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Early history
Division into hundredsMiddlesex was recorded in the Domesday Book as being divided into the six hundreds of Edmonton, Elthorne, Gore, Hounslow (later Isleworth), Ossulstone and Spelthorne. Settlement was divided as follows: Edmonton Hundred - Edmonton - Enfield - Monken Hadley - South Mimms - Tottenham Elthorne Hundred - Cowley - Cranford - Greenford - Hanwell - Harefield - Harlington - Harmondsworth - Hayes - Hillingdon - Ickenham - New Brentford - Northolt - Norwood - Perivale - Ruislip - Uxbridge - West Drayton
Isleworth Hundred - Heston - Isleworth - Twickenham Ossulstone Hundred - Acton - Bloomsbury - Bow - Bromley - Chelsea - Chiswick - Clerkenwell - Ealing - Finchley - Friern Barnet - Fulham - Hackney - Hammersmith - Hampstead - Minories - Hornsey - Kensington - Mile End - Paddington - Poplar - Ratcliffe - Shadwell - Shoreditch - Spitalfields - Holborn - St Pancras - Stepney - Wapping - West Twyford - Whitechapel - Willesden Spelthorne Hundred - Ashford - East Bedfont - Feltham - Hampton - Hampton Wick - Hanworth - Laleham - Littleton - Shepperton - Staines - Stanwell - Sunbury - Teddington During the 17th century Ossulstone Hundred was divided into four divisions, which, along with the Liberty of Westminster largely took over the administrative functions of the hundred. The divisions were named Finsbury, Holborn, Kensington and Tower. County townMiddlesex does not have a single established historic county town, with different locations having been used for different county purposes:
EarldomThe title Earl of Middlesex was created twice, in 1622 and 1677 but died out in 1843. Market townsAs of 1850 and before the expansion of London; Brentford, Edgware, Enfield, Hounslow, Southall, Staines and Uxbridge were market towns. The south eastern part of the county served by the daily market at Westminster. Modern historyIntroduction of county councils
The north western suburbs of London steadily covered large parts of Middlesex, especially following the coming of the railways. In 1889, under the Local Government Act 1888, much of the area to the south east became part of the County of London. The remainder of the county came under the control of Middlesex County Council except for the parish of Monken Hadley which became part of Hertfordshire. The Act also provided that the part of Middlesex in the administrative county of London should be "severed from [Middlesex], and form a separate county for all non-administrative purposes". The area under the control of London County Council was divided in 1899 into metropolitan boroughs which were merged in 1965 to form the following present-day boroughs:
DistrictsThe remainder of the county was initially divided into rural districts and urban districts. The rural districts were Hendon, South Mimms, Staines, Uxbridge. Because of increasing urbanisation these had all been abolished by 1934. Urban districts had been created, merged, and many had gained the status of municipal borough by 1965. Ealing, Enfield, Harrow, Hendon, Heston and Isleworth, Tottenham, Wembley, Willesden and Twickenham had all, according to the 1961 census, reached a population of greater than 100,000, which would usually have entitled them to seek county borough status. If granted to all these boroughs, it would have reduced the population of the administrative county of Middlesex by over half, to just shy of a million. The districts in 1965 were:
Arms of Middlesex County CouncilImage:Arms-middx.jpg Arms of Middlesex County Council Coats of arms were attributed by the medieval heralds to the Kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. That assigned to the Kingdom of the Middle and East Saxons depicted three "seaxes" or notched swords on a red background. These arms became associated with the two counties that approximated to the kingdom: Middlesex and Essex. County authorities, militia and volunteer regiments associated with both counties used the attributed arms. In 1910 it was noted that the county councils of Essex and Middlesex and the Sheriff's Office of the County of London were all using the same arms. The Middlesex County Council decided to apply for a formal grant of arms from the College of Arms, with the addition of an heraldic "difference" added to the attributed arms. Colonel Otley Parry, a Justice of the Peace for Middlesex and author of a book on military badges, was asked to devise an addition to the shield. The chosen addition was a "Saxon Crown", derived from the portrait of King Athelstan on a silver penny of his reign, stated to be the earliest form of crown associated with any English sovereign. The grant of arms was made by letters patent dated November 7, 1910.