The Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham was a

Metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan ...

in the County of London between 1900 and 1965, when it became part of the London Borough of Lewisham along with the

Metropolitan Borough of Deptford The Metropolitan Borough of Deptford was a 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 Borough of Lewisham. History The borough covered ...

History

The borough was formed by the London Government Act 1899 from the civil parishes of

Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

from the Lee District and Lewisham from the Lewisham District. The borough also took in a small area formerly administered by Camberwell Vestry on the western slopes of

Forest Hill Forest Hill or Forrest Hill may refer to: Places Australia * Forest Hill, New South Wales, a suburb of Wagga Wagga * Forrest Hill, New South Wales, a suburb of Albury * Forest Hill, Queensland * Forest Hill, Victoria ** Forest Hill Chase Sh ...

. 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 into the tidal River Thames at Deptford, where its tidal reach is known as Deptford Creek. Geography The Ravensbourne is 11 miles (17 km) i ...

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 built social housing, particularly in Downham and Bellingham.

Geography

The borough bordered Deptford, Greenwich,

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district 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 and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

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

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

, Hither Green, Catford, Brockley, Forest Hill and part of Sydenham.

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. 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. 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 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 ''"সু ...

, a grant of arms was obtained from the College of Arms. The shield was greatly simplified: A

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

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 crowns, representative of local government. The motto was not changed, and was continued in use by the London Borough of Lewisham in 1965.

Politics

The borough was divided into ten

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

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, the borough was represented by one constituency: * Lewisham In 1918 the borough's representation was increased to two seats: * Lewisham East * Lewisham West In 1950 the borough's representation was increased to three seats: * Lewisham North * Lewisham South * Lewisham West