Paddington was a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

and

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 distric ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. It was an

ancient parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority. ...

in the county of

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 neighbour ...

, governed by an

administrative vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

. The parish was included in the area of responsibility of the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of local government in a wide area of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, defined by the Metropolis Management Act 1855, from December 1855 until the establishment of the London Coun ...

in 1855 and became part 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 ...

in 1889. The parish of Paddington became a metropolitan borough in 1900, following the London Government Act 1899, with the parish vestry replaced by a borough council. In 1965 the borough was abolished and its former area became part of 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 ...

in Greater London.

History

Its area covered that part of the current City of Westminster west of Edgware Road and

Maida Vale Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district consisting of the northern part of Paddington in West London, west of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn. It is also the name of its main road, on the continuous Edgware Road. Maida Vale ...

, and north of Bayswater Road. Places in the borough included

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

Westbourne Green Westbourne Green is an area of Westbourne, London, the centre of the former hamlet of Westbourne, at the north-western corner of the City of Westminster. It is named for its location west of a bourne (small stream). Traditionally a rural area, s ...

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, an ...

Maida Hill Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district consisting of the northern part of Paddington in West London, west of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn. It is also the name of its main road, on the continuous Edgware Road. Maida Vale is ...

, Queens Park, Kensal Green, West Kilburn,

. To the south it bordered 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 o ...

, to the east, the

Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone The Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone was a metropolitan borough of the County of London from 1900 to 1965. It was based directly on the previously existing civil parish of St Marylebone, which was incorporated into the Metropolitan Board ...

. The borough was abolished on 1 April 1965 by the London Government Act 1963 and its former area merged with that of the

and the

to form the present-day

Borough council

Coat of arms

The borough council's coat of arms, granted by the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sover ...

on 5 April 1902, was based on the former Paddington vestry seal. The seal featured crossed swords from the arms of the

See of London The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England's Province of Canterbury in England. It lies directly north of the Thames. For centuries the diocese covered a vast tract and bordered the dioceses of Norwich and Lincoln to the nor ...

passing through a mural crown, symbol of local government. To these were added the wolves' heads and blue background from the arms of the first Mayor of the Borough, Sir John Aird. Sir John, who was

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Paddington North, also donated the mayoral badge and chain. The arms were

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The ...

ed as follows:

''Azure, two Swords in Saltire proper pommels and hilts Or enfiled with a Mural Crown of the last. Two Wolves heads erased in Chief Argent''.

Town hall

Paddington Town Hall, designed by James Lockyer in the Classical style, dated from 1853. The building, originally the Vestry Hall, was situated on Paddington Green. It was enlarged in 1900 and 1920. Following its closure in 1965, it was demolished to make way for the Westway urban motorway.

Population and area

The area of Paddington Metropolitan Borough was , once part of Kensal New Town was added after 1901. The population recorded in the Census was: Paddington Vestry 1801–1899 Metropolitan Borough 1900–1961 :''Note that the population statistics up to 1891 exclude the area of Kensal Town transferred from Chelsea in 1900.''

Politics

Under the

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 ...

any parish that exceeded 2,000

ratepayers Rates are a type of property tax system in the United Kingdom, and in places with systems deriving from the British one, the proceeds of which are used to fund local government. Some other countries have taxes with a more or less comparable role ...

was to be divided into wards; as such the incorporated vestry of Paddington was divided into four wards (electing

vestrymen A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Un ...

): No. 1 (12), No. 2 (18), No. 3 (18) and No. 4 (24). In 1894 as its population had increased the incorporated vestry was re-divided into six wards (electing

): Harrow Road (12), Maida Vale (9), Church (12), Westbourne (12), Lancaster Gate (15) and Hyde Park (12). The metropolitan borough was divided into eight wards for elections: Church, Harrow Road, Hyde Park, Lancaster Gate East, Lancaster Gate West, Maida Vale, Queen's Park and Westbourne.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: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, the borough was divided into two and a half constituencies: * Chelsea * Paddington North *

Paddington South Paddington South was a Parliamentary constituency in London which returned one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament. It was a compact urban area, but predominantly wealthy, and was most famously represented by Lord Randol ...

In 1918 the borough's representation was reduced to two seats: * Paddington North *

History

Borough council

Coat of arms

Town hall

Population and area

Politics

Borough council

Parliament constituency

See also

References

Further reading