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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: LOB-LUP |
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LONDON . 18.2 15.6 Birmingham . 20.2 16.2 Nottingham . 18.4 16-5 Newcastle 20.9 16.8 Sheffield . . 19.6 17-o Berlin 17.8 17.2 Paris . . 19.2 17.4 Manchester 22.6 18.0 New York . 20.2 18.3 Vienna 20.0 19.0 Liverpool 23.2 19.6 Rome 19.1 20.6 St Petersburg 25'9 25.3 In r9o5 the lowest death-rates among the metropolitan boroughs were returned by Hampstead (9.3), Lewisham (11.7), Wandsworth (12.6), Woolwich (12.8), Stoke Newington (12.9), and the highest by Shoreditch (19.7), Finsbury (19.0), Bermondsey (18.7), Bethnal Green (18.6) and Southwark (18.5). A return of the percentage of inhabitants dwelling in over-crowded tenements shows 2.7 for Lewis-ham, 4.5 for Wandsworth, 5.5 for Stoke Newington, and 6.4 for Hampstead, against 35.2 for Finsbury and 29.9 for Shoreditch. Sanitation.-As regards sanitation Lcndon is under special regulations. When the statutes relating to public health were consolidated and amended in 1875 London was excluded; and the law applicable to it was specially consolidated and amended in 1891. The London County Council is a central sanitary authority; the City and metropolitan boroughs are sanitary districts, and the Corporation and borough councils are local sanitary authorities. The County Council deals directly with matters where uniformity of administration is essential, e.g. main drainage, housing of working classes, infant life protection, common lodging-houses and shelters, and contagious diseases of animals. With a further view to uniformity it has certain powers of supervision and control over local authorities, and can make by-laws respecting construction of local sewers, sanitary conveniences, offensive trades, slaughter-houses and dairies, and prevention of nuisances outside the jurisdiction of local authorities. A medical officer of health for the whole county is appointed by the Council, which also pays half the salaries of local medical officers and sanitary inspectors. The Council may also act in cases of default by the local authorities, or may make representations to the Local Government Board respecting such default, whereupon the Board may direct the Council to withhold payment due to the local authority under the Equalization of Rates Act 1894. The first act providing for a commission of sewers in London dates from 1531. Various works of a more or less imperfect character Drainage- were carried out, such as the bridging over in 1637 of the river Fleet, which as early as 1307 had become inaccessible to shipping through the accumulation of filth. Scavengers were employed in early times, and sewage was received into wells and pumped into the kennels of the streets. A system of main drainage was inaugurated by the Commissioners of Sewers in 1849, but their work proceeded very slowly. It was carried on more effectively by the Metropolitan Board of Works (1856-1888) which expended over six-and-a-half millions sterling on the work. The London County Council maintained, completed and improved the system. The length of sewers in the main system is about 288 m., and their construction has cost about eight millions. The system covers the county of London, West Ham, Penge, Tottenham, Wood Green, and parts of Beckenham, Hornsey, Croydon, Willesden, East Ham and Acton. There are actually two distinct systems, north and south of the Thames, having separate outfall works on the north and south banks of the river, at Barking and Crossness. The clear effluent flows into the Thames, and the sludge is taken 5o m. out to sea. The annual cost of maintenance of the system exceeds 250,000. The sanitary authorities are concerned only with the supervision of house drainage, and the construction and maintenance of local sewers discharging into the main system. The Thames and the Lea Conservancies have powers to guard against the pollution of the rivers. Hospitals.-The Metropolitan Asylums Board, though established' in 1867 purely as a poor-law authority for the relief of the sick, insane and infirm paupers, has become a central hospital authority for infectious diseases, with power to receive into its hospitals persons, who are not paupers, suffering from fever, smallpox or diphtheria. Both the Board and the County Council have certain powers and duties of sanitary authority for the purpose of epidemic regulations. The local sanitary authorities carry out the provisions of the Infectious Diseases (Notification and Prevention) Acts, which for London are embodied in the Public Health (London) Act 1891. The Board has asylums for the insane at Tooting Bee (Wandsworth), Ealing (for children); King's Langley, Hertfordshire; Caterham, Surrey; and Darenth, Kent. There are twelve fever hospitals, including northern and southern convalescent hospitals. For smallpox the Board maintains hospital ships moored in the Thames at Dartford, and a land establishment at the same place. There are land and river ambulance services. There are three regular funds in London for the support of hospitals. (I) King Edward's Hospital Fund (1897) founded- by King Edward VII. as Prince of Wales in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The League of Mercy, under royal charter, operates in conjunction with the Fund in the collection of small subscriptions. The Order of Mercy was instituted by the King as a reward for distinguished personal service. (2) The Metropolitan Hospital Sunday Fund, founded in 1873, draws the greater part of its revenue from collections in churches on stated occasions. (3) The Metropolitan Hospital Saturday Fund was founded in 1873, and is made up chiefly of small sums collected in places of business, &c. The following is a list of the principal London hospitals, with dates of foundation i. General Hospitals with Medical Schools (all of which, with the exception of that of the Seamen's Hospital, are schools of London University) :- Charing Cross; Agar Street, Strand (1820). Guy's; St Thomas Street, Southwark (1724). King's College; Lincoln's Inn Fields (1839). London; Whitechapel (1740). Middlesex ; Mortimer Street, Marylebone (1745).North London, or University College; Gower Street (1833). Royal Free; Gray's Inn Road (1828; on present site, 1842). London School of Medicine for Women. St Bartholomew's; Smithfield (1123; refounded 1547). St George's; Hyde Park Corner (1733). St Mary's; Paddington (1845). St Thomas'; Lambeth (1213; on present site, 1871). Seamen's Hospital Society; Greenwich (1821). Westminster, facing the Abbey. (1720; on present site, 1.834). 2. General Hospitals without Schools: Great Northern Central; Islington (1856; on present -site, 1887). Metropolitan; Hackney (1836). - Poplar Hospital for Accidents (1854). West London; Hammersmith Road (1856). 3. Hospitals for Special Purposes: Brompton Consumption Hospital (1841). Cancer Hospital; Brompton (1851). City of London Hospital for diseases of the chest; Bethnal Green (1848). East London Hospital for Children and Dispensary for Women; Shadwell (1868). - Hospital for Sick Children; Bloomsbury (1852). London Fever Hospital; Islington (1802). - National Hospital for Paralysed and Epileptics; Bloomsbury (1859). Royal Hospital for Incurables; Putney (1854). Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital; City Road (1804; on present site, 1899). (See also separate articles on boroughs.) Water Supply.-In the 12th century London was supplied with water from local streams and wells, of which Holy Well, Clerk's Well (Clerkenwell) and St Clement's Well, near St Clement's Inn, were examples. In 1236 the magistrates purchased the liberty to convey the waters of the Tyburn from Paddington to the City by leaden pipes, and a great conduit was erected in West Cheap in 1285. Other conduits were subsequently built (cf. Conduit Street off Bond Street, Lamb's Conduit Street, Bloomsbury); and water was also supplied by the company of water-bearers in leathern panniers borne by horses. In 1582 Peter Moris, a Dutchman, erected a " forcier " on an arch of London Bridge, which he rented for los. per annum for 500 years. His works succeeded and increased, and continued in his family till 1701, when a company took over the lease. Other forciers had been set up, and in 1609, on an act of 1605, Sir Hugh Myddelton undertook the task of supplying reservoirs at Clerkenwell through the New river from springs near Ware, Hertfordshire; and these were opened in 1613. In 1630 a scheme to bring water from Hoddesdon on the Lea was promoted by aid of a lottery licensed by Charles I. The Chelsea Water Company opened its supply from the Thames in 1721; the Lambeth waterworks were erected in 1783; the Vauxhall Company was established in 1805, the West Middlesex , near Hammersmith, and the East London on the river Lea in 1806, the Kent on the Ravensbourne (Deptford) in 181o, the Grand Junction in 1811, and the Southwark (which amalgamated with the Vauxhall) in 1822;For many years proposals to amalgamate the working of the companies and displace them by a central public authority were put forward from time to time. The difficulty of administration lay in the fact that of the area of 62o sq. m. constituting what is known as " Water London " (see map in London Statistics, vol. xix., issued by the L.C.C., 1909) the London County Council has authority over little more than one-third, and therefore when the Council proposed Metropolitan Asylums Board. to acquire the eight undertakings concerned its scheme was opposed ance of proper precautions against fire in theatres and places of not only by the companies but by the county councils and localauthorities outside the County of London. The Council had a scheme of bringing water to London from Wales, in view of increasing demands on a stationary supply. This involved impounding the headwaters of the Wye, the Towey and the Usk, and the total cost was estimated to exceed fifteen millions sterling. The capacity of existing sources, however, was deemed sufficient by a Royal Commission under Lord Balfour of Burleigh in 1893, and this opinion was endorsed by a further Commission under Lord Llandaff. The construction of large storage reservoirs was recommended, and this work was put in hand jointly by the New River, West Middlesex and Grand Junction companies at Staines on the Thames. As regards administration ,Lord Llandaff's Commission recommended the creation Metro- of a Water Trust, and in 1902 the Metropolis Water Act Metro- constituted the Metropolitan Water Board to purchase Water and carry on the undertakings of the eight companies, Board. and of certain local authorities. It consists of 66 members appointed by the London County Council (14), the City of London and the City of Westminster (2 each), the other Metropolitan boroughs (I each), the county councils of Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent and Surrey (1 each), borough of West Ham (2), various groups of other boroughs and urban districts, and the Thames and the Lea Conservancies. The first election of the Board took place in 1903. The 24th of June, 1904, was the date fixed on which control passed to the Board, and in the meantime a Court of Arbitration adjudicated the claims of the companies for compensation for the acquisition of their properties. " Water London " is an irregular area extending from Ware in Hertfordshire to Sevenoaks in Kent, and westward as far as Ealing and Sunbury. A constant supply is maintained generally throughout " Water London," although a suspension between certain hours has been occasionally necessitated, as in 1895 and 1898, when, during summer droughts, the East London supply was so affected. During these periods other companies had a surplus of water, and in 1899 an act was passed providing for the interconnexion of systems. The Thames and Lea are the principal sources of supply, but the Kent and (partially) the New River Company draw supplies from springs. The systems of filtration employed by the different companies varied in efficacy, but both the Royal Commissions decided that water as supplied to the consumer was generally of a very high standard of purity. The expenditure of the Water Board for 19071908 amounted to !2,846,265. Debt charges absorbed I,512,718 of this amount. Public baths and washhouses are provided by local authorities under various acts between 1846 and 1896, which have been adopted by all the borough councils. Lighting.From 1416 citizens were obliged to hang out candles between certain hours on dark nights to illuminate the streets. An act of parliament enforced this in 1661; in 1684 Edward Heming, the inventor of oil lamps, obtained licence to supply public lights; and in 1736 the corporation took the matter in hand, levying a rate. Gas-lighting was introduced on one side of Pall
