Editing London Borough of Havering (section)

==History==
===Early history===
{{Main|Royal Liberty of Havering}}
Modern settlement originated in [[Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon]] times when it consisted of [[Havering Palace]] and the surrounding lands that belonged to the king. The palace itself is known to have existed since at least the reign of [[Edward the Confessor]] when it was one of his primary residences. The area formed a [[liberty (division)|liberty]] from 1465 which included the parishes of Havering-atte-Bower, Hornchurch and Romford.

The name Havering appears in documents from around the 12th century. The origins of this name have been debated by historians since the [[Middle Ages]] when it was linked to the legend of [[Edward the Confessor]] and a mystical ring returned to him by Saint [[John the Apostle]]. This event has been commemorated in stained glass (from about 1407) in a chapel at Romford dedicated to the king.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=42806|title=Parishes: Havering-atte-Bower|series=A History of the County of Essex|volume=7|year=1978|pages= 9–17|access-date=4 June 2007}}</ref>

===Settlement===
[[London Underground]] and fast [[National Rail|rail services]] to [[central London]] resulted in considerable residential land use mixed with designated parklands and farmland under the planning policy of the predecessor local authorities and current authority during the 20th century and into the early 21st century.

The development of the borough came in two distinct phases. The first [[middle class]] suburban developments were built in the late Victorian and Edwardian period. The garden suburbs of Upminster, Emerson Park and Gidea Park (also known as Romford Garden Suburb) were spurred on by the building of the railway lines through Havering from Liverpool Street and Fenchurch Street in the late 19th century.

In the 1930s the District Line was electrified and extended to Upminster with new stations at [[Elm Park tube station|Elm Park]] and [[Upminster Bridge tube station|Upminster Bridge]]. Also at this time new industries near the area such as the [[Ford Motor Company]] plant at [[Dagenham]] caused a new wave of mostly [[working class]] developments along the route of the new Underground line. In addition to this, to the north of the borough, the large housing estates of [[Harold Hill]] and [[Collier Row]] were constructed to deal with the chronic housing shortages and early [[Slum clearance in the United Kingdom|slum clearance]] programmes in central London.

===Administrative history===
The borough was created in 1965 under the [[London Government Act 1963]], covering the combined area of the former [[Municipal Borough of Romford]] and [[Hornchurch Urban District]]. The area was transferred from [[Essex]] to Greater London to become one of the 32 London Boroughs.<ref>{{cite book | first=Frederic |last=Youngs | title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England | volume=I: Southern England | year=1979 | publisher=[[Royal Historical Society]] | location=London | isbn=0-901050-67-9}}</ref>

Romford had been a [[Local board of health|local board district]] from 1851.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Cuthbert |title=The Acts for Promoting the Public Health, 1848 to 1851 |date=1852 |publisher=Charles Knight |location=London |page=227 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P7gDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA227 |access-date=14 April 2024}}</ref> It was converted into an [[Urban district (England and Wales)|urban district]] in 1894, was enlarged in 1934 to take in the neighbouring parishes of [[Havering-atte-Bower]] and [[Noak Hill]], and was incorporated to become a [[municipal borough]] in 1937.<ref>{{cite web |title=Romford Urban District / Municipal Borough |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10073303#tab02 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=14 April 2024}}</ref>

The parish of [[Hornchurch]] had been made an urban district in 1926, which was enlarged in 1934 to take in the parishes of [[Cranham]], [[Great Warley]], [[Rainham, London|Rainham]], [[Upminster]] and [[Wennington, London|Wennington]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Hornchurch Urban District |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P7gDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA227 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time | date=1852 |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=14 April 2024}}</ref>

The new borough was named after the former [[Royal Liberty of Havering]], which had covered a similar area.