Westminster is an area of
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its character ...
, part of the wider
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...
.
The area, which extends from the
River Thames to
Oxford Street, has many
visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the
Palace of Westminster,
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ha ...
,
Westminster Abbey,
Westminster Cathedral and much of the
West End shopping and entertainment district.
The name ( ang, Westmynstre) originated from the informal description of the
abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The conc ...
church and
royal peculiar of St Peter's (Westminster Abbey), west of the
City of London (until the
English Reformation there was also an
Eastminster, near the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
, in the
East End of London
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have univ ...
). The abbey's origins date from between the 7th and 10th centuries, but it rose to national prominence when rebuilt by
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.
Edward was the son of Æthe ...
in the 11th. Westminster has been the home of
England's government since about 1200, and from 1707 the
Government of the United Kingdom. In 1539, it became a city.
Westminster is often used as a
metonym
Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept.
Etymology
The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...
to refer to the
Parliament of the United Kingdom, in the
Palace of Westminster.
Geography
Physical geography
The
City and Liberty of Westminster
The City and Liberty of Westminster was a unit of local government in the county of Middlesex, England. It was located immediately to the west of the City of London. Originally under the control of Westminster Abbey, the local authority for the ...
and other Westminster administrative units (except the broader modern
London Borough – known as the City of Westminster – created in 1965), extended from the
River Thames to the
old Roman Road from the
City to western England, which is now locally called
Oxford Street.
Thorney Island lay between the arms of the former
River Tyburn at its confluence with the Thames, while the western boundary with Chelsea was formed by the similarly lost
River Westbourne. The line of the river still forms (with very slight revisions) the boundaries of the modern borough with the
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Further north, away from the river mouth, Westminster included land on both sides of the Westbourne, notably
Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End.
Toponymy
Knightsbridge is an ancient ...
(including the parts of Hyde Park west of
the Serpentine
The Serpentine (also known as the Serpentine River) is a recreational lake in Hyde Park, London, England, created in 1730 at the behest of Queen Caroline. Although it is common to refer to the entire body of water as the Serpentine, strict ...
lake – originally formed by damming the Serpentine – and most of Kensington Gardens).
Localities
Westminster includes the sub-districts of
Soho,
St James,
Mayfair
Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world.
...
,
Covent Garden,
Pimlico,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seyche ...
,
Belgravia
Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a danger ...
and
Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End.
Toponymy
Knightsbridge is an ancient ...
(shared with neighbouring
Kensington
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensington Garden ...
).
Westminster merged with neighbouring
Paddington and
Marylebone in 1965 to form a larger modern borough, these neighbouring areas (except for a small area of Paddington in part of Kensington Gardens), lie north of
Oxford Street.
Open spaces
The district's open spaces include:
*
Hyde Park
*
Kensington Gardens (part)
*
Green Park
Green Park, officially The Green Park, is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the southern part – the core part – of the City of Westminster, Central London, but before that zone was extended to the north, to take in Maryleb ...
*
Buckingham Palace Garden
Buckingham Palace Garden is a large private park attached to the London residence of the monarch. It is situated to the rear (west) of Buckingham Palace, occupying a site in the City of Westminster and forms the largest private garden in the capi ...
*
St James's Park
Origins and administration
The development of the area began with the establishment of
the Abbey on a site then called
Thorney Island, the choice of site may in part relate to the
natural ford which is thought to have carried
Watling Street over the
Thames in the vicinity. The wider district became known as Westminster in reference to the church.
Legendary origin
The legendary origin is that in the early 7th century, a local fisherman named Edric (or Aldrich), ferried a stranger in tattered foreign clothing over the Thames to
Thorney Island. It was a miraculous appearance of
St Peter
) (Simeon, Simon)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire
, death_date = Between AD 64–68
, death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire
, parents = John (or Jonah; Jona)
, occupation ...
, a fisherman himself, coming to the island to
consecrate
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...
the newly built church, which would subsequently develop into
Westminster Abbey. He rewarded Edric with a bountiful catch when he next dropped his nets. Edric was instructed to present the
King and
St. Mellitus, Bishop of London, with a salmon and various proofs that the consecration had already occurred . Every year on 29 June, St Peters day, the
Worshipful Company of Fishmongers
The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers (or Fishmongers' Company) is one of the 110 Livery Companies of the City of London, being an incorporated guild of sellers of fish and seafood in the City. The Company ranks fourth in the order of precede ...
presents the Abbey with a salmon in memory of this event.
Recorded origin
A charter of 785, possibly a forgery, grants land to ''the needy people of God in Thorney, in the dreadful spot which is called Westminster''. The text suggests a pre-existing monastic community who chose to live in a very challenging location.