Fire.In 1832 the fire insurance companies united to maintain a small fire brigade, and continued to do so until 1866. The brigade was confined to the central part of the metropolis; for the rest, the parochial authorities had charge of protection from fire. The central brigade came undef the control of the Metropolitan Board of Works; and the County Council now manages the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, under a chief officer and a staff numbering about 1300. The cost of maintenance exceeds 200,000 annually; contributions towards this are made by the Treasury and the fire insurance companies. The Council controls the provision of fire escapes in factories employing over 40 persons, under an act of 1901; it also compels the mainten- entertainments. A Salvage Corps is independently maintained by the Insurance Companies. Cemeteries.The administrative authorities of cemeteries for the county are the borough councils and the City Corporation and private companies. The large cemetery at Brompton is the property of the government. Kensal Green cemetery, the burial-place of many famous persons, is of great extent, but several large cemeteries outside the metropolis have come into use. Such are that of the London Necropolis Company at Brookwood near Woking, Surrey, and that of the parishes of St Mary Abbots, Kensington, and St. George, Hanover Square, at Hanwell, Middlesex. Crematoria are provided at certain of the companies' cemeteries, and the Cremation Act 1902 enabled borough councils to provide crematoria. V. EDUCATION AND RECREATION Education.The British and Foreign School Society (1808) and the National Society (1811), together with the Ragged Schools Union. (1844), were the only special organizations providing for Element-the education of the poorer classes until 1870. To meet ary the demand for elementary education, increasing as it did education. with population, was beyond the powers of these societies, the churches and the various charitable institutions. Thus a return of 1871 showed that the schools were capable of accommodating only 39 % of the children of school-going age. In 187o, however, a School Board had been created in addition, and this body carried out much good work during its thirty-four years of existence. In 1903 the Education (London) Act was passed in pursuance of the general system, put into operation by the Education Act (1902) of bringing education within the scope of municipal government. The County Council was created a local education authority, and given control of secular education in both board and voluntary schools. It appoints an education committee in accordance with a scheme approved by the Board of Education. This scheme must allow of the Council selecting at least a majority of the committee, and must provide for the inclusion of experts and women. Each school or group of schools is under a body of managers, in the appointment of whom the borough council and the County Council share in the following proportions:(a) Board or provided schools; borough council, two-thirds; county council, one-third: (b) Voluntary or non-provided schools; the foundation, two-thirds; borough council and county council, each one-sixth. The total number of public elementary schools was 963 in 1905, with '752,487 scholars on the register. Other institutions include higher elementary schools for pupils certified to be able to profit by higher instruction; and schools for blind, deaf and defective children. Instruction for teachers is provided in pupil teachers' centres (preparatory), and in residential and day training colleges. There are about 15 such colleges. Previous to the act of 1903 the County Council had educational powers under the hnical Technical Instructions Acts which enabled it to provide Teceducation. technical education through a special board, merged by the act of 1903 in the education committee. The City and Guilds of London Institute, Gresham College, also maintains various technical institutions. The establishment of polytechnics was provided for by the City of London Parochial Charities Act 1883; the charities being administered by trustees. The model institution was that of Mr Quintin Hogg (188o) in Regent Street, where a striking statue by George Frampton (1906) commemorates him. The general scope of the polytechnics is to give instruction both in general knowledge and special crafts or trades by means of classes, lectures and laboratories, instructive entertainments and exhibitions, and facilities for bodily and mental exercise (gymnasia, libraries, &c.). Other similar institutions exist primarily for special purposes, as the St Bride Foundation Institute, near Fleet Street, in immediate proximity to the great newspaper offices, for the printing trade, and the Herolds' Institute, a branch of the Borough Polytechnic situated in Bermondsey, for the purposes of the leather trade. The County Council also aids numerous separate schools of art, both general and special, such as the Royal School of Art Needlework and the School of Art Woodcarving; the City and Guilds Institute maintains similar establishments at some of its colleges, and art schools are also generally attached to the polytechnics. The London County Council maintains a number of industrial schools and reformatories, both in London and in the country, for children who have shown or are likely to be misled into a phllaa tendency towards lawlessness. The City Corporation has throplca- l separate responsibilities in the same direction, but has iastitu= no schools of its own. The expenditure of the London tloag. County Council on education for 19071908 was 4,281,291 for elementary education, and 742,962 for higher education. The work of private philanthropists and philanthropical bodies among the poor of East London, Southwark and Bermondsey, and elsewhere, falls to be noticed at this point. The labours of the regular clergy here lie largely in the direction of social reform, and churches and missions have been established and are maintained by colleges, such as Christ Church, Oxford, schools and other bodies. There are, further, " settlements " where members of the various bodies may reside in order to devote themselves to philanthropical work; and these include clubs, recreation rooms and other institutions for the use of the poor. Such are the Oxford House, Bethnal Green; the Cambridge House, Camberwell Road; Toynbee Hall
In early times the priories and other religious houses had generally grammar schools attached to them. Those at St Peter's, Westminster, Public and St Paul's, attained a fame which has survived, while schools. other similar foundations lapsed, such as St Anthony's (Threadneedle Street, City), at which Sir Thomas More, Archbishop Whitgift and many other men of eminence received education. Certain of the schools were re-endowed after the dissolution of the monasteries. St Peter's College or Westminster School (see WESTMINSTER) is unique among English public schools of the highest rank in maintaining its original situation in London. Other early metropolitan foundations have been moved in accordance with modern tendencies either into the country or to sites aloof from the heart of London. Thus Charterhouse school, part of the foundation of Sir Thomas Sutton (1611), was moved from Finsbury to Godalming, Surrey; St Paul's School occupies modern buildings at Hammersmith, and Christ's Hospital is at Horsham, Sussex. Of other schools, Merchant Taylors' was founded by the Company of that name in 1561, and has occupied, since 1875, the premises vacated by Charterhouse School. The Mercers' School, Dowgate, was origin-ally attached to the hospital of St Thomas of Aeon, which was sold to the Mercers' Company in 1522, on condition that the company should maintain the school. The City of London School, founded in Milk Street, Clteapside, by the City Corporation in 1835, occupies modern buildings on the Victoria Embankment. Dulwich College originated in the foundation of the College of God's Gift by Edward Alleyn in 1626, and is now constituted as one of the principal English public schools. St Olave's and St Saviour's grammar school, Southwark, received its charter in 1571. Both classical and modern education is provided; a large number of scholarships are maintained out of the foundation, and exhibitions from the school to the universities and other higher educational institutions. London University.The University of London was incorporated by royal charter in 1836, as an examining body for conferring degrees. Its scope and powers were extended by subsequent charters, and in 1900, under the University of London Act 1898, it was reorganized as both a teaching and an examining body. The function of the academic department is to control the teaching branch, internal examinations, &c., and that of the external department to control external examinations, while the university extension system occupies a third department. The university is governed by a senate consisting of a chancellor, chairman of convocation and 54 members, whose appointment is shared by the Crown, convocation, the Royal Colleges of Physicians and of Surgeons, the Inns of Court, the Law Society, the London County Council, City Corporation, City and Guilds Institute, University and King's Colleges and the faculties. The faculties are theology, arts, law, music, medicine, science, engineering and economics. The schools of the University include University College, Gower Street, and King's College, Somerset House (with both of which preparatory schools are connected), East London College and numerous institutions devoted to special faculties both within and without London. The university in part occupies buildings which formerly belonged to the Imperial Institute. Other Educational Institutions.The Board of Education directly administers the following educational institutionsthe Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, with its branch at Bethnal Green, from both of which objects are lent to various institutions for educational purposes; the Royal College of Science, South Kensington, with which is incorporated the Royal School of Mines; the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom and the Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn Street; the Solar Physics Observatory, South Kensington ; and the Royal College of Art, South Kensington. At Gresham College,. Basinghall Street, City, founded in 1597 by Sir Thomas Gresham, and moved to its present site in 1843, lectures are given in the principal branches of science, law, divinity, medicine, &c. Some further important establishments and institutions may be tabulated here : Architecture.The Royal Institute of British Architects, Conduit Street, conducts examinations and awards diplomas. Education.The College of Preceptors, Bloomsbury, conducts examinations of persons engaged in education and awards diplomas. Engineering.A School of Practical Engineering is maintained at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham. Law.The Inns of Court are fourMiddle Temple, Inner Temple, Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn. A joint board of examiners examines students previous to admission. The Council of Legal Education superintends the education and subsequent examination of students. (See INNS OF COURT.) The Law Society is the superintending body for examination and admission in the case of solicitors. Medical.The Royal College of Physicians is in Pall
Military and Naval.The Royal Military College and the Ordnance College are at Woolwich ; the Royal Naval College at Greenwich. Music.The principal educational institutions arethe Royal Academy of Music, Tenterden Street, Hanover Square; the Royal College of Music, South Kensington; Guildhall School, City, near the Victoria Embankment; London College, Great Marlborough Street; Trinity College, Manchester Square; Victoria College, Berners Street; and the Royal College of Organists, Bloomsbury. Scientific Societies.Numerous learned societies have their head-quarters in London, and the following may especially be noticed here. Burlington House, in Piccadilly, built in 1872 on the site of a mansion of the earls of Burlington, houses the Royal Society, the Chemical, Geological, Linnaean and Royal Astronomical Societies, the Society of Antiquaries and the British Association for the Advancement of Science, of which the annual meetings take place at different British or colonial towns in succession. The Royal Society, the most dignified and influential of all, was incorporated by Charles II. in 1663. It originally occupied rooms in Crane Court, City, and was moved in 1780 to Somerset House, where others of the societies named were also located. The Society of Arts, John Street, Adelphi, was established in 1754 for the encouragement of arts, manufactures and commerce. The Royal Institution, Albemarle Street, was founded in 1799, maintains a library and laboratories and promotes research in connexion with the experimental sciences. The Royal Geographical Society, occupying a building close to Burlington House in Savile Row, maintains a map-room open to the public, holds lectures by prominent explorers and geographers, and takes a leading part in the promotion of geographical discovery. The Royal Botanic Society has private gardens in the midst of Regent's Park, where flower shows and general entertainments are held. The Royal Horticultural Society maintains gardens at Wisley, Surrey, and has an exhibition hall
