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14
between St. Saviour and St. Olave was far more difficult and
was left in abeyance for a time. A separate conference was
likewise held with representatives of St. Olave's, but without
any definite result. In November, 1899, notice having been
received from the Commissioners that an Assistant Commissioner
(G. Pemberton Leach, Esq., Barrister-at-law) would hold
local Inquiries for the areas comprising respectively the parishes
of Rotherhithe, Bermondsey, St. Olave, &c. (since named "the
Borough of Bermondsey "), and St. Saviour, Christchurch, &c.
(since named "the Borough of Southwark "), the Board, on the
advice of its Special Committee, and in view of the importance
of the issues involved, resolved to instruct Counsel to represent
it at both such Inquiries. The Inquiry for the Bermondsey area
affecting the boundary on the east side of the parish of St.
Saviour was held at the Town Hall, Bermondsey, on the 22nd
November, 1899, and the one for the Southwark area at the
Vestry Hall, Walworth Road, on the 29th of the same month,
Mr. H. C. Richards, Q.C., M.P., appearing in both instances for
the Board. The other boards of works, vestries, and local
authorities interested were likewise in most instances represented
by Counsel, and the various boundaries were very fully
discussed in relation to the rateable values and otherwise, the
inquiries extending over several days in each case. The question
of the name or title of the new boroughs occasioned a great deal
of controversy, the Board favouring the name "Borough of
Southwark," on account of its antiquity and the historical
associations of St. Saviour's with the old Borough. In this it was
supported by the vestry of St. George-the-Martyr; Newington, on
the other hand, desiring that the area should be named after its
own parish. In the course of the proceedings the matter was virtually
set at rest by the Assistant Commissioner remarking that
the name "Southwark" would be preserved; that it would
not be divided into east and west as had been suggested by St.
Olave's, and that the only question at issue was whether this or
the adjoining Borough should bear the title. In January a
letter was received from the Commissioners stating that they
proposed that sixty should be the number of Councillors for
the new Borough, being the maximum number allowed under
the Act; that the Borough should be divided into wards, and
that the number for each ward should be as described in a
tabulated statement which accompanied their letter and of which
the following is a copy :—