Middlesex

Middlesex ( ; abbreviation: Middx) is one of the historic counties of England. The county boundaries largely followed three rivers: the Thames in the south, the Lea to the east and the Colne to the west, with a line of hills forming its northern boundary with Hertfordshire. Its former area now lies almost entirely in the ceremonial county of Greater London, with smaller parts in the counties of Hertfordshire and Surrey. The county is the second smallest of the historic counties of England, after Rutland. The name of the county derives from its origin as a homeland for the Middle Saxons in the early Middle Ages, with the county subsequently part of that territory in the ninth or tenth century. The City of London, formerly part of the county, became a self governing county corporate in the twelfth century; the City was still able to exert influence as the sheriffs of London maintained their jurisdiction in Middlesex, though the county otherwise remained separate. The diocese of the Bishop of London also extended through Middlesex. To the east of the City, the Tower Division (or Tower Hamlets) had considerable autonomy under its own Lord Lieutenant. To the west, precincts around Westminster and Charing Cross became built up. Despite London's expansion into rural Middlesex, the Corporation of London resisted attempts to expand the City of London boundaries into the county, posing problems for the administration of local government, public infrastructure, and justice. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the population density was especially high in the southeast of the county, including the East and West Ends of London. In 1855 the densely populated southeast, together with sections of Kent and Surrey, came under the Metropolitan Board of Works for certain infrastructure purposes, while remaining a part of Middlesex. The Metropolitan Police also...