Museums, Art Galleries, Libraries.In the British Museum London possesses one of the most celebrated collections in the world, originated in 1753 by the purchase of Sir Hans Sloane's collection and library by the government. The great building in Bloomsbury (18281852) with its massive Ionic portico, houses the collections of antiquities, coins, books, manuscripts and drawings, and contains the reading-rooms for the use of readers. The natural history branch was removed to a building at South Kensington (the Natural History Museum) in 1881, where the zoological, botanical and mineralogical exhibits are kept. Close to this museum is the Victoria and Albert Museum (formerly South Kensington Museum, 1857) for which an extension of buildings, from a fine design by Sir Aston Webb, was begun in 1899 and completed in ten years. Here are collections of pictures and drawings, including the Raphael cartoons, objects of art of every description, mechanical and scientific collections, and Japanese, Chinese and Persian collections, and an Indian section. In the vicinity, also, is the fine building of the Imperial Institute, founded in 1887 as an exhibition to illustrate the resources of all parts of the Empire, as well as an institution for the furtherance of imperial intercourse; though not developed on the scale originally intended. Other museums are Sir John Soane's collection in Lincoln's Inn Fields and the Museum of Practical Geology in Jermyn Street, while the scientific societies have libraries and in some cases collections of a specialized character, such as the museums of the Royal College of Surgeons, the Royal Architectural Society, and the Society of Art and the Parkes Museum of the Sanitary Institute. Among permanent art collections the first place is taken by the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. This magnificent collection was originated in 1824, and the building dates from 1838, but has been more than once enlarged. The building of the National Portrait Gallery, adjoining it, dates from 1896, but the nucleus of the collection was formed in 1858. The munificence of Sir Henry Tate provided the gallery, commonly named after him, by the Thames near Vauxhall Bridge, which contains the national collection of British art. The Wallace collection of paintings and objects of art, in Hertford House, Manchester Square, was bequeathed to the nation by the widow of Sir Richard Wallace in 1897. Dulwich College Eossesses a fine series of paintings, of the Dutch and other schools, e ueathed by Sir P. F. Bourgeois in 1811. There are also notable collections of pictures in several of the mansions of the nobility, government buildings, halls of the City Companies and elsewhere. No gallery in London is exclusively or especially devoted to sculpture. Of the periodical art exhibitions that of the Royal Academy is most noteworthy. It is held annually at Burlington House from the first Monday in May to the first Monday in August. It consists mainly of paintings, but includes a few drawings and examples of sculpture. Earlier in each year exhibitions of works by deceased British artists and by old masters are held, and the Gibson and Diploma Galleries are permanent exhibitions. At the Guildhall special exhibitions are 949 1271 acres 205 ++ 541 72 115 +, 339 +, 805 3201 511 66 621 2 16711 103 63 66 1511 66 217 ,, 155 ,+ 193 COMMERCE) held from time to time. There are a number of art galleries in and about Bond Street and Piccadilly, Regent Street and Pall Mall, such as the New Gallery, where periodical exhibitions are given by the New English Art Club, the Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours, the Royal Institute of Painters in Water-Colours, other societies and art dealers. Municipal provision of public libraries under acts of 1892 and 1893 is general throughout London, and these institutions are exceedingly popular for purposes both of reference and of loan. The acts are extended to include the provisions of museums and art galleries, but the borough councils have not as a rule availed them-selves of this extension. The London County Council administers the Horniman Museum at Forest Hill, Lewisham. The City Corporation maintains the fine Guildhall library and museum. A few free libraries are supported by donations and subscriptions or charities. Besides the Government reference libraries at the British Museum and South Kensington there are other such libraries, of a specialized character, as at the Patent Office and the Record Office. Among lending libraries should be noticed the London Library in St James's Square, Pall Mall. Theatres and Places of Entertainment.The principal London theatres lie between Piccadilly and Temple Bar, and High Holborn and Victoria Street, the majority being in Shaftesbury Avenue, the Haymarket, the neighbourhood of Charing Cross and the Strand. At these central theatres successful plays are allowed to " run " for protracted periods, but there are numerous fine houses in other parts of London which are generally occupied by a succession of touring companies presenting either revivals of popular plays or plays successful at the moment in the central theatres. The principal music halls (variety theatres) are in Shaftesbury Avenue, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and the Strand. The Covent Garden theatre is the principal home of grand opera; the building, though spacious, suffers by comparison with the magnificence of opera houses in some other capitals, but during the opera season the scene within the theatre is brilliant. The chief halls devoted mainly to concerts are the Royal Albert Hall, close to the South Kensington museums, and Queen's Hall in Langham Place, Regent Street. For a long time St James's Hall (demolished in 1905) between Regent Street and Piccadilly was the chief concert hall. Oratorio is given usually in the Albert Hall, the vast area of which is especially suited for a large chorus and orchestra, and at the Crystal Palace (q.v.). This latter building, standing on high ground at Sydenham, and visible from far over the metropolis, is devoted not only to concerts, but to general entertainment, and the extensive grounds give accommodation for a variety of sports and amusements. Among other popular places of entertainment may be mentioned the exhibition grounds and buildings at Earl's Court; similar grounds at Shepherd's Bush, where a Franco-British Exhibition was held in 1908, an Imperial Exhibition in 1909, and an Anglo-Japanese in 191o; the great Olympia hall, West Kensington; the celebrated wax-work exhibition of Madame Tussaud in Marylebone Road; the Alexandra Palace, Muswell Hill, an institution resembling the Crystal Palace; and the Agricultural Hall, Islington, where agricultural and other exhibitions are held. The well-known Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly was taken down in 1906, and the permanent conjuring entertainment for which (besides picture exhibitions) it was noted was removed elsewhere. Theatres, music halls, concert halls and other places of entertainment are licensed by the County Council, except that the licence for stage-plays is granted by the lord chamberlain under the Theatres Act 1843. The council provides for inspection of places of entertainment in respect of precautions against fire, structural safety, &c. The principal clubs are in and about Piccadilly and Pall Mall (see CLUB). A club for soldiers, sailors and marines in London, called the Union Jack Club, was opened in Waterloo Road by King Edward VII. in 1907. Parks and Open Spaces: Administration.The administration of parks and open spaces in and round London, topographical details of the principal of which are given in Section I., is divided between the Office of Works, the London County Council, the City Corporation and the borough councils. The Office of Works controls the Royal parks, the County Council controls the larger parks and open spaces not under Government or City control, and the borough councils the smaller; while the City Corporation controls certain public grounds outside the County of London. There are a few other bodies con-trolling particular open spaces, as the following list of public grounds exceeding 5o acres (in 1910) will show: 1. Under the Office of Works: Green Park . 521 acres Greenwich Park . 185 Hyde Park . 363+ Kensington Gardens . 2744 Regent's Park . 4721 St James's Park 93 2. Under the War Office: Woolwich Common 3. Under the London County Council: Avery Hill, Eltham Battersea Park Blackheath . Bostall Heath and Woods, WoolwichBrockwell Park, Herne Hill Clapham Common Clissold Park Dulwich Park Finsbury Park Hackney Marsh Hainault Forest, Essex . Hampstead Heath . Ladywell Ground, Lewisham Marble Hill, Twickenham . Millfields, Hackney Parliament Hill Peckham Rye and Park Plumstead Common . Southwark Park . Streatham Common . Tooting Bec Common . Tooting Graveney Common Victoria Park, East London Wandsworth Common Wormwood Scrubbs Under the City Corporation: Burnham Beeches, Buckinghamshire Coulsdon Commons, Surrey Epping Forest, Essex . Highgate Woods . West Ham Park 77 Wimbledon and Putney Commons are under a board of conservators. The London County Council's parks and open spaces increased in number from 40 in 1890 to 114 in 1907, and in acreage from 2656 to 5006 in the same years. The expenditure in 19071908 was 131,582, which sum included 11,987 for bands. (See also separate articles on boroughs.) Bathing (at certain hours) and boating are permitted in the ornamental waters in several of the parks, music is provided and much attention is paid to the protection of waterfowl and other birds, while herds of deer are maintained in some places, and also botanical gardens. Surplus plants and cuttings are generally distributed without charge to educational or charitable institutions, and to the poor. Provision is made for cricket, football and other games in a number of the parks. Large gatherings of spectators are attracted to the first-class cricket matches played at Lord's ground, St John's Wood, by the Marylebone Club and the Middlesex County teams, Eton College against Harrow School, and Oxford against Cambridge University; to the Kennington Oval for the matches of the Surrey club, and the Leyton ground for those of the Essex club. In the Crystal Palace grounds the final match for the English Association Football cup is generally played, and huge crowds from both the metropolis and the provinces witness the game. At Queen's Club, West Kensington, the annual Oxford and Cambridge athletic meeting and others take place, besides football matches, and there is covered accommodation for tennis and other games. Professional association football teams are maintained locally in several parts of London, and much popular interest is taken in their matches. Rugby football is upheld by such notable teams as Blackheath and Richmond. Fashionable society takes its pastimes at such centres as the grounds of the Hurlingham and Ranelagh clubs, at Fulham and Barnes respectively, where polo and other games are played ; and Rotten Row, the horse-track in Hyde Park, is the favourite resort of riders. In summer, boating on the lovely reaches of the Thames above the metropolis forms the recreation of thousands. The growth of popularity of the cycle, and later of the motor-car, has been a principal factor in the wide development of a tendency to leave London during the " week-end," that is to say, as a rule, for Saturday after-noon and Sunday. With many this is a practice at all seasons, and the railway companies foster the habit by means of tickets at reduced fares to all parts. The watering-places of the Sussex, Kent and Essex coasts, and pre-eminently Brighton, are specially favoured for these brief holidays.VI. COMMERCE Port of London.The extent of the Port of London has been variously defined for different purposes, but for those of the Port Authority it is taken to extend from Teddington Lock to a line between Yantlet Creek in Kent and the City Stone opposite Canvey Isle and in Essex. London Bridge is to outward appearance the up-river limit of the port. There are wharves and a large carrying trade in barges above this point, but below it the river is crowded with shipping, and extensive docks open on either hand. Towards the close of the 19th century evidence was accumulating that the development of the Port of London was not keeping pace with that of shipping generally. In 1900 a Royal Commission was appointed to investigate the existing administration of the port, the alleged inadequacy of accommodation for vessels and kindred questions, and to advance a scheme of 159 So 1991 267 13311 4. 375 ,, 347 55591 . 69 reform. The report, issued in 1902, showed apprehension to be well founded. The rive', it was ascertained, was not kept sufficiently dredged; the re-export trade was noted as showing an especially serious decline, and the administration was found to suffer from decentralization. The recommendations of the Commission included the creation of a single controlling authority to take over the powers of the Thames Conservancy Watermen's Company, and Trinity House and the docks of the companies already detailed. This authority, it was advised, should consist of 40 members, of whom 11 should be nominated by the London County Council and 3 by the Corporation of the City (supposing these bodies to accept certain financial responsibilities proposed in the direction of river improvements), 5 by the governors of the Bank of England from the mercantile community, 2 by the London Chamber of Commerce, and 1 each by the Admiralty, Board of Trade and Trinity House. The remaining members should be elected by various groups, e.g. shipowners, barge owners, the railway companies interested, &c. Rival schemes, however, were proposed by the London County Council,which proposed to take over the entire control through a committee, by the City Corporation, which suggested that it should appoint 1 o instead of 3 members to the new board; and by the London Chamber of Commerce, which proposed a Harbour Trust of ex-officio and elected members. The Thames Conservancy also offered itself as the public authority. In 1902 a Mansion House Conference was convened by the lord mayor and a deputation was appointed which in 1903 pressed the solution of the matter upon the government. A noteworthy scheme to improve the condition of the Thames, first put forward in 19021903, was that of constructing a dam with four locks across the river between Gravesend Thames and Tilbury. The estimated cost was between three barrage scheme. and four millions sterling, to be met by a toll, and it was urged that a uniform depth, independent of tides, would be ensured above the dam, that delay of large vessels wishing to proceed up river would thus be obviated, that the river would be relieved of pollution by the tides, and the necessity for constant dredging would be abolished. This " barrage scheme " was discussed at considerable length, and its theoretical advantages were not universally admitted. The scheme included a railway tunnel beneath the dam, for which, incidentally, a high military importance was claimed. In 1904 the Port of London Bill, embodying the recommendations of the Royal Commission with certain exceptions, was Port brought forward, but it was found impossible to carry authorities it through. In 1908, however, the Port of London Act before was passed, and came into force in 1909. This act 1909. provided for the establishment of a Port Authority, the constitution of which is detailed below, which took over the entire control of the port, together with the docks and other property of the several existing companies. The principal dock companies, with the docks owned by them, were as follows: 1. London and India Company.This company had amalgamated all the docks on the north side of the river except the Millwall Docks. Following the river clown from the Tower these docks, with dates of original opening and existing extent, areSt Katherine's (1828; to acres), London (1805; 572 acres), West India, covering the northern part of the peninsula called the Isle of Dogs (1802; 1211 acres), East India, Blackwall (1806; 38 acres), Royal Victoria and Albert Docks (1876 and 188o respectively), parallel with the river along Bugsby's and Woolwich Reaches, nearly 3 M. in distance (181 acres) and Tilbury Docks, 25 M. below London Bridge, constructed in 1886 by the East and West India Docks Company (65 acres). Tilbury Docks are used by the largest steamers trading with the port. 2. Alilluall Docks (1868), in the south part of the Isle of Dogs, are 36 acres in extent. 