Editing Ilford (section)

===Suburban expansion===
[[File:Ilford buildings.jpg|thumb|High buildings in central Ilford]]
By 1653, Ilford was a compact village of 50 houses, mostly sited north and south of the current Broadway<ref name=bho_borough/> and the area was distinctly rural. In 1801 the population of Ilford was 1,724 and by 1841 it had grown to 3,742.<ref name=bho_borough/> It had a population of 41,244 in 1901 and occupied an area of {{convert|8496|acre|km2|0}}. 2,500 houses of the vast [[Becontree Estate]], built by the [[London County Council]] from 1921, were within the boundaries of Ilford; the addition caused a rise in population of 11,600 by 1926.<ref name=bho_borough/> 

The [[Central line (London Underground)|Central line]] service of the [[London Underground]] to new and former main-line stations in the area began in 1947<ref name=rose>{{cite book | last=Rose | first=D | title=The London Underground: A diagrammatic history | year=1999 }}</ref> and the population of the Municipal Borough of Ilford peaked in 1951 at 184,706, declining to 178,024 in 1961 before being absorbed into Redbridge and Greater London in 1965. At the [[United Kingdom Census 2001|2001 Census]] the combined populations of the [[Ilford North (UK Parliament constituency)|Ilford North]] and [[Ilford South (UK Parliament constituency)|Ilford South]] constituencies was 196,414.<ref name="ukpollingreport.co.uk"/><ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web |url=http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/ilfordsouth |title=UKPollingReport Election Guide 2010 » Ilford South |access-date=2 March 2014 |archive-date=4 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104164710/http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/ilfordsouth/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>