The Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury 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 distric ...

within 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 ...

from 1900 to 1965, when it was amalgamated with the

Metropolitan Borough of Islington Islington was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in London, England. It was an ancient parish within the county of Middlesex, and formed part of The Metropolis from 1855. The parish was transferred to the County of London in 1889 and becam ...

to form the London Borough of Islington.

Formation and boundaries

The borough was formed from five civil parishes and extra-parochial places: Charterhouse, Liberty of Glasshouse Yard, St James & St John Clerkenwell,

St Luke Middlesex St Luke's is an area in central London in the London Borough of Islington, Borough of Islington. It lies just north of the border with the City of London near the Barbican Estate, and the Clerkenwell and Shoreditch areas. The area takes its name ...

and

St Sepulchre Middlesex St Sepulchre was an ancient parish which had its southern part within the boundaries of the City of London and its northern part outside. Its former area is now within the contemporary neighbourhoods of Smithfield, Farringdon and Clerkenwell. T ...

. In 1915 these five were combined into a single civil parish called Finsbury, which was conterminous with the metropolitan borough. Previous to the borough's formation it had been administered by three separate local bodies: Holborn District Board of Works, Clerkenwell Vestry and St Luke's Vestry. Charterhouse had not been under the control of any local authority prior to 1900. The borough covered the areas of

Finsbury Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London. The Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man called Finn ...

Moorfields Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting like a dam, ...

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell () is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an ancient parish from the mediaeval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The well after which it was named was redis ...

, and St Luke's. It bordered

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ...

Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an imp ...

, the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its ro ...

and St Pancras.

Town Hall

The metropolitan borough was administered from

Finsbury Town Hall Finsbury Town Hall is a municipal building in Finsbury, London. The structure is a Grade II* listed building. History The building was commissioned by the Parish of St James's Church, Clerkenwell to replace an early 19th century vestry hall at ...

on Rosebery Avenue. The building was built as the headquarters of Clerkenwell Vestry, and had been officially opened on 14 June 1895 by Lord Rosebery, the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

. The architect was C Evans Vaughan, and it was described by

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, '' The Buildings of England'' ...

as a "nice irregular brick building with Tudor windows and lantern". Finsbury Town Hall is now home to the Urdang Academy, a successful performing arts college.

Population and area

Although metropolitan boroughs only dated from 1900, the

London County Council 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 kn ...

compiled statistics in 1901 that show the population growth in London over the preceding century. The area of the borough in 1901 was . The populations recorded in National Censuses were: Constituent parishes 1801-1899 Metropolitan Borough 1900-1961 By comparison, after amalgamation with

, to form the modern

London Borough of Islington The London Borough of Islington ( ) is a London borough in Inner London. Whilst the majority of the district is located in north London, the borough also includes a significant area to the south which forms part of central London. Islington has ...

, the combined area became 14.86 km² - approximately ; in 2005, this had a population of 182,600, or a population density of 12,288/km². In 1901 Finsbury, the population density was 42,276/km².

Coat of arms

When the borough was incorporated in 1900, the corporation adopted a complicated device bearing six shields for each of the constituent parishes and

extra-parochial In England and Wales, an extra-parochial area, extra-parochial place or extra-parochial district was a geographically defined area considered to be outside any ecclesiastical or civil parish. Anomalies in the parochial system meant they had no ...

places from which it was formed. At the top were shields depicting the old

Cripplegate Cripplegate was a gate in the London Wall which once enclosed the City of London. The gate gave its name to the Cripplegate ward of the City which straddles the line of the former wall and gate, a line which continues to divide the ward into ...

of the

and the arms of Charterhouse. At the centre of the seal, on the left, is the shield of

Vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

. The parish church was dedicated to Ss. James and John, and the shield showed St. James on the left and the cross of St. John on the right. To the right of this was the emblem of St Luke's parish: as patron saint of artists, Luke was shown seated at an easel. At the left base of the seal was a depiction of the gate of St. Botolph, representing the Liberty of Glasshouse Yard. The design was completed by the shield of the parish vestry of St. Sepulchre. This parish was originally partly in the

, and partly in the county of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, and the shield combined the arms used bt the city and county. In 1931 the borough received a grant of arms from the

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

. This also included references to Finsbury's constituent parts, but in a more unified design. The shield had the cross of St John, on which were placed a heraldic

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were ori ...

for the New River and roundels and rings from the arms of

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

. At the top of the shield was a representation of the city wall and its gates. The crest on top of the helm was for St sepulchre's parish, the shield held by the hand again combining elements of the arms of the

and

. The supporters were a winged bull, emblem of

St. Luke Luke the Evangelist (Latin: '' Lucas''; grc, Λουκᾶς, '' Loukâs''; he, לוקאס, ''Lūqās''; arc, /ܠܘܩܐ לוקא, ''Lūqā’; Ge'ez: ሉቃስ'') is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of t ...

; and an heraldic dolphin, symbol of St. James. The dolphin supporter was "charged" with a well in reference to

. The

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

motto chosen by the borough was ''Altiora Petimus'' or ''We seek higher things''.

Politics

The borough was divided into eleven wards for elections: City Road East, City Road West, East Finsbury, Old Street, Pentonville, St James', St John's, St Mark's, St Phillip's, St Sepulchre and West Finsbury.

Borough council

The first borough council was elected on 1 November 1900, when Conservative-supported Unionist and Moderate candidates took control. From 1903 to 1906 the Progressive Party held power. From 1906 to 1925 the

Municipal Reform Party The Municipal Reform Party was a local party allied to the parliamentary Conservative Party in the County of London. The party contested elections to both the London County Council and metropolitan borough councils of the county from 1906 to 194 ...

(allied to the Conservatives) controlled the borough. In 1925 a Ratepayer's Association stood in place of the Municipal Reformers, replacing them as majority party. From 1928 to 1931, the Labour Party held control, with the Ratepayers holding power from 1931 to 1934. In 1934 Labour regained power, which it held until the abolition of the borough in 1965. The number of councillors returned at each election to the council was as follows: ;Local elections No Municipal Reform candidates were nominated after 1946, and Conservative candidates were nominated at local elections for the first time.

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: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, the borough initially formed the two constituencies of Finsbury Central and Finsbury East. In 1918 a new constituency of

was formed which was identical with the metropolitan borough. By 1950 the population of the borough had declined to such an extent that the Finsbury constituency was merged with the neighbouring constituency of Shoreditch to become Shoreditch and Finsbury.

Archival records

Islington Local History Centre Islington Local History Centre is a local studies centre and archive which holds material documenting the history of the London Borough of Islington. History Islington Local History Centre, which is located in Finsbury Library, was opened in 20 ...

holds records of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury, including council and committee minutes, rate books, publications and photographs. There are some street nameplates which retain the label "Borough of Finsbury".

References

Sources

*
Census Tables for Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury, from Vision of Britain
* Crosley, Richard (1928) ''London's Coats of Arms and the Stories They Tell'' * Beningfield, T. J. (1965) ''London 1900 - 1964: Armorial Bearings and Regalia of the London County Council, The Corporation of London and The Metropolitan Boroughs''. Cheltenham & London: Ed. J. Burrow & Co. {{DEFAULTSORT:Finsbury, Metropolitan Borough of Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London History of the London Borough of Islington Politics of the London Borough of Islington 1900 establishments in the United Kingdom 1965 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Districts abolished by the London Government Act 1963