Editing Dalston (section)

===Administrative history===
The [[Hackney (parish)|Ancient Parish of Hackney]], of which Dalston was a part, detached from [[Stepney#Manor and Ancient parish|Stepney]] in the Middle Ages and had consistent boundaries from that time on.

The area was part of the [[Historic counties of England|historic (or ancient) county]] of [[Middlesex]], but military and most (or all) civil county functions were managed more locally, by the [[Tower division|Tower Division (also known as the Tower Hamlets)]], a historic ‘county within a county’, under the leadership of the [[Constable of the Tower of London|Lord-Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets (the post was always filled by the Constable of the Tower of London)]]. The military loyalty to the Tower meant local men served in the Tower garrison and Tower Hamlets Militia, rather than the Middlesex Militia. This arrangement lasted until 1900.<ref>The London Encyclopaedia, 4th Edition, 1983, Weinreb and Hibbert</ref><ref>East London Papers, Volume 8, Number 2, The Name 'Tower Hamlets'. M.J. Power, December 1965</ref>

In 1900 the [[Metropolitan Borough of Hackney]] was formed, using the boundaries of the former parish, and it became part of the [[County of London]]. In 1965 Hackney merged with the boroughs of [[Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch|Shoreditch]] and [[Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington|Stoke Newington]] to form the modern [[London Borough of Hackney]], part of a new larger county of [[Greater London]].