An Address for the Civic Service at St Margaret’s by Rev. Nicholas Schofield (Chair)

Most people like a good story from history – colourful monarchs, heroic battles, quaint customs, perhaps the odd bit of romance. Perhaps that’s why we tend to neglect the history of local government. It seems to be a complicated and not always satisfactory tale of changing structures and bureaucracies, presided over by stern-looking officials from previous generations whose personalities seem consumed into their office. And, anyway, local councils necessarily tend to be focused on the present moment and the future – as the Hillingdon motto puts it, ‘forward’! 

Originally much local government depended on the manor and the parish, with their justices of the peace, constables, churchwardens and vestries. Things began to change in the nineteenth century with the creation of Poor Law Unions, and Urban and Rural Districts. By 1929 there were four Urban District Councils in our area: Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip and Northwood, Uxbridge, and Yiewsley and West Drayton – each with their own Town Hall and administration.     

In May 1954 Uxbridge was raised to the status of a Borough and the Duchess of Kent presented its Charter of Incorporation. A local paper reported that ‘people who like a good address would sooner live in a borough than an urban district’ and ‘it also attracts the best type of person to put up for election to the Council,’ with the aspiration of becoming an alderman or mayor.  

Nevertheless, this new-found status was to be short-lived. Just three years later a Royal Commission started examining local government once again and decided that while a Greater London Council would manage roads, education, sewage and the fire service, local Boroughs would look after such things as housing, parks and open spaces, social services and waste disposal. Greater London would be made up of 32 rationalised Boroughs. 

And so, 60 years ago, on 1 April 1965 the new Borough of Hillingdon was created out of the four local councils. There had been some debate about the name. Some suggested ‘Elthorne,’ for our area was in the old Hundred of Elthorne – since Norman times Middlesex had been divided into six areas called ‘hundreds’, largely for the purposes of taxation. But Elthorne was considered a rather obscure name, not relating to an actual place and deriving from a land full of hawthorns and brambles that belonged to a Norman gentleman called Elle. 

‘Uxbridge’ was also proposed, seemingly suitable given its commercial centre, transport hub, RAF station and new university, and this name was actually adopted in January 1964. However, the decision was opposed by the other three urban districts, who argued that the name of one of the existing councils should not be adopted. And so the more neutral name of Hillingdon was chosen – situated in the geographic heart of the new Borough, with a long history (unlike Uxbridge it is mentioned in the Doomsday Book) – and, besides, it seems that one of the senior officials involved was the grandson of a former Vicar of St John’s, Hillingdon.     

The new Borough of Hillingdon required infrastructure. Councillors had to be elected and heads of department chosen. The first Mayor was Clifford Gadsden, who had served as Mayor of Uxbridge a few years previously, and the Town Clerk was George Hooper. The Town Crier of West Drayton, Charles Tamplin, was promoted to serving the whole Borough – working by day as a school caretaker, he acted in this capacity until 1988 and frequently won national awards for best-dressed Town Crier!  

The magnificent Civic Centre was only opened in Uxbridge in 1976; in the meantime, offices were scattered across the Borough. The Town Clerk was based in the old Hayes Town Hall on Wood End Green Road, Health and Welfare on Uxbridge High Street and the Libraries Department at Drayton Hall. The first Borough Librarian, Philip Coleham, recounted having to interview candidates for library posts in his Cortina car parked behind one of the Uxbridge cinemas! Council meetings were initially held in schools. 

A new coat of arms was also granted – made up of various components reflecting local history: the eagle from the arms of the Paget family, onetime Lords of the Manor of West Drayton and still bearing to this day the title ‘Earl of Uxbridge’; the fleur-de-lys calling to mind the great Benedictine abbey of Bec that once owned land in Ruislip; a cog wheel representing local industry; the North Star with its nod towards aviation; and so on. Four civic crowns at the top of the shield – they rather look like wreaths – symbolise the joining together of the four councils.  

Of course, there was opposition to the changes and, in particular, the disappearance of the venerable county of Middlesex. Donald Jarvis, my predecessor as Chair of the Uxbridge Local History and Archives Society, arranged a meeting with the Minister for Local Government, Sir Keith Joseph, and the TV astrologer Russell Grant, among others, campaigned for its retention. The name exists, of course, in the world of cricket and as a postal address, and it is good to see the county flag flying outside the Civic Centre. Middlesex Day is celebrated by some each year on 16^th May. 

‘Forward’ the motto says. Since 1965, the Borough of Hillingdon has grown and developed. Its first decade saw a Royal Charter awarded to Brunel University (1966), the opening of Hillingdon Hospital (1967) and the redevelopmemt of Uxbridge town centre. Since then, of course, much else has happened, the population has risen hugely and with it the rich ethnic diversity of the area – there is no time to go through each decade and many of us here have been witnesses to the many challenges and opportunities of the last 60 years.  

As we go ‘forward’ with equal trepidation and hope, we look back with gratitude to all those who have served the Borough, past and present, with rejoicing in all that we are, and with pride in what has been achieved.