The recorded origins of the Abbey (rather than a less important religious site) date to the 960s or early 970s, when
Saint Dunstan
Saint Dunstan (c. 909 – 19 May 988) was an English bishop. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restored monastic life in E ...
and
King Edgar installed a community of
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, found ...
monks on the site.
Between 1042 and 1052, King
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.
Edward was the son of Æthe ...
began rebuilding St Peter's Abbey to provide himself with a royal burial church. It was the first church in England built in the
Romanesque style. The building was completed around 1060 and was consecrated on 28 December 1065, only a week before Edward's death on 5 January 1066. A week later, he was buried in the church; and, nine years later, his wife
Edith
Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English words ēad, meaning 'riches or blessed', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian languages and Dutch. Its French form is Édith. Contractions and va ...
was buried alongside him. His successor,
Harold II
Harold Godwinson ( – 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon English king. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings, fighting the Norman invaders led by William the Co ...
, was probably crowned in the abbey, although the first documented coronation is that of
William the Conqueror later the same year.
The only extant depiction of Edward's abbey, together with the adjacent
Palace of Westminster, is in the
Bayeux Tapestry. Some of the lower parts of the monastic dormitory, an extension of the South Transept, survive in the Norman Undercroft of the Great School, including a door said to come from the previous
Saxon abbey. Increased endowments supported a community that increased from a dozen monks in Dunstan's original foundation, up to a maximum of about eighty monks.
Local government
Parish of Westminster St Margaret
Most of the parishes of Westminster originated as daughter parishes of
St Margaret's parish, in the
City and Liberty of Westminster
The City and Liberty of Westminster was a unit of local government in the county of Middlesex, England. It was located immediately to the west of the City of London. Originally under the control of Westminster Abbey, the local authority for the ...
,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbouri ...
. The exceptions to this were
St Clement Danes,
St Mary le Strand
St Mary le Strand is a Church of England church at the eastern end of the Strand in the City of Westminster, London. It lies within the Deanery of Westminster (St Margaret) within the Diocese of London. The church stands on what was until rece ...
and possibly some other small areas.
The ancient parish was
St Margaret; after 1727 this became the civil parish of 'St Margaret and St John', the latter a new church required for the increasing population. The area around Westminster Abbey formed the extra-parochial
Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter
The Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter was an extra-parochial area, and later civil parish, in the metropolitan area of London, England. It corresponded to the area of Westminster Abbey and was an enclave between the parishes of St Marg ...
. Like many large parishes, Westminster was divided into smaller units called ''
Hamlets
A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...
'' (meaning a territorial sub-division, rather than a small village). These would later become independent daughter parishes.
Until 1900 the local authority was the combined
vestry of St Margaret and St John (also known as the
Westminster District Board of Works
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckin ...
from 1855 to 1887), which was based at
Westminster Town Hall
Caxton Hall is a building on the corner of Caxton Street and Palmer Street, in Westminster, London, England. It is a Grade II listed building primarily noted for its historical associations. It hosted many mainstream and fringe political and ar ...
in Caxton Street from 1883.
City and Liberty of Westminster
The Liberty of Westminster, governed by the
Westminster Court of Burgesses, also included
St Martin in the Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the medie ...
and several other
parishes and places. Westminster had its own
quarter sessions
The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established i ...
, but the Middlesex sessions also had jurisdiction.
Metropolitan Borough of Westminster
Under local government reforms in 1889, the area fell within the newly created
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 ...
, and the local government of Westminster was further reformed in 1900, when the court of burgesses and the parish vestries were abolished, and replaced by the
Metropolitan Borough of Westminster
The Metropolitan Borough of Westminster was a metropolitan borough in the County of London, England, from 1900 to 1965.
City status
By royal charter dated 29 October 1900, the borough was granted the title City of Westminster. Westminster had ...
. The borough was given
city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose.
Historically, city status ...
at the same time, allowing it to be known as the
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...
and its council as
Westminster City Council
Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Con ...
.
The
City and Liberty of Westminster
The City and Liberty of Westminster was a unit of local government in the county of Middlesex, England. It was located immediately to the west of the City of London. Originally under the control of Westminster Abbey, the local authority for the ...
and the
Metropolitan Borough of Westminster
The Metropolitan Borough of Westminster was a metropolitan borough in the County of London, England, from 1900 to 1965.
City status
By royal charter dated 29 October 1900, the borough was granted the title City of Westminster. Westminster had ...
were very similar in extent, covering the parts of the wider modern
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...
south of the
Oxford Street, and its continuations Hyde Park Place. The exception is that part of
Kensington Gardens, south of that road, are part of
Paddington.