3. Surrey Commercial Docks, Rotherhithe (Bermondsey), occupy a peninsula between the Lower Pool and Limehouse Reach. There have been docks at Rotherhithe since the middle of the 17th century. The total area is 176 acres, a large new dock, the Greenland, being opened in 1904. The principal railways have wharves and through connexions for goods traffic, and huge warehouses are attached to the docks. The custom house stands on the north bank, a short distance from London Bridge, in Lower Thames Street. It dates from 1817, the body of thebuilding being by Laing, but the Corinthian facade was added by Smirke. It includes a museum containing ancient documents and specimens of articles seized by the customs authorities. The chief authorities concerned in the government of the Port of London till 1909 were: 1. Thames Conservancy.For conservancy purposes, regulation of navigation, removal of obstruction, dredging, &c. 2. City Corporation.Port sanitary purposes from Teddington Lock seawards. 3. Trinity House.Pilotage, lighting and buoying from London Bridge seawards. 4. The Watermen's and Lightermen's Company.The licensing authority for watermen and lightermen. Besides these authorities, the London County Council, the Board of Trade, the Admiralty, the Metropolitan and City Police, police of riparian boroughs, Kent and Essex Fisheries Commissioners, all the dock companies and others played some part in the government and public services of the port. Port Authority.The Port of London Authority, as constituted by the act of 1908, is a body corporate consisting of a chairman, vice-chairman, 17 members elected by payers of dues, wharfingers and owners of river craft, r member elected by wharfingers exclusively, and 10 members appointed by the following existing bodiesAdmiralty (one); Board of Trade (two); London County Council (two from among its own members and two others); City Corporation (one from among its own members and one other); Trinity House (one). The Board of Trade and the County Council must each, under the act, consult with representatives of labour as to the appointment of one of the members, in order that labour maybe represented on the Port Authority. The first " elected " members were actually, under the act, appointed by the Board of Trade. The under-takings of the three dock companies mentioned above were transferred to and vested in the Port Authority, an equivalent amount of port stock created under the act being issued to each. The Port Authority has full powers to authorize construction works. All the rights, powers and duties of the Thames Conservancy, so far as concerns the Thames below Teddington Lock, were transferred to the Port Authority under the act, as also were the powers of the Watermen's Company in respect of the registration and licensing of vessels, and the regulation of lightermen and watermen. The Port Authority fixes the port rates, which, however, must not in any two consecutive years exceed one-thousandth part of the value of all imports and exports, or a three-thousandth of the value of goods discharged from or taken on board vessels not within the premises of a dock. Preferential dock charges are prohibited and a port fund established under the act. The authority has powers to borrow money, but for certain purposes in this connexion, as in other matters, it can only act subject to the approval of the Board of Trade. Commerce.The following figures may be quoted for purposes of comparison at different periods: Value of Exports of Home Produce (184o), 11,586,037; (1894), 60,232,118; (188o), 52,600,929; (19021905 average), 60,095,294. Imports (188o), 141,442,907; (19021905), 174,059,316. These figures point to the fact that London is essentially a mart, and neither is itself, nor is the especial outlet for, a large manufacturing centre; hence imports greatly exceed exports. Vessels entered and cleared (foreign and colonial trade) Year. Entered. Cleared. Tonnage. Tonnage. 1694 135,972 81,148 1750 511,68o 179,860 1800 796,632 729,554 18411850 1,596,453 1,124,793 (average) 5,810,043 4,478,960 1881 1895 8,435,676 6,110,325 1905 10,814,115 7,913,115 In the coastwise trade, in 1881, 38,953 vessels of 4,545,904 tons entered; in 1895, 43,704 vessels of 6,555,618 tons; but these figures include vessels trading within the Thames estuary (ports of London, Rochester, Colchester and Faversham), which later returns do not. Omitting such vessels, therefore, the number which entered in the coastwise trade in 1905 was 16,358 of 6,374,832 tons. Business.The City has been indicated as the business centre of the metropolis. Besides the Royal Exchange, in the building of which are numerous offices, including " Lloyd's," the centre of the shipping business and marine insurance, there are many exchanges for special articles. Among these are the Corn Exchange in Mark Lane, where the privilege of a fair was origin-ally granted by Edward I.; the Wool Exchange, Coleman Street; the Coal Exchange, Lower Thames Street; the Shipping Exchange, Billiter Street; and the auction mart for landed property in Tokenhouse Yard. The Hop Exchange is across the river in Southwark. In Mincing Lane are the commercial sale-rooms. Besides the Bank of England there are many banking houses; and the name .of Lombard Street, commemorating the former money dealers of Lombardy, is especially associated with them. The majority of the banks are members of the Clear House, Post Office Court, where a daily exchange of drafts representing millions of pounds sterling is effected. The Royal Mint is on Tower Hill. The Stock Exchange is in Capel Court, and numbers of brokers have their offices in the vicinity of the Royal Exchange and the Bank of England. Manufactures and Retail Trade.No part of London can be pointed out as essentially a manufacturing quarter, and there is a strong tendency for manufacturing firms to establish their factories outside the metropolis. There are, however, several large breweries, among which that of Messrs Barclay & Perkins, on the riverside in Southwark, may be mentioned ; engineering works are numerous in East London by the river, where there are also shipbuilding yards; the leather industry centres in Bermondsey, the extensive pottery works of Messrs Doulton are in Lambeth, there are chemical works on the Lea, and paper-mills on the Wandle. Certain industries (not confined to factories) have long been associated with particular localities. Thus, clock-makers and metal-workers are congregated in; Finsbury, especially Clerkenwell and in Islington; Hatton Garden, near Holborn Viaduct, is a centre for diamond merchants; cabinet-making is carried on in Bethnal Green, Shoreditch and the vicinity ; and large numbers in the East End are employed in the match industry. Silk-weaving is still carried on in the district of Spitalfields (see STEPNEY). West of the City certain streets are essentially connected, with certain trades. The old-established collection of second-hand book-shops in Holywell Street was only abolished by the widening of the Strand, and a large proportion then removed to Charing Cross Road. In the Strand, and more especially in Fleet Street and its offshoots, are found the offices of the majority of the most important daily newspapers and other journals. Carriage and motor-car warehouses congregate in Long Acre. In Tottenham Court Road are the showrooms of several large upholstering and furnishing firms. Of the streets most frequented on account of their fashionable shops Bond Street, Regent Street, Oxford Street, Sloane Street and High Street, Kensington, may be selected. In the East End and other poor quarters a large trade in second-hand clothing, flowers and vegetables, and many other commodities is carried on in the streets on movable stalls by costermongers and hawkers. Markets.The City Corporation exercises a control over the majority of the London markets, which dates from the close of the 14th century, when dealers were placed under the gqq--ernance of the mayor and aldermen. The markets thus conk?olled are: Central Markets, Smithfield, for meat, poultry, provisions, fruit, vegetables, flowers and fish. These extend over a great area north of Newgate Street and east of Farringdon Road. Beneath them are extensive underground railway sidings. A market for horses and cattle existed here at least as early as the time of Henry II: Leadenhall Market, Leadenhall Street, City, for poultry and meat. This market was in existence before 1411 when it came into the possession of the City. Billingsgate Market, by the Thames immediately above the custom house, for fish. Formerly a point of anchorage for small vessels, it was made a free market in 1699. Smithfield Hay Market. Metropolitan Cattle Market, Copenhagen Fields, Islington. Deptford Cattle Market (foreign cattle). Spitalfields Market (fruit, vegetables and flowers). Shadwell Market (fish). Of other markets, the Whitechapel Hay Market and Borough Market, Southwark, are under the control of trustees; and Woolwich Market is under the council of that borough. Covent Garden, the great mart in the west of London for flowers, fruit and vegetables, is in the hands of private owners. It appears to have been used as a market early in the 17th century. Scenes of remarkable activity may be witnessed here and at Billingsgate in the early hours of the morning when the stock is brought in and the wholesale distributions are carried on. Administration before 1888.The middle of the 19th century found the whole local administration of London still of a medievalcharacter. Moreover, as complete reform had always been steadily resisted, homogeneity was entirely wanting. Outside the City itself a system of local government can hardly vestries. be said to have existed. Greater London (in the sense in which that name might then have been applied) was governed by the inhabitants of each parish in vestry assembled, save that in some instances parishes had elected select vestries under the provisions of the Vestries Act 1831. In neither case had the vestry powers of town management. To meet the needs of particular localities, commissioners or trustees having such powers had been from time to time created by local acts. The resulting chaos was remarkable. In 1855 these local acts numbered 250, administered by not less than 300 bodies, and by a number of persons serving on them computed at 10,448. These persons were either self-elected, or elected for life, or both, and therefore in no degree responsible to the ratepayers. There were two bodies having jurisdiction over the whole metropolis except the City, namely, the officers appointed under the Metropolitan Building Act of 1844, and the Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers, appointed under the Commissioners of Sewers Act 1848. Neither body was responsible to the ratepayers. To remedy this chaotic state of affairs, the Metropolis Management Act 1855 was passed. Under that act a vestry elected by the ratepayers of the parish was established for each parish in the metropolis outside the City. The vestries so elected for the twenty-two larger parishes were constituted the local authorities. The fifty-six smaller parishes were grouped together in fifteen districts, each under a district board, the members of which were elected by the vestries of the constituent parishes. A central body, styled the Metropolitan Board of mam. Works, having jurisdiction over the whole metropolis politan (including the City) was also established, the members Boara of of which were elected by the Common Council of the works City, the vestries and district boards, and the previously established local board of Woolwich (q.v.). Further the area of the metropolis for local government purposes was for the first time defined, being the same as that adopted in the Commissioners of Sewers Act, which had been taken from the area of the weekly bills of mortality. The Metropolitan Board of Works was also given certain powers of supervision over the vestries and district boards, and superseded the commissioners of sewers as authority for main drainage. By an act of the same session it became the central authority for the administration of the Building Acts, and subsequently had many additional powers and duties conferred upon it. The vestries and district boards became the authorities for local drainage, paving, lighting, repairing and maintaining streets, and for the removal of nuisances, &c. Acts of 1888 and 1899.An objection to the Metropolitan Board of Works soon became manifest, inasmuch as the system of election was indirect. Moreover, some of its actions were open to such suspicion that a royal commission Gaon was appointed to inquire into certain matters connected couonnty Council. with the working of the board. This commission issued an interim report in 1888 (the final report did not appear until 1891), which disclosed the inefficiency of the board in certain respects, and also indicated the existence of corruption. Reform followed immediately. Already in 1884 Sir William Harcourt had attempted to constitute the metropolis a municipal borough under the government of a single council. But in 1888 the Local Government Act, dealing with the area of the metropolis as a separate county, created the London County Council as the central administrative body, possessing not only the powers of an ordinary county council, but also extensive powers of town management, transferred to it from the abolished Board of Works. Here, then, was the central body, under their direct control, which inhabitants of London had hitherto lacked. The question of subsidiary councils remained to be settled. The wealthier metropolitan parishes became discontented with the form of local government to which they remained subject, and in 1897 Kensington and Westminster petitioned to be created boroughs by the grant of charters under the Municipal Corporation Acts. These, however, were inapplicable to London, and it was realized 952 that the bringing of special legislation to bear on special cases (as the petition of these two boroughs would have demanded) would be inexpedient as making against homogeneity. metro- Instead, the London Government Act of 1899 was polhan boroughs. evolved. It brought into existence the twenty-eight Metropolitan boroughs enumerated at the outset of this article. The county of London may thus be regarded from the administrative standpoint as consisting of twenty-nine contiguous towns, counting the City of London. As regards the distribution of powers and duties between the County Council and the Borough Councils, and the constitution and working of each, the underlying principle may be briefly indicated as giving all powers and duties which require uniformity of action throughout the whole of London to the County Council, and powers and duties that can be locally administered to the Borough Councils. Summary of Administrative Bodies.The administrative bodies of the County of London may now be summarized: 1. London County Council.Consists of 118 councillors, 2 elected by each parliamentary division (but the City of London elects 4) ; and 19 aldermen, with chairman, vice-chairman and deputy-chairman, elected in council. Triennial elections of councillors by house-holders (male and female) on the rate-books. Aldermen hold office for 6 years. 