In 1889
the County of London
was formed from parts of the ancient counties of Middlesex,
Surrey
and Kent.
It covered an area now encompassed by the 12 London boroughs
which make up Inner London. Although the historical City
of London lay within the new county
boundaries it stayed outside its jurisdiction.
In
1899
the County of London was divided into 28 metropolitan
boroughs.
In
1965
the 28 metropolitan boroughs were almagamated into 12 Inner London boroughs and joined together
with 20 new Outer London boroughs (a mixture of 3
county boroughs and numerous urban
districts) to create Greater
London. The new boroughs took in the
rest of Middlesex
(which then ceased to exist as a county) and parts of the neighbouring
counties of Surrey,
Kent,
Essex
and Hertfordshire.
The City of London remained a separate entity.
Below is a list of the current London boroughs, how they were
previously organized and links to related archives, historical
background, maps and further information where available.
London
boroughs
Previous
authorities
Ancient
counties
Archive
History
British
History Online
The
32 present day London boroughs came into existence with the
creation of Greater London in 1965.
From
1899 until the creation of Greater
London in 1965
the area was divided up into the following authorities:
(M) = Metropolitan borough
(C) = County borough
(U) = Urban district
Before
the County of London was created in 1889
the area was divided up between the following counties.