St Margaret was an

ancient 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 authority. ...

in the

City and 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 the county of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. It included the core of modern

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, including the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...

and the area around, but not including

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. It was divided into St Margaret's and St John's in 1727, to coincide with the building of the Church of St John the Evangelist, constructed by the

Commission for Building Fifty New Churches The Commission for Building Fifty New Churches (in London and the surroundings) was an organisation set up by Act of Parliament in England in 1711, the New Churches in London and Westminster Act 1710, with the purpose of building fifty new church ...

Smith Square Smith Square is a square in Westminster, London, 250 metres south-southwest of the Palace of Westminster. Most of its garden interior is filled by St John's, Smith Square, a Baroque surplus church, which has inside converted to a concert hall ...

to meet the demands of the growing population, but there continued to be a single vestry for the parishes of St Margaret and St John. This was reformed in 1855 by the Metropolis Management Act, and the two parishes formed the Westminster District until 1887. St Margaret and St John became part of 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 ...

in 1889. The vestry was abolished in 1900, to be replaced by

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Cons ...

, but St Margaret and St John continued to have a nominal existence until 1922.

Governance

St Margaret was an ancient parish, governed by a vestry and within the

. Before 1542 the parish included territory between the church of

St Clement Danes St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th century by the Danes, the current ...

and the

, that became part of the 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 ...

. The

was set up to build new churches for populous parishes in the London area and Church of St John the Evangelist was completed in 1728. To coincide with this, a new parish of St John the Evangelist for civil and ecclesiastical purposes was split off from St Margaret in 1727. Despite the split, the two parishes continued to be governed by a single vestry and were commonly known as Westminster St Margaret and St John. The two parishes were grouped into the Westminster District in 1855 when they came within the area of responsibility of 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 County ...

. St Margaret elected 30 members the district board and St John elected 27 members. 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 al ...

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 parishes of both St Margaret Westminster and St John the Evangelist within the Westminster District Boards of Works were divided into three wards each (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. Unl ...

): St Margaret No. 1 (12), St Margaret No. 2 (9), St Margaret No. 3 (15), St John the Evangelist No. 1 (9), St John the Evangelist No. 2 (15) and St John the Evangelist No. 3 (12). The local authority was renamed as the St Margaret and St John Combined Vestry in 1887. In 1889 the parishes became part of the

. The united parishes unsuccessfully petitioned for incorporation as a municipal borough on 19 January 1897. In 1900 they 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 ...

. St Margaret and St John was abolished as a civil parish in 1922.

Libraries

The parish vestry was the first in London to adopt the

Public Libraries Act 1855 The Public Libraries Act 1855 amended the Public Libraries Act 1850. The provisions were:Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science: Volume 33 - The Wellesley College Library to Zoological Literature: A Review *to extend the right to adopt p ...

. It held a public meeting in 1856, achieved the required two thirds in favour of providing a library and appointed a librarian the same year. The Westminster Public Library on Great Smith Street opened in 1857. In 1858 a further library was opened in

Trevor Square Trevor Square is an elongated garden square in Knightsbridge, London. It was designed in the 1810s chiefly by architect William Fuller Pocock, and the mid-rise, basemented houses fronting its two long sides, with slate mansard roofs are listed in ...

, Knightsbridge.

Geography

The main lands fronted the tidal Thames. St Margaret's north of St John's parish. The former had a similar-size detached part to its west, by the allegiance of a medieval manor, commonly named

Kensington Gore Kensington Gore is the name of a U-shaped thoroughfare on the south side of Hyde Park in central London, England. The streets connect the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal College of Art, the Royal Geographical Society, and in Kensington Garde ...

including the northwest of what is today considered Knightsbridge (and

Kensington Palace Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British royal family since the 17th century, and is currently the official L ...

and its exclusive western rectangle of streets from 1901). In times of monasticism and monarchicism, the geographic extent had a maximum of three extra-parochial areas within, namely: *The

Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter The Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter was an extra-parochial area, and later civil parish, in the metropolitan area of London, England. It corresponded to the area of Westminster Abbey and was an enclave between the parishes of St Marga ...

containing

, officially its own precinct and sanctuary rather than ex-pariochial altogether. *Privy Gardens (1831 census records) *Verge of the Palaces of St James and Whitehall (1841 census records) **Whitehall (1831 census records)

Poor law

Westminster St Margaret and St John was a local act parish and so remained a single unit for administration of the

New Poor Law The ''Poor Law Amendment Act 1834'' (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the ''Poor Relief ...

. Following the Metropolitan Poor Act 1867, it joined with

St George Hanover Square St George Hanover Square was a civil parish created in 1724 in the Liberty of Westminster, Middlesex, which was later part of the metropolitan area of London, England. The creation of the parish accompanied the building of St George's, Hanove ...

for this purpose in 1870 as the St George's Union.

Population

The population history is typical for a central district of London, growing until the 19th century and then declining as transport improvements caused movement to the suburbs. The population peak was in 1871.

References

{{History of the formation of the City of Westminster History of the City of Westminster History of local government in London (pre-1855) Parishes governed by vestries (Metropolis) Parishes united into districts (Metropolis) Former civil parishes in London