2. Metropolitan Boroughs.Councils consist of a mayor and aldermen and councillors in proportion as i to 6. The commonest numbers, which cannot be exceeded, are to and 6o (see separate article on each borough). Triennial elections. 3. Corporation of the City of London.The legislation of 1855, 1888 and 1899 left the government of the small area of the City in the hands of an unreformed Corporation. Here at least the medieval system, in spite of any anomalies with respect to modern conditions, has resisted reform, and no other municipal body shares the traditions and peculiar dignity of the City Corporation. This consists of a Lord Mayor, 26 aldermen and 206 common councilmen, forming the Court of Common Council, which is the principal administrative body. Its scope may be briefly indicated as including (a) duties exercised elsewhere by the Borough Councils, and by the London County Council (although that body is by no means powerless within the City boundaries) ; and (b) peculiar duties such as control of markets and police. The election of common councilmen, whose institution dates from the reign of Edward I., takes place annually, the electors being the ratepayers, divided among the twenty-five wards of the City. An alderman (q.v.) of each ward (save that the wards of Cripplegate within and without, share one) is elected for life. The Lord Mayor (q.v.) is elected by the Court of Aldermen from two aldermen nominated in the Court of Common Hall by the Livery, an electorate drawn from the members of the ancient trade gilds or Livery Companies (q.v.), which, through their control over the several trades or manufactures, had formerly an influence over the government of the city which from the time of Edward III. was paramount. Non-administrative Arrangements.The Local Government Act of 1888 dealt with the metropolis for non-administrative purposes as it did for administrative, that is to say, as a separate county. The arrangements of quarter-sessions, justices, coroners, sheriffs, &c., were thus brought into line with other counties, except in so far as the ordinary organization is modified by the existence of the central criminal court, the metropolitan police, police courts and magistrates, and a paid chairman of quarter-sessions. The powers of the governing body of the City, moreover, are as peculiar in this direction as in that of municipal administration, and the act left the City as a county of a city practically unchanged. Thus the Lord Mayor and aldermen possess judicial authority, and the police of London are divided into two separate bodies, the Metropolitan and the City Police (see POLICE). The chief courts for the trial of criminal cases are the Central(GOVERNMENT Garden; Clerkenwell; Great Marlborough Street (Westminster); Greenwich and Woolwich; Lambeth; Marylebone; North London, Stoke Newington Road; Southwark; South Western, Lavender Hill (Battersea); Thames, Arbour Street East (Stepney); West Ham; West London, Vernon Street (Fulham); Westminster, Vincent Square; Worship Street (Shoreditch). The police courts of the City are held at the Mansion House, the Lord Mayor or an alderman sitting as magistrate , and at the Guildhall, where the aldermen preside in rotation. The prisons within the metropolis are Brixton, Holloway, Pentonville, Wandsworth and Wormwood Scrubbs. In the county of London there are 12 coroners' districts, 19 petty sessional divisions (the City forming a separate one) and 13 county court districts (the City forming a separate one). The boundaries of these divisions do not in any way correspond with each other, or with the police divisions, or with the borough or parish boundaries. The registration county of London coincides with the administrative county.Parliamentary Representation.The London Government Act contains a saving clause by which " nothing in or done under this act shall be construed as altering the limits of any parliamentary borough or parliamentary county." The parliamentary boroughs are thus in many cases named and bounded differently from the metropolitan boroughs. The parliamentary arrangements of each metropolitan borough are indicated in the separate articles on the boroughs. In the following list the boroughs which extend outside the administrative county of London are noted. Each division of each borough, or each borough where not divided, returns one member, save that the City of London returns two members. (a) North of the Thames. (I) Bethnal GreenDivs.: North-eastern, South-western. (2) Chelsea (detached portion in administrative county of Middlesex, Kensal Town). (3) Finsbury (detached portion in Middlesex, Muswell Hill)Divs.: Holborn, Central, Eastern. (5) Fulham. (6) HackneyDivs.: North, Central, South. (7) Hammersmith. (8) Hampstead. (9) IslingtonDivs.: Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western. (to) KensingtonDivs.: Northern, Southern; (II) City of London. (12) MaryleboneDivs.: Eastern, Western. (13) Paddington (extending into Middlesex)Divs.: Northern, Southern. (14) St George's Hanover Square. (15) St PancrasDivs.: Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western. (16) ShoreditchDivs.: Hoxton, Haggerston. (17) Strand. (18) Tower HamletsDivs.: Bow and Bromley, Limehouse, Mile End, Poplar, St George, Stepney, Whitechapel. (19) Westminster. A detached portion of the parliamentary division of Hornsey, Middlesex, is in the metropolitan borough of Hackney. London University returns a member. (b) South of the Thames. (1) Battersea and ClaphamDivs.: Battersea, Clapham. (2) Camberwell (extending into Kent)Divs.: Northern, Peckham, Dulwich. (3) Deptford. (4) Greenwich. (5) LambethDivs.: Northern, Kennington, Brixton, Norwood. (6) Lewisham. (7) NewingtonDivs.: Western, Walworth. (8) SouthwarkDivs.: Western, Rotherhithe, Bermondsey. (9) Wandsworth. (to) Woolwich. Part of the Wimbledon parliamentary division of Surrey is in the metropolitan borough of Wandsworth. Ecclesiastical Divisions and Denominations.London north of the Thames is within the Church of England bishopric of London, the bishop's palace being at Fulham. In this diocese, which covers nearly the whole of Middlesex and a very small portion of Hertfordshire, are the suffragan bishoprics of Islington, Kensington and Stepney. The bishopric of Southwark was created in 1904, having been previously a suffragan bishopric in the diocese of Rochester. The county contains 612 ecclesiastical parishes. Westminster is the seat of the Roman Catholic archbishopric in England, and Southwark is a bishopric. Among the numerous chapels of dissenting bodies there may be mentioned the City Temple, Congregational, on Holborn Viaduct; the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Baptist, in Southwark, the creation of which was the outcome of the labours of the famous preacher Charles Spurgeon (d. 1892); and Wesley's Chapel, City Road, in the graveyard of which is the tomb of John Wesley; his house, which adjoins the chapel, being open as a memorial museum. In 1903 the Wesleyans acquired the site of the Royal Aquarium, near Westminster Abbey, for the erection of a central hall. The Great Synagogue of the Jews is in St James' Place, Aldgate. Criminal Court and the Court of Quarter-sessions. The Central Courts. Criminal Court, taking the place of the provincial Assizes, was established by an act of 1834. There are twelve sessions annually, under the Lord Mayor, aldermen and judges. They were formerly held in the " Old Bailey " sessions-house, but a fine new building from designs of E. W. Mountford took the place of this in 1906. Quarter-sessions for the county of London are held thirty-six times annually, for the north side of the Thames at the Sessions-house in Clerkenwell (Finsbury) and for the south side at that in Newington Causeway, Southwark. For judicial purposes Westminster was merged with the county of London in 1889, and the Liberty of the Tower was abolished in 1894. The separate court of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen is held at the Guildhall. The Metropolitan police courts are fourteen in number, namelyBow Street, Covent The headquarters of the Salvation Army are in Queen Victoria Street, City. There are numerous foreign churches, among which may be mentioned the French Protestant churches in Monmouth Road, Bayswater and Soho Square; the Greek church of St Sophia
In addition to the provisions that have been mentioned above (Section VII.), the London Government Act 1899 simplified ad-ministration in two respects. The duties of overseers in London had been performed by most diverse bodies. In some parishes overseers were appointed in the ordinary manner; in others the vestry, by local acts and by orders under the Local Government Act 1894, was appointed to act as, or empowered to appoint, overseers, whilst in Chelsea the guardians acted as overseers. The act of 1899 swept away all these distinctions, and constituted the new borough councils in every case the overseers for every parish within their respective boroughs, except that the town clerk of each borough performs the duties of overseers with respect to the registration of electors.' Again, with regard to rates, there were in all cases three different rates leviable in each parishthe poor rate, the general rate and the sewers ratewhilst in many parishes in addition there was a separate lighting rate. From the sewers rate and lighting rate, land, as opposed to buildings, was entitled to certain exemptions. Under the act of 1899 all these rates are consolidated into a single rate, called the general rate, which is assessed, made, collected and levied as the poor rate,.but the interests of persons previously entitled to exemptions are safeguarded. Further, every precept sent by an authority in London for the purpose of obtaining money (these authorities include the London County Council, the receiver of the Metropolitan Police, the Central Unemployed Body and the Boards of Guardians) which has ultimately to be raised out of a rate within a borough is sent direct to the council of the borough instead of filtering through other authorities before reaching the overseers. ' Over zoo local acts were repealed by schemes made under the act of 1899. The only exceptions to this rule are: (I) precepts issued by the local government board for raising the sums to be contributed to the metropolitan common poor fund; and (2) precepts issued by poor law authorities representing two or more poor-law unions; in both these cases the precept has of necessity to be first sent to the guardians. The metropolitan borough councils make one general rate, which includes the amount necessary to meet their own expenditure, as well as to meet the demands of the various precepting authorities. There was thus raised in the year 19061907 a sum of 15,393,956 (in 18981899 the amount was 10,401,441); of this II,012,424 was for central rates, which was subdivided into 7930,275 for county services and 3,082,149 for local services, leaving a balance of 4,381,532, strictly local rates. The total local expenditure of London for the year 19061907 was 24,703,087 (in 18981899 it was only 14,768,757), the balance of 9,761,734 being made up by receipts-in-aid and imperial subventions. This expenditure was divided among the following bodies: London County Council . . . 9,491,271 Metropolitan Borough Councils 5,009,982 Boards of Guardians . 3,587,429 Metropolitan Water Board 2,318,618 Metropolitan Police . 1,903,441 City Corporation 1,270,406 Metropolitan Asylums Board . 934,463 Central (Unemployed) Body . 141,284 OverseersCity of London 34,757 Market Trustees ,(Southwark) . io,68o Local Government BoardCommon Poor Fund 756 24,703,0$7 The total expenditure was equal to a rate in the pound of I Is. 4.4d. ; the actual amount raised in rates was equivalent to a rate of 7s. I od., receipts-in-aid were equivalent to a rate of 3s. 2.5d., and imperial subventions to a rate of Is. 3.4d. Practically the whole amount contributed towards the support of public local expenditure, and a considerable amount of that contributed to public national expenditure is based on the estimated annual value of the immovable property situated within the county of London, which in 1876 was 23,240,070; in 1886 30,716,719; in 1896 35,793,672; and in 1909 44,666,651. The produce of a penny rate was, in the Estimated Income. Balances Receipts in aid of expenditure (local taxation licences and estate duty, beer and spirit duties, &c.) . 