London Borough of Islington: History
The area of the modern borough had historically been part of the county of Middlesex. 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 called Islington and Finsbury, the latter covering the combined area of the parishes of Clerkenwell, St Luke and St Sepulchre, and the extra-parochial areas of Charterhouse and Glasshouse Yard.
The modern borough was created in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963. It was a merger of the old Islington and Finsbury metropolitan boroughs.