Bethnal Green was a

civil parish 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 authorit ...

and a metropolitan borough in the East End of London, England. It was formed as a civil parish in 1743 from the

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By ...

hamlet in Stepney ancient parish, and the church of St Matthew, Bethnal Green, was dedicated in 1746. The vestry became an electing authority to the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of local government in a wide area of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, defined by the Metropolis Management Act 1855, from December 1855 until the establishment of the London Coun ...

in 1855 and in 1889 it became part of the County of London. In the 1900 reform of local government caused by the London Government Act 1899 the parish became a metropolitan borough which bordered Hackney, Poplar, Stepney and Shoreditch. In 1965 it was abolished and merged into the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Origins

Until 1743 Bethnal Green formed a hamlet within the large parish of Stepney. By the 17th century the settlement had achieved a measure of self-government, with its own overseer, constable and beadle. It remained a rural area until the beginning of the 18th century, when the expansion of suburban

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

saw the development of the

Brick Lane Brick Lane ( Bengali: ব্রিক লেন) is a street in the East End of London, in the borough of Tower Hamlets. It runs from Swanfield Street in Bethnal Green in the north, crosses the Bethnal Green Road before reaching the busiest ...

area in the south west of the hamlet. The population rapidly increased and in 1743 an

act of parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliame ...

constituted Bethnal Green as a separate parish. As well as forming a parish for ecclesiastical purposes, Bethnal Green was also created a

with responsibility for relief of the poor and maintenance of highways. The government of the parish was shared by a vestry, governors of the poor and two separate bodies of trustees. A further board of paving and lighting commissioners were established in 1843. In 1855 the parish was included within the area of the

to which it nominated one member and the various local government bodies were replaced by a single incorporated vestry which consisted of 48 elected vestrymen. Under the

Metropolis Management Act 1855 The Metropolis Management Act 1855 (18 & 19 Vict. c.120) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the Metropolitan Board of Works, a London-wide body to co-ordinate the construction of the city's infrastructure. The Act ...

any parish that exceeded 2,000

ratepayers Rates are a type of property tax system in the United Kingdom, and in places with systems deriving from the British one, the proceeds of which are used to fund local government. Some other countries have taxes with a more or less comparable role ...

was to be divided into wards; as such the incorporated vestry of St Matthew Bethnal Green was divided into four wards (electing

vestrymen A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Un ...

): No. 1 or East (9), No. 2 or North (9), No. 3 or West (15) and No. 4 or South (15). In 1889 the Metropolitan Board was replaced by 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 ...

, and Bethnal Green was formally removed from Middlesex to the new County of London.

Ecclesiastical parish

Bethnal Green was part of the ancient parish of St Dunstan's, Stepney, in the Diocese of London; in 1743 the area was split off to form a new parish dedicated to St Matthew. From 1837, as the population of Bethnal Green increased, a number of new parishes were formed: * St John, Bethnal Green, in 1837 * St Peter, Bethnal Green, in 1843 * St Andrew, Bethnal Green, in 1843 * St Philip, Bethnal Green, in 1843 * St James the Less, Bethnal Green, in 1843 * St Bartholomew, Bethnal Green, in 1844 * St James the Great, Bethnal Green, in 1844 * St Jude, Bethnal Green, in 1844 * St Matthias, Bethnal Green, in 1844 * St Simon Zelotes, Bethnal Green, in 1844 * St Thomas, Bethnal Green, in 1844 * St Paul, Bethnal Green, in 1865 * St Barnabas, Bethnal Green, in 1870 In addition, as the population of neighbouring Shoreditch increased, parts of Bethnal Green parish were included in the new parish of: * Holy Trinity, Shoreditch, in 1866

Creation of the borough

Under the London Government Act 1899 the various vestries and district boards within the County of London were abolished and replaced by metropolitan borough councils. Accordingly, in 1900, a borough council consisting of a mayor, five aldermen and 30 councillors replaced the vestry. The boundaries of the borough and parish were realigned at the same time.

