Hackney was a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

in the

historic History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

county of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

. The parish church of St John-at-Hackney was built in 1792, replacing the nearby former 16th-century parish church dedicated to St Augustine (pulled down in 1798). The original tower of that church was retained to hold the bells until the new church could be strengthened; the bells were finally removed to the new St John's in 1854. See details of other, more modern, churches within the original parish boundaries below.

Ancient parish

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 ...

of the parish, in common with all parishes in England, was entrusted with various administrative functions from the 17th century. The parish vestry administered the Poor Law until 1837, until it became part of the

Poor Law Union A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland. Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...

of Hackney. The ecclesiastical and civil roles of the parish increasingly diverged, and by the early nineteenth century they covered different areas.

Civil parish

A distinct

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 ...

dates from 1855, with the incorporation of ''The Vestry of the Parish of Hackney in the County of Middlesex'' by section 42 of the Metropolis Management Act. With

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 ...

it formed part of the Hackney District, governed by the Hackney District Board of Works, within 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 ...

. 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 parish of St John at Hackney within the Hackney District Boards of Works was divided into seven wards (electing vestrymen): No. 1 or Stamford Hill (15), No. 2 or West (18), No. 3 or De Beauvoir Town (18), No. 4 or Dalston (18), No. 5 or Hackney (18), No. 6 or Homerton (15) and No. 7 or South (18). In 1894, the district and board were dissolved, with the Hackney vestry taking on its duties within the parish. In 1894 as its population had increased the incorporated vestry was re-divided into eight wards (electing vestrymen): Stamford Hill (15), West (18), Kingsland (12), Hackney (12), Mare Street (15), South (15), Clapton (12) and Homerton (21). In 1889 Hackney was included in the new

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 in 1900 the vestry was dissolved with the parish becoming 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 ...

. The civil parish was abolished when the borough became part of 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 ...

in 1965. The boundaries of the civil parish were identical to the ancient parish, and it covered . The populations recorded in National Censuses were: Hackney St John's Vestry 1801–1899

Ecclesiastical parish

The ancient parish, was originally dedicated to St Augustine. By 1660 it was rededicated to St John the Baptist and usually referred to as St John at Hackney.
'Hackney: The Parish Church', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 10: Hackney (1995), pp. 115-122. Date accessed: 13 March 2014. It and its successors are in the

Diocese 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, covering and all or part of 17 London boroughs. This corresponds almost exactly to the historic county of ...

. From 1825, building and the population of Hackney increased rapidly and new parishes were formed, a few of which have since been dissolved:
'Hackney: List of Churches', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 10: Hackney (1995), pp. 122-128. Date accessed: 13 March 2014. * St John of Jerusalem, South Hackney in 1825 * St James, West Hackney aka (West Hackney Church) in 1825 * St Thomas the Apostle, Stamford Hill in 1828 * St Philip, Dalston in 1841 * St Peter, De Beauvoir Town in 1841 * St Barnabas, Homerton in 1846 * St James the Greater, Clapton in 1863 * St Augustine of Canterbury, Hackney Wick in 1867 * St Matthew, Upper Clapton in 1866 * Christ Church, Clapton in 1871 * All Saints, Lower Clapton in 1873 * St Luke, Homerton in 1873 * Holy Trinity, Dalston in 1879 * All Souls, Clapton Park in 1884 * St Michael and All Angels, Stoke Newington Common in 1886 * St Paul, Lower Homerton in 1889 * St Mary of Eton, Hackney Wick in 1893 * St Bartholomew, Dalston in 1897 Periphal parts of the ancient parish contributed to three other new parishes as follows: * St Michael and All Angels, South Hackney London Fields in 1865 — ''with parts of St Jude, Bethnal Green'' * Christ Church, South Hackney in 1871 — ''with parts of St James the Less, Bethnal Green, St John, Bethnal Green, and St Stephen, Haggerston'' * St Mark, Dalston in 1871 — ''with parts of St Matthias, Stoke Newington''

External links

Hackney Local Government

Hackney Churches

Sources

* ''Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England'', Vol.1, Frederic Youngs, London, 1979 {{coord, 51, 32, 51.98, N, 00, 03, 17.08, W, type:landmark_scale:3000, display=title Religion in the London Borough of Hackney Parishes governed by vestries (Metropolis) Parishes united into districts (Metropolis) Former civil parishes in the London Borough of Hackney Bills of mortality parishes