Metropolitan Borough of Battersea

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Battersea
Motto: Non Mihi Non Tibi Sed Nobis
(Not for me, not for thee, but for us)
Metropolitan Borough of Battersea shown within the County of London
Battersea within the County of London
Geography
Status Metropolitan borough
HQ Lavender Hill
History
Origin Battersea parish
Created 1900
Abolished 1965
Succeeded by London Borough of Wandsworth
Politics
Governance Battersea Borough Council
Arms granted to the metropolitan borough in 1955
Coat of arms of the borough council

The Metropolitan Borough of Battersea was a metropolitan borough of the County of London of England between 1900 and 1965.

It was created by the London Government Act 1899 from the former Vestry of Battersea St Mary. In 1965 it was abolished and its area combined with parts of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth to form the London Borough of Wandsworth. The borough was administered from Battersea Town Hall on Lavender Hill. The building is now Battersea Arts Centre.

The Metropolitan Borough included within its bounds Battersea, Battersea Park, Clapham Junction and parts of Wandsworth Common and Clapham Common.

In 1913 John Archer became mayor of the borough and the first black mayor in the country.[1]

Contents

[edit] Coat of arms

In 1901 the borough adopted an unofficial coat of arms, consisting of a shield vertically divided blue and white, the division line being indented. This design was taken from a flag dating from 1803. On top of the shield was a dove bearing an olive branch. The Latin motto was Non Mihi, Non Tibi, Sed Nobis, or "Neither for myself, nor for yourself, but for us".

In 1955 the borough received an official grant from the College of Arms, based on the old device. The colours in the shield were reversed, and a bordure or heraldic border added. The bordure consisted of silver and blue waves, representative of the River Thames, and bore sixteen gold stars for the sixteen wards of the borough. The new crest on top of the helm was the dove of the 1901 design, with the addition of sprigs of lavender, for the old lavender fields of the area, and Lavender Hill, the main road of Battersea. The old motto was retained.

[edit] Area and population

The area of the Borough was 2,163 acres (8.8 km²). The population recorded in the Census was:

Civil Parish 1801-1899

Year[2] 1801 1811 1821 1831 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891
Population 3,365[3] 4,409[3] 4,764 5,311 6,617 10,560 19,600 54,016 107,262 150,558

Metropolitan Borough 1900-1961

Year[4] 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961
Population 168,907 167,743 167,739 159,552 [5] 117,140 105,870

[edit] Politics

The first election to the council was on November 1, 1900, with the Progressive Party taking control of the new borough. They retained power until 1909, when the Municipal Reform Party (allied to the Conservatives) gained a majority. The Progressives regained the council in 1912, holding power until 1919 when the Labour Party gained control. In 1931 the borough come under Municipal Reform control again. Labour regained power in 1934, retaining it for the rest of the borough's existence.

Elections of the whole council were held every three years. Elections were cancelled during the two world wars (1914-1918 and 1939-1945). The 1952 election was postponed for a year so that it did not clash with elections to the London County Council. The number of councillors returned at each election was as follows:.[6]

Local elections
Year 1900 1903 1906 1909 1912 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1945
Progressives 37 38 29 2 29
Municipal Alliance 17 16 25
Municipal Reform 52 25 11 21 25 22 31 18 15 5
Labour 41 33 29 33 23 37 40 50
Discharged servicemen 2

No Municipal Reform candidates were nominated after 1946, and Conservative candidates were nominated at local elections for the first time.

Year 1949 1953 1956 1959 1962
Labour 34 37 46 34 40
Conservative 21 18 18 21 12
Liberal 3

[edit] Wards

From 1900 to 1949 the borough was divided into nine wards, returning either three, six or nine councillors:

  • Bolingbroke (6 councillors)
  • Broomwood (6)
  • Church (6)
  • Latchmere (6)
  • Nine Elms (9)
  • Park (6)
  • St John (3)
  • Shaftesbury (6)
  • Winstanley (6)

In 1949 the wards were redrawn, with fourteen wards returning three to five councillors each:

  • Bolingbroke (3)
  • Broomwood (3)
  • Church (4)
  • Latchmere (4)
  • Lavender (3)
  • Newtown (3)
  • Nightingale (5)
  • Nine Elms (3)
  • Park (4)
  • Queenstown (4)
  • St John (4)
  • Shaftesbury (3)
  • Stormont (3)
  • Thornton (3)
  • Vicarage (3)
  • Winstanley (3)

[edit] Parliamentary constituencies

For elections to parliament the borough was originally part of the parliamentary borough of Battersea and Clapham, which consisted of two divisions, Battersea and Clapham.

In 1918 the metropolitan borough was divided into two constituencies:

  • Battersea North (Church, Latchmere, Nine Elms and Park wards) and
  • Battersea South (Bolingbroke, Broomwood, St John, Shaftesbury and Winstanley wards)

The boundaries of the two constituencies were adjusted in 1949 to reflect the redrawn borough wards:

  • Battersea North (Church, Latchmere, Newtown, Nine Elms, Park, Queenstown, Vicarage and Winstanley wards)
  • Battersea South (Bolingbroke, Broomwood, Lavender, Nightingale, St John, Shaftesbury, Stormont and Thornton wards)

The constituencies continued unchanged until 1970.[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ John Archer biography (Black History) accessed 14 Jan 2008
  2. ^ Statistical Abstract for London, 1901 (Vol. IV); Census tables for Metropolitan Borough of Battersea
  3. ^ a b (probably including Penge)
  4. ^ Battersea MetB: Census Tables accessed 19 Jun 2007
  5. ^ The census was suspended for World War II
  6. ^ Election results as reported in The Times, 3 November, 1900; 4 November 1903; November 3, 1906; November 2, 1909; November 2, 1912; November 4, 1919; November 4, 1925; November 3, 1928; November 4, 1931; November 3, 1934; November 3, 1937; November 2, 1945; May 7, 1949; May 7, 1953; May 11, 1956; May 8, 1959; May 12, 1962
  7. ^ F.A. Youngs, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Volume 1, 1979
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Local government districts abolished or transferred by the London Government Act 1963
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