| On 18 Jun 2000, 35 years after its demise, the County of Middlesex coat of arms is still prominently displayed on the wall of its old Guild Hall. |
The ancient County of Middlesex was bounded by the River Thames in the south, the River Lea in the east, the River Colne in the west and by the northern heights bounding the Hertfordshire border in the north. It was the second smallest county and, prior to its demise, the most densely populated.
The River Thames has always been important in the history of Middlesex with traders and settlers alike, from prehistoric times, using it as their waterway. The Romans set up outposts in what were to become Brentford and Staines. It was at Brentford that the Romans reputedly forded the River Thames. They also founded Londinium which was later to become London and from which its name is derived. From about the 5th century the Saxons began to colonise the area. The earliest written record of Middlesex was in a charter of AD 704 when it was referred to as Middelseaxon. The name derives from its postion between the East and West Saxons.
At the time of the Norman conquest and the Domesday Book Middlesex was mostly pasture and arable land adjacent to the River Thames and with large areas of forest covering the northern parts. The population of the whole of Middlesex was only 6,000. It is therefore no surprise that it did not feature greatly in the political records of the time. In the Norman period the chuirch was the main landowner, the main holders being the Bishop of London and the Abbot of Westminster. The main secular landowners were the de Mandevilles and the Earls of Arundel. The Domesday book split the county into six hundreds these being Edmonton, Gore, Ossultone, Elthorne, Hounslow and Spelthorne. These divisions retained some importance until the end of the nineteenth century.
The County is part of the See of the Bishop of London which was refounded under Bishop Mellitus in 604AD. Middlesex had been divided up into parishes by about the 8th century. The first parish priests, usually the private chaplains to the Thanes, were responsible for building the first wooden parish churches on the sites where many of the present day parish churches still stand.
Since the middle ages the history of the County of Middlesex has been inextricably linked with the history of London. The wealthy and titled have always had their country homes here as the county was within easy travelling distance of London. Its notable dwellings included the royal palaces in Westminster, Hampton Court Palace, Syon Park (Dukes of Northumberland), Osterley House (Earls of Jersey) as well as many others.
It is reputed that the ghost of Catherine of Aragon, one of King Henry VIII's wives, runs shrieking along the haunted gallery at Hampton Court Palace. Catherine spent the night at Syon House on the eve of her execution at the Tower of London, no doubt being taken down the river to enter the Tower by the Traitor's gate. On his death Henry's body also rested at Syon House before his sumptuous funeral at Windsor.
The County was extremely fertile and has been called the market garden of London, at one time growing most of its food.
London has always been autonomous from the County of Middlesex having its own Lord Mayor and City Corporation and responsible for its own administration.
Since Saxon times the City of Westminster has been fairly autonomous too. In 959AD King Edgar defined the boundary of Westminster (the abbey lands) as midstream of the River Thames in the south, the Tyburn stream in the west, the River Fleet in the east and to the north a line which since has become Oxford Street and Bayswater Road. This area was administered by the Abbey. The boundaries of Westminster have expanded over the years and at one time included Paddington, Marylebone and parts of Kensington. In 1585 an Act was passed to set up a separate civic authority for Westminster with 12 wards. Westminster became part of the new County of London in 1889 (see below) although retaining its City of Westminster title.
In 1889, upon the creation of the London County Council, Middlesex lost 50 square miles and 2.5 million inhabitants to the new London authority (see The London Pages). The County of Middlesex was then completely abolished in the Local Government reorganisation of 1965 when most of the remaining area became part of the new Greater London Council. The bits which remained were absorbed into neighbouring counties (i.e. Staines and Sunbury into Surrey and Potters Bar into Hertfordshire). The name of Middlesex, however, is still used for postal addresses in the old Middlesex area outside the London postal districts (e.g. Uxbridge, Middlesex) and for sporting organisations such as the the Middlesex Cricket Club. It is also deemed a county for the purposes of the legal system. However Middlesex (as a County) has no administrative function today.
| The imposing entry to Middlesex Guild Hall in Little George Street facing Parliament Square |  |
Despite Westminster's semi independence Middlesex has always chosen to have its Guild Hall situated there and a new building was built in 1912/3 fronting the Houses of Parliament off Parliament Square formally opening on 19 Dec 1913. It was built with two Court Rooms for use by the Middlesex Quarter and Intermediate Sessions together with a fine Council Chamber and Committee Rooms. The basement was used as cell accomodation for prisoners awaiting trial. Around the front entrance below the first floor windows is a frieze depicting the granting of the Magna Carta by King John. During World War 2 the Guild Hall hosted foreign courts from countries such as Belgium, Greece, Norway and the Netherlands which had been occupied by Germany. Today, subsequent to the demise of the County of Middlesex in 1965, the Guild Hall is used as a Court House. However, the original ornate entrance is still there with the names of all the worthies who were involved in its building inscribed in the stonework.
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Tucked away to the rear of the Guild Hall is this Stone Gateway (relocated by the Greater London Council in 1969) which was the old entrance to the Westminster House of Correction (or Bridewell) later known as Tothill Fields Prison |
The County of Middlesex was responsible for the creation of Parliament Square as it is today. The area immediately in front of the Guild Hall was occupied by a building known as Church House. After World War 2 there was a proposal to demolish Church House and replace it with a modern office block. The County of Middlesex led the resistance to this and obtained an Act of Parliament enabling them to issue a compulsory purchase order to obtain the site. The area was opened up and became part of Parliament Square.
In regard to the historic records of Middlesex, rather than being split up when the county ceased to exist in 1965, the responsibility for these was assumed by the City of London and they now form a large part of the records held by the London Metropolitan Archives. A visit here is essential if researching London and Middlesex ancestors.
For further information on Middlesex, including a list of parishes, visit the GENUKI Middlesex Page.