LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
A Norwood tithing was
amerced by the justices in 1235. (fn. 78) According to
Lysons courts for Norwood manor were held at the
latest from 1481, (fn. 79) but even if this was the case the
manor was clearly subordinate to that of Hayes. (fn. 80)
There seems to have been an independent vestry
in Norwood by the mid 17th century, as at this date
the poor-rate was levied not only on Norwood,
Southall, and Northcott, but also on people residing
in Heston, Hanwell, Greenford, and 'other out
towns'. (fn. 81) The vestry, however, was not expressly
mentioned until 1720. (fn. 82) In 1642 Norwood had two
overseers, two constables, and a churchwarden, (fn. 83) but
little is known of the local administration until the
19th century. In the late 18th century the poor-rates
increased steadily from £252 in 1777 to £417 in
1785. (fn. 84) They reached a peak of £850 in 1821. (fn. 85) The
parish had acquired a workhouse by 1803 when it
had 12 inmates. (fn. 86) In 1814 the workhouse stood on
the north side of what is now Featherstone Road. (fn. 87)
There were 8 inmates in 1834, (fn. 88) but Norwood was
included in the Uxbridge Union of 1836 and the
workhouse poor were transferred to the union workhouse at Hillingdon. The Norwood vestry always
remained an open one. (fn. 89) A vestry clerk was first
appointed in 1857 because the population had then
reached over 2,000. (fn. 90)
For the next thirty years little is known of the
work of the vestry, which was probably not very
active. A school board was formed in 1877, (fn. 91) and in
1877 and 1878 plans for water- and gas-works were
being put into effect. (fn. 92) A Local Government Board
order made in 1878 instructed the parish to find
a permanent room for the vestry meetings. (fn. 93) In 1882
the first drainage proposals were introduced by the
rural sanitary authority, but only for the area south
of Norwood Green, (fn. 94) and in 1883 an Act for providing Norwood with mains water was passed. (fn. 95) By
1890 a complete drainage system for Norwood had
been carried out and in the same year the parish
applied to be created an urban district. At the ensuing inquiry it was found that since 1871 the rateable value of the parish had almost doubled from
£22,000 to nearly £41,000, and that more than half
of the latter figure was assessed on only 4 properties: the G.W.R. Co.'s line, the Grand Junction
Canal, the Brentford Gas Works, and the Hanwell
asylum. In addition to the rural sanitary authority
and the lighting inspectors, there were 7 other parish
bodies: the vestry, the guardians, the overseers, the
assessment committee, and the highway, school, and
burial boards. The vestry felt that all these bodies
needed co-ordinating, and also that the inspector of
nuisances and medical officer of health ought to
reside in the parish, as much of their work was within it. The burial board was certainly in existence by
1883. The highway board had 11 members and was
responsible for the whole parish; there were about
13 miles of road, of which over 2 miles of Uxbridge
Road were repaired by the county. The jurisdiction
of the lighting committee did not extend over the
whole parish, and to light the remainder would
require a second committee. (fn. 96)
The Southall-Norwood U.D.C. was set up in
1894 with 14 members and 6 officers: a clerk,
treasurer, surveyor, sanitary inspector, medical officer
of health, and tax collector. (fn. 97) The council offices in
the High Street were built in 1897-8. (fn. 98) The council
proposed to build an isolation hospital in 1900, (fn. 99) and
in 1904 the sanatorium on North Road, Mount
Pleasant, was opened. (fn. 1) This later became the Mount
Pleasant Hospital. In 1905 the electric lighting orders
were confirmed, (fn. 2) and in the same year the public
library in Osterley Park Road was opened. (fn. 3) By 1906
the council was meeting twice a month. It acquired
some land in 1906 on which to erect a mortuary, (fn. 4) and
in 1908 about 14 a. were acquired by the council
from Lord Jersey as a recreation ground; (fn. 5) in 1924
there were three public open spaces: Southall Park
(26 a.), the Recreation Ground (15 a.), and Norwood
Green (8 a.). (fn. 6) The Recreation Ground, reached
from Recreation Road or Tachbrook Road, lies in
the ancient parish of Heston, but the area of the
urban district and the Norwood civil parish had
been extended in 1894 to cover the small part of
Heston north of the canal. (fn. 7)
An open-air swimming
pool was built there in
1913 and reconstructed in
1930. (fn. 8) In 1924 the number of councillors was increased to eighteen. In
1925 the Southall-Norwood Hospital was first
proposed and in 1930 a
site on Uxbridge Road,
behind Holy Trinity
Church, was chosen. This
site was later sold, and
the hospital was opened
in 1935 on its present
site at the corner of the
Green and Osterley Park
Road. (fn. 9)
Borough of Southall
Parted fesswise or and vert, two thorn-trees, the upper one proper and the lower or, between two palets wavy argent each charged with another such palet azure [Granted 1936]
In 1936 the municipal borough of Southall was
formed, its area of jurisdiction being the same as the
old urban district and the ancient parish of Norwood, the only civil parish being that of Norwood. (fn. 10)
The borough council consisted of 18 members
elected from 6 wards; (fn. 11) by 1960 membership had
increased to 24, consisting of 6 aldermen and 18
councillors. (fn. 12) In 1965 Southall Borough was merged
with the boroughs of Ealing and Acton to form the
new London Borough of Ealing. (fn. 13)