Greenwich was a

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

district within the metropolitan area of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England from 1855 to 1900. It was formed by 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 ...

and was governed by the Greenwich District Board of Works, which consisted of elected vestrymen. Until 1889 the district was partly in the counties of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, but included in the area of the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the upper tier of local government for London between 1856 and 1889, primarily responsible for upgrading infrastructure. It also had a parks and open spaces committee which set aside and opened up severa ...

. In 1889 the area of the MBW was constituted 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 ...

, and the district board became a local authority under 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 ...

Area

The district comprised the following

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

es (electing members) * Deptford St Nicholas (Kent) (6) * Deptford St Paul (Kent), including Hatcham (Surrey) (21) *

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

(Kent) (30) Under the

any parish that exceeded 2,000 ratepayers was to be divided into wards; as such the parishes of Greenwich and St Paul Deptford within the Greenwich District Board of Works were each divided into four wards (electing

vestrymen A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or regio ...

): Greenwich - No. 1 or Church (15), No. 2 or Ravensbourne (12), No. 3 or Hospital (12) and No. 4 or Blackheath (9). St Paul Deptford - No. 1 or North (15), No. 2 or South (21), No. 3 or East (18) and No. 4 or West (18). In 1894 as its population had increased the parish of Greenwich was re-divided into six wards (electing

): No. 1 North (18), Marsh os. 2 & 3 North(21), South East (18), South (12), West (15) and North West (12).

Mortality

The number of deaths reported were as follows. Greenwich parish was the location of Greenwich Hospital, Greenwich Union Workhouse and Dreadnought Hospital which explains the relatively higher death count.

Abolition

There was a proposal in 1862 to dissolve the Greenwich District. In the Metropolis Management Amendment Bill there was provision that the Greenwich vestry would become incorporated as a local authority and the remaining area would have formed the Deptford District.Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons and Command: Volume 3, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, (1862), H.M. Stationery Office The district was abolished in 1900 and split as follows: *Deptford St Nicholas to

Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich The Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich was a metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965. It bordered the boroughs of Woolwich, Lewisham and Deptford and, across the River Thames, the borough of Poplar and the County Bo ...

*Deptford St Paul to

Metropolitan Borough of Deptford The Metropolitan Borough of Deptford was a Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965, when it became part of the London Borough of Lewisham along with the Metropolitan Bo ...

*Greenwich to Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich

References

{{Metropolitan Board of Works History of the Royal Borough of Greenwich History of the London Borough of Lewisham Districts (Metropolis) 1855 establishments in England