Post Office, which created "postal counties" for the purposes of mail sorting, again with different boundaries to the historic counties.
Residents forced to use Humberside or Cleveland as part of their address weren't impressed. Fortunately this concept was abandoned in , and we are free to use historic counties in postal addresses once again. The historic counties form the basis of our regional geography and cultural identities, and have done so for many hundreds of years. Most of the English counties were in place when the Domesday Book was compiled. Many historic counties, such as Cumberland, Huntingdonshire and Merionethshire, are now sadly neglected by the larger councils which cover their areas.
Others are celebrated. Mainland Britain's most north-westerly county, Sutherland, hasn't had a county council for many years. But anyone visiting is left in no doubt where they are. The Highland council, which administers that part of Scotland, has erected road signs proudly proclaiming "County of Sutherland". The Association of British Counties, of which I am a member, exists to promote the use of the historic counties for cultural and geographic purposes.
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