Editing Ilford (section)

==Origins and administration==
===Toponymy===
Ilford was historically known as '''Great Ilford''' to differentiate it from nearby [[Little Ilford]].<ref name=mills_london>{{cite book |title=Dictionary of London Place Names |year=2001 |last=Mills |first=A.D. |publisher=Oxford}}</ref> The name is first recorded in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as ''Ilefort'' and means "[[Ford (crossing)|ford]] over the Hyle". "Hyle" is an old Celtic name for the [[River Roding]] that means "trickling stream". Great and Little Ilford share the place name origin,<ref name=mills_london/> but the Domesday reference is to the Little Ilford area.<ref>Little Ilford was the place referred to at Domesday described in {{cite book |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol5/pp190-214 |chapter=The ancient parish of Barking: Manors |publisher=Victoria County History |location=London |date=1966 |title=A History of the County of Essex |volume=5 |pages=190–214 |via=British History Online}}</ref>

Great and Little Ilford appear to have always been distinct areas separated by the Roding. The place names of Great and Little Ilford both appear to derive from the ford (and river), rather than deriving from the subdivision of a larger Ilford area.

===Manor of Barking===
Barking was a huge Manor (landholding), first mentioned in a charter in 735 AD. The Manor covered the areas now known as [[Barking, London|Barking]], [[Dagenham]] and Ilford. The Manor was held by the Nunnery of [[Barking Abbey]].

===Ancient Parish of Barking===
By the late 1100s (the Parishes of England were, with a few exceptions, fixed for around 700 years from the late 12th century onwards)<ref>{{cite book |title=History of the Countryside |first=Oliver |last=Rackham |date=1986 |page=19}}</ref> the huge Manor of Barking was served by two [[Civil Parish#Ancient Parishes|Ancient Parishes]], Barking (including Ilford) and Dagenham. This reversed the usual situation (for smaller, and even quite large Manors) where a parish would serve one or more manors. As with other manors, the area held by the declined over time, but the parish boundaries based on its former extent remained constant.

[[File:Barking CP Ward Map 1871.svg|thumb|left|A map showing the wards of Barking Parish in 1871. The Ancient Parish covered both Barking and Ilford.]]
The Parish of Barking, in the [[Becontree (hundred)|Becontree]] hundred of [[Essex]], covered the areas now known as Barking and Ilford. Barking was a large ancient parish of {{convert|12307|acre|km2}} in the Becontree hundred of Essex. It was divided into the wards of Chadwell, Great Ilford, Ripple and Town.

===Ilford separates from Barking===
The Barking parish authorities gradually lost responsibility for a variety of functions during the 19th century; from 1836, for the administration of poor relief, Ilford came within the Romford [[Poor Law Union]] and in 1840 the [[Metropolitan Police District]] was extended to cover the area. In 1875, the Romford [[sanitary district|rural sanitary district]] was created, covering a wide area including Ilford.

In 1888, Ilford and the neighbouring ward of Chadwell to its east were split from Barking and together formed a separate Ilford civil parish and also a  new Urban District Council. In 1890, a [[local board of health]] was set up for the parish, replacing the rural sanitary authority, and in 1894 a reform of local government reconstituted it as an urban district. It formed part of the [[London Traffic Area]] from 1924 and the [[London Passenger Transport Board|London Passenger Transport Area]] from 1933.<ref name=robson_london>{{cite book |title=The Government and Mis-government of London |last=Robson |first=William |year=1939 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=London }}</ref> It was incorporated as the [[Municipal Borough of Ilford]] in 1926.<ref name=vision_borough>{{cite vob | url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10108159 | name=Ilford UD/MB | map=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/boundary_map_page.jsp?u_id=10108159&c_id=10001043 | access-date=28 August 2009 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001001349/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10108159&c_id=10001043 | archive-date=1 October 2007 | df=dmy-all }}</ref>

The suburban expansion of London caused a significant increase in population and the borough became one of the largest in England not to gain [[county borough]] status.

===London Borough of Redbridge===
In 1965, the municipal borough was abolished and its former area was combined with that of [[Municipal Borough of Wanstead and Woodford|Wanstead and Woodford]], the northern extremity of [[Municipal Borough of Dagenham|Dagenham]] and a small part [[Chigwell Urban District]] (around Hainault), to form the new [[London Borough of Redbridge]].

===Representation===
Two the UK Parliamentary constituencies are named after Ilford: [[Ilford North (UK Parliament constituency)|Ilford North]] and [[Ilford South (UK Parliament constituency)|Ilford South]].The [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for Ilford North is [[Wes Streeting]] of the Labour Party, who succeeded the previous MP [[Lee Scott (politician)|Lee Scott]] of the Conservative Party in the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 general election]]. The MP for Ilford South from 2024 is [[Jas Athwal]] of the Labour Party. Redbridge forms part of the [[Havering and Redbridge (London Assembly constituency)|Havering and Redbridge London Assembly constituency]].