The Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch was a

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of districts of England, local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan distr ...

of the

County of London 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 A ...

between 1899 and 1965, when it was merged with the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington and the

Metropolitan Borough of Hackney The Metropolitan Borough of Hackney was a Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropolitan borough of the County of London from 1900 to 1965. Its area became part of the London Borough of Hackney. Formation and boundaries The borough ...

to form the

London Borough of Hackney The London Borough of Hackney ( ) is a London boroughs, London borough in Inner London, England. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is Mare Street, which lies north-east of Charing Cross. The borough is named after Hackney, Lond ...

. The borough was made up of three main districts,

Shoreditch Shoreditch is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney alongside neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets, which are also perceived as part of the area due to historic ecclesiastical links. Shoreditch lies just north ...

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. It was Historic counties of England, historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. Hoxton lies north-east of the City of London, is considered to be a part of London's East End ...

and

Haggerston Haggerston is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney. It is in East London and part of the East End of London, East End. There is an Haggerston (ward), electoral ward called Haggerston within the borough. H ...

, and covered some of the traditional East End of London. An individual coat of arms was never granted to the metropolitan borough council; they adopted the arms of the second

lord of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

, John de Northampton.

Boundaries

The borough was in north-east London and comprised the area of the ancient parish of Shoreditch (St Leonard's) plus part of the ancient liberty of Norton Folgate to the south The parish

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

had taken on local administration from the 17th century onwards.

Civic buildings

The civic buildings of the borough included the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

(originally the Vestry Hall) in Old Street with the Magistrates Court (derelict in 2007), the Coroner's Court in Boundary St and other civic offices nearby.

Motto

The borough motto commemorates the provision of electric power to the borough from the ''Vestry of St Leonard Shoreditch Electric Light Station'' later known as the ''Shoreditch Borough Refuse Destructor and Generating Station'' on Coronet Street. The building on Coronet Street is embellished with the motto E PULVERE LUX ET VIS (Out of the dust, light and power). It was built in 1896 and burned rubbish, to provide steam for the electricity generator. The

waste heat Waste heat is heat that is produced by a machine, or other process that uses energy, as a byproduct of doing work. All such processes give off some waste heat as a fundamental result of the laws of thermodynamics. Waste heat has lower utility ...

was used to heat the public baths next door (and now demolished). The building is now home to the National Centre for Circus Arts.

Population and area

The metropolitan borough was conterminous with the

Vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

authority, when it was formed in 1900. Statistics compiled by the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

, in 1901 show the population growth in London, over the preceding century. The area of the borough in 1901 was . The populations recorded in National Censuses were: Shoreditch Vestry 1801-1899 Metropolitan Borough 1900-1961 By comparison, after amalgamation with Hackney and

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area in the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The area is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington (parish), Stoke Newington, the ancient parish. S ...

, to form the modern

, the combined area became 19.06 km² - approximately ; in 2005, this had a population of 207,700, or a population density of 10,900/km². In 1901 Shoreditch the population density was 44,600/km².

Coat of arms

The borough used coat of arms, but these were never formally granted and, therefore, not official. When the borough was merged to found the London Borough of Hackney, other charges were used to represent Shoreditch in the new coat of arms of the London Borough of Hackney.

Politics

Under the

Metropolis Management Act 1855 The Metropolis Management Act 1855 (18 & 19 Vict. c. 120), also known as the Metropolis (Management) Act 1855 or the Metropolis Local Management Act 1855, is an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom tha ...

any parish that exceeded 2,000 ratepayers was to be divided into wards; as such the incorporated vestry of St Leonard Shoreditch was divided into eight wards (electing vestrymen): No. 1 or Moorfields (18), No. 2 or Church (21), No. 3 or Hoxton (21), No. 4 or Wenlock (18), No. 5 or Whitmore (12), No. 6 or Kingsland (12), No. 7 or Haggerstone (9) and No. 8 or Acton (9). The metropolitan borough inherited these eight wards for elections: Acton, Church, Haggerston, Hoxton, Kingsland, Moorfields, Wenlock and Whitmore.Ordnance Survey 'County Series 3rd Edition' Map of London (1912-14) at 1:2500 scale. Accessed at https://www.old-maps.co.uk/

Borough council

Parliament constituency

For elections to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, the borough was divided into two constituencies: *

In 1918 the borough's representation was reduced to one seat: *

In 1950 the borough's representation was reduced to half a seat, when it was merged with

Finsbury Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the southeastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London. The Manorialism, Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man c ...

: * Shoreditch and Finsbury

Gallery

Image:shoreditch town hall2.jpg, Detail of the town hall facade. Note that the imposing figure representing Progress carries an axe to clear the way to the future. (September 2005)

References

External links

Shoreditch Town Hall Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shoreditch, Metropolitan Borough of Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London History of the London Borough of Hackney 1900 establishments in the United Kingdom 1965 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Districts abolished by the London Government Act 1963 Metropolitan Borough of