St Anne Within the Liberty of Westminster, also known as St Anne Soho, was a civil parish in the metropolitan area of London, England. The creation of the parish accompanied the building of St Anne's Church, Soho to meet the demands of the growing population. The parish was formed in 1687 from part of the ancient parish of

St Martin in the Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...

in the

Liberty of Westminster The City and Liberty of Westminster was a unit of local government in the county of Middlesex, England. It was located immediately to the west of the City of London. Originally under the control of Westminster Abbey, the local authority for the ...

and county of Middlesex. It included the eastern section of the contemporary districts of Soho to the north of Shaftesbury Avenue and

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

to the south of it. Initially controlled by a select vestry, the parish was governed by an

open 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 colloquially ...

of all inhabitants until 1855, when the vestry was superseded for most purposes by the

Strand District Board of Works Strand was a local government district within the metropolitan area of London, England, from 1855 to 1900. Until 1889, the district was in the county of Middlesex, but included in the area of the Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW). In 1889, th ...

. In 1889 the parish became part of the County of London and in 1900 the local authority became Westminster City Council. The parish continued to have nominal existence until 1922.

Creation

It was created in 1687 from part of the ancient parish of

, and was within the

. The parish was included in the returns of the Bills of mortality. The creation of the new parish followed the building of the St Anne's Church, Soho and required an act of parliament, which received royal assent on 15 July 1678. A further act of parliament was required to finance and build the church, and a commission of local inhabitants was created for this purpose. The church was completed and the commission became the select vestry of the parish. However, the select vestry was not constituted in the 1678 act creating the parish and was challenged. By 21 May 1744 the parish was governed by an

of all parishioners.

Government

The parish vestry of St Anne's had responsibility for the church, poor relief, and certain civil functions. These included street paving, sanitation, lighting the streets, watching, and the prevention of fire. In common with other parishes, these functions were absorbed by ad hoc authorities as local government was reformed.

Reform

It was grouped into the Strand District in 1855 when it came within the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works. It was an exclave of the district, with the main part located to the southeast and adjacent to the River Thames. The parish elected twenty-four vestrymen to the Strand District Board of Works. In 1889 the parish became part of the County of London and in 1900 it became part of the

Metropolitan Borough of Westminster The Metropolitan Borough of Westminster was a metropolitan borough in the County of London, England, from 1900 to 1965. City status By royal charter dated 29 October 1900, the borough was granted the title City of Westminster. Westminster had o ...

. It was abolished as a civil parish in 1922.

Geography

The northern boundary was Oxford Street, the western boundary was Berwick Street/Rupert Street, to the south was an irregular boundary around Leicester Square, and the eastern boundary was to the west of Charing Cross Road north of Cambridge Circus and to the east of it to the south. In modern terms it corresponded to the eastern section of Soho including

Poor law

After the introduction of the New Poor Law, the parish was part of the Strand poor law union from 1836 to 1868. It formed part of the Westminster union from 1868 to 1913 and the City of Westminster union from 1913. When the parish of St Anne was abolished in 1922 it was merged with other parishes to form the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...

parish for poor law purposes.

Population

The population at each census was:http://histpop.org/resources/pngs/0046/00300/00008_30.png

References

{{coord missing, London History of local government in London (pre-1855) History of the City of Westminster Parishes united into districts (Metropolis) Former civil parishes in London Bills of mortality parishes