The Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey was a
Metropolitan borough 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 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 41 parish ...
. It was abolished and its area became part of the
London Borough of Southwark
The London Borough of Southwark ( ) in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas ...
in 1965.
Formation and boundaries
The borough was formed from four
civil parishes
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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority. ...
:
St Mary Magdalen Bermondsey,
St Mary Rotherhithe,
Southwark St John Horsleydown
Southwark St John Horsleydown was a small parish on the south bank of the River Thames in London, opposite the Tower of London. The name Horsleydown, apparently derived from the "horse lie-down" next to the river, is no longer used. The pari ...
and
Southwark St Olave and St Thomas. In 1904 these four were combined into a single civil parish called Bermondsey, which was conterminous with the metropolitan borough.
Previous to the borough's formation it had been administered by three separate local bodies:
St Olave District Board of Works, Bermondsey Vestry and Rotherhithe Vestry.
History
The Victorian
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 ...
hall on Spa Road, SE16, was bombed during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. After the war the neighbouring Municipal Offices (1928, designed by H Tansley) took over the role.
Bermondsey Town Hall continued to house civic offices, latterly for Southwark Council, until being sold off in 2012.
The population declined sharply after the Second World War, being cut by about half from 1931 to 1951.
Coat of arms
The borough was granted a
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
in 1901. The design included references to the three constituent authorities. The lion, crozier and two letters B represent Bermondsey vestry, and are derived from the insignia of
Bermondsey Abbey. The crown and axe were the emblem of St Olave's District Board of Works, and were derived from the royal arms of
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
, Saint Olave being the anglicised name of King
Olaf II of Norway
Olaf II Haraldsson ( – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint Olaf (and traditionally as St. Olave), was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the title '' Rex Per ...
. The ship represented Rotherhithe and the
Surrey Commercial Docks
The Surrey Commercial Docks were a large group of docks in Rotherhithe, South East London, located on the south bank (the Surrey side) of the River Thames.
The docks operated in one form or another from 1696 to 1969. Most were subsequently fi ...
. The symbolism in the coat of arms were incorporated into a sculpture called
The Bermondsey Lion that was unveiled in
The Blue in 2011.
[ The plaque on the plinth of ''The Bermondsey Lion'' in The Blue (September 2012)]
The
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the 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 the power of the ...
motto adopted by the borough was ''Prosunt gentibus artes'' or "Arts profit the people",
[ and was adapted from Ovid's '']Metamorphoses
The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...
''.
Population and area
The area of the Borough was . The population from the Census returns was:
Constituent parishes 1801–1899
Metropolitan Borough 1900-1961
Politics
The borough was divided into twelve wards for elections: No. 1 Bermondsey, No. 2 Bermondsey, No. 3 Bermondsey, No. 4 Bermondsey, No. 5 Bermondsey, No. 6 Bermondsey, No. 1 Rotherhithe, No. 2 Rotherhithe, No. 3 Rotherhithe, St John, St Olave and St Thomas.
Borough council
In the first election to the borough council, held on 1 November 1900 the Moderates (supported by the Conservative Party) gained a majority. The opposition group was formed by the Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to:
Active parties
* Progressive Party, Brazil
* Progressive Party (Chile)
* Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus
* Dominica Progressive Party
* Progressive Party (Iceland)
* Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...
. The Moderates retained their majority at the 1903 elections. In 1906 the Moderate group was renamed Municipal Reform
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 1945 ...
. In 1909 The Progressives won 27 seats and the Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...
1 to the Municipal Reform's 26 seats, but the latter party retained power through the alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...
ic elections. They regained an overall majority of councillors at the 1912 elections.
Local elections were postponed during the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, with the next poll held in 1919. The results were a major reverse for the Municipal Reform Party with just two councillors elected. The Progressives formed the largest party with 27 seats, followed by the Labour Party with 24. There was one independent councillor. At the 1922 elections Labour gained a majority with 38 seats. The opposition was formed by a Ratepayers Association with 14 councillors. Labour held the council at the subsequent elections, holding all the seats from 1934 to 1945 and from 1949 until the borough's abolition.[Election results as reported in ''The Times'', 3 November 1900; 4 November 1903; 3 November 1906; 2 November 1909; 2 November 1912; 4 November 1919; 4 November 1925; 3 November 1928; 4 November 1931; 3 November 1934; 3 November 1937; 2 November 1945; 7 May 1949; 7 May 1953; 11 May 1956; 8 May 1959; 12 May 1962]
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 was divided into two constituencies:
*Bermondsey
Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham ...
*Rotherhithe
Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of D ...
In 1918 the boundaries of the borough's two seats were adjusted, and one was renamed:
* Bermondsey West
*Rotherhithe
Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of D ...
In 1950 the borough's representation was reduced to one seat:
*Bermondsey
Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
''A Vision of Britain''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bermondsey, Metropolitan Borough of
Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London
History of the London Borough of Southwark
1900 establishments in the United Kingdom
1965 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Districts abolished by the London Government Act 1963
Metropolitan Borough of