513,541 Government grants in aid of education 1,515,663 Interest on loans advanced to local authorities, &c. 586,065 Rents, &c. 427,767 Contributions from revenue-producing undertakings for interest and repayment of debt 685,948 Miscellaneous 3,633 Rate contributions General, for other than education . 2,698,610 For education 3,675,694 Special 407,946 (I) Rate and Debt Accounts. 967,740 Estimated Expenditure. Debt (including management) Grants (mostly guardians) Pensions . Establishment charges Judicial expenses. Services Main drainage. . 295,650 Fire brigade . 263,575 Parks and open spaces . 140,715 Bridges, tunnels, ferry 49,925 Embankments . 14,940 Pauper lunatics 78,87o Inebriates Acts 14,045 Coroners . 30,925 Weights and measures 14,830 Gas testing . . 13,785 Building Acts . . 25,595 Diseases of Animals Acts 19,260 Miscellaneous . 63,060 3,905,135 645,913 75,665 232,045 52,515 Education . Steamboats . Works Dept. Parliamentary expenses Miscellaneous . 1,025,175 .4,837,442 . 14,805 I2,100 5,889,522 22,675 6,214 Total expenditure Balances . . Estimated Income.10,829,684 652,923 Balances . . 4,055 Receipts 173443 Working class dwellings Tramways 2,089,955 Small Holdings and Allotments 410 Parks boating . 5,100 2,268,908 Transfers . . -16,214 2,279,177 11,482,607 Estimated Expenditure. Working expenses Working class dwellings. . 56,060 Tramways 1,318,620 Small Holdings and Allotments 621 Parks boating 2,965 1,378,266 Renewals 163,828 Reserve 44,557 Interest on and repayment of debts 685,946 Transfer in relief of rates (parks boating) 2,000 Balances 4,580 2,279,177 11,482,607 (2) Revenue Producing Undertakings. metropolitan police district in 19081909, 226,739, and in the county of London (excluding the City) 161,806. A complete re-valuation of properties in the county of London is made every five years, valuation lists being prepared in duplicate by the borough councils acting as overseers of the parishes in their respective boroughs. They are revised by statutory assessment committees, who hear any objections by ratepayers against their valuation. These lists when revised are sent to the clerk of the County Council, who publishes the totals. By the Metropolitan Poor Act 1867, the metropolitan common poor fund, to which each union in London contributes in proportion to its rateable value, was established. Out of this fund certain expenses of guardians in connexion with the maintenance of indoor paupers and lunatics, the salaries of officers, the maintenance of children in poor-law schools, valuation, vaccination, registration, &c., are paid. The payments amounted in 1906-1907 to 1,662,942. Under the Local Government Act 1888, the London County Council makes grants to boards of guardians, sanitary authorities and overseers in London in respect of certain services. This grant is in lieu of the grants formerly made out of the exchequer grant in aid of local rates, and amounted in 19061907 to 619,489. Finally, in 1894, the fund called the Equalization Fund was established. This fund is raised by the rate of 6d.in the pound on the assessable value of the county of London, and redistributed among the boroughs in proportion to their population. It amounted in 19061907 to 1,094,946. But, in spite of attempts at equalization, rates remain very unequal in London, and varied in 1908 from 6s. 2d. in St Anne's, Westminster, to Iis. 6d. in Poplar. The London County Council levied in 19091910 to meet its estimated expenditure for the year a total rate of 3675d.; 14.50d. of this was for general county purposes, 1975d. for education purposes and 2.5od. for special county purposes. The preceding tables show the estimated income and expenditure of the London County Council for 1909-1910. Besides the annual expenditure of the various authorities large sums have been borrowed to defray the cost of works of a permanent nature. The debt of London, like that of other municipalities, has considerably increased and shows a tendency to go on increasing, although certain safeguards against too ready borrowing have been imposed. Every local authority has to obtain the sanction of some higher authority before raising a loan, and there are in addition certain statutory limits of borrowing. Metropolitan borough councils have to obtain the sanction of the Local Government Board to loans for baths, washhouses, public libraries, sanitary conveniences and certain other purposes under the Public Health Acts; for cemeteries the sanction of the Treasury is required, and for all other purposes that of the London County Council; poor law authorities, the metropolitan asylums hoard, the metropolitan water board and the central (unemployed) body require the sanction of the Local Government Board ; the receiver for the metropolitan police district that of the Home Office, and the London County Council that of parliament and the Treasury. The following table gives the net loans outstanding of the several classes of local authorities in London at the 31st of March 1908:same opinion in The Making of England (p. ior). On the other side Kemble held that it was difficult to believe that Cair Lunden was an unimportant place even in Caesar's day (Saxons in England, ii. 266); and Thomas Lewin believed that London had attained prosperity before the Romans came; and held that it was probably the capital of Cassivellaunus, which was taken and sacked by Julius Caesar (Archaeologia, xl. 59). The origin of London will probably always remain a subject of dispute for want of decisive facts. Local Authorities. Loans outstanding 31St March 1908. London County Council (excluding loans advanced to other authorities) 49,938,131 Metropolitan Asylums Board 3,113,612 Metropolitan Police (London's proportion). 226,131 Metropolitan Water Board (proportion) 38,726,514 ~ Central (Unemployed) Body . 31,845 City of London Corporation . 5,553,173 Metropolitan Borough Councils . 12,551,204 Guardians and sick asylum managers . 4,029,013 114,169,623 The strongest reason for believing in a British London is to be found in the name, which is undoubtedly Celtic, adopted with little alteration by the Romans. It is also difficult to believe that Londinium had come to be the important commercial centre described by Tacitus (A.D. 61) if it had only been founded a few years before the conquest of Claudius. The discovery by General Pitt Rivers in 1867 of the remains of pile dwellings both on the north and on the south of the Thames gives ground for an argument of some force in favour of the date of the foundation of London having been before the Roman occupation of Britain. Of Roman London we possess so many remains that its appearance can be conjectured with little difficulty. During the centuries when Britain was occupied by the Romans (A.n. 43409) there was ample time for cities to grow up from small beginnings, to overflow their borders and to be more than once rebuilt. The earliest Roman London must have been a comparatively small place, but it probably contained a military fort of some kind intended to cover the passage of the river. The Roman general Paulinus Suetonius, after marching rapidly from Wales to put down a serious insurrection, found Londinium unfitted for a base of military operations, and therefore left the place to the mercy of Boadicea, t:xtentmanof Ro who entirely destroyed it, and killed the inhabitants. London. After this the need of fortifying Londinium must have been apparent, and a walled city of small dimensions arose soon after the defeat of the British queen. The earliest Roman city probably extended as far as Tower Hill on the east, and there is reason to believe that it did not include any ground to the west of Leadenhall. The excavations at the latter place in 1881 threw great light upon the early history of London. The foundation walls of a" basilica were discovered, and from the time when that was built until the present day the ground has always been devoted to public uses. How far north the first wall was placed it is difficult to guess. One help towards a settlement of the question may be found in the discovery of burial places. As it was illegal in Roman times to bury within the walls, we are forced to the conclusion that the places where these sepulchral remains have been found were at one time extramural. Now no such remains have been found between Gracechurch Street and the Tower. The northern wall was placed by Roach Smith somewhere along the course of Cornhill and Leadenhall Street. The second extension of the city westwards was probably to Wallbrook. In the latest or third Roman enclosure the line of the wall ran straight from the Tower to Aldgate, where it bent round somewhat to Bishopsgate. On the east it was bordered by the district subsequently called the Minories and Houndsditch. The line from Bishopsgate ran eastward to St Giles's churchyard (Cripplegate), where it turned to the south as far as Falcon square; again westerly by Aldersgate round the site of the Greyfriars (afterwards Christ's Hospital) towards Giltspur Street, then south by the Old Bailey to Ludgate, and then down to the Thames, where Dr Edwin Freshfield suggests that a Roman fortress stood on the site of Baynard's Castle. This is most probable, because the Romans naturally required a special protection on the river at the west as well as at the east. So in later times when William the Conqueror planned the Tower he gave the site at the western extremity to his follower Ralph Baynard, where was erected the stronghold known as Baynard's Castle. Roach Smith pointed out that the enclosure indicated above gives dimensions far greater than those of any other town in Britain. There can be no doubt that within the AuTSORITiES.Full details and figures relating to the finance of London will be found in the parliamentary papers Local Taxation Returns (England and Wales), part iv. published annually; Returns relating to the London County Council, published annually; the annual report and accounts of the Metropolitan Water Board, and the metropolitan police accounts. The publications of the London County Council, especially the tramways accounts, the annual estimates, London Statistics, and the Financial Abstract (10 years ended 51st March 1908) have much valuable information. (T. A. I.) IX. HISTORY 1. British and Roman to A.D. 499.There is practically no record of British London, and considerable difference of opinion exists among antiquaries as to its very existence. Bishop Stillingfleet held that London was of Roman foundation and not older than the time of Claudius (Origines Brit., 1685, p. 43); and Dr Guest affirmed that the notion of a British town having preceded the Roman camp has no foundation to rest upon " (Archaeological Journal, xxiii. 18o). J. R. Green expressed the walls there was originally much unoccupied space, for with the single exception of the larger circuit south of Ludgate, up to where the river Fleet ran, made in 1276 for the benefit of the Black Friars, the line of the walls, planned by the later Romans, remained complete until the Great Fire (1666). The Thames formed the natural barrier on the south, but the Romans do not appear to have been content with this protection, for they built a wall here in addition, which remained for several centuries. 'Portions of this wall have been discovered at various times. It is difficult even to guess when the third wall was erected. The emperor Theodosius came to London from Boulogne to mature his plan for the restoration of the tranquillity of the province. As Theodosius is said to have left Britain in a sound and secure condition it has been suggested that to him was due the wall of the later Londinium, but there is little or no evidence for this opinion, and according to an old tradition Constantine the Great walled the city at the request of his mother Helena, presumed to be a native of Britain. There is, however, some evidence in favour of the supposition that the wall was built at a much earlier date. It is not improbable that early in the 2nd century the wall was finished at the west portion and enclosed a cemetery near Newgate. Sir William Tite, in describing a tessellated pavement found in 1854 on the site of the Excise Office (Bishopsgate Street), expresses the opinion that the finished character of the pavement points to a period of security and wealth, and fixes on the reign of Hadrian (A.D. 117-138), to which the silver coin found on the floor belongs, as the date of its foundation. The historians of the Roman Empire have left us some particulars of the visits of emperors and generals to Britain, but little or nothing about what happened in London, and we should be more ignorant than we are of the condition of Londinium if it had not been that a large number of excavations have been made in various parts of the city which have disclosed a considerable amount of its early history. From these remains we may guess that London was a handsome city in the reign of Hadrian, and probably then in as great a position of importance as it ever attained. This being so, there seems to be reason in attributing the completed walls to this period. The persistence of the relics of the walls of London is one of the most remarkable facts of history. Pieces of the wall are to be seen in various parts of the city, and are Remains frequently found when extensive excavations are of Roman wall. made for new buildings. In some places where the Roman wall is not to be seen there still exist pieces of the old wall that stand upon Roman foundations. In Amen Court, where the residences of canons of St Paul's and the later houses of the minor canons are situated, there stretches such a piece of wall, dividing the gardens of the Court from the Old Bailey. Of the few accessible fragments of the Roman wall still existing special mention may be made of the bastion in the churchyard of St Giles's, Cripplegate; a little farther west is a small fragment in St Martin's Court, Ludgate Hill (opposite the Old Bailey), but the best specimen