London Borough of Newham
The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the same act. The name Newham reflects its creation and combines the compass points of the old borough names. Situated on the borders of inner and outer East London, Newham has a population of 353,134, which is the third highest of the London boroughs and also makes it the 20th most populous district in England . The local authority is Newham London Borough Council. It is east of the City of London, north of the River Thames (the Woolwich Ferry and Woolwich foot tunnel providing the only crossings to the south), bounded by the River Lea to its west and the North Circular Road to its east. Newham was one of the six host boroughs for the 2012 Summer Olympics and contains most of the Olympic Park including the London Stadium, and also contains the London City Airport. Major districts include East Ham, Stratford, Plaistow, Forest Gate and Canning Town. History. The borough was formed on  1 April 1965 under the London Government Act 1963, as a borough of the newly formed Greater London. It broadly covered the areas of the county borough of East Ham and the county borough of West Ham that were abolished by the same act. These in turn were successors to the ancient civil and ecclesiastical parishes of East Ham and West Ham. Green Street and Boundary Road mark the former boundary between the two. North Woolwich also became part of the borough (previously being part of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich, south of the river Thames in the County of  London) along with a small area west of the River Roding which had previously been part of the Municipal Borough of Barking. "Newham" was devised for the borough as an entirely new name. Ham(me): Pre-partition origins. The area of the modern borough was at one time occupied by a settlement called 'Ham'. The name comes from Old English 'hamm' and means 'a dry area of land between rivers or marshland', referring to the location of the settlement within boundaries formed by the rivers Lea, Thames and Roding and their marshes. The first known written use of the term, as  'Hamme', is in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 958, in which King Edgar granted the land to Ealdorman Athelstan. The territory was undivided at that time, A subsequent charter on 1037 describes a transfer of land which has been identified with East Ham, indicating that the division of the territory occurred between 958 and 1037. The Domesday Book shows landholdings divided further, and by the end of the 12th century these manors were being served, singly or in groups of manors by the familiar ancient parishes of West Ham, East Ham and Little Ilford (now also known as Manor Park ), with some areas by the Roding a part of Barking, and the area now known as North Woolwich attached to Woolwich. The earliest recorded use of the name West Ham, "Westhamma" comes in 1186, and East Ham, "Estham", is recorded in 1204. The boundary between West and East Ham was drawn from the now lost Hamfrith Waste and Hamfrith Wood in the north (then the southernmost parts of Epping Forest which extended as far south as the Romford Road at that time), along Green Street down to the small, also lost, natural harbour known as Ham Creek. The formation of  the modern borough in 1965 saw the merger of West and East Ham, together with North Woolwich and Barking west of the River Roding. Little Ilford had become part of East Ham as part of earlier local government reorganisations. Medieval period. The prosperity of the area increased due to the construction of Bow Bridge, the only bridge over the Lea and the creation of Stratford Langthorne Abbey. Governance. Unlike most English districts, its council is led by a directly elected mayor of Newham. From 2002 to 2009 one of the councillors had been appointed as the "civic ambassador" and performed  the civic and ceremonial role previously carried out by the mayor. The post has been discontinued. At the borough elections held in 2014, the Labour Party won all 60 of the seats on the council. Sir Robin Wales was re-elected as the borough's Executive Mayor with 61% of the first preference votes cast. In 2018, Robin Wales was deselected as the Labour Party mayoral candidate. Rokhsana Fiaz was elected in the position of Executive Mayor, also for the Labour party. Coat of arms. The borough adopted West Ham's coat of arms, but with a motto adapted from  that of East Ham. The arms include the following elements: The borough's motto, ""Progress with the People"" is an English translation of East Ham's Latin ""Progressio cum Populo"". Demography. Population figures. Newham has, after Barnet and Croydon, the third highest population of the London boroughs, with a population numbering 382,984 as of 2021. Despite growing since the 1980s, it is still drastically lower than its pre-war peak. In the period between 1951 and 1981, Newham's population shrunk by 28.87% owing to factors such as the war bombings and the increasingly high unemployment. The redevelopment of the  Docklands as well as development related to the 2012 Olympics have contributed to reversing its declining trend. Ethnicities. Newham has the youngest overall population and one of the lowest indigenous White British populations in the country according to the 2011 UK Census. The borough has the second-highest percentage of Muslims in the UK, after the neighbouring London Borough of Tower Hamlets, at 32%. A 2017 report from Trust for London and the New Policy Institute found that 36% of local employees in Newham are in low paid work; the highest percentage of any London borough. Newham also has a  37% poverty rate, which is the second-highest rate in London. Newham is ethnically extremely diverse. When using Simpson's Diversity Index on 10 aggregated ethnic groups, the 2001 UK Census identified Newham as the most ethnically diverse district in England and Wales, with 9 wards in the top 15. However, when using the 16 ethnic categories in the Census