| St Pancras | |
|---|---|
 | |
 St Pancras within the County of London | |
| Population | |
| • 1801 | 31,779 |
| • 1961 | 124,855 |
| History | |
| • Abolished | 1965 |
| • Succeeded by | London Borough of Camden |
| Status | Civil parish (1937-1965) Metropolitan borough (1900-1965) |
| Government | St Pancras Vestry St Pancras Borough Council (1900–1965) |
| • Type | Vestry (16th century–1855) Incorporated vestry (1855–1900) Metropolitan borough council (1900–1965) |
| • HQ | Vestry Hall, Pancras Road (1847-1937) Town Hall, Judd Street (1937-1965) |
| • Motto | With Wisdom and Courage |
 Coat of arms | |
 Map of borough boundary | |
St Pancras was acivil parish andmetropolitan borough inLondon, England. It was anancient parish in the county ofMiddlesex, governed by anadministrative vestry. The parish was included in the area of responsibility of theMetropolitan Board of Works in 1855 and became part of theCounty of London in 1889. The parish of St Pancras became a metropolitan borough in 1900, following theLondon Government Act 1899, with the parish vestry replaced by a borough council. In 1965 the borough was abolished and its former area became part of theLondon Borough of Camden in Greater London.
It includedTottenham Court Road,Camden Town,St Pancras,Kings Cross,Somers Town,Kentish Town,Euston, and part ofRegent's Park. There are still a few street name signs with "Borough of St Pancras" on them.
St Pancras was just outside the area of London mortality statistics known as thebills of mortality, and was counted as one of the "five villages beyond the Bills".[1] In 1801 it was included as a metropolitan parish for census purposes and was part of statistical returns for the Metropolis from that date.
The parish adopted theVestries Act 1831, which provided for election of vestrymen by allratepayers. The vestry was incorporated as a local authority by theMetropolis Management Act 1855. St Pancras had a local act to regulate the poor law so was unaffected by thePoor Law Amendment Act 1834. TheMetropolitan Poor Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict. c. 6) later provided that thePoor Law Board could add it to a poor law union or install a board of guardians. The parish was transferred from theCounty of Middlesex to theCounty of London in 1889. Following theLondon Government Act 1899, the civil parish of St Pancras also became a metropolitan borough. The vestry was replaced with a borough council.
The corporation designed its own, unofficial,coat of arms in 1902. In the centre of the shield was a depiction ofSt Pancras. The shield itself was in four quarters. The first quarter was described as a "fimbriated cross" (actually asaltire) representing the martyrdom of Pancras. The fourth quarter stood forMiddlesex, and bore threeseaxes on red: (the attributed arms of the kingdom of the middle and eastSaxons). The other two quarters had a lion and cross crosslets; and blue and silver chequers. These were taken from the arms of the borough ofLewes, inSussex. The parish church of Lewes was the first in England to be dedicated to St Pancras. At the top of the shield was shown a gold rising sun for the "dawn of Christianity" in the area. The colours used in the design were described as "gold, azure, white and crimson".[2] The motto adopted wasConstans Justitiam Moniti (Well Versed In Justice). According to Richard Crosley, writing in 1928, "This motto is unique amongst the mottoes of London in as much as the author has not discovered anyone who can translate it".[3]
In 1936 the corporation received an official grant from theCollege of Arms. The figure of St Pancras was moved to the crest, on top of the helm. The shield featured elements from the arms of historical landowners of the borough. The scallop shells were taken from the arms of the Russell family,Dukes of Bedford. The elephant's heads were from the arms of theMarquess Camden. The roses and crossed swords represented the Dean and Chapter ofSt Paul's Cathedral.
The 1936 arms can still be seen over the entrance ofCamden Town Hall. Charges from these arms were used, together with charges from the coats of arms of Hampstead and of Holborn, when the newcoat of arms of the London Borough of Camden was designed in 1965.
The borough had an area of 2,694 acres (10.9 km2). The populations recorded in National Censuses were:
St Pancras Vestry 1801-1899
| Year[4] | 1801 | 1811 | 1821 | 1831 | 1841 | 1851 | 1861 | 1871 | 1881 | 1891 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 31,779 | 46,333 | 71,838 | 103,548 | 129,763 | 166,956 | 198,788 | 221,465 | 236,363 | 234,379 |
Metropolitan Borough 1900-1961
| Year[5] | 1901 | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1941 | 1951 | 1961 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 235,317 | 218,387 | 211,366 | 198,133 | [6] | 138,377 | 124,855 |
Under theMetropolis Management Act 1855 any parish that exceeded 2,000ratepayers was to be divided into wards; as such the incorporated vestry of St Pancras was divided into eight wards (electingvestrymen): No. 1 (9), No. 2 (12), No. 3 (18), No. 4 (15), No. 5 (15), No. 6 (15), No. 7 (18) and No. 8 (18).[7][8] The metropolitan borough divided into those samewards for its elections.[9][10]
For elections toParliament, the borough was used as the starting base and at first divided into four:
Then, from 1918 into three:
From 1950 parliamentary representation was reduced to1+1⁄2 seats namely:
As such in the south, a seat straddled this Borough and theMetropolitan Borough of Holborn.
Local government districts abolished or transferred by theLondon Government Act 1963 | ||
|---|---|---|
| London | ||
| Essex | ||
| Hertfordshire | ||
| Middlesex,CC | ||
| Kent | ||
| Surrey | ||
| Transfers | Middlesex to Hertfordshire:Potters Bar
| |
History of the formation of theLondon Borough of Camden | ||
|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan boroughs |  | |
| District boards | ||
| Parishes | ||
