St Anne Within the Liberty of Westminster, also known as St Anne Soho, 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 authority ...

in the metropolitan area of

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. The creation of the parish accompanied the building of

St Anne's Church, Soho Saint Anne's Church serves in the Church of England the Soho section of London. It was consecrated on 21 March 1686 by Bishop Henry Compton as the parish church of the new civil and ecclesiastical parish of St Anne, created from part of the pari ...

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 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 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 eastern section of the contemporary districts of

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

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. In 1889 the parish 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 ...

and in 1900 the local authority became

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 ...

. The parish continued to have nominal existence until 1922.

Creation

It was created in 1687 from part of the ancient parish of St Martin in the Fields, 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

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 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 ...

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 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 ...

. 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

and in 1900 it became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster. 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

including

Poor law

After the introduction 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 Relie ...

, 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