East End

By the 19th century, the East End of London had expanded to the eastern boundary with Essex, and the Tower division had reached a population of over a million. Following the coming of the railways, the north western suburbs of London steadily spread over large parts of the county. The areas closest to London were served by the Metropolitan Police from 1829 and, from 1840, the entire county was included in the Metropolitan Police District. Local government in the county was unaffected by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, and civic works continued to be the responsibility of the individual parish vestries or ad hoc improvement commissioners. In 1855, the parishes of the densely populated area in the south east, but excluding the City of London, came within the responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works. Despite this innovation, the system was described by commentators at the time as one "in chaos". In 1889, under the Local Government Act 1888, the metropolitan area of approximately 30,000 acres (12,141 ha) became part of the County of London. The Act also provided that the part of Middlesex in the administrative county of London should be "severed from [Middlesex], and form a separate county for all non administrative purposes".