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Poplar

County of London
Status:	Metropolitan borough
Admin. HQ:	Bow
Area:	2,348 acres
Created:	1900
Abolished:	1965
Successor:	London Borough of Tower Hamlets

The Metropolitan Borough of Poplar was between 1900 and 1965 a metropolitan borough in the County of London. The borough took over the area of the Poplar Board of Works (formed in 1855), and comprised the parishes of Bow, Bromley and Poplar.^[1] In 1965 it became part of the newly formed London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Contents 1 Boundaries 2 History 3 Population and area 4 Borough seal 5 References 6 See also 7 External links

The borough bordered the metropolitan boroughs of Hackney, Stepney, and Bethnal Green to the west and north, and the county of Essex to the east. To the south, the River Thames formed borders with the metropolitan boroughs of Bermondsey, Deptford and Greenwich.

It included the districts of (from north to south):

• Bow
• Bromley St Leonard
• Poplar
• Blackwall
• Isle of Dogs

In the early 1920s the Borough Council, under George Lansbury and the Poor Law Union were engaged in a dispute with the London County Council and central government over poor law rates - it wished to pay out of work people more than usually permitted; and to get wealthier West End boroughs to contribute to its expenses. Several councillors were imprisoned briefly in 1921 in relation to this. See Poplar Rates Rebellion.

In 1951 Poplar was chosen as the site of the Festival of Britain's 'Exhibition of Live Architecture'. The East End of London had been heavily bombed during the war and its reconstruction was showcased at the new Lansbury Estate. New building materials and planning concepts were demonstrated. The first example of 'live architecture' on the exhibition trail was the Trinity Congregational Church and Hall, just across from the main reception area with their Town Planning and Building Research Pavillions on East India Dock Road. The trail continued with the Lansbury Estate and Chrisp Street Market.

Poplar covered an area of 2,328 acres. The population as given in the census from 1801 to 1961 was:

Civil Parishes and Poplar Board of Works 1801-1899

Year[2]	1801	1811	1821	1831	1841	1851	1861	1871	1881	1891
Population	8,278	13,548	18,932	25,066	31,122	47,162	79,196	116,376	156,510	166,748

Metropolitan Borough 1900-1961

Year[3]	1901	1911	1921	1931	1941	1951	1961
Population	168,822	162,442	162,578	155,089	[4]	73,579	66,604

The borough had no coat of arms, using instead a seal originally designed for the Poplar Board of Works, its predecessor, created by the Metropolis Management Act 1855. The seal depicted the emblems of the three parish vestries merged into the board.

The top shield was the seal of Poplar Vestry, and showed the 'Hibbert Gate' of the old West India Docks, with a sailing ship on top of the shield. A similar representation of the gate and ship formed the head of the vestry's civic mace, which was used by the board of works and borough council until 1965.

The shield on the left was the seal of Bow Vestry , and showed a bridge between two bows. This represented the bow-shaped bridge over the River Lea.

The shield on the right was the seal of Bromley St Leonard Vestry, and depicts the saint dressed as a bishop.

1. ^ F. A. Youngs, Guide to the Local Administrtive Units of England, Vol.I, 1979
2. ^ Statistical Abstract for London, 1901 (Vol. IV)
3. ^ Poplar MetB: Census Tables at Vision of Britain accessed on 4 Jan 2007
4. ^ The census was suspended for World War II

• Vision of Britain website: Population tables for Poplar Borough [1]

• London Government Act 1899
• Metropolis Management Act 1855

• Official Guide to the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar, 1927
• Poplar Town Hall on the Port Cities website