How London's boroughs were named 60 years ago
Ever heard of the London borough of New River? It doesn't exist, but it nearly did.
On 1 April 1965 the local government map of London was set, with the establishment of the 32 boroughs that still exist today.
Along with the City of London these boroughs tell others a lot about where we live, but also come with prejudices and assumptions about what they are like.
Ahead of the 60th birthday of Brent, Bexley, Barking, Barnet and all the boroughs that don't begin with the letter B, we look back at how modern London was born.
Once the boundaries were settled, via the London Government Act 1963, the clock was ticking.
These 32 new boroughs were due to be born on 1 April 1965.
What were they to be called? Rivers, bridges, mis-spellings and the long-standing military responsibilities of ancient parishes would all feature.
The local government minister, Sir Keith Joseph, who would later become well-known as the intellectual father of Thatcherism, stipulated that there would be no 'and' boroughs.
The merger between Wanstead and Woodford would be resolved with a new name – Redbridge.
Wanstead and Woodford was not an option.
Wandsworth was able to continue basically as it was, while Wembley found itself joined to Willesden, two areas that even in the 1960s had little in common.
They were merged into Brent, named after a river that runs through the borough.
Feltham, Heston and Isleworth, and Brentford and Chiswick councils chose none of those five potential names and became Hounslow instead.
Tower Hamlets is a nod to parishes near the Tower of London that owed military service to the Constable of the Tower.
Today the borough extends as far as Canary Wharf.
Haringey simply defies explanation, with the merger of Hornsey, Tottenham and Wood Green being named after a small part of the new borough that's actually called Harringay.
According to YouTuber and popular historian Jay Foreman, whose video about the formation of the London's local government has more than 6.7 million views, three of the new boroughs wanted to be called Riverside, including one that wasn't even on the Thames.
Most chose one of their existing names, so for example the merger of Southgate, Enfield and Edmonton became Enfield.
Enfield Chase and Edmonton Hundred were both rejected.
East Ham and West Ham became New Ham – Newham.
Clapham and Streatham became Lambeth.
East Barnet, Friern Barnet, Hendon, and Finchley were merged into a single borough called Barnet.
Which name was judged more historically important also played a role.
Richmond and Twickenham warred over which one should be supreme – Twickenham lost.
Chelsea managed to persuade ministers that "Chelsea" was such an important historical name that the no "and" rule should be broken.
Thus the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea was the only one of the 32 boroughs created in 1965 with an "and".
Later legislation allowed for the creation of Barking and Dagenham, and Hammersmith and Fulham.
And New River? That was the proposed name for the merger between the metropolitan boroughs of Finsbury and Islington.
New River was Finsbury's preferred name. Islington thought the name Islington would be better.
Islington Borough Council it was.
The reorganisation began with a Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London, also known as the Herbert Commission, was which established in 1957.
Its final report was published in 1960 recommended radical change - the Greater London area was a messy mix of inner and outer London.
In inner London were the metropolitan boroughs, many based on ancient parishes like Shoreditch, St Pancras, Hampstead and Kensington.
Further out were a mix of county and municipal boroughs and urban districts which all had different functions and responsibilities.
The Herbert commission proposed 52 greater London boroughs with a population range of 100,000 to 250,000, to be achieved by merging some authorities, which would mean taking bits of other counties into London.
Among the towns surrounding the capital that could have been within the boundary of greater London were Chigwell and Hornchurch in Essex; Esher, Walton and Weybridge in Surrey, and Watford, Elstree and Bushey in Hertfordshire.
Local government minister Sir Keith Joseph changed the plans, proposed 34 boroughs and set out the boundaries.
That had been reduced to 32 by the time the bill passed through Parliament in 1963.
A new Greater London Council (GLC) was also created on 1 April 1965, responsible for citywide services such as fire, ambulances and flood prevention.
The London boroughs took over services such as social care, libraries and cemeteries.
The inner London Education Authority (ILEA) took responsible for schools in the 12 inner London. The outer London boroughs were individual education authorities.
The GLC was abolished by Joseph's protégé Margaret Thatcher in 1986, and ILEA was gone by 1990.
It would take the election of a Labour government to revitalise some modicum of central control to the capital.
In 2000 the first Mayor of London was elected and the Greater London Assembly was established.
And just like the old GLC, the leader (now called the mayor) was Ken Livingstone.
Sir Keith Joseph set out his vision for London when the legislation was being debated in 1963.
He said it was essential that the new boroughs "should be based on a natural focus to carry out those duties and to evoke the necessary loyalties. This is the very opposite of bureaucracy. We are taking this step because we are trying to make a potential community for the people of Greater London".
Sixty years on, whether or not council tax payers do have "the necessary loyalties" to their borough, it is a useful marker of where in London you live.
From Hounslow to Hackney, Havering to Haringey, your borough says a lot about what community of London you live in.
Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk
Eating on the hoof: London's long history of street food
London Eye at 25: The wheel that nearly wasn't
Inside the London landmark where they're trying to save the Earth
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Chelsea signs striker Liam Delap from relegated Ipswich
LONDON (AP) — Chelsea signed striker Liam Delap from relegated Ipswich on Wednesday in time to play at the Club World Cup after activating his release clause of 30 million pounds ($40 million). Chelsea used the opening of a special trading window from June 1-10 to add a center forward to its squad, with the 22-year-old Delap set to provide competition for first-choice striker Nicolas Jackson. Advertisement He signed a contract to keep him at Stamford Bridge until 2031. Delap scored 12 league goals — representing one-third of Ipswich's topflight total last season — and joins a resurgent Chelsea team that finished fourth in the Premier League and won the third-tier Conference League title. Delap, who left Manchester City to join Ipswich in last year's offseason, was also reportedly interesting Manchester United. Delap has played for England through the youth age grades but not yet for the senior team. ___ AP soccer: The Associated Press


Associated Press
5 days ago
- Associated Press
Chelsea signs striker Liam Delap from relegated Ipswich
LONDON (AP) — Chelsea signed striker Liam Delap from relegated Ipswich on Wednesday in time to play at the Club World Cup after activating his release clause of 30 million pounds ($40 million). Chelsea used the opening of a special trading window from June 1-10 to add a center forward to its squad, with the 22-year-old Delap set to provide competition for first-choice striker Nicolas Jackson. He signed a contract to keep him at Stamford Bridge until 2031. Delap scored 12 league goals — representing one-third of Ipswich's topflight total last season — and joins a resurgent Chelsea team that finished fourth in the Premier League and won the third-tier Conference League title. Delap, who left Manchester City to join Ipswich in last year's offseason, was also reportedly interesting Manchester United. Delap has played for England through the youth age grades but not yet for the senior team. ___ AP soccer:
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
The White Lotus: Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood Reveal a Rick and Chelsea Sex Scene Was Cut From the Finale (‘It Was So Powerful')
Before The White Lotus' Rick and Chelsea faced a tragic fate in the Season 3 finale, they had one last intimate moment together… but we never got to see it. In a new interview with our sister site Variety, Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood (who played lovers Rick and Chelsea on the HBO hit) reveal that a sex scene between Rick and Chelsea they shot for the finale ended up on the cutting room floor. As they describe it, after Rick and Chelsea reunited at the resort following his wild Bangkok excursion, they went back to their room to discuss their relationship — and had an intimate love scene as well. More from TVLine The Gilded Age Season 3 Trailer Will Have You Clutching Your Pearls Mountainhead Is Too Cruel (and Too Real) to Live Up to Succession - Grade It in Our Poll! HBO's Harry Potter Series Finds Its Harry, Ron and Hermione - Meet the Young Actors Playing the Trio 'We designed the whole journey,' Wood remembers, 'even down to the fact that Chelsea gets on Rick in the first [sex] scene. Then in the last episode, it was Rick picking Chelsea up. It was so, so delicate.' Goggins adds that the cut scene showed viewers 'two people who were free. It was this very long, suspended moment of these two people looking at each other. It was so powerful.' The actor even grabs the Variety reporter's recorder and yells to White Lotus creator Mike White: 'F–k you, Mike! We want a director's cut!' The White Lotus finale did feature another sex scene that was cut for time, with Piper and Belinda's son Zion hooking up, White previously revealed: 'She decides to lose her virginity in the script in the last episode. And she actually has sex with Zion.' But White ultimately decided against including it: 'It had a little bit of a rom-com vibe in the middle of trying to kill the family with the pong pong fruits. It just felt like I was trying to do too much narratively.' Are you wishing you could've seen that Rick and Chelsea scene? Check in with the concierge in the comments below and give us your thoughts. Best of TVLine 'Missing' Shows, Found! Get the Latest on Ahsoka, Monarch, P-Valley, Sugar, Anansi Boys and 25+ Others Yellowjackets Mysteries: An Up-to-Date List of the Series' Biggest Questions (and Answers?) The Emmys' Most Memorable Moments: Laughter, Tears, Historical Wins, 'The Big One' and More