[4][5][6] The blazon of the arms was: Gules, three seaxes fessewise points to the sinister proper, pomels and hilts and in the centre chief point a Saxon crown or. The undifferenced arms of the Kingdom were eventually granted to Essex County Council in 1932. Seaxes were also used in the insignia of many of the boroughs and urban districts in the county, while the Saxon crown came to be a common heraldic charge in English civic arms. On the creation of the Greater London Council in 1965 a Saxon crown was introduced in its coat of arms. Seaxes appear in the arms of several London borough councils, and of Spelthorne Borough Council whose area was formerly in Middlesex. Creation of Greater LondonAfter 1889 the growth of London did not cease and the county became almost entirely urbanised by its suburbs. Many of the boroughs in the area were demanding independence from Middlesex County Council as county boroughs, which if granted would have left Middlesex County Council controlling an area with three distinct and unconnected fragments - in the west, the south-east and the north of the county. Instead, in 1965, nearly all the remainder of Middlesex became part of Greater London and formed the new London boroughs of:
The remaining areas were Potters Bar Urban District which became part of Hertfordshire, while Sunbury-on-Thames Urban District and Staines Urban District became part of Surrey. Recent changesIn 1974 the three urban districts that had been transferred to Hertfordshire and Surrey were abolished and became the districts of Hertsmere (part only) and Spelthorne respectively. In 1995 the village of Poyle was transferred from Spelthorne to the Berkshire borough of Slough. LegacyMiddlesex is still used in the names of organisations based in the area such as Middlesex County Cricket Club and Middlesex University. In 2003, an early day motion with two signatures, noted 16 May is the anniversary of the Battle of Albuera and in recent years has been celebrated as Middlesex Day, commemorating the valiant efforts of the Middlesex Regiment (the “Die-hards”) in that battle. The idea is to recognise and celebrate the historic county. [1] The River Thames, River Lee and the River Colne are all boundaries of the traditional county and historically the banks of River Thames in London were known as the "Middlesex Bank" and "Surrey Bank". Although no longer used in central London, it still occurs in the area around Richmond and Twickenham where the river bends in such a way as to make north or south unclear. The urbanisation and declining importance of the county was lamented in the later works of John Betjeman, the Poet Laureate, and featured in the televised readings Metroland. As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose the Wood Anemone as the county flower. A judicial Middlesex commission area existed, consisting of the boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Enfield, Haringey, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow [2] [3]. This was abolished on 1 July 2003 [4]. There is still a Middlesex County Football Association, and at least two teams, Staines Town and Ashford Town (Middlesex), compete in the Middlesex County Cup, even though they are now administratively in Surrey. Former postal countyMiddlesex is also defined by the Royal Mail to be a former postal county. The postal county was much smaller than the traditional and administrative counties as a large part of Middlesex was part of the London Postal Area. The postal county included the village of Denham, which was for all other purposes in Buckinghamshire but included in the post town of Uxbridge and therefore the postal county of Middlesex; conversely Hampton Wick was not included in the Middlesex postal county as it was served by post towns based in Surrey. This gave rise to the misconception that Hampton Court Palace was located in Surrey.[7] Wraysbury and Egham Hythe are served by the Staines post town and thus were also included in the Middlesex postal county. The former postal county consisted of two unconnected areas (Enfield, and the rest) and comprised the following post towns:
† = postal county was not required Since the Royal Mail no longer require the use of counties as part of an address it is now possible to include Middlesex as part of any address, including those in the London postal district. The Royal Mail's 'alias file', a supplement to the Postcode Address File, contains postally-not-required details such as the former postal and traditional county for every address in the UK. References
See also
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