Middlesex
Historic county of England / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Middlesex (/ˈmɪdəlsɛks/; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England.[3] Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbouring ceremonial counties. The county's boundaries largely followed three rivers: the Thames in the south, the Lea to the east and the Colne to the west. A line of hills formed the northern boundary with Hertfordshire.
Middlesex | |||||
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Historic county | |||||
1965 | |||||
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Middlesex within Great Britain as in 1888 | |||||
Area | |||||
• 1801/1881 | 734 km2 (181,320 acres)[1] | ||||
• 1911 | 601.8 km2 (148,701 acres)[2] | ||||
• 1961 | 601.7 km2 (148,691 acres)[2] | ||||
• Coordinates | 51°30′N 0°25′W | ||||
Area transferred | |||||
• 1889 | Metropolitan parishes to County of London | ||||
Population | |||||
• 1801 | 818,129[1] | ||||
• 1881 | 2,920,485[1] | ||||
• 1911 | 1,126,465[2] | ||||
• 1961 | 2,234,543[2] | ||||
Density | |||||
• 1801 | 11 inhabitants per hectare (4.5/acre) | ||||
• 1881 | 40 inhabitants per hectare (16.1/acre) | ||||
• 1911 | 19 inhabitants per hectare (7.6/acre) | ||||
• 1961 | 37 inhabitants per hectare (15/acre) | ||||
History | |||||
• Preceded by | Kingdom of Essex | ||||
• Origin | Middle Saxons | ||||
• Created | Early Middle Ages | ||||
Status | Ceremonial county (until 1965) Administrative county (1889–1965) | ||||
Chapman code | MDX[note 1] | ||||
Government | Middlesex Quarter Sessions (until 1889)[note 2] Within the metropolis: Metropolitan Board of Works (1855–1889) Middlesex County Council (1889–1965) | ||||
• HQ | see text | ||||
Subdivisions | |||||
• Type | Hundreds (ancient) Districts (1835–1965) | ||||
Middlesex county's name derives from its origin as a homeland for the Middle Saxon people in the early Middle Ages,[4] with the county of Middlesex subsequently formed from part of that territory in either the ninth or tenth century, and remaining an administrative unit until 1965. The county was the second smallest of the historic counties of England, after Rutland.
The City of London became a county corporate in the 12th century; this gave it self-governance, and it was also able to exert political influence in the rest of Middlesex as the Sheriffs of London were given jurisdiction in Middlesex, though the county otherwise remained separate.[5] To the east of the City, the Tower Division (or Tower Hamlets) had considerable autonomy under its own Lord Lieutenant. To the west, precincts around Westminster and Charing Cross became built up.
As built up areas of London expanded into rural Middlesex, even given the London Sheriffs' jurisdiction, the Corporation of London resisted attempts to expand the City of London boundaries into the county, posing problems for the administration of local government, public infrastructure, and justice. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the population density was especially high in the southeast of the county, including the East and West Ends of London. In 1855, in response to some of these challenges the densely populated southeast, together with sections of Kent and Surrey, came under the Metropolitan Board of Works for certain infrastructure purposes, while remaining a part of Middlesex,[6] and the Metropolitan Police also developed in the 19th century.
When county councils were introduced in 1889, about 20% of the area of the historic county, along with a third of its population, was incorporated into the new administrative County of London, with the rest forming the administrative county of Middlesex, governed by the Middlesex County Council[7] that met regularly at the Middlesex Guildhall in Westminster. Further suburban growth, stimulated by the improvement and expansion of public transport,[8] as well as the setting up of new industries, led to the creation of Greater London in 1965, an area which included almost all of the historic county of Middlesex, with the rest included in neighbouring ceremonial counties.[9]