can he seen near Tower Hill just out of George Street, Trinity Square. Early in the loth century a fragment nearly 40 ft. long, together with the base of a bastion, was brought to light in digging for the foundation of some large warehouses in Camomile Street, at a depth of to ft. below the level of the present street. A considerable portion of the old wall was laid bare by the excavations for the new Post Office in St Martin's-le-Grand. From acomparison of these fragments with the descriptions of Woodward, Maitland and others, who in the early part of the 18th century examined portions of the wall still standing, we learn that the wall was from 9 to 12 ft. thick, and formed of a core of rough rubble cemented together with mortar (containing much coarse gravel) of extraordinary hardness and tenacity, and a facing for the most part of stoneKentish rag, freestone or ironstonebut occasionally of flints; about 2 ft. apart are double layers of tiles or bricks which serve as bonding courses. The wall appears to have been about 20 ft. high, the towers from 40 to 50 ft., but when described only the base was Roman. Uponthat was raised a wall of rough rubble rudely faced with stone and flint, evidently a medieval work and about 22 ft. thick; then succeeded a portion wholly of brick, terminating in battlements topped with copings of stone. Although the course of the later Roman walls is clear, we do not know with any certainty the position of the Roman gates. They were not the same as the medieval gates which have left the record of their names in modern London nomenclature. It follows, therefore, that the main halo buildings. gs. streets also are not in line with the Roman ways,. except perhaps in a few instances. Many ineffectual attempts have been made to connect the Watling street in the city with the great Roman road so named in medieval times. The name of the small street is evidently a corruption, and in the valuable Report of the MSS. of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's (Ninth Report of the Historical MSS. Commission, Appendix, p. 4) the original name is given as Atheling Street," and instances of this spelling are common in the 13th century. The form Watling Street seems to occur first in 1307. Stow spells it Watheling Street (Kingsford's edition of Stow's Survey, 19o8, vol. ii. p. 352). Sir William Tite gave reasons for believing that Bishopsgate Street was not a Roman thoroughfare, and in the excavations at Leadenhall the basilica to which allusion has already been made was found apparently crossing the present thoroughfare of Gracechurch Street. Tite also agreed with Dr Stukeley's suggestion that on the site of the Mansion House (formerly Stocks Market) stood the Roman forum, and he states that a line drawn from that spot as a centre would pass by the pavements found on the site of the Excise Office. Besides the forum Stukeley suggested the sites of seven other buildingsthe Arx Palatina guarding the south-eastern angle of the city where the Tower now stands, the grove and temple of Diana on the site of St Paul's, &c. No traces of any of these buildings have been found, and they are therefore purely conjectural. Stukeley's industrious researches into the history of Roman London cannot be said to have any particular value, although at one time they enjoyed considerable vogue. As to the Temple of Diana, Sir Christopher Wren formed an opinion strongly adverse to the old tradition of its existence (Parentalia, p. 266). Although we know that the Christian church was established in Britain during the later period of the Roman domination, there is Iittle to be learnt respecting it, and the bishop Restitutus, who is said to have attended an Ecclesiastical Council, is a somewhat mythical character. In respect to the discovery of the position of the Roman gates, the true date of the Antonini Itinerarium (q.v.) is of great importance, as it will be seen from it that Londinium was either a starting-point or a terminus in nearly half the routes described in the portion relating to Britain. This would be remarkable if the work dated back to the 2nd century. Probably in the later, as in the earlier time, Londinium had the usual four gates of a Roman city, with the main roads to them. The one on the east was doubtless situated near where Aldgate afterwards stood. On the south the entrance to Londinium must always have been near where London Bridge was subsequently built. On the west the gate could not have been far from the place afterwards occupied by Newgate. As to Ludgate there is reason to believe that if there was an opening there in Roman times it was merely a postern. On the north the gate may have been near Bishopsgate or at Aldersgate. If we take from the Itinerary the last station before Londinium in all the routes we shall be able to obtain some idea of the position of the gate entered from each route by drawing a line on the map of London to the nearest point. Ammianus Marcellinus (about A.D. 390) speaks twice of Londinium as an ancient town to which the honourable title of Augusta had been accorded. Some writers have been under the misapprehension that this name for a time superseded that of Londinium. The anonymous Chorographer of Ravenna calls the place Londinium Augusta, and doubtless this was the form adopted. The most interesting Roman relic is " London Stone." It has generally been supposed to be a " milliarium " or central point for measuring distances, but Sir Christopher Wren believed it was part of some more considerable monuments in the forum (Parentalia, pp. 265, 266). Holinshed (who was followed by Shakespeare in 2 Henry VI., act 4 Sc. 6) tells us that London when Cade, in 1450, forced his way into London, he first Stone. of all proceeded to London Stone, and having struck his sword upon it, said in reference to himself and in explanation of his own action, " Now is Mortimer lord of this city." Mr H. C. Coote, in a paper published in the Trans. London and Middlesex Arch. Soc. for 1878, points out that this act meant something to the mob who followed the rebel chief, and was not a piece of foolish acting. Mr Laurence Gomme (Primitive Folk-Moots, pp. 155, 156) takes up the matter at this point, and places the tradition implied by Cade's significant action as belonging to times when the London Stone was, as other great stones were, the place where the suitors of an open-air assembly were accustomed to gather together and to legislate for the government of the city. Corroborative facts have been gathered from other parts of the country, and, although more evidence is required, such as we have is strongly in favour of the supposition that the London Stone is a prehistoric monument. One of the most important questions in the history of London that requires settlement is the date of the building of the first bridge, that is whether it was constructed by Britons The prat or by Romans. If the Britons had not already made Bridge. . London adag the bridge before the Romans arrived it must have been one of the first Roman works. As long as there was no bridge to join the north and south banks of the Thames the great object of Roman rule remained unfulfilled. This object was the completion of a system of roads connecting all parts of the Empire with Rome. Dio Cassius, who lived in the early part of the 3rd century (Hist. Rom. lib. lx. c. 20), states that there was a bridge over the Thames at the time of the invasion of Claudius (A.D. 43), but he places it a little above the mouth of the river (" higher up "). The position is vague, but the mouth of the Thames in these early times may be considered as not far from the present position of London Bridge. Sir George Airy held that this bridge was not far from the site of London Bridge (Proceedings of Institut. Civil Engineers, xlix. 120), but Dr Guest was not prepared to allow that the Britons were able to construct a bridge over a tidal river such as the Thames, some 300 yds. wide, with a difference of level at high and low water of nearly 20 ft. He therefore suggested that the bridge was constructed over the marshy valley of the Lea, probably near Stratford. It needs some temerity to differ from so great an authority as Dr Guest, but it strikes one as surprising that, having accepted the fact of a bridge made by the Britons, he should deny that these Britons possessed a town or village in the place to which he supposes that Aulus Plautius retired. As the Welsh word for " bridge " is " pont," and this was taken directly from the Latin, the inference is almost conclusive that the Britons acquired their knowledge of bridges from the Romans. Looking at the stage of culture which the Britons had probably reached, it would further be a natural inference that there was no such thing as a bridge anywhere in Britain before the Roman occupation; but, if Dion's statement is correct, it may be suggested as a possible explanation that the increased intercourse with Gaul during the hundred years that elapsed between Julius Caesar's raids and Claudius Caesar's invasion may have led to the construction of a bridge of some kind across the Thames at this point, through the influence and under the guidance of Roman traders and engineers. If so, the word " pont " may have been borrowed by the Britons before the commencement of the Roman occupation. Much stronger are the reasons for believing that there was a bridge in Roman times. Remains of Roman villas are found in Southwark, which was evidently a portion of Londinium, and it therefore hardly seems likely that a bridge-building people such as the Romans would remain contented with a ferry. Roach Smith is a strong advocate for the bridge, and remarks, " It would naturally be erected somewhere in the direct line of road into Kent, which I cannot but think pointed towards the site of Old London Bridge, both from itscentral situation, from the general absence of the foundations of buildings in the approaches on the northern side, and from discoveries recently made in the Thames on the line of the old bridge " (Archaeologia, xxix. 16o). Smith has, however, still stronger arguments, which he states as follows: " Throughout the entire line of the old bridge, the bed of the river was found to contain ancient wooden piles; and when these piles, subsequently to the erection of the new bridge, were pulled up to deepen the channel of the river, many thousands of Roman coins, with abundance of broken Roman tiles and pottery, were discovered, and immediately beneath some of the central piles brass medallions of Aurelius, Faustina and Commodus. All these remains are indicative of a bridge. The enormous quantities of Roman coins may be accounted for by consideration of the well-known practice of the Romans to make these imperishable monuments subservient towards perpetuating the memory, not only of their conquests, but also of those public works which were the natural result of their successes in remote parts of the world. They may have been deposited either upon the building or repairs of the bridge, as well as upon the accession of a new emperor " (Archaeological Journal, i. 113). At the beginning of the 5th century the Roman legions left Britain, and the Saxon Chronicle gives the exact date, stating that never since A.U. 409 " have the Romans ruled in Britain "the chronicler setting down the Roman sway at 470 winters and dating from Julius Caesar's invasion. We learn that in the year 418 " the Romans collected all the treasures that were in Britain, and hid some of them in the earth, that no man might afterwards find them, and conveyed some with them into Gaul." 2. Saxon (449-1o66).We are informed in the Saxon Chronicle that about A.D. 449 or 450 the invaders settled in Britain, and in 457 Hengist and Aesc fought against the Britons at Crayford, driving them out of Kent. The vanquished fled to London in terror and apparently found a shelter there. After this entry there is no further mention of London in the Chronicle for a century and a half. This silence has been taken by some historians of weight to imply that London practically ceased to exist. Dr Guest asserted " that good reason may be given for the belief that even London itself for a while lay desolate and uninhabited " (Archaeological Journal, xix. 219). J. R. Green and Mr Loftie strongly supported this view, and in Sir Walter Besant's Early London (1908) the idea of the desolation of the city is taken for granted. In answer to this contention it may be said that, although the silence of the Chronicle is difficult to understand, it is almost impossible to believe that the very existence of the most important city in the country could suddenly cease and the in-habitants disappear without some special notice. Battles and scenes of destruction are so fully described in other instances that one must believe that when nothing is related nothing special occurred. No doubt the coming of the Saxons, which entirely changed the condition of the country, must have greatly injured trade, but although there was not the same freedom of access to the roads, the Londoners had the highway of the river at their doors. Although the Saxons hated towns and refused to settle in London, they may have allowed the original in-habitants to continue their trade on condition that they received some share of the profits or a tribute. The only question really is whether London being an exceptional city received exceptional treatment. Along the banks of the Thames are several small havens whose names have remained to us, such as Rotherhithe, Lambhith (Lambeth), Chelchith (Chelsea), &c., and it is not unlikely that the Saxons, who would not settle in the city itself, associated themselves with these small open spots. Places were thus founded over a large space which otherwise might have remained unsettled. If what is here suggested really occurred it may be that this separation of London from the surrounding country originated the remarkable position of London with its unparalleled privileges, which were continued for many centuries and kept it not Saxon Settlement. only the leader among cities but distinct from all