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Definition :

London, the metropolis of England. for a short account of early London, see 3 Hallam, Mid. Ages, p. 219.

The 'city' of London, which is not subject to the Municipal Corporations Act, contains only 671 acres and is divided into twenty-six wards, over each of which there is an alderman, and is governed by a lord mayor, who is chosen yearly. As to the customs of the city, see Pulling's Customs of London, p. 5 et seq.

The customs of London as to the distribution of intestates' effects are abolished by 19 & 20 Vict. c. 94.

The administrative 'county' of London was established by the Local Government Act, 1888, s. 40, and consists of the city of London and the various metropolitan parishes in the counties of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, which prior to that Act were subject to the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Board of Works, constituted by the (English) Metropolis Management Act, 1855 (18 & 19 Vict. c. 120), the powers of which board are transferred to the London County Council, the number of councillors consisting of double the number of parliamentary members.

The general government of London was entrusted by the Metropolitan Management Act, 1855, to the Metropolitan Board, the members of vestries representing parishes, and district boards representing combinations of parishes, which conducted its local government. The franchise and qualifications were, by the Local Government Act, 1894, assimilated to those obtaining in the case of the district councils created by that Act. The London Government Act, 1899 (62 & 63 Vict. c. 14), substitutes twenty-eight, boroughs for the vestries and district boards, each of which boroughs has a council consisting of a mayor, aldermen, and councillors for each borough not exceeding seventy. To these councils are transferred many powers of the County Council, and they have also concurrent jurisdiction with the County Council as to making bye-laws, as to the regulation of water companies, as to procuring railway traffic facilities by Order of the Railway and Canal Commission, and other matters. See also the London County Council (General Powers) Acts.

The (English) Local Government Act, 1933 (23 & 24 Geo. 5, c. 51), does not apply to London except where expressly mentioned, namely, the provisions of Part III. relating to Joint Committees, Part X, Accounts and Audit, Part XI, Local Financial Returns and Schedule XI, Part V, Repeals.

The Public Health Act, 1875 (English), and the Public HealthAct,1936 (25 Geo. 5 and 1 Edw. 8, c. 49) (see PUBLIC HEALTH), do not apply to London (except when expressly provided), which till 1891 was governed in sanitary matters by Nuisance Removal Acts, Metropolis Management Acts, and other Acts passed either before or after that Act. In 1891 these enactments were consolidated, with amendments, by the Public Health (London) Act, 1891 (54 & 55Vict. c. 76)--a statute of 144 sections and four schedules, repealing more than thirty previous Acts or parts of Acts. The whole of this Act has been repealed by the Public Health (London) Act, 1936 (26 Geo. 5 and 1 Edw. 8, c. 50); this At has fourteen Parts and seven Schedules.

Part I. Local Administration.

Part II. Sewerage and Drainage.

Part III. General Sanitation and Cleanliness.

Part IV. Offensive Trades.

Part V. Smoke Consumption.

Part VI. Tenements and Lodging-houses.

Part VII. Public Baths and Wash-houses.

Part VIII. Food.

Part IX. Prevention and Treatment of Disease.

Part X. Hospitals, Medical Service, Ambulances and Mortuaries.

Part XI. Registration of Nursing Homes.

Part XII. Maternity and Child Welfare.

Part XIII. Child Life Protection.

Part XIV. Miscellaneous and General. [Public Health (London) Act, 1936 (26 Geo. 5 and 1 Edw. 8, c. 50)].

As to the control of Traffic in and near London, see The London Traffic Act, 1924, and London Passenger Transport Act, 1933 (23 Geo. 5, c. 14), and the various Provisional Orders made thereunder, see also London Passenger Transport Board v. Summer, 99 J.P. 387, as to validity of a bye-law.