London Borough of Lewisham: History
The modern borough broadly corresponds to the area of the ancient parishes of Lee and Lewisham, plus the later parish of Deptford St Paul, created in 1730 when the ancient parish of Deptford was subdivided. (The other Deptford parish created in 1730, Deptford St Nicholas, went instead to the borough of Greenwich.) Most of the area was historically in the county of Kent, although Deptford St Paul straddled the boundary with Surrey, with its chapelry of Hatcham (the area now known as New Cross) being in the latter county. From 1856 the area was governed by the Metropolitan Board of Works, which was established to provide services across the metropolis of London.
In 1889 the Metropolitan Board of Works' area was made the County of London. From 1856 until 1900 the lower tier of local government within the metropolis comprised various parish vestries and district boards. In 1900 the lower tier was reorganised into metropolitan boroughs, two of which were Lewisham (covering the parishes of Lewisham and Lee) and Deptford (covering the parish of Deptford St Paul).
The larger London Borough of Lewisham was created in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963, as an amalgamation of the former area of the metropolitan boroughs of Lewisham and Deptford.
Minor boundary changes have occurred since its creation. The most significant amendments were made in 1996, when the former area of the Royal Docks in Deptford was transferred from the London Borough of Greenwich.