The Metropolitan Borough of Hackney was a metropolitan borough of the County of London from 1900 to 1965. Its area became part of the London Borough of Hackney.
Formation and boundaries
The borough was one of twenty-eight metropolitan boroughs created by the London Government Act 1899. It was the successor to the vestry of the parish of Hackney, which had been the local authority since 1894. Between 1855 and 1894 the parish had been administered with Stoke Newington as the Hackney District.
The boundaries of Hackney with the neighbouring boroughs were adjusted slightly in 1900: Hackney gained the east side of Bethune Road from Stoke Newington and the south side of Balls Pond Road from Islington; it lost the west side of Southgate Road to Islington. The boundary with Shoreditch was altered to run along the Regents Canal, Albion Road and Brougham Road, while the boundary with Bethnal Green, which had formed a straight line, was changed to follow the line of Gore Road. A further adjustment was made in 1908, when areas were exchanged with Tottenham Urban District, Middlesex. It had a border with Leyton Urban District (a municipal borough from 1926) in Essex to the east and to the north, from which it was divided by Hackney Marshes.
The metropolitan borough included the districts of Hackney, Upper and Lower Clapton, Homerton, Dalston and Kingsland. It also included Stoke Newington Common, and the entire eastern side of Stoke Newington High Street.
Population and area
The metropolitan borough was almost coterminous with the ancient parish of Hackney. Statistics were compiled by the London County Council in 1901 to show population growth in London over the preceding century.
The area of the borough in 1901 was . The populations recorded in National Censuses were:
Hackney Vestry 1801–1899
Metropolitan Borough 1900–1961
{ | class="wikitable" ! Year || 1901 || 1911 || 1921 || 1931 || 1941 || 1951 || 1961 |- ! Population || 219,272|| 222,533 || 222,142 || 215,333 ||<ref>The census was suspended for World War II</ref>|| 171,342 || 171,342 |}
By comparison, after amalgamation with Shoreditch and Stoke Newington, to form the modern London Borough of Hackney, the combined area became 19.06 km² - approximately ; in 2005, this had a population of 207,700, or a population density of 10,900/km². In 1901 Hackney the population density was 16,475/km².
Politics
Incorporated vestry
Under the Metropolis Management Act 1855 any parish that exceeded 2,000 ratepayers was to be divided into wards; as such the parish of St John at Hackney within the Hackney District Board of Works was divided into seven wards (electing vestrymen): No. 1 or Stamford Hill (15), No. 2 or West (18), No. 3 or De Beauvoir Town (18), No. 4 or Dalston (18), No. 5 or Hackney (18), No. 6 or Homerton (15) and No. 7 or South (18).
The Hackney Vestry was controlled by the Progressive Party, the grouping linked with the parliamentary Liberal Party. Opposition on the body was provided by the Conservative-backed Moderate Party. The vestry had 119 members, with one third elected annually.
In 1894 as its population had increased the incorporated vestry was re-divided into eight wards (electing vestrymen): Stamford Hill (15), West (18), Kingsland (12), Hackney (12), Mare Street (15), South (15), Clapton (12) and Homerton (21).
Borough council
The London Government Act 1899 replaced the incorporated vestries with borough councils consisting of a mayor, aldermen and councillors. All councillors were to be elected every three years. There was one alderman for every six councillors, and these were elected by the council itself.
Boundary commissioners were appointed under the London Government Act 1899 to divide the new boroughs into wards, and to apportion councillors to each ward. It was decided to continue to use the eight vestry wards. The Moderates claimed that Stamford Hill and West Hackney wards were under-represented and should be given nine councillors, with the remaining six wards having six each. In the event, the commissioners apportioned 60 councillors between the eight wards: Clapton Park, Hackney, Homerton and Stamford Hill having nine councillors and Downs, Kingsland, South and West wards having six a piece. With 10 aldermen, the borough council thus had 70 members.