Westminster merged with St Marylebone and Paddington in 1965, but the combined area was allowed to keep the title
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...
.
History
''For a list of street name etymologies for Westminster see
Street names of Westminster
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Westminster. The Westminster area (as distinct from the Council area) has no formally defined boundaries - those utilised here are the generally accepted boundaries of: The M ...
''
Royal seat
The former
Thorney Island, the site of Westminster Abbey, formed the historic core of Westminster. The abbey became the traditional venue of the
coronation
A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of ot ...
s of the
kings and queens of England from that of
Harold Godwinson (1066) onwards.
From about 1200 the
Palace of Westminster, near the abbey, became the principal royal residence, a transition marked by the transfer of royal treasury and financial records to Westminster from
Winchester. Later the palace housed the developing
Parliament and
England's law courts. Thus London developed two focal points: the City of London (financial/economic) and Westminster (political and cultural).
The monarchs moved their principal residence to the
Palace of Whitehall (1530–1698), then to
St James's Palace in 1698, and eventually to
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ha ...
and other palaces after 1762. The main law courts moved to the
Royal Courts of Justice
The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is a court building in Westminster which houses the High Court and Court of Appeal of England and Wales. The High Court also sits on circuit and in other major cities. Designed by Ge ...
in the late-19th century.
Medieval and Tudor
The settlement grew up around the palace and abbey, as a service area for them. The parish church,
St Margaret's Westminster served the wider community of the parish; the servants of the palace and abbey as well as the rural population and those associated with the high status homes developing on the road from the City. The area became larger and in the
Georgian period became connected through urban
ribbon development Ribbon development refers to the building of houses along the routes of communications radiating from a human settlement. The resulting linear settlements are clearly visible on land use maps and aerial photographs, giving cities and the coun ...
with the City along the Strand.
Henry VIII's
Reformation in the early 16th century abolished the abbey and established a cathedral – thus the parish ranked as a "City", although it was only a fraction of the size of the City of London and the Borough of
Southwark
Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...
at that time.
Indeed, the cathedral and diocesan status of the church lasted only from 1539 to 1556, but the "city" status remained for a mere parish within Middlesex. As such it is first known to have had two Members of Parliament in 1545 as a new
Parliamentary Borough, centuries after the City of London and Southwark were enfranchised.
Victorian divide
Charles Booth's
poverty map
A poverty map is a map which provides a detailed description of the spatial distribution of poverty and inequality within a country. It combines individual and household (micro) survey data and population (macro) census data with the objective ...
showing Westminster in 1889 recorded the full range of income- and capital-brackets living in adjacent streets within the area; its central western area had become (by 1850) (the) Devil's Acre in the southern flood-channel ravine of the
River Tyburn, yet Victoria Street and other small streets and squares had the highest colouring of social class in London: yellow/gold. Westminster has shed the abject poverty with the clearance of this
slum and with drainage improvement, but there is a typical
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its character ...
property distinction within the area which is very acute, epitomised by grandiose 21st-century developments, architectural high-point
listed buildings and nearby
social housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, d ...
(mostly non-
council housing
Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...
) buildings of the
Peabody Trust founded by philanthropist
George Peabody
George Peabody ( ; February 18, 1795 – November 4, 1869) was an American financier and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as the father of modern philanthropy.
Born into a poor family in Massachusetts, Peabody went into business in dry g ...
.
Wider uses of the name
Given the focus on Westminster in English and British public life over centuries, the name "Westminster" is casually used as a
metonym
Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept.
Etymology
The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...
for the UK Parliament and for the political community of the United Kingdom generally. (The
civil service is similarly referred to using the name of the northern sub-neighbourhood which it inhabits, "
Whitehall".) "Westminster" is consequently also used in reference to the
Westminster system, the parliamentary model of democratic government that has evolved in the United Kingdom and for those other nations, particularly in the
Commonwealth of Nations and for other parts of the former
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
that adopted it.
The term "Westminster Village", sometimes used in the context of British politics, does not refer to a geographical area at all; employed especially in the phrase "Westminster Village gossip", it denotes a supposedly close social circle of members of parliament, political journalists, so-called
spin-doctors
In public relations and politics, spin is a form of propaganda, achieved through knowingly
providing a biased interpretation of an event or campaigning to influence public opinion about some organization or public figure. While traditional publi ...
and others connected to events in the Palace of Westminster and in Government ministries.
Economy
The area has a substantial residential population. By the 20th century Westminster saw rising numbers of residential
apartments
An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are man ...
with wealthy inhabitants. Hotels, large Victorian homes and barracks exist near to
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ha ...
