Finsbury


Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Islington.
Finsbury was a manor which give its name to two much larger administrative areas: Finsbury Division of the Ossulstone Hundred of Middlesex, from the 17th century until 1900 and its successor until 1965 in a small part of its southern area, the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury.
The area should not be confused with Finsbury Park, a public space roughly three miles to the north and which gives its name to its surrounding mainly residential area.

Etymology

The name is first recorded as Vinisbir and means "manor of a man called Finn".

Geography

The area lies immediately north of the City of London, and approximates to the part of the London Borough of Islington east of Goswell Street and south of City Road. It also includes a small area north of City Road, focused on the City Road Basin
The parts of the City of London's Coleman Street Ward that lie outside the line of the former City walls were historically part of the Manor of Finsbury and still sometimes described as part of the area.
Finsbury Town Hall and the Finsbury Estate lie further west, in Clerkenwell and are named after the former borough of Finsbury which included both Finsbury and Clerkenwell.

Origins and administration

In the Middle Ages, the manor of Finsbury was part of the great fen which lay outside the northern wall of the City of London. It gave its name to the Finsbury division of the Ossulstone hundred of Middlesex.

Manor and parishes

The Manor of Finsbury was served by the Ancient Parish of St Giles-without-Cripplegate. The manor house, Finsbury Court, lay on the junction of Chiswell Street and Finsbury Pavement. The parish of St Giles-without-Cripplegate also covered an extra-mural part of the City of London known as Cripplegate Without. In the 17th Century, Little and Lower Moorfields, previously in the Manor of Finsbury and Parish of St Giles, was transferred to the Coleman Street Ward of the City of London. This meant that Coleman Street Ward also possessed an extra-mural area.
The estate was made over for the use of the Lord Mayor of London, by Richard II, in gratitude for the killing of Wat Tyler by Mayor William Walworth at Smithfield. After that the formal title of the Mayors has been Mayor of London and Lord of Finsbury.
In 1733, the growth of the local population, led to the part of St Giles-without-Cripplegate outside the City, the area which had been the Manor of Finsbury, being made an independent parish, known as St Luke's, after the parish church.

Recent administration

The Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury in the County of London was created in 1900, covering the area of Finsbury and Clerkenwell, with Finsbury Town Hall located on Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell. In 1938, Dr. Chuni Lal Katial was elected mayor of Finsbury, making him the first Asian mayor in the United Kingdom.
In 1942 the borough council erected a controversial bust of Vladimir Lenin at the site of a new block of flats in Holford Square. The borough was abolished in 1965 and absorbed into the borough of Islington.
In 1832 the parliamentary borough of Finsbury was created, covering a considerably wider area. In 1857 Finsbury Park was opened some three miles north, for the enjoyment of the residents of this parliamentary borough.
In 1965 the area was absorbed into the new London Borough of Islington, though Finsbury Circus remains part of the City of London.

History

Growth

Urbanisation was slow, despite the building of a new gate in the adjacent London Wall, Moorgate, in 1511. In 1665 the Bunhill Fields burial ground was opened in the area.
Building on Finsbury Fields began in the late 17th century. The parish church of St Luke's was built in 1732–33, development was accelerated by the building of the City Road in 1765, and at the end of the 18th century a residential suburb was built with its centre at Finsbury Square. Little and Lower Moorfields remained open until Finsbury Circus was developed after 1815.

Military history

In 1641 the Honourable Artillery Company moved to Finsbury, where it still remains. The City of London Yeomanry, founded at the time of the Second Boer War, made its headquarters in Finsbury Square.
In 1862 Finsbury gave its name to a volunteer infantry unit — the Finsbury Rifles, which recruited in both Finsbury and Clerkenwell, and saw distinguished service in several conflicts.

Medical district

Before Harley Street rose to prominence, Finsbury was London’s principal medical district. In the mid-19th century it was home to a large number of hospitals, but now only Moorfields Eye Hospital remains.
The area included the following hospitals: