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London | Islington
The County of London was formed in 1889 from parts of the ancient counties of Middlesex, Kent and Surrey, with the City of London remaining an independent body. In 1965 Greater London was formed, taking in the rest of Middlesex (which no longer existed as a county) together with parts of Essex and Hertfordshire and further areas of Kent and Surrey.



 Greater London is made up of 13 Inner and 19 Outer London boroughs together with the City of London.



 Islington once lay in Middlesex and is today one of the 13 boroughs making up Inner London. It borders the City of London to its south.

London Boroughs

Anglo-Saxons and Danes
Anglo-Saxon Kings Danish Kings
The borough once lay in Middlesex which once formed the kingdom the kingdom of the Middle Saxons, so named because their kingdom lay between those of the East Saxons (Essex) and the West Saxons (Wessex).

Explorers and Adventurers
Mary Kingsley was born in Islington in 1862. In 1893 and 1895 she made two expeditions to West Africa, becoming the first European to travel in the area.

Famous People

The preacher and founder of Methodism John Wesley died in the City Road, Finsbury in 1791 and is buried there in the chapel named after him. It was whilst studying at Oxford in 1729 that John's brother Charles had set up a religious group called the "Oxford Methodists" which John later joined. This was the beginnings of Methodism which the brothers would later found together with George Whitefield. Originally a movement within the Church of England, the Methodists were eventually forced to separate and form their own church. John's brother Charles Wesley died at his home at 1 Wheatley Street, Westminster in 1788 and was buried at the parish church in St Marylebone.

 John Wesley
 Charles Wesley
Methodism

Places of Interest

Historic Locations

Bunhill Fields was a cemetery opened towards the end of the 17th century providing burial plots for Nonconformists. Situated just north of the City of London the four acre site houses the graves of three major literary figures. The cemetery stayed in use until the middle of the 19th century.



Writers and Poets

In 1731 the author of Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe died in Ropemakers' Alley in Moorfields, where he had been hiding from his creditors. He is buried at Bunhill Fields in Finsbury.

Daniel Defoe
 Famous London cemeteries



 In 1688 the author of The Pilgrim's Progress John Bunyan was also buried at Bunhill Fields in Finsbury.

John Bunyan
 Famous London cemeteries



 The artist and poet William Blake was buried in 1827 at Bunhill Fields in Finsbury.

William Blake
 Famous London cemeteries


I was angry with my friend;
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
A Poison Tree (1794)

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.
Auguries of Innocence (1803)



 In 1906 the poet John Betjeman was born in Islington. He succeeded Cecil Day-Lewis as Poet Laureate in 1972 and on his death in 1984 was succeeded by Ted Hughes.

 John Betjeman
Poets laureate
 Poetry Archive


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