.
High Commissions
Westminster hosts the
High Commissions of many
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
countries:
*
Australia
*
The Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...
*
Brunei
*
Canada
*
Cyprus
*
Eswatini
*
Ghana
*
India
*
Lesotho
*
Malaysia
*
New Zealand
*
Nigeria
*
Pakistan
*
Papua New Guinea
*
Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...
*
Singapore
*
South Africa
*
Trinidad and Tobago
*
Uganda
Education
Within the area is
Westminster School, a major
public school which grew out of the abbey, and the
University of Westminster, attended by over 20,000 students.
Notable people
*
Andy Bray
Andrew Richard Bray (born 29 October 1981) is an English cricketer. Bray is a right-handed batsman who bowls right-arm fast-medium.
Bray represented the Kent Cricket Board in List A cricket. His debut List A match came against the Worcestersh ...
(born 1981), cricketer
*
Alice Liddell
Alice Pleasance Hargreaves (''née'' Liddell, ; 4 May 1852 – 16 November 1934), was an English woman who, in her childhood, was an acquaintance and photography subject of Lewis Carroll. One of the stories he told her during a boating trip beca ...
(1852–1934), inspiration for Alice In Wonderland
*
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her perform ...
(24 December 1922 – 25 January 1990), American actress and singer
*
Arthur Barnby
Arthur Charles Barnby (10 September 1881 – 30 October 1937) was an English first-class cricketer, who served as an officer in both the Royal Marines and the Royal Naval Air Service.
Life and military career
Born at Westminster in September ...
(1881–1937), first-class cricketer and Royal Marines/Royal Naval Air Service officer
*
Richard Colley (1833–1902), first-class cricketer and British Army officer
*
Geoffrey Cooke (1897–1980), first-class cricketer and British Army officer
*
John Fuller (1834–1893), first-class cricketer, clergyman and theologian
*
Hady Ghandour
Hady Ismail Ghandour ( ; ar, هادي اسماعيل غندور, ; born 27 January 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward.
Coming through the youth system, Ghandour began his senior career at Tooting & Mitcham United in 2 ...
(born 2000), footballer
*
Tatiana Hambro
Tatiana Katherine Hambro (born 15 October 1989) is an English writer and fashion editor. She worked at ''British Vogue'' before joining Moda Operandi as editorial director.
Early life and family
Hambro was born on 15 October 1989 in Westmin ...
(born 1989), fashion writer and editor
*
Tom Hiddleston (born 1981), Golden Globe-winning actor
*
Stephanie Leonidas (born
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., U ...
) - actress
*
Dua Lipa (born 1995), singer and songwriter
*
Edward Low
Edward "Ned" Low (also spelled Lowe or Loe; 16901724) was a notorious pirate of English origin during the latter days of the Golden Age of Piracy, in the early 18th century. Low was born into poverty in Westminster, London, and was a thief from ...
(1690–1724),
pirate during the latter days of the
Golden Age of Piracy
The Golden Age of Piracy is a common designation for the period between the 1650s and the 1730s, when maritime piracy was a significant factor in the histories of the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, the Indian Ocean, North America, and West Africa ...
*
Eddie Redmayne (born 1982), Oscar-winning actor
*
Quintin Twiss
Quintin William Francis Twiss (13 March 1835 – 7 August 1900) was an English first-class cricketer and actor.
The son of the politician Horace Twiss, he was born at Westminster in March 1835. Twiss was educated at Westminster School, before ...
(1835–1900), first-class cricketer and stage actor
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Manchee, W. H. (1924), ''The Westminster City Fathers (the Burgess Court of Westminster) 1585–1901: Being some account of their powers and domestic rule of the City prior to its incorporation in 1901''; with a foreword by Walter G. Bell and 36 illustrations which relate to documents (some pull-outs) and artefacts. London: John Lane (The Bodley Head).
* Davies, E. A. (1952), ''An Account of the Formation and Early Years of The Westminster Fire Office''; (Includes black-and-white photographic plates with a colour
frontispiece of 'A Waterman' and a foreword by Major K. M. Beaumont. London: Country Life Limited for the Westminster Fire Office.
* Hunting, P. (1981), ''Royal Westminster''.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Printed by Penshurst Press. (paper); (cased).
Further reading
*
External links
Westminster Borough Council*
ttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21648 Westminster by Sir Walter Besant and Geraldine Edith Mitton and A. Murray Smith, 1902, from
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libra ...
Palmer's Village, a deserted village in Westminster
{{Authority control
Districts of the City of Westminster
Areas of London
Market towns in London
Districts of London on the River Thames