others. Laurence Gomme, in The Governance of London (1907), opposes the view that the city was for a time left deserted (a view which, it may be remarked, is a comparatively modern one, probably originating with Dr Guest). H. C. Coote in his Romans of Britain elaborated a description of the survival of Roman influence in English institutions, but his views did not obtain much support from London historians. Mr Gomme's contention is to some extent a modification of Mr Coote's view, but it is original in the illustrations that give it force. Londinium was a Roman city, and (as in the case of all such cities) was formed on the model of ancient Rome. It may therefore be expected to retain evidence of the existence of a Pomoerium and Territorium as at Rome. The Pomoerium marked the unbuilt space around the walls. Gomme refers to an open space outside the western wall of Dorchester still called the Pummery as an indication of the Pomoerium in that place; and he considers that the name of Mile End, situated 1 m. from Aldgate and the city walls, marks the extent of the open space around the walls of London known as the Pomoerium. This fact throws a curious light upon the growth of the " Liberties. " It has always been a puzzle that no note exists of the first institution of these liberties. If this open space was from the earliest times attached to the city there would be no need when it was built upon for any special act to be passed for its inclusion in London. " The Territorium of the city was its special property, and it extended as far as the limits of the territorium of the nearest Roman city or as near thereto as the natural boundaries." This explains the position of Middlesex in relation to London. In connexion with these two features of a Roman city supposed to be found in Ancient London the author argues for the continuity of the city through the changes of Roman and Saxon dominion. One of the most striking illustrations of the probable continuity of London history is to be found in the contrast between York and London. This is only alluded to in Gomme's book, but it is elaborated in an article in the Cornhill Magazine (November 1906). These two were the chief Roman cities in Britain, one in the north and the other in the south. They are both equally good examples of important cities under Roman domination. York was conquered and occupied by the Saxons, and there not only are the results of English settlement clear but all records of Roman government were destroyed. In London the Saxon stood outside the government for centuries, and the acceptance of the Roman survival explains muc]1 that is otherwise unintelligible. Gomme finds important evidence of the independence of London in the existence of a merchant law which was opposed to Anglo-Saxon law. He reprints and discusses the celebrated Judicia Civitatis Lundoniae of King 'Ethelstan's reign" the ordinance " (as it declares itself) " which the bishop and the reeves belonging to London have ordained." He holds that the Londoners passed " their own laws by their own citizens without reference to the king at all," and in the present case of a king who according to Kemble " had carried the influence of the crown to an extent unexampled in any of his predecessors." He adds: " What happened afterwards was evidently this: that the code passed by the Londoners was sent to the king for him to extend its application throughout the kingdom, and this is done by the eleventh section." The view originated by Gomme certainly explains many difficulties in the history of the transition from Roman to English London, which have hitherto been overlooked by historians. When the city is next referred to in the Saxon Chronicle it appears to have been inhabited by a population of heathens. Under the date 604 we read: " This year Augustine arrival _ consecrated two bishops: Mellitus and Justus. He eyanity 8 sent Mellitus to preach baptism to the East Saxons, whose king was called Sebert, son of Ricole the sister of lEthelbert, and whom lEthelbert had then appointed king. And lEthelbert gave Mellitus a bishop's see in Lundenevic and to Justus he gave Rochester, which is twenty-four miles from Canterbury. " The Christianity of the Londoners was of an unsatisfactory character, for, after the death of Sebert, his sons who were heathens stirred up the multitude to drive out their bishop. Mellitus became archbishop of Canterbury, and London relapsed into heathenism. In this, the earliest period of Saxon history recorded, there appears to be no relic of the Christianity of the Britons, which at one time was well in evidence. What became of the cathedral which we may suppose to have existed in London during the later Roman period we cannot tell, but we may guess that it was destroyed by the heathen Saxons. Bede records that the church of St Paul was built by lEthelbert, and from that time to this a cathedral dedicated to St Paul has stood upon the hill looking down on Ludgate. After the driving out of Mellitus London remained without a bishop until the year 656, when Cedda, brother of St Chad of Lichfield, was invited to London by Sigebert, who had been converted to Christianity by Finan, bishop of the Northumbrians. Cedda was consecrated bishop of the East Saxons by Finan and held the see till his death on the 26th of October 664. He was succeeded by Wini, bishop of Winchester, and then came Earconuald (or St Erkenwald), whose shrine was one of the chief glories of old St Paul's. He died on the 3oth of April 693, a day which was kept in memory in his cathedral for centuries by special offices. The list of bishops from Cedda to William (who is addressed in the Conqueror's Charter) is long, and each bishop apparently held a position of great importance in the government of the city. In the 7th century the city seems to have settled down into a prosperous place and to have been peopled by merchants of many nationalities. We learn that at this time it was Danlsh the great mart of slaves. It was in the fullest sense a Invasions. free-trading town; neutral to a certain extent between the kingdoms around, although the most powerful of the kings conquered their feebler neighbours. During the 8th century, when a more settled condition of life became possible, the trade and commerce of London increased in volume and prosperity. A change, however, came about towards the end of the century, when the Scandinavian freebooters known as Danes began to harry the coasts. The Saxons had become Iaw-abiding, and the fierce Danes treated them in the same way as in former days they had treated the Britons. In 871 the chronicler affirms that Alfred fought nine great battles against the Danes in the kingdom south of the Thames, and that the West Saxons made peace with them. In the next year the Danes went from Reading to London, and there took up their winter quarters. Then the Mercians made peace with them. In 886 Alfred overcame the Danes, restored London to its inhabitants, rebuilt its walls, reannexed the city to Mercia, and committed it to Ethelred, alderman of Mercia. Then, as the chronicler writes, " all the Angle race turned to him (Alfred) that were not in bondage of the Danish men.". In 896 the Londoners came off victorious in their en-counters with the Danes. The king obstructed the river so that the enemy could not bring up their ships, and they therefore abandoned them. The Londoners broke up some, and brought the strongest and best to London. In 912 !Ethelred, the alderman of the Mercians, who had been placed in authority by Alfred, died, and Edward the Elder took possession of London and Oxford, " and all the lands which thereto belonged." Under lEthelstan we find the city increasing in importance and general prosperity. There were then eight mints at work, a fact which exhibits evidence of great activity and the need of coin for the purposes of trade. The folk-moot met in the precincts of St Paul's at the sound of the bell of the famous bell-tower, which also rang out when the armed levy was required to march under St Paul's banner. For some years after the decisive battle of Brunanburh (A.D. 937) the Danes ceased to trouble the country. Fire, however, was almost as great an enemy to London as the Dane. Fabyan when recording the entire destruction of London by fire in the reign of !Ethelred (g81) makes this remarkable statement" Ye shall understand that this daye the cytie of Landon had more housynge and buyldinge Origin of the Liberties. Independence of London. from Ludgate toward Westmynstre and lytel or none wher the chief or hart of the citie is now, except (that) in dyvers places were housyng, but they stod without order." In the reign of "Ethelred II., called the Unready (but more correctly the Redeless), the Danes were more successful in their operations against London, but the inhabitants resisted stoutly. Snorre the Icelander tells us that the Danes fortified Southwark with ditch and rampart, which the English assailed in vain. In 982 London was burnt, and in 994 Olaf and Sweyn (the father of Canute) came with ninety-four ships to besiege it. They tried to set the city on fire, but the townsmen did them more harm than they " ever weened." The chronicler piously adds that " the holy Mother of God on that day manifested her mercy to the townsmen, and delivered them from their foes." The Danes went from the town and ravaged the neighbourhood, so that in the end the king and his witan agreed to give sixteen thousand pounds to be relieved of the presence of the enemy. This was the origin of the Danegelt. In the year 10og the Danes frequently attacked London, but they had no success, and fared ill in their .attempts. The Londoners withstood Sweyn in 1013, but in the end they submitted and gave him hostages. Three years after this, 'Ethelred died in London, and such of the witan as were there and the townsmen chose Edmund Ironside for king, although the witan outside London had elected Canute. Canute's ships were then at Greenwich on their way to London, where they soon afterwards arrived. The Danes at once set to work to dig a great ditch by Southwark, and then dragged their ships through to the west side of the bridge. They were able after this to keep the inhabitants from going either in or out of the town. In spite of all this, after fighting obstinately both by land and by water, the Danes had to raise the siege of London and take the ships to the river Orwell. After a glorious reign of seven months Edmund died in London, and Canute became master of England. The tribute which the townsmen of London had to pay was 10,500, about one-seventh of the amount which was paid by all the rest of the English nation. This shows the growing importance of the city. From this time there appears to have been a permanent Danish settlement in London, probably Aldwich, referred to below. There is little more to be said of the history of Saxon London than that Edward the Confessor held his Witanagemot there. On his death the Witan which had attended his funeral elected to succeed him Harold, the foremost man in England, and the leader who had attempted to check the spread of the Norman influence fostered by the Confessor. After his defeat and death on the hill on the Sussex Downs then called Senlac, the duke of Normandy had the country at his mercy, but he recognized the importance of London's position, and moved forward with the greatest caution and tact. Before proceeding with the history of London during the Norman period it is necessary to say something of the counties more especially connected with London. The walled city of London was a distinct political unit, although it owed a certain allegiance to that one of the kingdoms around it which was the most powerful for the time being. The This allegiance therefore frequently changed, butremember that London is older than these counties, whose names, Middlesex and Surrey, indicate their relative positions to the city acid the surrounding county. We have neither record of their settlement nor of the origin of their names. Both must have been peopled from the river. The name Middle Saxons plainly shows that Middlesex must have been settled after the East and West Saxons had given their names to their respective districts. The name Surrey clearly refers to the southern position of the county. Reference has already been made to a Danish settlement, and there seems some reason for placing it on the ground now occupied by the parishes of St Clement Danes and St Giles's. For many centuries this district between Aldwich. London and Westminster was a kind of " no man's land " having certain archaic customs. Gomme in his Governance of London (1907) gives an account of the connexion of this with the old village of Aldwich, a name that survived in Wych Street, and has been revived by the London County Council in Aldwych, the crescent which leads to Kingsway. 3. Norman (1o661154).To return to the condition of things after the great battle. The citizens of London were a divided body, and Duke William knowing that he had many The friends in the city saw that a waiting game was the conquest. best for his cause in the end. The defeated chiefs retired on the city, led by Ansgar the Staller, under whom as sheriff the citizens of London had marched to. fight for Harold at Senlac. They elected Edgar Atheling, the grandson of Edmund Ironside, as king, which the Saxon Chronicle says " was indeed his natural right." On hearing of this action William marched towards London, when the citizens sallied forth to meet him. They were repulsed by the Norman horse, but with such loss to the latter that the duke thought it imprudent to lay siege to the city at that time, and he retired to Berkhampstead.l It is reported that William sent a private message to Ansgar asking for his support. The result was that Edgar and Earls Edwin and Morkere and " the best men of London " repaired to Berkhampstead, where they submitted themselves and swore fealty to the Conqueror. Thus ends the Saxon period, and the Norman period in London begins with the submission of the citizens as distinct from the action of the rest o |
