The Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham 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 ...

in 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 1900 and 1965, when it became part of the

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is a London boroughs, London borough in south-east London, England. It forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The ...

along with the

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 ...

History

The borough was formed by the

London Government Act 1899 The London Government Act 1899 ( 62 & 63 Vict. c. 14) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the administration of the capital. The act divided the County of London into 28 metropolitan boroughs, replacing the 42 loc ...

from the civil parishes of

Lee Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama about Lee Miller, American photojournalist * ''L ...

from the Lee District and

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

from the Lewisham District. The borough also took in a small area formerly administered by Camberwell Vestry on the western slopes of Forest Hill. While there had been minor industry along the

River Ravensbourne The River Ravensbourne is a tributary of the River Thames in south London, England. It flows north from near Bromley into the tidal River Thames at Deptford, where its tidal reach is known as Deptford Creek. Geography The Ravensbourne is ...

for centuries and the extension of the railways had seen suburban development, there were still large areas of farmland at the time of the borough's formation. The next London property boom in the 1930s saw much of that farmland built upon with both private estates, and the final gaps on the roads to Kent were filled in later on with

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 ...

built social housing, particularly in

Downham Downham may refer to: Places ;in England * Downham, Cambridgeshire, a civil parish **Little Downham *Downham, Essex *Downham, Lancashire *Downham, London, a district of south east London **Downham Estate, housing estate in Downham, London *Downham, ...

and Bellingham.

Geography

The borough bordered

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

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 ...

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

, and had a portion of the southern boundary of the county of London. Places in it included

, Blackheath,

Hither Green Hither Green is a district in south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham. It forms the southern part of Lewisham, 6.6 miles (10.6 km) south-east of Charing Cross, and on the Prime Meridian. Growing extensively with ...

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdivi ...

Brockley Brockley is a district and an wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham south-east of Charing Cross. It has been named the best area of London to live in. It is an area rich in Vi ...

, Forest Hill and part of

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...

Population and area

The area of the borough was . The population, as recorded at the census, was: Constituent parishes 1801–1899 Metropolitan Borough 1900–1961

Coat of arms

When the borough was created in 1900, a committee was appointed to design a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

. This device, adopted in the following year, included a shield, crest, supporters and motto. The shield had four quarters. The first quarter had the attributed arms of King

Alfred Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

, first lord of the manor. The second quarter showed a white on red horse, the arms associated with

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 ...

. The Lewisham area was part of Kent until 1889. The third quarter showed a buck's head, from the arms of the

Earl of Dartmouth Earl of Dartmouth is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1711 for William Legge, 2nd Baron Dartmouth. History The Legge family descended from Edward Legge, Vice-President of Munster. His eldest son William Legge was a ...

, lord of the manor of Lewisham in 1901. The fourth quarter featured a bear's head and ''fesse'' or horizontal band, from the arms of Lord Northbrook, lord of the manor of Lee in 1901. The crest was a raven, representing the Ravensbourne river. The supporters were a silver buck sprinkled with red stars and a bear with a gold portcullis on his shoulder. These were also derived from the arms of the Earl of Dartmouth and Lord Northbrook respectively. The

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

motto was ''Salus Populi Suprema Lex'', or "the welfare of the people is the highest law" - a motto common to many English municipalities. In 1950, in celebration of the borough's

golden jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali language, ...

, a grant of arms was obtained from the

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

. The shield was greatly simplified: A

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

crown and golden lion recalled the association of King Alfred with the area. The background of three colours recalled the three main areas of the borough: green for Lee Green, purple for Hither (or heather) Green and black for Blackheath. The raven crest was retained, with the addition of a silver and blue wave for the Ravensbourne. The 1901 supporters were altered to make them unique to the borough. Around their necks were placed

mural crown A mural crown () is a Crown (headgear), crown or headpiece representing city walls, fortified tower, towers, or fortresses. In classical antiquity, it was an emblem of tutelary deities who watched over a city, and among the ancient Rome, Romans ...

s, representative of local government. The motto was not changed, and was continued in use by the

in 1965.

Politics

The borough was divided into ten wards for elections: Blackheath, Brockley, Catford, Church, Forest Hill, Lewisham Park, Lewisham Village, Manor, South and Sydenham.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 represented by one constituency: *

In 1918 the borough's representation was increased to two seats: *

Lewisham East Lewisham East could refer to: *Lewisham East (UK Parliament constituency) Lewisham East is a parliamentary constituency in South London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since the by-election on 14 June 2018 by Janet Dab ...

* Lewisham West In 1950 the borough's representation was increased to three seats: *

Lewisham North Lewisham North is a parliamentary constituency in Lewisham, London which returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was re-established at the 2024 general election by the 2023 perio ...

* Lewisham South * Lewisham West