The Metropolitan Borough of Stepney was a

Metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan ...

in the County of London created in 1900. In 1965 it became part of the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, London borough covering much of the traditional East End of London, East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropol ...

Formation and boundaries

The borough was formed from thirteen civil parishes and

extra-parochial places 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 chu ...

: Christchurch Spitalfields,

Liberty of Norton Folgate Norton Folgate was a liberty in Middlesex, England; adjacent to the City of London in what would become the East End of London. It was located between the Bishopsgate ward of the City of London to the south, the parish of St Leonard, Shoredi ...

(part),

Mile End New Town Mile End New Town is a former hamlet and then civil parish in the East End of London. Its former area is now part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. History Following a period of rapid growth it became a hamlet within the large ancient p ...

, Mile End Old Town,

Old Artillery Ground The Old Artillery Ground is an area of land in Spitalfields, London formerly designated one of the Liberties of the Tower of London and Crown Land. Originally the outer precinct of the Priory and Hospital of St Mary Spital, it was converted to an ...

, Ratcliff,

St Anne Limehouse St Anne's Limehouse is a Hawksmoor Anglican Church in Limehouse, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was consecrated in 1730, one of the twelve churches built through the 1711 Act of Parliament. History St Anne's Limehouse was formed fr ...

St Botolph without Aldgate St Botolph without Aldgate was an ancient parish in the metropolitan area of London. The parish was partly within the City of London and partly in the County of Middlesex. Each part operated as a separate parish for civil administration with its ...

, St George in the East, St John of Wapping, St Mary Whitechapel, St Paul Shadwell and Tower of London. In 1901 Tower of London was merged with St Botolph without Aldgate. In 1921 Ratcliff, St John of Wapping and St Paul Shadwell were merged with St Anne Limehouse; and Christchurch Spitalfields, Liberty of Norton Folgate, Mile End New Town, Old Artillery Ground and St Botolph without Aldgate were merged with St Mary Whitechapel. In 1927 the remaining four civil parishes were combined into a single civil parish called Stepney, which was conterminous with the metropolitan borough. Previous to the borough's formation it had been administered by four separate local bodies: Limehouse Board of Works, Whitechapel Board of Works, Old Town Vestry and St George in the East Vestry. The area maps roughly to the London postcode E1. The road sign in front of

Mile End tube station Mile End is a London Underground station in Mile End, London. It is served by the Hammersmith & City, District and Central lines. This station features a cross-platform interchange in both directions, District and Hammersmith & City lines stop ...

and a street sign on Leman Street in Aldgate still have the wording "Borough of Stepney" just visible on them.

Borough seal and coat of arms

On the formation of the metropolitan borough the corporation adopted a seal depicting the patron saints of the parishes that made up the borough. These were

St Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...

, Limehouse, St Mary Matfelon, Whitechapel,

St Dunstan Saint Dunstan (c. 909 – 19 May 988) was an English bishop. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restored monastic life i ...

, for Stepney and St George in the East. In the centre was a depiction of the Tower of London. At the top of the seal was a sailing ship, recalling the legend that all persons born on the high seas, could claim Stepney as their birthplace. The more modern ship and quayside at the bottom of the seal was for the borough's docks. On the left of the seal was a picture of a steam locomotive, for the London and Blackwall Railway, and on the right a loom for the historic weaving industry. In 1931 the seal was replaced by an official coat of arms, granted by the College of Arms. The main item on the shield is a ship on the waves of the sea, for the various maritime interests of Stepney. At the top of the shield are shown a version of the arms of the City of London, but with an anchor replacing the sword in the city's arms. On either side of this were placed smith's tongs, symbol of

, patron saint of Stepney. The crest on the top of the helm featured a mural crown, representing the battlements of the Tower of London. Atop the crown were two crossed gold anchors. The Latin motto: ''A magnis ad maiora'', can be translated as ''from great things to greater''. When Stepney became part of the

, the arms of the new borough were based on Stepney's, and an English-language version of the motto was adopted.

Population and area

The area of the borough was . The populations recorded in National Censuses were: Constituent parishes 1801-1899 Metropolitan Borough 1900-1961

Politics

The borough was divided into nineteen

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

for elections: Centre, Limehouse North, Limehouse South, Mile End New Town, North East, North, Ratcliffe, Shadwell, South East, South, Spitalfields East, Spitalfields West, St George in the East North, St George in the East South, The Tower, West, Whitechapel East, Whitechapel Middle and Whitechapel South.Ordnance Survey 'County Series 3rd Edition' Map of London (1912-14) at 1:2500 scale. Accessed at https://www.old-maps.co.uk/

Borough council

Parliament constituency

Clement Attlee statue - Limehouse library

For elections to Parliament, the borough was divided into five constituencies: * Tower Hamlets, Limehouse division * Tower Hamlets, Mile End division * Tower Hamlets, St George division * Tower Hamlets, Stepney division * Tower Hamlets, Whitechapel division In 1918 the borough's representation was reduced to three seats: * Limehouse * Mile End * Whitechapel and St George's In 1950 the borough's representation was reduced to one seat: * Stepney

References

External links

Vision of Britain website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stepney, Metropolitan Borough of Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London History of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets 1900 establishments in the United Kingdom 1965 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Districts abolished by the London Government Act 1963 Metropolitan Borough of