Westminster St James

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Coordinates: 51°30′31″N 0°8′13″W / 51.50861°N 0.13694°W / 51.50861; -0.13694
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"St James Piccadilly" redirects here. Not to be confused with St James's Church, Piccadilly.

Westminster St James

Area
 • 1881815 acres (3.30 km2)
 • 1901766 acres (3.10 km2)
 • 1921767 acres (3.10 km2)
Population
 • 188129,941
 • 190121,588
 • 192113,644
History
 • OriginBailiwick of St James
 • Created1685
 • Abolished1900 (vestry)
1922 (civil parish)
 • Succeeded byMetropolitan Borough of Westminster
StatusCivil parish
GovernmentSt James Vestry (1685–1900)
 • HQVestry Hall, Piccadilly

Westminster St James (or St James Piccadilly) was a

Westminster City Council
. The parish continued to have nominal existence until 1922.

Creation

There were attempts in 1664, 1668 and 1670 to create a new parish, with its own church, from the area of the bailiwick of St James within the ancient parish of St Martin in the Fields. The creation of the new parish was resisted by the vestry of St Martin in the Fields. In 1684 the Church of St James, Piccadilly, was constructed which improved the case for providing a new parish.[1]

St. James' Parish, Westminster Act 1685
Act of Parliament
1 Ja. 2. c. 10
Dates
Royal assent27 June 1685

It was created in 1685 from part of the ancient parish of St Martin in the Fields, and was within the

Liberty of Westminster.[2] The parish was included in the returns of the Bills of mortality.[3]

The legislation creating the parish in 1685 provided for a

select vestry
of 34 vestrymen.

Geography

It corresponded to the western portion of the contemporary district of

St Marylebone, to the east it had a boundary with St Anne, Soho, running along Berwick Street and Rupert Street. To the south there was a boundary with St Martin in the Fields, roughly along Pall Mall. In the west there was a somewhat more irregular boundary with St George Hanover Square, partly following Conduit Street, Old Bond Street and Dover Street. The building of Regent Street
in the early 19th century made the division of the parish between the Mayfair and Soho areas more defined.

Government

The parish adopted the

ratepayers. In 1855 the parish vestry became a local authority within the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works
and the number of elected vestrymen increased by 12.

Under the

vestrymen): No. 1 or Great Marlborough (12), No. 2 or Pall Mall (12), No. 3 or Church (15) and No. 4 or Golden Square (9).[4][5]

The Local Government Act 1894 reformed the method of election for London vestries, with the entire vestry replaced at an election held on 15 December 1894. One third of the vestry was then elected every year starting in 1896.

Poor law

The parish was independent for the administration of the

New Poor Law
, until it joined the Westminster Union in 1868.

Abolition

In 1889 the parish became part of the

Westminster City Council
. It was abolished as a civil parish in 1922.

Population

The population of the parish as recorded in the decennial census was:[6]

Year 1801 1811 1821 1831 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921
Population 34,462 34,093 33,819 37,053 37,398 36,406 ? 33,619 29,941 24,995 21,588 16,159 13,644

References

  1. ^ "The Parish and Vestry of St. James - British History Online".
  2. ISBN 0-901050-67-9
    .
  3. ^ Reginald H. Adams (1971). The Parish Clerks of London. Phillimore.
  4. ^ The London Gazette Issue: 21802. 20 October 1855. pp. 3884–3887. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  5. ^ "H.M.S.O. Boundary Commission Report 1885 Westminster Map". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  6. ^ "Westminster St James/Vest through time - Population Statistics - Total Population".

51°30′31″N 0°8′13″W / 51.50861°N 0.13694°W / 51.50861; -0.13694

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