so that White Irish and White Other ethnic minorities are also included in the analysis, Newham becomes the second-most ethnically diverse borough with six out of the top 15 wards, behind Brent with 7 out of the top 15  wards. Newham has the lowest percentage of White British residents of all of London's boroughs. The White British proportion of the population fell from 33.8% in 2001 to 16.7% in 2011; this decrease of 37.5 percentage points is the largest of any local authority in England and Wales between the two censuses. The joint-lowest wards with White British population are Green Street East and Green Street West, both having 4.8% – the third-lowest behind Southall Broadway and Southall Green in Ealing. East Ham North follows closely, at 4.9%. People of White British ancestry nevertheless remain the largest single  ethnic group in the borough. The largest non-White British ethnic groups are Indian (14%), African (12%), Bangladeshi (12%) and Pakistani (10%). Newham has had a large Asian community for many decades; more than half of Newham's Upton and Kensington wards were of ethnic minority origin in 1981. The nationality to increase the most in number since 1991 is the Bangladeshi community. Newham has the largest total population of Asian origin in London; it is notably a borough with high populations of all three largest British Asian nationalities: Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi - Newham has the 5th highest Indian population  in London and the 2nd highest each for both Pakistani and Bangladeshi. Newham has 1,340 residents who were born in Ukraine, the highest population of Ukrainians in the UK. Health. In 2018, Newham had the lowest life expectancy and the highest rate of heart disease of all London boroughs together with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. In 2019, the BBC reported that Newham had the highest rate of tuberculosis in the UK at 107 per population, which was higher than Rwanda (69) and Iraq (45) according to WHO figures from 2013. More than 80% of TB cases in London  occur in people born abroad. The UK average was 13. Education. A 2017 report by Trust for London and the New Policy Institute finds that the GCSE attainment gap between advantaged and disadvantaged pupils in Newham is the 4th best out of 32 London boroughs. Schools and colleges. The Borough is the education authority for the district providing education in a mix of Foundation, community and voluntary aided schools. The borough also owns and operates Debden House, a residential adult education college in Loughton, Essex, and is home to the Rosetta Art Centre, a dedicated visual art organisation which delivers  courses at its base in Stratford and produces participatory art projects, programmes and initiatives. The Essex Primary School in Sheridan Road with over 900 pupils is one of the biggest primary schools in London. University. The University of East London has two campuses in Newham: Birkbeck Stratford is a collaboration between Birkbeck, University of London and UEL to increase participation in adult learning. This is based on the UEL/Birkbeck shared campus, USS (University Square Stratford), in the centre of Stratford. The University of East London had formed a partnership with the United States Olympic Committee which resulted in the  United States Olympic Team using University of East London campuses as training bases during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Places of interest. Libraries. Newham has ten libraries (Beckton, Canning Town, Custom House, East Ham, Green Street, Manor Park, North Woolwich, Plaistow, Stratford and Forest Gate). Markets. There are a number of local markets in the Borough, including Queens Market, which the council was controversially seeking to redevelop. The proposal was successfully opposed by Friends of Queens Market. Parks and open spaces. 80 hectares within the borough are designated as part of the Metropolitan Green Belt. Newspapers. The local  newspaper is the "Newham Recorder". Districts. See "List of districts in the London Borough of Newham" for the full list, including neighbourhoods or localities which form part of the areas listed below. Parishes. The borough is covered by the following ecclesiastical parishes of the Church of England: Transport. Since the 1980s, public transport in Newham has undergone many upgrades and improvements are still continuing to this day. The Jubilee Line Extension was completed in 1999, including new or improved stations at Canning Town, West Ham and Stratford. The Docklands Light Railway opened in 1987 and has undergone many extensions since , predominantly serving Newham and neighbouring Tower Hamlets. The DLR network compensates for Newham's lack of tube stations, of which there are only 6, in comparison with other London boroughs. It was extended to serve London City Airport, as well as Stratford International station in 2011 after its High Speed 1 link opened in late 2009. The Crossrail scheme will also improve rail connections to several stations as it heads through the borough on an east west axis. As a result of all the recent developments, the borough contains one of only two airports located within the Greater London boundary  and currently the only railway station outside of central London that is served by high speed rail. Travel to work. In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were: underground, metro, light rail, tram, 23.0% of all residents aged 16–74; driving a car or van, 7.6%; bus, minibus or coach, 7.6%; train, 7.2%; on foot, 4.1%; work mainly at or from home, 1.4%; bicycle, 1.0%. Bus routes. London Buses routes 5, 25, 58, 69, 86, 97, 101, 104, 108, 115, 147, 158, 173, 238, 241, 257, 262, 276, 300, 308, 309, 323, 325 , 330, 339, 366, 376, 388, 425, 473, 474, 541, D8, W19, School buses routes 673, 678 and Night route N8, N15, N86, N205, N550 and N551. Town twinning. Newham is twinned with: Freedom of the Borough. The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Newham.