The Government of Victorian London, 1855-1889 : The Metropolitan Board of Works, the Vestries, and the City Corporation / David Owen; Roy MacLeod.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Owen, David, author.

Contributor:

MacLeod, Roy, editor.

Olsen, Donald.

Reeder, David.

Sheppard, Francis.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

HISTORY / General.

London (England)--History--1800-1950.

London (England). Metropolitan Board of Works--History--19th century.

POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / European.

SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Urban.

Local Subjects:

HISTORY / General.

London (England)--History--1800-1950.

London (England). Metropolitan Board of Works--History--19th century.

POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / European.

SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Urban.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (481 p.): 1 Kte

Edition:

Reprint 2014

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2014]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Of all the major cities of Britain, London, the world metropolis, was the last to acquire a modern municipal government. Its antiquated administrative system led to repeated crises as the population doubled within a few decades and reached more than two million in the 1840s. Essential services such as sanitation, water supply, street paving and lighting, relief of the poor, and maintenance of the peace were managed by the vestries of ninety-odd parishes or precincts plus divers ad hoc authorities or commissions. In 1855, with the establishment of the Metropolitan Board of Works, the groundwork began to be laid for a rational municipal government. Owen tells in absorbing detail the story of the operations of the Metropolitan Board of Works, its political and other problems, and its limited but significant accomplishments--including the laying down of 83 miles of sewers and the building of the Thames Embankments--before it was replaced in 1889 by the London County Council. His account, based on extensive archival research, is balanced, judicious, lucid, often witty and always urbane.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Editor's Preface

Foreword / Clive, John

The Government of Victorian London

Introduction: Victorian London / Olsen, Donald J.

PART I: The Evolution of Metropolitan Government

CHAPTER 1: The Crisis of London's Government / Sheppard, Francis

CHAPTER 2: The Creation of the Metropolitan Board of Works

CHAPTER 3: The Problem of Main Drainage

CHAPTER 4: The Embankment

CHAPTER 5: Thoroughfares and Buildings

CHAPTER 6: The Miscellaneous Duties of a Municipal Government

CHAPTER 7: The Routine of Administration

CHAPTER 8: The Odor of Corruption

CHAPTER 9: The Twilight of the Metropolitan Board of Works

PART II: Vestrydom and the City Corporation

CHAPTER 10: A Bird's-Eye View of Vestrydom

CHAPTER 11: The City Corporation

CHAPTER 12: St. Marylebone

CHAPTER 13: St. Pancras / Sheppard, Francis

CHAPTER 14: St. George the Martyr, Southwark

CHAPTER 15: St. Leonard, Shoreditch / Sheppard, Francis

Conclusion: Perspectives on Metropolitan Administrative History / Reeder, David

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Mai 2019)

ISBN:

0-674-86346-1

OCLC:

1013948860