The Metropolitan Borough of Stepney 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 ...

created in 1900. In 1965, it became part of the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

Formation and boundaries

The borough was formed from thirteen

civil parishes In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishe ...

and extra-parochial places: Christchurch Spitalfields,

Liberty of Norton Folgate Norton Folgate was a liberty (division), liberty in Middlesex, England; adjacent to the City of London in what would become the East End of London. It was located between the Bishopsgate ward of the City of London to the south, the Shoreditch ...

(part),

Mile End New Town Mile End New Town is a former hamlet and then civil parish in the East End of London. Its former area is now part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. History Following a period of rapid growth it became a hamlet within the large ancient par ...

Mile End Old Town Mile End is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End. It is east of Charing Cross. Situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road called Mile End Ro ...

Old Artillery Ground The Old Artillery Ground is an area of land in Spitalfields, London formerly designated one of the Liberties of the Tower of London and Crown Land. Originally the outer precinct of the Priory and Hospital of St Mary Spital, it was converted to an ...

Ratcliff Ratcliff or Ratcliffe is a locality in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames between Limehouse (to the east), and Shadwell (to the west). The place name is no longer commonly used. History Etymol ...

St Anne Limehouse St Anne's Limehouse is a Hawksmoor Anglican Church in Limehouse, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was consecrated in 1730, one of the twelve churches built through the 1711 Act of Parliament. History St Anne's Limehouse was formed ...

St Botolph without Aldgate St Botolph without Aldgate was an ancient parish immediately east of and outside (without) Aldgate, a gate in London's defensive wall. The parish church was St Botolph's Aldgate. The densely populated, and entirely extramural East End parish ...

St George in the East St George-in-the-East is an Anglican Church dedicated to Saint George; located on Cannon Street Road, between The Highway and Cable Street, in the East End of London. Behind the church lies St George's Gardens, the original graveyard. Histor ...

, St John of Wapping, St Mary Whitechapel, St Paul Shadwell and

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

. In 1901, Tower of London was merged with St Botolph without Aldgate. In 1921, Ratcliff, St John of Wapping and St Paul Shadwell were merged with St Anne Limehouse; and Christchurch Spitalfields, Liberty of Norton Folgate, Mile End New Town, Old Artillery Ground and St Botolph without Aldgate were merged with St Mary Whitechapel. In 1927, the remaining four civil parishes were combined into a single civil parish called Stepney, which was conterminous with the metropolitan borough. Previous to the borough's formation it had been administered by four separate local bodies: Limehouse Board of Works, Whitechapel Board of Works, Old Town Vestry and

St George in the East Vestry St George in the East, historically known as Wapping-Stepney, was an ancient parish, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England. The place name is no longer widely used. Ancient parish areas were historically the same for both civil and ec ...

. The area maps roughly to the London postcode E1. The road sign in front of

Mile End tube station Mile End is a London Underground station in Mile End, London. It is located in Travelcard Zone 2 and is served by three lines: Central, District and Hammersmith & City. On the Central line, the station is between Bethnal Green and Stratford ...

and a street sign on Leman Street in

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. The gate gave its name to ''Aldgate High Street'', the first stretch of the A11 road, that takes that name as it passes through the ancient, extramural Portsoken ...

still have the wording "Borough of Stepney" just visible on them.

Borough seal and coat of arms

On the formation of the metropolitan borough the corporation adopted a seal depicting the patron saints of the parishes that made up the borough. These were

St Anne According to apocrypha, as well as Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's nam ...

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throu ...

, St Mary Matfelon,

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

St Dunstan Dunstan ( – 19 May 988), was an English bishop and Benedictine monk. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised. His work restored monastic life in En ...

, for

Stepney Stepney is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. Stepney is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name was applied to ...

and

. In the centre was a depiction of the

. At the top of the seal was a sailing ship, recalling the legend that all persons born on the high seas, could claim Stepney as their birthplace. The more modern ship and quayside at the bottom of the seal was for the borough's docks. On the left of the seal was a picture of a steam locomotive, for the

London and Blackwall Railway Originally called the Commercial Railway, the London and Blackwall Railway (L&BR) in east London, England, ran from Minories to Blackwall via Stepney, with a branch line to the Isle of Dogs, connecting the City of London and East End to many ...

, and on the right a loom for the historic weaving industry. In 1931, the seal was replaced by an official

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 ...

, granted by 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 main item on the shield is a ship on the waves of the sea, for the various maritime interests of Stepney. At the top of the shield are shown a version of the arms of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, but with an anchor replacing the sword in the city's arms. On either side of this were placed smith's tongs, symbol of

, patron saint of

. The crest on the top of the helm featured a

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 ...

, representing the battlements of the

. Atop the crown were two crossed gold anchors. 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: ''A magnis ad maiora'', can be translated as ''from great things to greater''. When Stepney became part of the

, the arms of the new borough were based on Stepney's, and an English-language version of the motto was adopted.

Population and area

The area of the borough was . The populations recorded in National Censuses were: Constituent parishes 1801-1899 Metropolitan Borough 1900-1961

Politics

The borough was divided into nineteen wards for elections: Centre, Limehouse North, Limehouse South, Mile End New Town, North East, North, Ratcliffe, Shadwell, South East, South, Spitalfields East, Spitalfields West, St George in the East North, St George in the East South, The Tower, West, Whitechapel East, Whitechapel Middle and Whitechapel South.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

Clement Attlee statue - Limehouse library

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 divided into five constituencies: * Tower Hamlets, Limehouse division * Tower Hamlets, Mile End division * Tower Hamlets, St George division * Tower Hamlets, Stepney division * Tower Hamlets, Whitechapel division In 1918, the borough's representation was reduced to three seats: *

Mile End Mile End is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is east of Charing Cross. Situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road ...

* Whitechapel and St George's In 1950, the borough's representation was reduced to one seat: *

References

External links

Vision of Britain website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stepney, Metropolitan Borough of Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London History of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets 1900 establishments in the United Kingdom 1965 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Districts abolished by the London Government Act 1963 Metropolitan Borough of