Metropolis Management Act 1855

The Metropolis Management Act 1855 (18 & 19 Vict. c.120) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the Metropolitan Board of Works, a London-wide body to co-ordinate the construction of the city's infrastructure. The Act also created a second tier of local government consisting of parish vestries and district boards of works. The Metropolitan Board of Works was the forerunner of the London County Council.

Metropolis Management Act 1855
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn Act for the better Local Management of the Metropolis
Citation18 & 19 Vict. c.120
Territorial extentEngland and Wales
Dates
Royal assent14 August 1855
Commencement1 January 1856 (1856-01-01)
Other legislation
Repealed by
Status: Partially repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Metropolis Management Act 1855 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

Background

The Royal Commission on the City of London considered the case for creation of an authority for the whole of London. Its report recommended the creation of a limited-function Metropolitan Board of Works and seven municipal corporations based on existing parliamentary representation.[1]

The Metropolitan Board of Works

The act constituted the Metropolitan Board of Works and provided that its members should be chosen by the parish vestries and district boards also constituted by the act. The first election of members was to take place on 12 December 1855. From 1857 one third of the board was to go out of office on the third Wednesday of June every year. The board was to take over the powers, duties and liabilities of the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers and the Metropolitan Buildings Office on 1 January 1856. Its area of responsibility was to be that designated by the Registrar General as London in the 1851 census.[2]

Vestries and district boards

The second tier of local government was to be based on the existing vestries of civil parishes in an area comprising parts of the counties of Middlesex, Kent and Surrey.

Section 42 of the Act dealt with the incorporation of vestries and district boards.

Where single parishes became a local authority they were to have the title:

"The Vestry of the Parish of _______ in the County of ________"

Where parishes were grouped the resulting authority took the title:

"The Board of Works for the _________ District"

List of vestries, district boards and number of members elected to the Metropolitan Board of Works
Vestries and districts of the Metropolis 1855
  1. City of London
  2. Bermondsey
  3. Bethnal Green
  4. Camberwell
  5. (and 5a) Chelsea
  6. Clerkenwell
  7. Fulham District
  8. Greenwich District
  9. Hackney District
  10. Hampstead
  11. Holborn District
  12. Islington
  13. Kensington
  14. Lambeth
  15. (and 15a) Lewisham District
  16. Limehouse District
  17. Mile End Old Town
  18. Newington
  19. Paddington
  20. Plumstead District
  21. Poplar District
  22. Rotherhithe
  23. St George Hanover Square
  24. St George in the East
  25. St Giles District
  26. St Luke
  27. St Martin the Fields
  28. St Marylebone
  29. St Olave District
  30. St Pancras
  31. St Saviours District
  32. Shoreditch
  33. Southwark St George the Martyr
  34. (and 34a) Strand District
  35. (and 35a) Wandsworth District
  36. (and 36a) Westminster District
  37. Westminster St James
  38. Whitechapel District
  39. Woolwich
The following were detached parts of parishes and districts:

5a Kensal Green; 15a Penge Hamlet; 34a St Anne; 35a detached portion of Streatham parish; 36a Kensington Palace

Not shown is Clerkenwell Detached, an exclave of that parish within Hornsey, Middlesex.

