Hampstead 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 metropolitan borough in

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 ...

, England. It was an ancient parish in the county of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, governed by an administrative vestry. The parish was included in 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 Cou ...

in 1855 and 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 parish of Hampstead became a metropolitan borough in 1900, following the

London Government Act 1899 The London Government Act 1899 (62 & 63 Vict. c. 14) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the administration of the capital. The Act divided the County of London into 28 metropolitan boroughs, replacing the 41 parish ...

, with the parish vestry replaced by a borough council. In 1965 the borough was abolished and its former area became part of the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and ...

in Greater London.

Geography

It included

Primrose Hill Primrose Hill is a Grade II listed public park located north of Regent's Park in London, England, first opened to the public in 1842.Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) It was named after the natural hill in the centre of ...

, Hampstead,

Belsize Park Belsize Park is an affluent residential area of Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden (the inner north-west of London), England. The residential streets are lined with mews houses and Georgian and Victorian villas. Some nearby localities ar ...

West Hampstead West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. Mainly defined by the railway stations of the same name, it is situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage ...

South Hampstead South Hampstead is part of the London Borough of Camden in inner north London. It is commonly defined as the area between West End Lane in the west, the Chiltern Main Line (south), Broadhurst Gardens north and north-west followed by a non-road ...

, much of Hampstead Heath and part of Kilburn and Cricklewood. Some street signs still bear the 'Borough of Hampstead' name.

Ecclesiastical parish

The ancient parish, was originally dedicated to St Mary, but in 1747 it was rededicated to St John. It was in the Diocese of London. From 1852, as the population of Hampstead increased, a number of new parishes were formed: * Christ Church, Hampstead in 1852 * St Saviour, Haverstock Hill in 1856 * St Mary, Kilburn in 1856 * St Peter, Belsize Park in 1859 * St Paul, Avenue Road in 1864 * St Stephen, Hampstead in 1869 * Trinity, West Hampstead in 1872, (renamed Holy Trinity in c.1930) * St Mary the Virgin, Primrose Hill in 1873 * Emmanuel, West Hampstead in 1885 * St Cuthbert, West Hampstead in 1886 * St James, West Hampstead in 1888 * St Luke, West Hampstead in 1898 In addition, as the population of neighbouring areas increased, parts of Hampstead parish were included in new parishes: * All Souls, St John's Wood in 1865 ''with parts of All Saints, St John's Wood'' * St Augustine, Kilburn in 1870 ''with parts of St Mark, Marylebone and St Saviour, Paddington''

Coat of arms

The arms were granted in 1931, and are based on a device used by the Hampstead Vestry without authority, and adopted by the Council on its formation in 1900. The mitre stands for the

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 Unite ...

, to which the Manor of Hampstead was granted by Ethelred the Unready in 986, and remained in its possession until 1539. The fleurs-de-lys and stag's head are from the arms of the Hickes family, one of whom, Viscount Camden, purchased the Manor. On his death in 1629 it passed to the Noel family from whose arms are taken the fretty chief. The Manor was sold to Sir William Langthorne in 1707, who is represented by the white cross and red fleurs-de-lys from his arms. The holly is from the seal of the old Hampstead Vestry, which grows profusely in the area. Charges from these arms were used, together with charges from the coats of arms of Holborn and of St. Pancras, when the new

coat of arms of the London Borough of Camden The coat of arms of the London Borough of Camden were granted on 10 September 1965. The borough was formed by the merger of three former boroughs, namely the Metropolitan Borough of Hampstead, the Metropolitan Borough of Holborn and the Metropo ...

was designed in 1965. The former coat of arms can still be seen on Hampstead War Memorial.

Population and area

The metropolitan borough was conterminous with the

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 ...

authority, when it was formed in 1900. Statistics compiled 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 kno ...

, in 1901 to show the population growth in London, over the preceding century. Hampstead had an area of in 1901. The populations recorded in National Censuses were: Hampstead Vestry 1801-1899 Metropolitan Borough 1900-1961

Politics

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 was to be divided into wards; however the parish of St John Hampstead did not exceed this number so was not divided into wards. By 1873 its population had increased enough for the incorporated vestry to be 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. Unl ...

): No. 1 (18), No. 2 (15), No. 3 (15) and No. 4 (12). In 1894 as its population had increased further so the incorporated vestry was re-divided into five wards (electing

): Town (18), Belsize (12), Adelaide (9), Kilburn (21) and West End (12). The metropolitan borough was divided into seven wards for elections: Adelaide, Belsize, Central, Kilburn, Priory, Town and West End.Ordnance Survey 'County Series 3rd Edition' Map of London (1912-14) at 1:2500 scale. Accessed at https://www.old-maps.co.uk/

Parliament constituency

For elections to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, the borough was represented by one constituency: * Hampstead