| Description | These files consist of public orders for the naming and numbering of new flats and other developments, commercial and residential, renaming and new street and access names and numbers. They are arranged alphabetically.
Each notice includes a map of the changes, ward name and relevant Acts of Parliament, details of the building(s)/street(s) name and number(s). Also gives the date(s) when previous number(s)/name(s) were recorded.
This series is a set of circulated copies. Most orders were issued by Customer Services department - Street Services and Street Management. They were also later issued by Strategic Engineering department, and by the Directorate of Development and Renewal - 'Street Naming and Numbering (Building Control)'.
No details of which team these copies were circulated to are noted in the files. They were later kept by the Income Valuation team. |
| AdminHistory | Until 1986 street numbering was managed centrally by the Greater London Council (GLC) and its predecessors the London County Council (LCC) from 1889-1965 and the Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) from 1856-1889. Prior to 1856 major confusion was caused by regular duplication of names and inconsistencies in numbering. The Metropolis Management Act 1855, London Local Government Act 1889 and London Building Act 1894 granted the strategic London-wide local authority with public control of naming and numbering.
The central point for street numbering was organised around St Paul's Cathedral. Numbering began at the end of the entrance of the street nearest to St Paul's except if a street led from a main thoroughfare to a smaller street, numbering began from the main highway.
Taking the sides of the street as left and right (assuming the back was towards St Paul's) the odd numbers were assigned to the left-hand side and even to the right-hand side.
On abolition of the GLC in 1965 street naming and numbering powers were devolved to the individual London Boroughs. In 1987 individual Street Naming Section files were passed to the Borough Engineer's Department for each London Borough. These have not been transferred by the department to Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives. |