Electing authority

Number of members elected to MBW

Administrative headquarters

City of London 3 Guildhall
Bermondsey Vestry (Surrey) 1 Town Hall, Spa Road, Bermondsey
Bethnal Green Vestry (Middlesex) 1 Vestry Hall, Bethnal Green
Camberwell Vestry (Surrey) 1 Vestry Hall, Peckham Road
Chelsea Vestry (Middlesex) 1 Town Hall, King's Road, Chelsea
St. James & St. John Clerkenwell Vestry (Middlesex) 1 Vestry Hall, 58 Rosomon Street, Clerkenwell (replaced by Town Hall in Rosebery Avenue 1895)
Fulham District, comprising: 1 Town Hall, Walham Green
Greenwich District, comprising: 1 141 Greenwich Road, Greenwich
Hackney District, comprising: 1 Town Hall, Hackney
Hampstead Vestry (Middlesex) 1 Vestry Hall, Haverstock Hill, Hampstead
Holborn District, comprising: 1 Town Hall, Gray's Inn Road
Islington St Mary Vestry (Middlesex) 2 Vestry Hall, Upper Street, Islington
Kensington Vestry (Middlesex) 1 Town Hall, Kensington
Lambeth Vestry (Surrey) 2 Vestry Hall, Kennington Green
Lewisham District comprising: 1 member jointly with Plumstead District Catford
Limehouse District comprising: 1 White Horse Street, Commercial Road
Hamlet of Mile End Old Town Vestry (Middlesex) 1 Vestry Hall, Bancroft Road, Mile End Road
Newington Vestry (Surrey) 1 Vestry Hall, Walworth Road
Paddington Vestry (Middlesex) 1 Vestry Hall, Harrow Road
Plumstead District comprising: 1 member jointly with Lewisham District Old Charlton
Poplar District comprising: 1 117 High Street, Poplar
Rotherhithe Vestry (Surrey) 1 member jointly with St Olave District Public Baths, Lower Road, Rotherhithe
St George Hanover Square Vestry (Middlesex) 2 Vestry Hall, Mount Street, Grosvenor Square
St George in the East Vestry (Middlesex) 1 Vestry Hall, Cable Street
St Giles District comprising: 1 197 High Holborn
St Luke Middlesex Vestry (Middlesex) 1 Vestry Hall, City Road
St Martin in the Fields Vestry (Middlesex) 1 Town Hall, Charing Cross Road
St Marylebone Vestry (Middlesex) 2 Court House, Marylebone Lane
St Olave District comprising: 1 member jointly with Rotherhithe Vestry Vine Street, Tooley Street, Southwark
St Pancras Vestry (Middlesex) 2 Vestry Hall, Pancras Road
St Saviour's District comprising: 1 3 Emerson Street, Bankside
Shoreditch St Leonard Vestry (Middlesex) 2 Shoreditch Town Hall, Old Street
Southwark St George the Martyr Vestry (Surrey) 1 Vestry Hall, 81 Borough Road
Strand District comprising: 1 5 Tavistock Street
Wandsworth District comprising: 1 East Hill, Wandsworth
Westminster District comprising: 1 Town Hall, Caxton Street, Westminster
Westminster St James Vestry (Middlesex) 1 Vestry Hall, Piccadilly
Whitechapel District comprising: 1 15 Great Alie Street, Whitechapel
Woolwich Vestry (Kent) 1 Town Hall, Woolwich

A number of extra-parochial places lay within the Metropolitan Board of Works' area but were not included in any district:

Changes in later legislation

In 1886 the Fulham District Board of Works was dissolved and the two parish vestries of Fulham and Hammersmith became local authorities. Fulham Vestry continued to use the existing town hall at Walham Green, while Hammersmith Vestry built a town hall at Hammersmith Broadway.

In 1889 the Local Government Act replaced the Metropolitan Board of Works with the London County Council, and the area of the board became the County of London. From that date, the various parishes were separated from Middlesex, Kent and Surrey and placed for all purposes in the new county, while the vestries and district boards continued to function under the aegis of the new county council.

In 1894 the Hackney District Board of Works was dissolved, with the vestries of Hackney and Stoke Newington assuming the powers of the district board. Stoke Newington Vestry built a town hall at 126 Church Street. At the same time, the Vestry of the Parish of Plumstead became a separate authority, with the remaining four parishes of Plumstead District being reconstituted as Lee District Board of Works.

In 1896 the parishes of Southwark St Olave and St Thomas were combined as a civil parish.

In 1900 metropolitan boroughs created by the London Government Act replaced the vestries and district boards.

Repeal

As of October 2012 the majority of the Act has been repealed with only sections 239 and 240 remaining in force. Section 239 deals with the maintenance of enclosed gardens and section 240 relates to obligations under the Crown Estate Paving Act 1851.[3]

gollark: Yes, that UI has been improved.
gollark: https://osmarks.net/ttt/
gollark: It will be released upon the public shortly.
gollark: Good news. I have implemented a better AI within my tic-tac-toe game at last.
gollark: If it's the software Zachary uses, when is it *not*?

References

Sources
  • Metropolis Local Management Bill, Hansard
  • Scott, James John (1855). Metropolis Local Management Act. ... With notes: together with the portions of the Metropolitan Buildings Act, conferring extra powers on the Metropolitan Board of Works, etc. London: Knight & Co. Retrieved 9 January 2020.

Citations
  1. Young, K. & Garside, P., Metropolitan London: Politics and Urban Change, (1982)
  2. Davis, J., Reforming London: The London Government Problem, 1855-1900, (1988)
  3. Metropolis Management Act 1855, s. 239-240
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.