Bethnal Green Town Hall Bethnal Green Town Hall is a former municipal building on the corner of Cambridge Heath Road and Patriot Square in Bethnal Green, London. It is a Grade II listed building. History The building was commissioned to replace an aging mid-19th centu ...

in Patriot Square was opened in 1910, and extended in 1936–9. The architects were Percy Robinson and William Alban Jones. In 2010 the building was reopened as a hotel; much of the original art deco interior has been retained.

Borough seal

The borough seal depicted a scene based on ''The Beggar's Daughter of Bednall Green'', a poem in Percy’s ''

Reliques of Ancient English Poetry The ''Reliques of Ancient English Poetry'' (sometimes known as ''Reliques of Ancient Poetry'' or simply Percy's ''Reliques'') is a collection of ballads and popular songs collected by Bishop Thomas Percy and published in 1765. Sources The basis ...

'', published in 1765, but probably dating from the era of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

. According to the legend related in the poem, a blind beggar living in Bethnal Green was in fact Henry de Montfort, eldest son of Simon de Montfort, having escaped from the field of the Battle of Evesham in 1265. His identity was revealed at the wedding feast of his daughter Bessie. A depiction of the beggar had appeared on the head of the beadle's staff dating from 1690.

Politics

In the first election to the borough council, held on 1 November 1900 the

Progressives Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, techn ...

gained a majority, with 22 of the 30 councillors. The Moderates (supported by the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

) formed the 8 member opposition group. The Progressives increased their majority to 24 at the 1903 elections, and in 1906 they won all the seats on the council. The Progressives held the council against 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 ...

until 1919 when the Labour Party gained a majority. Progressives and Liberals regained control at the 1928 election, holding power until 1934. In 1934, Labour again took control, and from that date held all the seats on the council until the borough's abolition. For parliamentary elections, Bethnal Green was divided into two constituencies in 1885. Each consisted of two wards of the borough and earlier vestry: * Bethnal Green North East (north and east wards) * Bethnal Green South West (south and west wards). In 1950, the borough's representation was decreased to a single constituency of

, which in 1955 was expanded to also include three wards from the neighbouring

Metropolitan Borough of Hackney The Metropolitan Borough of Hackney was a Metropolitan borough of the County of London from 1900 to 1965. Its area became part of the London Borough of Hackney. Formation and boundaries The borough was one of twenty-eight metropolitan boroughs c ...

Population and area

The area of the borough was . It included the districts now known as

, Cambridge Heath, Bow,

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

and

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 ...

, stretching to include part of the Boundary Estate in the west and parts of Mile End Park and Victoria Park in the east. In the south its boundary stopped just short of

The Blind Beggar The Blind Beggar is a pub on Whitechapel Road in the East End of London, England. Due to its location close to Whitechapel Station, the pub is generally described as being in Whitechapel; it is however located just on the Bethnal Green side o ...

pub on Whitechapel Road. The populations recorded in National Censuses were: Bethnal Green Vestry 1801-1899 Metropolitan Borough 1900-1961

Second World War

During

World War II 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Borough suffered from heavy aerial bombing. It is estimated that 80 tons of bombs fell on this area alone, affecting 21,700 houses, destroying 2,233 and making a further 893 uninhabitable. During the course of the aerial bombardment, 555 people were killed, and 400 were seriously injured.''Bethnal Green: Building and Social Conditions from 1915 to 1945'', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11: Stepney, Bethnal Green (1998), pp. 132–135
/ref>

References

External links

''MB Bethnal Green'' (A Vision of Britain) archived.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bethnal Green, Metropolitan Borough of Parishes governed by vestries (Metropolis) Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London History of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Former civil parishes in London 1900 establishments in the United Kingdom 1965 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Districts abolished by the London Government Act 1963 Bills of mortality parishes Metropolitan Borough of