Editing Whitechapel (section)

===Administrative history===
[[File:Stepney Met. B Ward Map 1916.svg|thumb|The parish of Whitechapel formed three of the wards, in the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney, which was created in 1900.]]
The area became an independent parish around 1338. At that time parish areas only had an ecclesiastical (church) function, with parallel civil parishes being formed in the Tudor period. The original purpose of the civil parishes was poor relief. 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)]].

The role of the ''Tower Division'' ended when Whitechapel became part of the new [[County of London]] in 1889, and most civil parish functions were removed when the area joined the [[Metropolitan Borough of Stepney]] in 1900.

In 1965 there was a further round of changes when the ''Metropolitan Borough of Stepney'' merged with the [[Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green]] and the [[Metropolitan Borough of Poplar]] to form the new [[London Borough of Tower Hamlets]]. The new borough of Tower Hamlets covered only part of the historic Tower Division (or Tower Hamlets). At the same time, the area became part of the new [[Greater London]], which replaced the older, smaller ''County of London''.