The civic buildings of the borough included the Town Hall in Old Street with the Magistrates Court, the Coroner's Court in Boundary St and other civic offices nearby.
Motto
The borough motto commemorates the provision of electric power to the borough from the Vestry of St Leonard Shoreditch Electric Light Station later known as the Shoreditch Borough Refuse Destructor and Generating Station on Coronet Street. The building on Coronet Street is embellished with the motto E PULVERE LUX ET VIS. It was built in 1896 and burned rubbish, to provide steam for the electricity generator. The waste heat was used to heat the public baths next door. The building is now home to the National Centre for Circus Arts.
Population and area
The metropolitan borough was conterminous with the Vestry authority, when it was formed in 1900. Statistics compiled by the London County Council, in 1901 show the population growth in London, over the preceding century. The area of the borough in 1901 was. The populations recorded in National Censuses were: Shoreditch Vestry 1801-1899
Year
1801
1811
1821
1831
1841
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
Population
34,766
43,930
52,966
68,564
83,432
109,257
129,364
127,164
126,591
124,009
Metropolitan Borough 1900-1961
Year
1901
1911
1921
1931
1941
1951
1961
Population
118,668
111,390
104,248
104,248
44,871
40,455
By comparison, after amalgamation with Hackney and Stoke Newington, to form the modern London Borough of Hackney, the combined area became 19.06 km² - approximately ; in 2005, this had a population of 207,700, or a population density of 10,900/km². In 1901 Shoreditch the population density was 44,600/km².
Coat of arms
The borough used coat of arms, but these were never formally granted and, therefore, not official. When the borough was merged to found the London Borough of Hackney, other charges were used to represent Shoreditch in the new coat of arms of the London Borough of Hackney.
Politics
Under the Metropolis Management Act 1855 any parish that exceeded 2,000 ratepayers was to be divided into wards; as such the incorporated vestry of St Leonard Shoreditch was divided into eight wards : No. 1 or Moorfields, No. 2 or Church, No. 3 or Hoxton, No. 4 or Wenlock, No. 5 or Whitmore, No. 6 or Kingsland, No. 7 or Haggerstone and No. 8 or Acton. The metropolitan borough inherited these eight wards for elections: Acton, Church, Haggerston, Hoxton, Kingsland, Moorfields, Wenlock and Whitmore.
